It Takes a Monster to Kill Beasts

____________________PARADOX's POV___________________

I looked down to the place that once had a beautiful mansion sitting on it. It was now replaced with chaos and ruin. The large home was no longer seen. What was now sitting on it was an enormous crater with flames still burning in some areas. There were no signs of a large scale war here. The bodies of the decay were burned to ashes.

"Let's head out…" I commanded everyone.

"What about the rest?" Jaden asked.

"We'll find a way to communicate and tell them where we're heading." I replied.

"How?" Lovely asked.

The truth is, I really don't know. The plan in the previous jump was to gather in the Mansion before the calamity happens and work from there. But the some of our teammates didn't come. The calamity already came and the mansion was destroyed. This made me wonder. What happened to the rest of the team? Why couldn't they make it?

"I don't know… But we'll definitely find a way." I answered.

"I have a way…" Grimm said.

A wave of wind washed over us as Grimm jumped from the ground to the mountain side. He then pointed one of his hands over the crater and started firing a laser like beam to the ground. After he was done he then jumped back to where we were before firing another beam on the walls of the mountains.

He was writing a message!

He wrote the same message in all of the sides of the mountain and when I checked the ground, he wrote the same message. It read, 6882278711 4323 86 252752. At first, we didn't understand what it said, but when we looked closer, we realize that he used the cellphone's keypad as a code. Now we understood that it says, "Outcasts, head to Alaska." Knowing that our friends would understand this, we boarded the plane and took off.

The flight to Alaska was really silent. Shadow and Shine were asleep, Lovely, Kaizer, and Jaden were meditating and were starting their cultivation. George was at one of the dark corners of the plane, cleaning an M14A Rifle. Grimm was piloting the plane while Ash was beside him in the co-pilot seat. I on the other hand was sitting and thinking as to how I can become stronger in the fastest way possible. Toni sat beside me and leaned on my shoulder. After a month of giving me the cold shoulder, she finally started to give me attention. Finally! Wooh!

"So… why were you so cold to me this past month?" I asked in a whisper

She looked at me with those tender eyes. Her eyes were bright brown and it gave you a warm feeling. Toni might act as if she was a tomboy but she could also be the most adorable being you could ever meet.

"I don't want to talk about it…" She said as she rested her chin on my shoulder.

I was now staring at her, slowly getting lost in her eyes. For me, she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and she was mine.

"Come on… you've been distant… and cold… and harsh… and to be honest, that was really painful…" I tried persuading her.

"Painful?! Try waking up one day and you realize that you were together with the worst guy on the planet!" Toni yelled.

"You... I-I'm sorry…" I said in a low volume.

"Don't be!" She yelled as she stood up.

Toni was walked towards one corners of the plane. She was obviously furious about it. Everyone was already looking at me. Even the people who were sleeping were now awake after the commotion. What did I do? I can never understand women.

*sigh*

I then walked towards Grimm maybe it'll do me good. I really don't want to be so unfocused at this point.

"Girl trouble?" Grimm asked

"Like you would know…" I retorted.

Grimm raised his eyebrows at me and smirked. This smug little dude is mocking me. I know that at his age, he was sought after by many women. Some were after the money and others for his looks. But he never had a girlfriend before since he was too focused in helping out the company.

"Whatever… Just drive…" I said

"Yeah… yeah… mister lover boy." He said mockingly.

"Are we almost there?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're about to hit land soon. Better get the others ready." He answered.

I gave him a nod before heading to the back of the plane. There I saw that everyone was now getting ready. Wow! I didn't even need to tell them what to do. They had the initiative to prepare without any orders from me.

"Listen up!" I said trying to grab their attention. They were now looking at me with expectant eyes.

"We're almost at our second base. But we don't know what's waiting for us." I said.

