Monster Girl Menagerie – Celestial Archive

I heard the discordant buzz of noises, the crashes, and the screams. I felt the ground heave and buckle, as if a lightweight blanket buffeted by the intense winds. And I saw Ed, his face grimy and sweaty—enough that I could make out the pockmarks of dust and dirt.

By situating my body in a manner that blocked his sight of the interior, I managed to hide the swaying bodies of my former teammates. And background noise worked to conceal the muffled noises that escaped through their blinds.

"Captain Aldrin is calling for you," he said, trying to peek over my shoulder. "And your friends."

I moved in his field of vision, blocking his view of the interior, and said, "Sure, we'll meet him at his tent. In five minutes?"

He nodded at my proposal and turned to leave, though I caught a reluctant energy in his steps. I closed the door, turned around, and frowned. "Guess we have our work cut out for us," I told the duo who shared my look.

Amara alighted her gaze upon the suspended bodies before shifting her attention back to me. "How many of those free points do you have left?" She asked.

"90," I answered. "You want me to use them?"

She nodded, gesturing at the bound people with her brows. I did and watched as my Spirit settled at 1365, higher than even Amara's agility. With that increase, her total attributes rose by a whole 265 points. Thanks to Moon's Blessing, her agility hovered closer to my own spirit attribute. With Spirit Call, her agility could easily rival that of an A-rank hunter who also focused on that attribute.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, intently watching as she undid the strings tying them.

Amara curled her lip, displaying her sharp fang, and said, "Blood Monarch."

It took me a moment to understand what she meant, and when I did, I looked on with renewed curiosity. As the bodies dropped to the ground, instead of screams of protests and flailing struggle, they twitched uncontrollably. Seeing their expression morph into ghastly shapes reminded me for the umpteenth time that I needed to learn to use Blood Monarch properly.

"This is that puppetry trick, right?" I asked, not tearing my gaze away from the writhing forms of my former teammates.

"Mm-hmm." Amara offered a thoughtful nod and then turned to me. "I will be honest, I hadn't expected our meeting and the subsequent happenings with them to be so... anticlimactic. The whole affair has that stale quality, as if dealing with dead clowns."

That was aptly put, I thought. In fact, I hadn't expected it to unfold this way back when I was still getting a grip on my changed surroundings. I had expected a lot more drama and even more action, but this...

Shaking my head, I said, "It's best if we just put this all to rest." Once and for all. "Let's go see what Aldrin has for us."

The vampire twirled her index finger in a spiraling arc, and the bodies stiffly rose to their feet. Although I wasn't afraid of making a show, I hoped to avoid the hassle, if only to protect the image. That was the only reason why I hadn't hauled their asses through the whole camp and fed them to some nasty monsters waiting outside.

We left the hovel, my companions walking right beside me, while the four trailed right after. The camp was empty this time, most of the fires extinguished. The roars and clangs happened at a distance—and though I could make out the sounds with startling clarity—I paid it no heed.

Captain Aldrin was pacing around in his tent, overcome by anxiousness. He caught our approach and greeted us with a put-on relaxed expression. "I really appreciate you accepting my request," he said, gesturing with his hand.

We filed into the tent one after another, with Amara having the four stay outside. "Well," I said, "what can we do for you?"

Seeing Aldrin adopt a pensive attitude confirmed half my assumptions.

"You must understand the circumstances our camp is facing," he said, addressing me before shifting his attention to Amara. "Monsters are swarming us, and even if we ward off another assault, we will be dealing with a high number of casualties. If the problem isn't resolved, before long, this whole camp will be reduced to a ghost town."

He finished his spiel and looked at us expectantly; I stared back with a touch of nonchalance. "And what do you expect us to do about that?" I posed.

Aldrin shared a look between us before he gritted his teeth and said, "We need your help. There's a B-Rank monster among the mob."

"While I understand your predicament, you must also understand that we as guilders are bound by our orders. Searching for my friends had already stretched the tolerance too far, I'm afraid. Anything more and we would be dealing with some serious repercussions."

"I thought you came here to provide help?" He asked, a shroud of dark emotions covering his features.

"Did I mistakenly give such an impression?" I batted my eyes innocently.

Even standing a couple of feet away from the man, I could feel an almost palpable wave of resentment oozing from him. I smiled, earning a glare, and said, "But of course, turning our backs on those in need would be unbecoming of us as hunters." I paused and took a breath. "If you could promise to justify our actions to the guild, perhaps...?"

I left the sentence hanging, but it didn't take a smart man to guess the rest. Seeing his brows twitching in annoyance almost made me feel bad. Almost.

