The sound of fighting echoed around the meadow as an army of apes and humans cshed with the raging horde of baboons. Niji was already covered in blood, sticking to his bck fur as he was toppled by a dying baboon he had just stabbed through the heart with the broken end of a spear. He was panting heavily and lost count of how many savages he had sughtered already, but he knew that he couldn't stay down. Trying to stand up, he could barely defend himself when another baboon jumped on him, trying to bite into his face. Luckily, a sword fshed before it could do so, beheading the monkey as Feynor arrived, helping him up. The soon-to-be emperor was holding a broken shield strapped to his forearm, his sword already cracked, and his armor was drenched in bodily fluids.

  "Thanks…" Niji said, holding onto him, looking around as young chimps and humans struggled to fend off the attack while Kang was still wrestling with the four leaders, being forced to be on the defensive side as their combined attacks left him with no room to counterattack.

  "Thank me after we survive this!" Feynor spat, still having enough energy to go on but not for long... even he had his limits.

  "Yeah, this does not look good."

  "Chin up! We just need to hold out until reinforcement comes. We already sent word." He spped his shoulders before rushing into the fray, radiating energy to draw the baboons to himself, taking even one or two hits before killing another enemy. Watching him, Niji couldn't help but sigh, seeing how his wounds quickly closed, dispying the frightening advantage of the Aerthus bloodline even in this dire situation.

  All around them, the battlefield resonated with sonic booms every time Kang's hard bone armor received a punch or a kick, yet it still held out perfectly; the only problem he faced was that every time he tried to hit back or grab one of the baboon leaders, the other three attacked the opening in his defense. Others would be enraged, yet Kang calmly went on the defensive again, scanning them with his blood-red eyes, trying to find an opening.

  "We just need to tie and tire you down, big guy! Ahahaha, you will watch as we massacre your people!" one of the baboons ughed, showing his long teeth in the process, snarling at Kang.

  His words made his eyelids flinch a little, but he mainly ignored him, or at least that was what was shown on the outside. Inside, his senses constantly scanned the battlefield as he saw his brethren, gorils, and chimpanzees falling over, then jumped on by half a dozen baboons to be torn apart alive. All of it was squeezing his heart like it was in death's grip itself... but he could do nothing about it.

  "Damn!" Shaman yelled as he stumbled backward, out of energy and out of weapons, gasping for air. "I'm too old for this…" he grumbled, holding his side, which had a complete, torn-off baboon head still biting into him, his blood constantly flowing out from the deep wound.

  At that moment, he saw an even bigger baboon rushing towards him with an angry face, already with an open mouth to jump on him and bite into his throat.

  "No… not like this…" he moaned with apparent frustration in his voice, but he knew, without enough energy, there was no way to dodge this.

  "Hyaaaa!" came a clear, soft cry as two, a blue and a green colored lights fshed by him, and then he saw two tiny fairies lifting up the baboon by its legs, high up in the sky, before letting him go. In the next moment, he crashed-nded with a loud thud, silencing its screams as his neck was broken in the nding, immediately dying. "We are helping too!" came another soft voice as more and more fairies came back from nowhere.

  They were clearly frightened yet filled with previously unseen emotions in their eyes, not wanting to see their home get destroyed one more time or their new family and friends die, even if it meant they were risking their own lives. Some fairies rushed to help the others, trying to lift the baboons from those struggling on the ground or to fly to the other injured apes, holding onto them and releasing multi-colored dust from their wings to ease their pain. Just as they lifted up a baboon, one of the pair of young fairies got grabbed in the air, as the monkey bit her into two pieces before falling to his death, while others tried to swat them like bugs. At that moment, the battlefield descended back into total chaos once again...

  Not far from Shaman, a young, green-skinned fairy was spped by one of the baboons, nding hard on the ground, screaming in pain as her wings were broken by the impact. She was trying to sit up, with a trembling body, watching the maw, filled with sharp teeth, coming towards her, when thunder boomed, and a spear nailed the monkey's head onto the ground just next to her.

  "Don't you fucking dare!" echoed the rumbling voice of Ren as she arrived, fshing onto the battlefield, starting a one-sided massacre the moment she arrived. Her purple, energy-made spear easily went through their bodies, and even if she tossed one out, she reformed another one moments ter from pure lightning.

  "Hmf, now die!" Kang roared, bursting out with energy and ignoring the leaders' attacks, focusing on the first baboon he fought with.