It's true! Dad gave us the assurance that we had a base. But who would think that the place would be empty at this point in time Humans and Zombies weren't the only ones to look out for in this world. Even animals were a problem. Remember that everything in this world was affected by the shards. In the previous jump, we found out that Bigfoot existed and the megalodon was not extinct. Now who was to say that Yetis don't exist or other creatures as well. The decay might not be a threat in the cold but the animals and other creatures were. Especially in an animal infested place.

"Take your weapons and ready them. Grimm and Ash will take the front. Nine, Fairy, you guys cover us. Everyone else, stay vigilant. I don't want anyone else to die. Do you understand?" I gave my orders.

Everyone responded with a loud yes as some nodded.

"Dox… we're almost there… and we have company… BIG company…" Grimm reported.

I looked out to through the window and was now trembling of what I saw in front of the entrance to our cave. A sleuth of bears was sleeping outside our base. They were blocking our landing spot at the base of the mountain. There were about 50 of them. The numbers didn't concern me. What scared me was their size. Thanks to the power of the shards, they were now 4 times bigger than their normal size.

"What do we do now?" Jaden asked.

I looked at everyone. They were disappointed but they knew that this was going to happen sooner or later. Though we loved killing the decay, we were not too happy in killing animals. In order to survive killing was necessary especially in the previous jump. But in terms of killing animals, we only did it when it was our last resort.

"We have no choice…" I said in a sad tone.

Everybody was now silent. I get it. This won't be easy, but the moment we fly over to them, the noise will wake them up. And we knew what they were capable of. The bears can jump as high as 20 feet in the air. And with their size, they could probably grab and wrestle the jet. We had no choice. We had to exterminate them.

"Ash… Grimm… want to take one for the team? You're the only ones who can kill them as swiftly as possible so they won't feel anything." Kaizer asked

Both Ash and Grimm were now gloomier than ever. There was a heavy atmosphere present. We couldn't bear the thought of killing these creatures.

"I might have a way… But just in case… Nine, you're coming with me." Ash said.

After an extensive deliberation, we decided to go with Ash's plan. Grimm directed the plane to the entrance of the cave while putting it on stealth mode. The plane was now invisible but was still a little bit noisy as it approached the sleuth of bears who were sound asleep on the ground.

"The bears are not responding to the jet. I guess it's safe to jump off." Lovely said

"Not yet. We can't be sure of that yet." I told Lovely and I gave a nod to Ash and Nine.

They both jumped of the jet and landed 20 meters away from the bears. As if it was cued, the bears started to stand up and then they slowly approached the two of them. It was like they were stalking their prey.

"They were playing dead! We have to get them both out of there!" Kaizer panicked.

"No! Wait for my cue!" I ordered

"What are you waiting for Dox?! They'll be mauled by those things!" Toni said

"Wait… I trust Ash's plan." I insisted

"Uhhh… guys…" Shine called us

"You might wanna pull them back now…" Shadow finished.

When we looked at the bears, we slowly began to panic. The bears were now howling and growling, but the most terrifying part is how they looked like. The sizes of the bear's mouths were enormous! Once they opened it, their jaws would reach their chest. It was enough to swallow an entire person in one bite!

"What now Boss?!" Jaden was starting to panic as well.

But I didn't answer and looked at Ash as she summoned her gauntlets. Nine was behind him with a rifle on his hand and two rifles were on his back. Around his waist were a set of magazine bullets ready to be used anytime.

Just then, the stalking bears began to run towards the both of them at a terrifying speed. The bears didn't accelerate but they just dashed. These were no bears… They were monsters!

Not only are they smart, they are also agile and experienced. It was as if this wasn't their first hunt. They encircled Nine and Ash, putting them in the middle of the sleuth of bears. This bears were not ordinary. They were evolved and had gained intelligence through the power of the shards.

They were now done trapping their prey and were heading towards them at top speed. The bears were closing in towards Nine and Ash fast.

Only 10 meters left…

They'd better do something to stop these hungry beasts otherwise they'd be on today's menu!

"Get out of there!" Toni yelled.

I was still betting on the plan while everyone was already losing it.

Only 5 meters left!

