Acacia pushed herself up from the ground, her legs unsteady. The rhythmic drone of the machine gliding like a silent predator against the starry night sky. The monsters let out loud screeches at the disturbance, a constant, horrifying backdrop. A blinding white barrier, impossibly bright, enveloped the area, a stark, impenetrable wall against the chaos. The creatures of the air dived towards the barrier but were consumed by the light, leaving only the ashes in the air and an unsettling silence.

  Acacia gritted her teeth and walked back inside the house, Bella followed suit with a worry etched on her face. Zephyra and the rest were already downstairs but Elric was nowhere to be found.

  "Why are those bastards here? And late at night, no courtesy for those asleep!" Edwin said with annoyance as he peeked out from the window.

  "Girls, where were you?" Zephyra asked as she walked over to the girls and scanned their form.

  "We were talking about—" Acacia was about to talk when Bella interrupted.

  "About the machines, there's like a dozen of them outside." Bella said while glancing at Acacia's clenched fists where the crest was hidden.

  "They are that many?" Zephyra asked with a slight frustration to her tone.

  'So she doesn't want to say anything? This will be a problem.' Acacia thought as she didn't bother to say anything.

  "Where is Elric?" Zephyra asked as she scanned the place.

  "I don't know, I didn't see him." Kel yawned and stretched out his arms.

  'Where did he disappear to?' Acacia thought as she scanned the room and then the synthesized and emotionless female voice spoke out again.

  "This is your last warning, all beast-men should gather for assessment. Force will be used if necessary."

  "Let's go out and see what this mess is about but everyone should stick together." Jahir mentioned and everyone silently agreed and walked out in unison.

  As they emerged, the sky was already buzzing. The smaller flying machines, like predatory wasps, were converging on the traders' market, their sleek forms cutting through the air towards the district teeming with beast-men.

  "You guys stay behind, Maximus and I will check out what is going on." Zephyra gestured for them to stay put. Maximus let out a grunt and followed Zephyra's lead.

  Acacia stared at their leaving form and mentally connected with the butterfly attached to Poppy, to see what was going on inside the traders market.

  Barcello POV

  "Just when I thought I lost them." Barcello gritted out as several guards scanned the beast-men, checking their mana levels. Forcing the beast-men with low mana into the sky craft, locking collars around their necks and shoved the ones deemed abnormal aside. The large sky craft was still in sky, holding up the barrier while the smaller ones had landed on the earth.

  "You guys are taking this too far!"

  "We don't even bother you!!"

  "Give me back my children, you monsters!

  The beast-men were in an uproar of rage as some tried to fight against the Flow heroes and guards but it was difficult. Their armors were secured and they were strong.

  "They were prepared for this." Chausse stayed close to Barcello as they hid behind a shop. Barcello gripped his crutches tightly at the sight of the manhandling. The sight reminded him of how they treated his wife.

  "Some beast-men will definitely go berserk at this and that would give them more of a reason to kill them." Barcello muttered and Chausse glared at the heroes and the guards.

  "We are simply rebuilding our once great city. This divide doesn't help us and the beast-men are far too dangerous. If you wish to surrender and follow our path, you will wear the collars assigned to you but if you refuse. You will be seen as an enemy." The air thrummed with a low, mechanical growl as Captain Cerais's voice, a blade of honed steel, sliced through the silence. A massive machine door groaned and slid aside, revealing her silhouette. She stepped out, a stark contrast against the cold metal. Her long, black hair, bound in a tight ponytail, danced in the manufactured breeze, a dark stream against the muted environment. Twin swords, sheathed but menacing, traced the lines of her hips. A vibrant yellow cape, unfurled behind her, catching the light and drawing attention to the unwavering intensity in her teal eyes.