  "Hah, you are wide open!" he ughed as another, going for Kang's blind spot from behind, rushed in, when a blinding fsh cut through his field of vision, and the st thing he could see was the world being turned upside down, while his head was blown off his body, falling far away from the crumbling body of his.

  "Damn, Dad wasn't joking; one shot drained a quarter of my reserves," Ren murmured before targeting another big baboon and joining the fight with Kang, refusing to let anyone else die.

  "You're quick. Others?" Kang asked as they stood back-to-back.

  "Coming. But I ain't pnning on waiting; go all out. We kill them right here, right now!"

  "Good!" He nodded as both of them attacked, splitting up the remaining baboon leaders and gaining the upper hand.

  "You think one helper will-" the first baboon leader roared as Kang's punch hit him in the lungs, silencing him for good and making him spurt out a mouthful of blood.

  "Yeah, we think so!" came Ren's voice, taking advantage of her speed, fshing behind him before her opponents could realize what happened and stabbing through the baboon's heart with her spear. Kang wasn't shy about it either, and he just grabbed the spear, coming out from the front and pulling it through before tossing it towards another, thwarting his attack.

  "How energy?"

  "Rex! I can do this all day!" Ren grinned, fshing a new spear as her intent for the battle raged around her, making some of the baboons flinch, feeling a pressure they had never felt when facing a human.

  "Mm?" Kang looked at her, as he also felt something that made his instinct tell him to just run, but it was soon easily dismissed as her pressure was focused on the baboons and not him. "She's strong… strong soul." He muttered before attacking in sync with Ren, ready to massacre all their enemies.

  …….…..

  "If we keep this up, we will arrive before nightfall, but we will be out of energy," Zern commented as they were still rushing through the forest.

  "I know. Still! We need to hurry!" Leinor replied while Isha was holding Rem, who was completely out, smiling with a silly expression and drooling all over herself. "Stop!" He suddenly ordered as he came to a halt, and before them, amongst the trees, they could see a woman wearing simple leather clothing.

  In turn, Emi calmly watched them as her furry, red foxtail swept slowly behind her, her eyes silently observing the group before finally nding on Rem. Her aura was mild, mixed with a sweet fragrance that made everyone's heart beat faster, but beneath it was an unmistakable danger. Breaking free from her natural charm, the fastest and least affected was Leinor, followed by Isha and Zern, leaving only Poli's face flushed red as his breathing fastened, gulping loudly.

  "Get a hold of yourself…." Isha murmured. Even then, her eyes were sparkling with half jealousy of the foxgirl's perfect body, and the other twinkled with the half desire to push her down, then and there.

  The tter was also present in Zern's and Leinor's minds, yet they could still control in a way; only Poli had a hard time, mostly because he was the only one in the group with no feelings for another... Wholly captured by Emi's natural charm.

  "She's dangerous," Leinor whispered while Zern nodded as his body turned to pure steel, while Isha gave the delirious Rem to Poli.

  "Keep her safe; you are not fit to face an enemy like this." She muttered.

  "I… I… understand…” Poli grimaced, lowering his head and biting his lips, forcing his blood to drip out, trying to calm himself down.

  "Let her go, humans." Emi's sweet voice came, making them tremble as Poli quickly took multiple steps backward, almost dropping Rem.

  "Why should we?" Isha snorted, turning her infatuation into a rage of jealousy to counter the enchanting natural presence of the fox demon.

  "Because you trespass on our territory, kidnap our kind. You, deplorable, wretched species of naked monkeys. Drugging a young, innocent fairy and kidnapping her for your pleasure... You deserve death. Let her go, and you can live. Resist and die!" She spat, her tone full of anger.

  "You think you can take us on?" Isha fred up as her clothes almost burned to a crisp while she was being surrounded by her emerging fmes.

  "Yes. Now choose." Emi answered without hesitation.

  "I guess we can't expin it, huh?" Leinor sighed. "We are not svers or do what you think we do…."

  "You killed a tribe of chimpanzees, then ensved others, working them to build a fortress." She waved a hand, "I heard the words while traveling here and speaking with the st resisting tribe. They will liberate the others, and you will be chased out of our forest. There is nothing to speak of. Leave the young fairy now, and you can keep your lives. Don't resist."

  "I feel like spanking her. Maybe I'll push her down and have Poli teach her some manners!" Isha groaned, grinding her teeth together.