Just then, Ash raised her hands in the air and clenched her fist. Just before the first bear was about to chow on Nine, Ash slammed her fists on the ground creating a shockwave that blasted all the beasts away. Even the trees around them were blown away. The bears that didn't see it coming were still on the ground. The rest got back on their feet and headed straight to the source of the power. They were still not willing to give up on their meal.

Before they could even get near her, Ash threw a fist in the air. The bears stopped as they felt the ground tremble. Before they knew it, large vines rose from the ground and began to tangle the bears binding them.

"Alright! Way to go Ash!" Jaden cheered excitedly

Everyone else was also excited about what was happening. The bears were not pleased though. They stopped struggling and looked towards the sky and they screeched. Yes… you heard me. They… Screeched… I know bears don't do that, but that's what they did.

"That can't be good…" Shine said.

"Guys! Less talking, more escaping please?!" Ash complained

From the looks of it, she was having a hard time suppressing the group of bears. This is looking bad for us. The team jumped of the plane as soon as Grimm flew the plane into the cave. Nine was now rushing towards the cave's entrance as well. Without thinking too much, we then readied our guns and pointed them towards the bears. If this breaks, we wouldn't be so dumb as to think that these are still creatures of the earth. They were beasts. And no beast should live after they try to attack one of our own.

"Get ready to fire! Ash! Get ready to retreat! We'll cover you!" I instructed

*GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!*

"What in the world was that?!" Shadow yelled in panic

"I don't know… but I think we're going to find out…" Lovely said

From a distance, two large dark figures were making its way towards the cave. It was bigger than the 20 feet bears that were with us.

*GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!*

"You just had to say that…" Nine said.

"You speak?!" Shine exclaimed

The rest were too distracted with the growl that they weren't able to react to Nine's reaction. The figures were now getting bigger. Soon two 40 feet bears that had three other mouths all over their bodies were now in front of us.

"What… is that?" Kaizer asked

"I'm not waiting to find out… Ash! Get out of there!" I shouted

Ash then stopped binding the other bears and began running towards us.

"FIRE!"

After I ordered everyone, we then pulled our trigger to cover for Ash as she was heading for cover. To our surprise, our bullets had no effect to these monsters. It just bounced off of them.

"Mid-tier… these are mid-tier animals…" Kaizer reacted

"You've got to be kidding me… this early in the apocalypse?" I questioned

"Weren't they discovered during the third year of the apocalypse?" Toni asked

"You saw the renegades… the timeline is changing fast…" Jaden answered

She's actually right. The wave of zombies in the mansion, the renegades and now, these bears, the time line is changing. And it's changing fast.

*GRAAAAAAAAAH!*

The growl made us jump out of our skin. We were now scared beyond our imagination as we were powerless against these beasts. Mid-tier… and the bigger one was probably a high-tier beast. We were bound to be doomed.

There were 4 different tiers that we discovered in the previous jump: low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier and king-tier beasts. Low-tiered beasts were animals that survived the shards and had not yet evolved into their beast forms. They were pretty easy to hunt and kill. These animals' meat was still edible.

Mid-tiered beasts were the evolved version of the low-tier beasts. They were not hunted simply because they were not easy to kill. Normal weapons could not penetrate them and their meat was poisonous as well so there was no benefit in hunting them. Only summoned weapons could kill them. These creatures were also smart and coupled with their instincts, they were dangerous.

Next were the high-tiered beasts that were very deadly. Summoned weapons can barely damage them. A survivor needed to have at least one killing skill to kill one of these beasts. High-tier beasts were very smart, and can think and assess the situation carefully. They would respond to the attackers depending on how they attack them.

Last were king-tiered beasts. What makes survivors cower in fear was their ability to become impenetrable that even summoned weapons could not damage them. These were the king-tiered beasts. They were very ugly and were not recognizable. The worst part was that they can think like humans which make the gold layer cultivators run for their lives.

