This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The sound of chaos filled the air—cries of pain, the clash of claws against barriers, and the guttural roars of hybrids tearing through anything in their path—including some guards that had come as reinforcements that Kain hadn't controlled.

And as the battle worn on, the exhaustion of their group began to show.

Controlling the minds of so many spiritual creatures and their tamers, including some that were just a hairsbreadth away from blue-grade and stronger than her, was taxing enough, but in this frenzied environment, the pressure mounted. Bea was nearing her limit. And Kain had already used his second instant refill of spiritual power.

Thankfully, there was no immediate danger to their safety. Aegis slammed its massive stone fists into the ground, summoning a wall that erupted between them and an incoming horde of hybrids. The monstrous humanoids clawed at the barrier, their sharp talons leaving deep gouges in the stone, but they didn't get through.

Serena's Starweaver unleashed a storm of arrows, each bolt piercing a hybrid or blue-grade spiritual creature at vulnerable areas with pinpoint precision. However, while the mobility of many of them was affected, it still didn't drastically reduce the threats they had to deal with, especially since hybrids were occasionally still falling through the openings in the ceiling.

However, at least slowed down, the Vespid guards were able to lodge stingers into them that continuously drained their energy.

Lina, as the weakest stayed further back behind them, her contract worked frantically to keep as many of Kain's Vespids alive as possible.

Her light-attribute butterfly hovered behind the line of Vespids, its glowing wings casting a protective armour that absorbed attacks around each of them. A fireball exploded against one Vespid, sending ripples of golden light around its abdominal region, but it held firm.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her silk worm spat adhesive threads at a pack of hybrids rushing toward Serena. The threads hardened on contact, tangling their legs and pinning them to the ground.

But it was her dark-attribute contract the Shadow Veil Moth that made the greatest difference. With a flutter of its black wings, the moth emitted a dark mist that swallowed the battlefield, plunging it into a disorienting darkness. The guards and their creatures faltered, striking out blindly at shadows.

However, Bea was able to still sense much of her surroundings using her now even more obscured threads and transmit the locations of certain targets to her splits. Therefore, the darkness hardly affected them.

Thankfully, the wish from Balens was still in effect, or the sense-dampening effect of her contracts would be nearly so useful. Even now, the blue-grade spiritual creatures were not as affected as the green-grade contracts and were still able to locate and target enemies in the mist.

Indeed, even with the thick mist a pair of black wolves, both blue-grade, were still able to locate Kain and the others.

They impressively managed to jump over the wall created by Aegis and lunged at them. Aegis braced itself, intercepting the attack with its stone arms. The impact sent cracks spidering through his surface, but their trusty shield Aegis held firm.

Bea's threads darted toward one of the wolves, but the beast resisted fiercely, snapping and thrashing. Kain cursed under his breath. Controlling a blue-grade creature was nearly impossible without sacrificing the control of the weaker ones already under Bea's influence.

Thankfully, Serena's Elemental Guardian had seen their predicament and doubled back.

Her Elemental Guardian shifted again, this time into its fire-attribute form. One wolf howled in pain as the intense flames engulfed its fur, forcing it to retreat.

But the other massive wolf leapt over its fallen ally and the surrounding flames, its jaws snapping at Kain. Aegis intercepted once again, tackling the beast mid-air. The two tumbled across the ground, locked in a brutal struggle.

Taking advantage of Aegis' advantage in size, it pinned the wolf down, just long enough for both Kain and Serena to move forward and stab the wolf's vital areas.

Not before long, a loud scream rang out as one of the 6-star beast-tamers sensed the loss of his contract. And it was precisely during that moment of vulnerability that Bea struck.

A thin thread of mental energy waiting nearby, concealed by the mist, sprung forward the moment the beast-tamer screamed in pain. Its mental defences were much easier to penetrate during this period.