  "Rex, you are under her influence; keep your mind cool." Zern pced his hand on her shoulder, trying to help Isha keep her focus.

  "You are pretty strong-willed for a human. But it's no use." Emi snorted, fluttering her red tail, causing pinkish smoke to spread out around her, engulfing the whole area.

  They all felt like being hit by a multitude of wild feelings, thoughts of indulging in animalistic pleasure, enjoying each other's bodies, or groveling before Emi's feet to be stepped on and be punished for their sins.

  "Foolish and arrogant humans should know their pce!" She said as she came a step closer. The moment she did, the group faltered, and Poli already colpsed onto his butt, still holding Rem, not daring to look up at her. As Emi came up to Leinor, looking down on him while he was half-kneeling, she gently stroked his face, raising his head and looking into his eyes with a hypnotic gaze. "Don't worry; it will be a pleasurable death."

  Leinor felt as if his thoughts were invaded and his memories of Ren were being distorted, as her image was repced by Emi's figure. The feelings he had towards Ren were slowly being transferred, changed to match Emi's presence. When he realized what she was trying to do, it sent a shiver down his spine as his eyes turned cold, and his trembling stopped, returning her gaze and surprising her.

  “I’ll… kill… you…” He groaned before grabbing onto her hands, pulling her close, headbutting her once… then twice, then a third time. After Emi got a chance to kick him off her and roll backward, holding her broken nose that leaked blood all over her fingers, looking up, she saw Leinor already up, huffing and puffing.

  "You are strong… You love her this much?" She stood up, too, without any anger, and her green eyes showed some newly earned respect toward Leinor.

  "I would die for her…." He growled like an enraged beast.

  "It can be arranged!" The fox-girl fshed by, sshing at him, as her hands were covered with fur and her fingers turned into sharp cws, like knives.

  Before she could react, Zern simply body-smmed her from the side while the sharp cws changed course, hitting him as they threw sparks everywhere, scratching against his body.

  "Keep her down!" Isha arrived, throwing a fming punch toward Emi, who looked into Zern's eyes before she could arrive. As if on a string, Zern instinctively moved and took Isha's attack with his back, protecting Emi's body, causing Isha to yell out, "Zern!"

  "Ugh…" He moaned, gulping back the blood that rushed up to his throat while his broad, metallic back was searing hot, releasing steam from where Isha's attack nded. Still, the disruption was enough for Emi to get free, and she distanced herself from the group once again.

  "You are stronger than you look; I'll give you that. I heard you have strong fighters... No wonder you could ensve so many of us. But it ends now!" She spat angrily, realigning her nose with a crack.

  After that, her body started to change as she returned to all fours, and soon a four-meter-tall red fox stood before them, her tail swinging and hitting the nearby trees, toppling them with every movement, clearing the pce for their battle.

  "The Red Fur…" Poli murmured, panting in the back, remembering the orangutans' words, watching his friend's face off against the fox demon.

  "I respect your will." She looked over them, towering above the group, as her voice echoed through the forest. "But you should have stayed where you belong." With that, she opened her mouth as a giant fireball swept out before exploding, sending them flying backward and crashing through trees. Zern's whole body was glowing red while Isha's fme still battled Emi's all over her body, trying to resist the foreign fire that wanted to consume her.

  Leinor, doing his best to push himself up, was burned all over; his hair was gone in rge patches, while his face was unrecognizable as the skin almost melted onto his skull, still sizzling all around. Yet it took only a few seconds before it began to morph and fall off, revealing the new skin beneath. The recovery of his muscles and eyes was quick as they grew back into their sockets, yet it consumed much of his powers, preventing him from standing back up again.

  "None of you died. You give me one surprise after another!" Emi murmured while her mouth was smoking from the heat, gathering within it one more time.

  "No… And they won't die… I'm fucking fed up with this! I won't let you hurt my friends!" Poli's angry voice rang out as he put down Rem, holding up his sword, and began walking towards Emi without any more trembling.

  "You are not stronger than all three of them. Accept your death, and it will be quick." Emi said calmly, watching Poli's determined, unflinching eyes.

  "You are right... No, I am not better than them. But I know something stronger than you! Than all of us combined!" He smirked as he let loose everything. Suddenly, above them all, the sky started to darken as the oh-so-familiar Tear showed itself in the Sky, just like when Ren advanced. "Let's see how you deal with someone brimming with energy from heaven itself, you fucking furry bitch!"