Euphoric Escape XV.

September 30th, 2022. Reconstruction continued in the Evolutionary Capital, peacefully. Amid the chaotic battlefield, no one was special. At any random time and in any random place, anyone could die. Their monstrous fangs tore apart at warrior's ribs, fleshy threads snapping as the torso was disconnected from the chest. Crushing the tumbling head dirtied by blood, a rushing centaur wielding two curved cleavers, the monster's eyes aimed solely at that man.

In a bloody center with mutilated carcasses surrounding his feet, Azazel's Blackened Blade sliced a pouncing beast in two. Gore defiling his shoulders and blood splattering his face, Karlo clicked his teeth then swat away at entrails swathing his attire. But after that, he didn't waste any more time. Instead, he turned right around, and cut away at a wolf's nails from the middle, leaving the beast to whine before their head was reduced to shreds. The only remaining piece was their dismembered snout to the front of his foot.

"How disgusting. To think such hideous things like you could dare to challenge a superior like me," Azazel watched as the stampeding centaur charged his way, starting to stand, "Every single one of you has such a funny face."

But before the metals could clash and steel could begin to spark, the centaur was instantly decapitated by a beast's flying claws. Slick with her enemy's blood, Kima pet her darling familiar, waving to Azazel from above.

"Sorry, Detective Karlo!! Better luck next time!"

Her voice receded. The wings of the beast produced another flap, and she sped through the sky. She caught the sight of Hybrid warriors caught off guard by animalistic fangs chomping on their necks. Tearing them apart from the outside to reveal their scarlet innards littering the dirty battlefield, their mutilated corpses fell to the ground with unhinged jaws and lifeless eyes.

"Ah... war is such a terrible thing. I'll avenge you, I swear it!" Kima clapped her hands together, copying a prayer.

Not only did her aura reveal itself, taking form in a blaze wildly contorting, but from the shadow of her spirit, she summoned a beast unlike any seen before. A raging monster not unlike the Remnants they were slaughtering with hulking fists composed of stone and an immense roar leading peasant Hybrids to cover their ears.

It jumped from the shadow it emerged from, crashing its fists into the faces of the bestial predators, sending their heads off their shoulders, then even dislocating arms from their bodies. Needless to say, it was nothing more than a mindless beast with murder on its mind. Unhinging its peak, a spiraling fireball manifested, absorbing the energy throughout the air... the senseless violence, the sorrowful cries, the endless bloodshed. All factors that played into this distorted sphere garnering hate, the power accumulating so slowly but surely before her pointer aimed at those poor souls transfigured to mimic the shape of monsters.

Burrowing a hole into the ground once the incarnated hatred properly landed, Kim covered her eyes and started to descend as those nearby started to disintegrate. The winged beast she sat on whimpering at their nails ashing, one whistle from its commander and it retreated easily.

Some distance away, a kick sent a Remnant monster aside. Ducking under a clawed swipe, she spun around while crouched, Convergence glistening. But what she expected to be a recovering enemy planning their following attack was someone slamming their fist exactly down onto her head. Suddenly, thunder roared through the purple sky, and she'd vanished. The next thing the beast knew, its head was gone, then falling over, victim to the might of Convergence's improvements.

"Easy!" She affirmed, but just before she could rest... a charge was heard.

Snapping her head, a werewolf clad in archer's attire manifested a blackened arrow, just about to pull the darkened bow, June's body started to spark. Momentarily drenched in a green light, before she could zip away and end her enemy's life, it was dealt with. The ground beneath the canine's feet was demolished, then it magically reformed. Spikes replacing the dirt to have stabbed through the canine's flesh, brain through the chin. Stepping out from the concealing shadows, Natalia leaned against her victim's corpse and smirked.

"Was wondering where you were! Thought you said you got my back!" June said, turning away.

"Didn't I just save you?" Natty asked, slipping down the upper grove and then landing right beside her white-haired ally.

Noticing a cut over her shoulder, Smith's hand halted her movements and started to reform the wound, stitching the skin together as good as new. Moaning as her hand was pulled away, June looked to her friend and beamed.

