Thoughts of despair, the visions of her failing her beloved mate's expectations filled the usually nonchalant amazon, Naybeah's mind.

Her expression soured, the smiling, bright look on her face transformed. Her veins suddenly turned swollen, as a hidden, deep-seated rage boiled and rushed to the surface.

"Aaaaargh!" She turned to the sky and roared like a wild ferocious beast.

Responding to her primordial call, deep killing intent swirled around the amazon, exploding from her body and unfolding into the aura of a War God, an Asura.

Shockwaves filled with this unknown, archaic source of energy sent ripples across the space, throwing friend and foe off their feet, down on the ground in equal measure.

"What the.." The group groaned as they pushed themselves back up to their feet and turned towards the amazon to complain. "What are you.."

As soon as their eyes gazed upon the blonde girl, the words they have already prepared and thought of had frozen in them. Their eyes went wide with the stun they felt as they gazed upon the terrifying sight of the girl that seemed to have transcended the bounds of reality.

A faint, hollow scarlet glow surrounded the heaving amazon as she held the handle of her humongous war axe with both of her hands.

There was an eerie, dark glimmer in her eyes, looking much colder, much more distant than how it usually was. Unlike when she thought against the wolf-like creature the last time, this Naybeah was different.

The hot, heavy air swirling around her shrouded her figure, obscuring it into a blurry distorted silhouette.

Ignoring the looks of the rest of the team, she turned her attention to the recovering swarm of giant insects that began to return to their original position. Yet there was a strange sense of unease, wariness in their actions. Their seemingly mindless assault has been transformed. As if they too understood that there was a qualitative change that had transpired with this human, this 'bareskin'.

Still, it wasn't enough for them to give up on their juicy prey, but instead, they needed to change their strategy. They needed to respond to the situation with a similar action.

Suddenly, the enemy stopped, just outside the range of the amazon's reach. The countless ebony, beady eyes were focused on Naybeah, yet neither of the creatures stepped forward but instead kept their distance.

In the next moment, their heads turned towards the skies, their mandibles spread apart, a cacophony of high-pitched cries filled their surroundings. Though it wasn't pleasant, it wasn't hurting any of the party either, they turned towards Naybeah with a confused, questioning look.

"What is going on?" Aina asked, stepping closer to the girl and taking up the frontline position one again at her right.

"Not sure.. But it doesn't sound good.." Eina, her twin sister followed along, taking up Naybeah's left.

Whilst the team was confused, but at the same time, also glad that there was a bit of respite amidst the endless fighting, Lily's expression suddenly changed. Immediately she whistled, bringing her faithful guardians Sam and Biggy back to her side. She then turned towards the amazon and exclaimed with a worried, shocked tone.

"We need to leave. Now! Something terrifying is coming!" She exclaimed.

Unfortunately, her warning came just a tad bit too late. The sea of insectoids stepped aside, opening a path to a giant shadow that emerged on the horizon. The silhouette of a pair of mandibles at the size of oak trees could be seen as they clasped the air. Following that, an ear-shattering roar, matching the frequency of the smaller creatures reverberated in the vast plains.

The team knew that a brutal fight, a great trial has fallen upon them.."

—

"We have been marching since this morning, and have not met or even seen any other of those strange creatures at all!" Crysta cried out in the complaint. She finally had enough of this pointless endeavor they had been forced to take on. Besides sweating under this blazing, scorching heat they saw nothing but sand and dunes.

Though they were unaware, they were quite lucky, as they have not met with any of the nightmarish monsters the others have had to suffer with. Their journey so far was boring and uneventful.

"Hmm..." The purple-haired girl walking next to her, Sara looked around once more. "It is strange, I admit. Could that creature have been a stray, or an exile perhaps and have wandered alone for weeks, maybe months?"

"How long could those things survive without food anyway?" Listening to their conversation, one of the Silver Howl mercenaries, a young, short light-brown-haired man, Thalid asked. "We have no idea what they even are. They may be capable of surviving without food and water for an extended period of time.."

"What are you talking about?" Another man, a brawny brawler-type figure, Olaf looked at his mate as if he was looking at an idiot. "That beast was clearly starving. Besides, from the way it acted, I don't think it was a stray. We shouldn't be that far from their tribe."

Looking around, Sara sighed with a wry look on her face.

"Still.. We have not seen any signs of them at all. According to the girls, we should have already covered way more than the area they scouted out yesterday. Yet, there was nothing pointing to hint that there would be more of those creatures."

Thinking for a bit, she muttered, mostly to herself, though the rest of the group also heard her.

"Could it be that the beast is unique? Maybe an experiment that had survived whatever calamity had ended life in this world?"

"Whatever it is, we should just go back and convince the Captain to kill it! There are clearly no others like that monster living on the surface! There wouldn't even be a point, what race would be willing to live under such conditions? There's barely any water to be found, absolutely nothing to eat.. and-" Crysta complained some more, but before she could finish she was quickly silenced when Sara suddenly sprung up to her feet.

The expression on her face was hard to read, but it was clear that she had just discovered something important.historical

"What did you just say?" She asked in a distant, dreamy tone.

"Ehrm.. What do you mean? I just said that there is no point to us being here anym-"

"Not that, what did you just say. There are clearly no others like it living on the surface! That's it! You are a genius Crysta!" Sara exclaimed, her face was grinning with a newfound light. "The beast didn't come from anywhere ABOVE the ground. They are living beneath it, under us!" She exclaimed pointing towards the sands below them.

"We need to get down there!" She exclaimed, turning her attention to the horizon again, this time scanning it for something else entirely.

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation!

Links:

/shaele