  "Hiya, everyone!" Captain Kerensa chirped, her voice a bright, almost unsettling contrast to the tense atmosphere. She skipped out after Cerais, her white armor gleaming under the harsh lights. "Don't worry your little heads! Surrender, or... well, you know. Either way, we'll have fun!" Her bright pink hair, tied in playful pigtails, framed a face with wide, blue eyes that sparkled with a chillingly detached amusement.

  She twirled her long staff, her golden cape swirling around her like a playful cloud.

  "Those are the second and third captains of Flow. The black haired woman is Captain Cerais and the second is Captain Kerensa. Captain Cerais has the ability of wind arts and Captain Kerensa has the ability of healing arts." Barcello muttered as he studied the captains.

  "Healer? In combat?" Chausse stared at Kerensa with a slight skepticism.

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  Suddenly a rock was thrown at Kerensa's face, the assailant was a man with insect limbs in place of arms. Kerensa gasped as blood trickled down on her face and before anyone could react her spear had pierced the man straight in his face.

  "How could you hurt a cute girl like me? Don't you have any shame." Kerensa pouted and brought out a napkin, cleaning the blood from her forehead. With a snap of her fingers her spear flew back to her hand.

  The sight made many grow quiet and wary as they stared at the captains. Captain Cerais didn't care about the event and spoke up once more.

  "Do you surrender or not?"

  Some of them hesitated and a few started to walk willingly towards the sky craft, allowing the collars to be placed around their necks.

  "How could they?" Chausse gritted out.

  "How could they not? The Ruins is dangerous and they are in front of a greater power. The weak always bows to the strong." Barcello watched the scene when a figure came from behind the sky crafts.

  "Unfortunately, little lady. I don't surrender to people like you." Zephyra's voice rang out as she passed through the barrier with Maximus intimidating form behind her. Horns grew from both sides of his hand and his body seemed to grow bigger.

  "I agree with the mother hen, this is our turf." Ringeisen's voice rumbled out as he threw three heads of Flow heroes to their feet.

  "How did you pass through the barrier?" Captain Cerais asked as she glanced at the heads thrown at her feet.

  "There's a difference between those who lived with monsters and the pampered lots of you heroes." Ringeisen scoffed as different beast-men leaders came out of their hiding. "And I should be asking you how you broke our barriers first.'

  "You will turn back with your dog collars or we will show you why the monsters fear us." Emor said in a low tone. He was extremely lean, has sickly pale skin and a black snake roaming in his white hair like an accessory.

  "I fear it might come to this but none of you are worthy of my blades. I shall cut down your pride and make you see reason." Captain Cerais glared at the beast-men.

  "Now these are our heroes, we will have an even ground." Chausse grinned and patted Barcello's back. Barcello stared in slight awe at their overwhelming presence.

  "Proceed as planned, all elite heroes should attack against hostile forces and the guards should continue with the assessment and apprehend the beast-men." Captain Cerais ordered. In an instant several armored heroes charged forward against the beast-men. Some beast-men charged alongside the leaders.

  Kerensa grinned and dashed into the fight, twisting her staff in her hands as she slashed through the beast-men that came at her.

  A guttural growl ripped through the air as Zephyra’s transformation seized her. Her bones groaned and shifted, the sound a macabre percussion. Claws, sharp as razors, emerged from her fingertips, and her face morphed into the predatory muzzle of a lioness. Her long tail, thick and muscular, whipped back and forth, stirring the dust and sending a primal tremor through the ground. The first attackers were mere playthings to her. Zephyra became a spinning vortex of violence, her fists a blur of motion. The sickening crack of armor and bone filled the air, the impact of her blows a deafening symphony of destruction. Elite heroes were flung aside like rag dolls.

  Maximus lowered his massive frame, a guttural snort escaping his nostrils, and kicked a spray of snow behind him. Then, with the force of a runaway avalanche, he charged. His horn, a sharpened spear of bone, aimed directly at the oncoming foes. He slammed into them, lifting them effortlessly into the air like rag dolls, and with a savage twist of his neck, hurled them sprawling, their bodies flying through the air before crashing into the snow-covered ground.