"Very well," he said. "Lord Baron has already departed from the capital, and we expect his arrival to be near the sunrise. I will be sure to convey your words to him and to present your meritorious deeds."

Hearing his words, I finally allowed an honest smile to grace my features. Though we had sort of deserted the guild, the worry had been gnawing at me from the inside. The guilders were petty, and once the dust had settled and people regained their bearings, Zyra was sure to complain to the higher-ups regarding Amara, at which point a tribunal would be held.

But if we had some support from the nobility of the kingdom—though it might prove ineffective in the long run—it would provide us the time we needed to sort ourselves out.

Seeking shelter at a noble's house instead of facing the odds stirred growls of displeasure in my heart. But if it meant keeping my family safe—I didn't mind hiding behind someone's back. At least until we were sure to be able to handle anything the world could throw at us. And I have a strong feeling that day isn't far behind.

"Please gather around," Aldrin said, moving behind the table. We crowded around and looked at the map spread out on the tabletop. It appeared to be hand-drawn with charcoal on animal hide.

"Our battlefield consisted of this area, which falls under our borders," he explained, pointing to a squiggly line drawn across one side. "Our troops are situated here, and monsters are rushing from all these sides."

We listened, nodding occasionally when he looked up at us. He didn’t stop until we had memorized the entire layout.

"If you don't mind me asking," I said, seeing his attention shift toward me, "how come the number of monsters seems to remain constant? I mean, you have been going at it for quite a while now, so why has the situation not improved at all?"

Even though the End Forest was a congested den of monsters, it didn't make sense that no improvements had resulted from their constant fighting.

Aldrin sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Because of the events," he said. "New events keep cropping up all around the area and at a faster rate for some reason. Since we can't bypass the crowd in front of us, they remain festering until they finally rupture and release monsters into the world, turning all our efforts to vain."

I offered a sympathetic glance, though the man didn't seem to care. "Anyway, as I was saying, I need your presence here," he said, pointing near the front of the line. "And—"

"No." Before he could finish his sentence, though, Amara cut him off. Aldrin looked at her with equal parts surprise and displeasure, though the vampire didn't care. "We will go here."

We all followed her fingertip and saw it land in the middle of nowhere. It was ways of the course. Though Tania furrowed her brows in contemplation, Aldrin cast a glare at her. "Is this a joke?" he asked, though without a hint of levity in his tone.

"No," Amara replied, with the same curt response.

Before the already peeved captain would punch the table in half, I cleared my throat and addressed her, "Explain yourself, Amara."

She tapped her index finger on the same spot. The spot from where the monsters had come charging. "I know the B-Rank monster must be there," she said. "Instead of repeating the same task, why not remove the root of the problem?"

Because once the monster was gone, the others would descend into chaos, and formations would be gone. At that time, soldiers could coordinate and wipe out the rest with ease.

"We can't," Aldrin said, his voice forceful. "Our first priority is keeping the Barony safe, instead of focusing on eradicating the monsters."

"But it would solve all your problems," I said, protesting.

"I don't need you to solve my problems," he said, growling. "Listen, if you want to help, you have to follow my instructions. Otherwise, you're free to leave."

Huh? Did he think we were desperate enough to seek shelter? I smiled and shrugged, "I suppose we can—"

"No." This was the third time in a row that Amara had cut someone off, and this time it was me. And let me tell you, I didn't like being cut off.

I leveled my gaze at the vampire, eyeing her curiously. She stared back and then turned to Aldrin. "We're going here," she rapped her fingers on the table, enough to leave a dent behind. "If you think we will follow your orders, then you're sorely mistaken. We are not your soldiers."

Aldrin glowered at her and said, "If you do that, the monsters will grow desperate. The mounting pressure is bound to result in serious casualties. Do you really want that?"

"It's a war—learn to embrace its meaning, Captain," she replied, snorting before turning away.

Aldrin turned to me, but I could only offer a shrug. I was helpless against Amara, and not just because she was vastly stronger, but simply because I loved the woman fiercely. Huh, I blinked. Did I just...?

"Very well," he said, sighing. "I will provide you with whatever information I have, but I will not offer any help beyond that. Once you step outside the camp, you're on your own."

Captain Aldrin provided us with the information on the terrain and handed us some supplies. Even though our target was a B-Rank monster, we would have to cross a sea of low-ranked monsters before we could get even remotely close. And even then, the chances of us finishing our task were slim.

Of course, he didn't know that we had already scouted the monster's base the previous night. With agility over 1000, running back and forth along the coastline and even to the borders of Greystone County had been a breeze.