Chapter 200 - Evolution

"It's safe to assume that monsters are already here," from the shoulder, Adete flew and stood on the head. A secondary pair of eyes that stared backward.

"I agree," Staxius walked, the all-seeing eyes linked with Adete directly. He saw what she did as well as what laid before him. Closing the eyes would allow for a better view of all the enemies around. Even so, he decided to not use that power yet, examining the scene came first.

*BANG,* "Upstairs," Adete called, gunshot echoed. Instantly, without trying, he rushed up the stairs with eyes closed. The plan changed immediately, the thought process was to examine and salvage anything worth of value. Seeing the place was deserted and quiet, it wasn't far off to assume all were evacuated.

"Lieutenant Reinhardt," weeping followed by small giggles and what sounded like flesh getting torn and eaten.

"I'm alright," he coughed, the officers were held up inside a storage room. The scene that played was a nightmare, the sergeant was held down by a tall beast while its minion tore off part of her clothes as well as flesh. "G-get away," she cried, hope was lost. The gunfire came from her trying to divert the monster's attention from Reinhardt who was unconscious at the time.

"…" at that moment, the true cruelty and merciless nature of those devils came to light. Anger, hate, sorrow, helplessness, all rushed the man – powerless and without a plan nor anything else, he could but watch as blood flowed. The officer still breathed, she gasped for air, the eyes turn dim –"h-help me," the lips mumbled silently.

*Click,* the door opened, a gust of wind blasted through the room, without a second wasted, the tall beast went flying through the walls. A single punch to which the minion jumped to follow their leader. Four walls with holes laid in front, the night sky could be seen.

*Uncommon Scroll: Healing Magic,* the wound healed, on top of that, potions were poured on the girl as if it rained. Tis was Rare quality healing potions, each dripped twinkled. The fleeting hope rekindled, "-t-thank you," she smiled and rolled over.

"You," the eyes cold, as cold and merciless as the devils, Staxius turned, "-how many of them are there?" he asked, the voice intimidating.

"W-who are you?" Reinhardt inquired, the face confused, the mind unable to process what happened.

"Never mind," a sigh later, he ran through the openings made.

"Aren't you going to save them?" Adete asked whilst in mid-air.

"They can walk, people who've given up don't have the right to live." The eyes scanned, 'where did that beast go,' he thought, for the first time rather than using a weapon – Staxius went straight for a punch, one that proved to be efficient. "A vile means of combat," he commented after landing, the bone in the right hand broke on impact. It didn't take long for the regeneration to kick in.

*BANG,* gunfire as loud as explosions came from the area Deadeyes and Undrar went. Not only them, but Achilles and Avon fought as well. The killing intent and menacing aura oozing from those four sent chills. This could but put a smile on Staxius face –'good to see their confidence isn't lost yet.' The eyes closed, he crouched and placed the right hand on the floor. Focus heightened, a push later, the consciousness jumped out his body, the real form of the All-seeing eye, a bird-eyes view of everything and everyone. Walls and obstructions didn't matter, the skill acquired of seeing auras through matter had merged.  

"Avon, watch the back," confined in an alley, Achilles took charge. Back to back, they both got to work – the monsters approached. Namely, goblins and hobgoblins, they didn't look green, their size-matched those of humans. The body strong and buff as opposed to scrawny and weak – rumors were true; they were evolving with each fight.

"On it," the sparkles faded, above each finger laid a different hue and element. He wielded total control over magic – a spirit with an unknown past. Not only did he look impressive, but the girl behind leaned closer to the ground, her hand on the grip – the eyes fixed on her target.

"End them," she ordered, a barrage of spell blasted out from Avon. On the other side, Achilles jumped and stood behind her foe, the blade returned to its sheath. *Quick Draw Technique: Guillotine,*  heads fell. On Avon's side, the foe burnt to a crisp, some frozen and some turned to ash.

"We did it," Avon rejoined, "-don't be so sure," Achilles spoke seriously, the face stern. The heads which fell moments prior all levitated and returned to their hosts. Those who were destroyed by magic returned to normal as well. The situation didn't look good.

"Viola, I'm out of ammo," Deadeyes urged, he had been firing since the beginning.

"I know," she stood with her hair slightly black from the root. "It's them," the voice tense, "-the beasts that nearly wiped us out," the same sentence was spoken at the same time by Achilles and Undrar.

"How can you be sure?" Scarily in sync, Avon and Deadeyes asked the same.

"None saw this part of the fight. After defeating the ogres, we thought the fight would have been over, sadly," memories from the time rushed, "-they regenerated. The first goblins shed their previous bodies and took on a more humanoid appearance. Not only them but all who came afterward," the explanation ended.

"I tried to examine what kind of magic this was," Viola continued to explain, "-sadly, it's a dead end. Never have I seen this kind of spellcraft anywhere," the voice deeply concerned. "No matter how we fight, they'll keep on regenerating, a battle of attrition is what this is," wings sprouted from her back, "-we need to regroup with the others," she urged.

"I'll create an opening," Avon suggested, "-if what you say is true, then we need to regroup," they came to the same conclusion, teamwork and how much time spend together linked all on a deeper level. "Grab onto me," a smile later, the different hue over the fingers changed to one blue – a continual stream of ice came forth. Using that, they scaled up the three-story building and ran for the middle, Undrar could be seen flying with Deadeyes in tow.

"Sister, sister," Emma called.

"Yes, sister?" Emmy replied.