  "We should get out of here." Barcello turned around and was about to turn away when he noticed a little girl with short white hair hugging the slightly older boy. His heart tugged at the sight of the kids experiencing such at a young age. He saw three guards stop in front of them and one of them brought out the scanner. The boy had a protective hold on her.

  "The girl is clear but the boy has mana abnormalities. Take the girl away." He directed his teammates but the boy snarled at them and backed away with the girl in his arms.

  The guard noticed the hostility and raised his gun, he was about to shoot and Barcello quickly came out of his hiding to save them. Everything happened so fast, the gun fired a crimson light at the boy's leg but the bolt disappeared in thin air before it could reach them.

  "Huh?" Barcello stopped in his tracks with Chausse beside him and noticed a red butterfly detaching itself from the Henry's neck. It flew to one of the guard's face and somehow sank into the armor like liquid. The guard screamed and scratched his armored face as he fell to the ground and writhed against the snow. His scream earned a few pauses and stares from everyone.

  Kerensa quickly moved towards the scene with intrigue and tapped the man's armored mask with her staff but no response. She proceeded to remove her armored mask and saw his face half melted off and eaten. The butterfly came out of the man's left eye by eating it's way through and flew back up in the air.

  The sight twisted Barcello's gut into knots. He recoiled, his body betraying him with a sudden, violent retch. His stomach churned, a sickening tide rising, and he emptied his contents onto the ground, the horror of what he witnessed burned into his retinas. Kerensa immediately pointed her staff at the butterfly.

  "Healing arts: Purification." She spoke out and a pink aura shot out at the butterfly, causing it to disappear in thin air before regenerating back like nothing happened.

  "Who is using such sinister magic arts?" Kerensa asked with a hint of excitement to her voice as she blasted the same butterfly a few times before it stopped regenerating entirely. "That was a little tough."

  The second butterfly detached itself from Poppy's neck and flew in front of them as if protecting them. Kerensa charged at the butterfly and blasted it but it weaved and dodged her blasts.

  "Stop playing around." Cerais called out as she noticed Kerensa struggling with the butterfly. Ringeisen's fist slammed into Cerais's stomach, the force of the blow driving her against the wall with a sickening thud. A guttural groan escaped her lips, but even as pain lanced through her, she retaliated. Her hands moved in a swift, intricate gesture, and the air around Ringeisen crackled with raw power. A vortex of wind materialized, its razor-sharp gusts tearing at his skin. She lifted him, suspended in the swirling tempest, and then, with a brutal surge of her will, slammed him back down onto the ground.

  Kerensa finally destroyed the second butterfly but by the time she would look for the kids, they had disappeared. She raised her head to see them running away.

  'I can't let her hurt them.' Barcello abandoned his crutches and limped towards her form while Chausse gasped at the sight.

  "Cuties!" Kerensa raised her hand and snapped her fingers, Cerais body healed in an instant. She raised her staff and was ready to throw it until Barcello wrapped his arms around her neck, trying to stop her. Kerensa huffed and twisted her staff in her hands, stabbing his foot. He yelped and let go of her.

  "You are not cute!" Kerensa removed her staff from his foot and was about to stab him when another butterfly detached itself from his neck and flew in front of her. "Another one! Who the hell is doing this?!"

  'Someone is protecting me? But who?' Barcello thought to himself in wonder.

  Then a sudden blast erupted, one of the sky craft was up in flames. An orange haired young man standing on top of one of sky crafts.

  "Kel! Be careful, some of those sky crafts have beast-men in them." A voice yelled out and both Kerensa and Barcello turned around to see a woman with long dark brown hair and red eyes. Dark red wings that seemed to be similar to the butterflies that protected him but he felt a small shiver of fear as he stared at her. The butterfly instantly flew to her side and landed on her shoulder. 'Who is that?'