"You're the best!" She praised; throwing her weight onto Nat, arms yanking the woman into a tight embrace by entangling her neck.

"A-ah... June, is this the time to be hugging?" Natalia asked while her actions proved her hypocrisy, hugging her back while uncontrollably blushing.

"It is not," A masculine voice intruded, instantly splitting them apart.

Now standing beside one another, June withholding a laugh, Azazel came marching down. Carrying his Blade over his shoulder as he slipped in front of them both, Karlo stared off into the distant chaos of the ongoing war.

"A few weeks ago, I never thought we'd make this much progress in a single day. By the end of the day after tomorrow, we should be going on clean-up," Azazel said.

"Clean-up? Isn't that what we're doing right now?" Natalia asked.

"Nope! Clean-up refers to an independent group activity where individuals are split into groups and sent into households to annihilate docile Remnants. Not all of 'em are violent, ya kno-!"

June's bubbly clarification was interrupted. The trio turned their heads turn toward the origin of the rumbling. That far scenery of a shrouding cloud of black, Karlo's instincts dared to take over.

"The hell's that?!" Natalia loudly asked.

"No idea! But if it's strong enough to make quakes like those with only one attack, who knows what they'll be able to do with multiple? Let's-"

This time, Azazel was interrupted. Not by another rumbling but rather, a feminine voice they instantly recognized. Perching her beast onto the corpse-riddled ground in front of them all, Kima appeared atop the winged creature.

"Hop on!" She loudly demanded.

Without any other choices, they immediately obeyed and joined her on the beast's back. Being the closest one, June held onto Kim's waist then peered over her shoulder. White markings appeared over Convergence, marking the appearance of Eternal Sight. How vast she could see to peer through the mist, witnessing the truth, so chaotic and barren in its occurrence. She couldn't help but gasp.

"I know. It's kinda horrible, isn't it? Even I didn't know... I had this much power."

The epicenter of the blast expanded for miles and showed no sign of stopping. Eventually, the dust settled, and the truth was revealed. The battlefield they'd fought on had turned to snow, their allies imprisoned in impenetrable shells, and their enemies rendered to mere ashes; dust flowing in the wind. The speed of the beast braked, taking time for it, too, to admire its handiwork laid bare below.

"We can't end up the same as Callum Rivers... how are we gonna tell Dad about this?" June asked.

"We'll figure it out somehow. But, when we do, I'll take the fall for it," Azazel said.

"Sir--" Kima objected.

"No, Kima, there will be no sirs here. I shouldn't have let you go too far without checking your power. This was all my fault. We lost good men today. But, at the very least... we accomplished something."

In the epicenter of the Remnant World, formerly known as Manhattan, all the Remnant monsters were vanquished, but at a price. All Hybrid warriors battling on the ground were cryogenically frozen, killing them instantly.

Ultimately, the beast's claws carefully perched onto the slippery ground, allowing their passengers to step off. And now, angled so carefully beside each other, they gazed. There were no bypassing avians with soothing chirps jerking their slumbering bodies in the morning to consciousness. That sentimentality was crushed, trampled on by one action. Lives were taken here. And though it might've been painless, it could've been avoided, no doubt.

What was once a land riddled with monsters lurking in every corner had now been deserted. The spoils of war now riddled the plain, staring them straight in the eyes, a reminder of their victory. That sorrowing look their faces held wasn't enough, for the first one to turn was the perpetrator herself. She seemed to guide her chimera companion by an imaginary leash, lessening the distance between her and home with every passing step. June and Natalia followed suit, calling Azazel to pursue. So, he did, but not without taking one final look upon the icy wasteland, then to Kima's back, her purple tips swaying in this stagnating air.

'Kima is different from her father. She's capable of truly being cold-hearted. I'm sure August would be proud to see it, the potential of his students laid bare.

But with it spread so far before him, I can't help but feel even he'd shudder at this disturbing scenery.'

To Be Continued.