"Can you feel it?" Emma asked.

"Impending doom," Emmy replied. From sitting atop the RFS, the duo stood and watched.

"Guess we came to the same conclusion?" A rough landing later, Undrar asked with her face pale and hair fully black.

"Yeah," Achilles replied, "-it's them," she panted.

"H-hello," a voice came from the military area, a man walked with a girl in his arms. "P-please help," the desperation could be seen, the place was in no way clear nor safe. Three wandering monsters spotted them and rushed.

"That idiot," Avon gritted, a fire barrier paired with a wind wall separated the would-be attacking beast from the survivors.

*Bang, Bang,* two gunshots from Deadeyes who restocked on ammo. The goblins who would have pounced had their head blown off. "Let me help," Undrar joined to maintain the barrier, even with the head destroyed they crawled and paid no heed to pain.

"Quick," Achilles rushed and helped carry the lady.

"This is going to get hard," Deadeyes commented, he now laid atop the RFS with a gun as long as him.

"Yeah," rather than feeling helpless, the others were ready to fight.

"Lieutenant Reinhardt," the sisters called.

"Emma and Emmy?" barely conscious the man sat with his back against the hood.

"Yes," they smiled, each held one of his hand, "-we've come with back-up."

The horde from all over was drawn to the middle. Surrounded, the only safe place was the RFS, inside which rested both officers. Avon took a stand, he used magic to erect multiple barriers around the vehicle. Ones with different properties, one that acted as the first line of defense as well as attack. Any who tried to enter was either burnt, frozen, or solidified – it depended on the element of said protection. This only worked on monsters, an original high-tier spell he named as, *The five pillars.* Once conjured it turned invisible so to not limit vision.

*Bang,* any who got past the spell was shot, Viola and Achilles did their best to damage and send the beasts away. "They're not immortal," Undrar figured out a solution. "Stack up damage till it overflows the power of regeneration, killing them over and over again without a chance to get back up, that's the way forward."

"Can sister and I help?" Emma jumped; a giant hammer conjured forth.

"We can be of help," Emmy added, she wielded a battleaxe, twice her size but similar to her sister.

"Sure," Viola agreed, "-together we can do this," she smiled.  

"Is this the wisest move?" Adete asked, Staxius remained crouched and watch from afar. "I was just waiting for the opportune moment," from looking down, the sight returned. "Don't underestimate Kniq," he stood,"-those guys aren't' weak," the eyes opened, it shone brightly red. "I trust them." The fighting grew more intense at the courtyard, the horde kept on increasing, *ROAR,* a deafening gnarl came from the military area.

"Focus on defense, RIGHT NOW, FULL BARRIER," Undrar ordered, the five-pillar merged into a single entity. Rubbles flew, a beast the size of building screamed, it made the ground tremble. The face could be seen clearly over the roof, the same face – an ogre, one evolved beyond the realm of reality. The movement seemed slow but was in fact incredibly fast, it kept on roaring whilst tearing apart the building as if a piece of clay. No real effort, Childs play, it broke off a quarter of the top floor and launched it at the courtyard.

"It's him," Undrar muttered, "-he's the one who nearly killed us," the anger whelmed her mind.

"N-not again," Achilles sighed.  

"This isn't going to hold," Avon admitted, projectile came rushing down.

*Decay Touch Aspect,* a beam as large as the room came out of nowhere. A nauseating feeling followed, darker than night itself – it completely erased part of the building.

"What-" Avon's jaw dropped.

From large to now but mere specks of dust, even the beast took a pause. "I guess they improved Tharis," nonchalant, Staxius approached.

"M-master?" they called. "Don't just stand still," he urged, the beast grew active again. The cavalier walk changed into a full-on sprint, "-get inside," he urged. Quickly, they all jumped in, Deadeyes remained atop the vehicle, the Lymsey sisters held on each side. It powered on and rushed out of the outpost.

"Can't you fire one of those shots again?" Viola asked, the voice unhappy from running away. Persistent, the giant followed. 'He took the bait,' the mind focused on driving.

"Are we just going to run away?" Achilles asked, the aura inside felt tense. "Come on, master, answer us," the pestering continued.

"SHUT UP," Adete screamed, she lashed out in his place, silence followed.

"Take a look at this," he handed over Tharis, steam came off the weapon. "Even after improving the gun, it could barely handle a quarter of what I wanted to fire," the voice neutral. "And for you Achilles, we're not running. Fighting there would only cause more trouble in the future. That outpost is important, we can't just destroy that place – this is but a trailer of what's to come." The RFS stopped shy of an open field, a good ten-kilometers from everything.  

As expected, the monsters followed deeper inland. "Are you insane?" Reinhardt asked, "-what happens if that thing is let loose to wander around," the possibility rushed into mind.

Unwilling to answer, Staxius ignored the query. The attention focused on surveying the area with Adete's help using the all-seeing eye. Using the final form required concentration and time to set-up, it wasn't worth the effort at this stage.

"Lieutenant," Jannette awoke, they all stood outside thinking about what happened.  

"Are you going to keep on ignoring me?" adrenaline rushed, the eyes serious, the lieutenant was right to be worried.

"Shut it," from the roof, Staxius stepped off without much effort. The body didn't move, much less flinch, "-the responsibility of safeguarding the walls is yours," he stood menacingly before the officer. "I'm here to clean up the mess," the voice cold, "-either back off or die," he stared straight through the man's soul – the crimson eyes felt alive.