Now, for the first time, Bea was controlling a 6-star beast-tamer. Kain, still a newly advanced 4-star beast-tamer was actually controlling someone 2 ranks higher than himself.

There was a reason the mental-attribute was so greatly feared by all. Whereas physical and mental defences could be easily established, mental ones are not so easily strengthened naturally or by using equipment. Not to mention any sudden emotional or mental turmoil, such as the loss of a contract, can greatly lower these mental defences and allow an individual weaker than themselves access.

The controlled six-star beast-tamer froze for a split second, then turned on his allies. His remaining contracts hesitated briefly, however as blue-grade spiritual creatures, they weren't foolish. They didn't immediately start attacking their allies and they were aware that their master seemed to be under some kind of terrible mental influence.

'I guess they need a little push…' Kain directed Bea to have the beast-tamer enter the fray directly to attack his allies. And said allies were then forced to attack back in confusion.

Now, even if his contracts knew that this wasn't the normal actions of their master, they also couldn't allow him to be maimed or killed by the other guards who were defending themselves. Although they did their best not to kill the other guards, they were practically out of commission as they all tried to frantically restrict the movements of their contractor and prevent him from attacking others.

Kain and the others were immediately able to breathe easier on the battlefield as all of the 6-star beast-tamer's contract withdrew to guard him.

With their new reprieve, they took the opportunity to kill the majority of the opposing 4 and 5-star guards not yet under their control, as well as their contracts. For the remaining two 6-star guards, they sent the dozens of controlled guards to encircle and attack them. Despite the difference in level, with the debuff provided by Balens to the 6-star guards, which no longer affected the controlled guards as allies, they would eventually be able to kill them.

After all, even an army of ants could bite an elephant to death.

Therefore, Kain and the others focused mostly on cleaning up the numerous hybrids, which had fortunately stopped entering but were still over a dozen in number and ruthlessly attacking the controlled guards.

The hybrids, feral and seemingly inexhaustible, were still the most immediate threat.

Kain's Vespid guards swarmed them, their stingers piercing tough hides and sapping the creatures' strength.

Lina's light-attribute butterfly bolstered the Vespids, its radiant wings forming shields that absorbed heavy blows from the hybrids' claws. Even so, the tide of battle remained precarious due to their presence alone, with the hybrids tearing through several of the controlled guards and leaving their corpses scattered across the battlefield.

Kain had Bea attempt to control them, but appears as though, after all their mental strength shouldn't be very high.

However, it appears as though, in order to ensure that they did not attack the researchers and obeyed commands, something had been implanted into the brains of these 'completed' humanoid weapons. And so controlling them wasn't much easier than attempting to control a 6-star beast-tamer.

Since Bea was ineffective, they moved on to Plan B

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Serena's Starweaver sent an avalanche of starlight arrows, many of which punctured vital points. Her Elemental Guardian, back in its wind form, whipped through the battlefield like a sentient storm. The vortex it created not only immobilized several hybrids but also hurled them into walls and each other with bone-shattering force. Two hybrids collided mid-air, their forms crumpling lifelessly to the ground.

By now, both of the 6-star beast-tamers had also fallen, despite their resistance, they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, so the controlled guards also joined the fray against the hybrids.

Bea directed the controlled guards to deliver coordinated strikes. In a synchronized onslaught, swords, claws, and stingers descended on the hybrids, leaving no survivors.

As the opponent crumpled to the ground, a tense silence settled over the room. The mist from Lina's Shadow Veil Moth began to dissipate, revealing the carnage left behind. Bodies of hybrids and guards alike littered the floor, their blood pooling in the cracks of the stone.

"Is it over?" Lina asked, her voice trembling as she surveyed the aftermath.

Kain looked around instead of answering her. Something was unsettling him.

There were dozens upon dozens of corpses—human, animal, in between—but aside from the two that Kain had discreetly killed when they first entered, all of the dead humans were in guard uniforms.

Most of the researchers were still at large.