"Grimm! Get your ass here and help us!" I shouted through our comms

"Not now Paradox! I'm having trouble landing this thing! It won't fit the area!" He retorted

"Make it fit! Otherwise our sister will end up dying!" I yelled

"Enough both of you!" Toni and Lovely said at the same time.

Suddenly, one of the mid-tier bears slammed the ground causing Ash to stumble. Another bear then headed for her direction ready to swipe its claws towards her body. And with an Iron Layer Cultivator clashing against a mid-tiered beast, she would definitely break in an instant!

My mind went blank as time began to slow down again.

"Ahhh… it's always like this when something bad is about to happen, right?" I thought

"Maybe it's best to just die for good now…" I said.

*DING!*

[Shard's System Activated]

"What was that? Who said that?" I thought

[Analysis Complete. Does the host want to use 10,000 blood points to progress to the Bronze Layer of Cultivation?]

"Who are you? What are you?" I asked the robotic sounding female voice in my head

[I am the host's shard system]

"That's impossible! The crystal's system would be activated when a survivor reaches the Diamond Layer of Cultivation. And even if it did activate now, it wouldn't be able to talk." I retorted

[The shard's system has merged with the brain of the host due to the excessive use of external machines.]

"External machines? Do you mean the Mind jump device?" I asked

[Affirmative. The more the host will use these external machines, the more the system gains more intelligence.]

"Then if you get smarter, would you take over my head too? Would you make me one of the decay?!" I tried to ask. That would be bad for me. This means I shouldn't use the mind jump device anymore.

[Negative. The aim of the shard's system is to give the best support for the host.]

"How will I know if you are telling the truth?" I continued to interrogate.

[I was activated because of the host's desire to save a comrade. Right now, the host has 10,000 blood points obtained from killing corrupted shard users. If the host used this now, you will automatically be a Bronze Cultivator. Would the host proceed with this action?]

"What corrupted shard users? Do you mean the decay? And this doesn't prove that you're telling the truth!" I yelled in my thoughts

[System Analysis Complete. If the host does not respond now, the host's comrade will die. The system suggest to "take a leap of faith" for now in order to save the host's comrade. If the host is not satisfied with the analysis of the system, then the system will not offer future battle assessments.]

"Crap!"

If I give myself up to this system, I might turn into one of the decay, but if I don't do this, Ash might die! I can't let that happen and I can't also turn into a zombie. What do I do? I'm really caught in a dilemma here! Aaaaaah!

---- Moments before Ash was attacked----

"What are we going to do now Boss?" Shine asked in a worried tone

"Grimm! Get your ass here and help us!" I shouted at our comms

"Not now Paradox! I'm having trouble landing this thing! It won't fit the area!" He retorted

"Make it fit! Otherwise our sister will end up dying!" I yelled

"Enough both of you!" Toni and Lovely said at the same time.

"Someone help Ash! She's going to get killed!" Kaizer commanded

Just before someone was about to run and help her, Ash fell down and was about to be mauled when suddenly a blue light flashed before everybody's eyes. The next thing they saw were the bears that surrounded Ash beginning to fall to the ground lifeless.

"What just happened?" Toni asked

No one knew what happened but fear filled everybody's hearts. Even the mutated bears started to retreat a little. Killing intent was felt throughout the air as rays of blue light were emitting from one place.

When the dust cleared, everyone was shocked with what they saw.

"No… way…" Lovely said

"What? Who is that?" Jaden asked

"It can't be…" Nine said

Glowing light was emanating in the air. There were sparks coming from the figure that was standing in front of them. The ice that once surrounded the person was evaporating into the air giving a smoke like effect to where it was standing. It seemed so glorious.

"Are you a monster?" Ash asked to the being that was in front of her.

"That's rude little sis… well I can't argue with you on that…"

I started walking towards the horde of bears and placed my weapon on my shoulders. Even the weapon was emitting killing intent and sparks were coming out of it.

"It takes a monster to kill beasts." I told her.

________________________END OF CHAPTER__________________________________