The Hybrids stared in collective horror.

Before the blasted ruin of the castle chamber, something unnatural, and abominable, rose before them. Something that shouldn't have existed.

It crawled from the remains of their cloned enemies. Now it stood like a twisted idol, half rabbit, half lizard. White fur clumped against reptilian scales. One huge ear flopped against a ridged neck. The creature's muzzle tapered into a sickly snout, rows of stained teeth jutting outward. Its eyes glowed a feverish yellow. A ragged hiss escaped its parted jaws.

Hoplax Wildmancer, LVL 90

HP: 1300/1300

Klax clenched his fists. His breath came in shallow bursts. Muscles stood out against his forearms. Sweat slicked his brow. He had never fought anything like this. Tara hovered behind him, staff trembling in her grip. Across from them, Lamphrey—tall, lean, and resolute—lifted her hands. Pale runes flickered around her fingers. Magic sparked at her palms. She was ready to cast, ready to fight.

Tara swallowed hard. She smelled the stench of rotting meat. It drifted from the monster's fur and scales, thick and nauseating. Drops of dark saliva dripped from its mouth. Each drop sizzled on the floor. A hush fell over the group.

"Haylock…fucking sadistic prick…" she growled, tensing up, feeling the balls of her feet quiver for the first time since she'd been in this nightmare hole.

She wanted to run, then. More than anything, seeing her own kind molested and manipulated like this was too much to bear.

But before them all, and the abomination that roared down at them, one Hybrid marched up to the front of the line.

"He wants us to be afraid," Fauna said. "That's what he does. Can't you feel it?"

The others looked at her. She kept her gaze locked on the beast. It roared and shook its grotesque limbs, but she stood firm. She stood taller than her comrades had ever seen her stand before.

Behind them all, Lamphrey grinned.

"He's been watching us this whole time," Fauna said, refusing to back down in the face of the abomination. "He wants to see us struggle and cry out in pain. He wants to see us lose our resolve because it makes him happy. That's why he stays in this place. He likes being in control."

Tara blinked through confusion as Fauna turned back to them, a fire burning in her breast. It was like she was seeing her old friend for the first time in a very, very long while.

"Are we going to give him what he wants? Or are we going to tear through this beast and then make him pay for what he's done?"

Tara gave her the answer she was looking for: "Let's kick this thing's ass, Faun."

The monstrosity roared again. It lunged forward.

Klax met it head-on. His fists crashed against an arm covered in coarse fur. The creature barely flinched. Klax gasped. His knuckles felt like they had struck iron. The beast lashed a tail that slapped him back. He staggered back to recover, feeling searing pain radiate up his ribs.

Lamphrey's eyes narrowed. She chanted quickly, voice echoing off the walls. Her runes erupted into a swirling helix of black-and-red flame. She hurled the spell at the creature's chest. The hybrid turned to face her. Its scales rippled. In a heartbeat, the fire sank into its hide. Not a single scorch mark remained. Fauna saw shock flash across Lamphrey's face. That spell should have left a gaping hole.

Instead, the monstrosity only grew more agitated. Its rabbit ear twitched in agitation, and it swung a clawed arm at Lamphrey. She dove aside, landing on her knees. Dust billowed around her. Tara raised her staff high, summoning a swirl of blue light. She launched a barrage of ice shards, each as sharp as a dagger. The shards pelted the monster's chest. They vanished the moment they struck flesh.

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The once immense power stuttered and died. Their magic was gone, devoured by the thing's twisted body. But Fauna wasn't to be deterred. She tried her own approach: a burst of nature magic. A rush of green light flowed from her fingertips. Thick vines shot toward the beast's neck. The vines wrapped tight—then dissolved in an instant. The creature snarled, its ridged back convulsing. Muscles tightened with gory vigor.

"Klax!" she screamed. "Knock this thing down!"

The Lycae gave a feral grin.

"With pleasure, Miss."

He recovered his balance and lunged again, fists swinging low. He aimed for the creature's underbelly. His strikes thumped against scaled plates. It felt like punching solid rock. The beast slammed him against a shattered statue. Klax groaned, pain flooding his ribs. Tara cried out, voice trembling with fear. She tried to pull him away. The creature's tail lashed again, forcing her back.

"It's consuming our spells," Lamphrey warned. Her voice shook with quiet horror. "Every bit of magic is feeding it." She rose to her feet, hands clenched. Sweat stained her robes. She threw a wary glance at Fauna.

"We have no way through," Tara breathed. She pressed herself to the wall, staff trembling. Her eyes traced the horrid patchwork: fur merging with scales, twitching ears, gnarled claws. It made her stomach twist. "Fucker's unstoppable."

"Nothing's…unstoppable!"

Fauna fought the terror with every fiber of her body. She formed a last, desperate incantation. Wisps of green coiled around her wrists. Her vision blurred from exertion. She let the spell fly, a shimmering orb of natural force. It struck the creature's chest and vanished on contact, leaving no scar.

Chunks of broken stone rattled underfoot. Dust floated in heavy motes. The corridor lights flickered. Fauna could smell her own fear, sharp and cold. Nothing they did worked. Every strike, spell, or summons vanished into the creature's hide. It was a living void. The monstrous shape stalked forward, drool stretching in gruesome threads from its jaw.

Klax tried a raw uppercut. His fist crashed into the creature's chin. There was an instant of tension, knuckles pressed against crooked teeth. Then the hybrid snapped its jaws shut. Klax yanked his arm back just in time, a fresh gash opening on his wrist. He cursed under his breath, fists trembling. The beast licked blood from its fangs.

Lamphrey's chest heaved. She tried another spell, lips moving in frantic prayer. This time, shards of dark metal formed around her. She launched them with a cry. Each spike melted into the creature's body. It twitched, spasmed, then looked almost stronger. Lamphrey's eyes widened. She backed away, stumbling over loose debris.

"It resists," she said. "It draws energy from somewhere deeper within this place. It appears your bravery has been heard, Hopla. The creature is enhanced."

Fauna grit her teeth.

"Call me – FAUNA!"

She sent a pulse of electrified energy through her enchanted vines, bringing the creature to its knees. It sent a trail of spittle from its gyrating double-mouths, its hollow eyes fixed on the Hopla who struggled beneath it.

"I – I won't give in," Fauna told its snarling face. "I – I – we won't!"

Everyone around her watched in stunned silence as the creature began to bloat beyond proportions. It was welling up, feeding on every fibre of magical energy Fauna was sending through the vines that kept it bound.

"She's feeding it," Tara whispered. "Faun! You can't –"

Lamphrey held her back before she could rush forward. A sly grin spread across her face.

"Do you distrust your Sister so much, Minxit?" the lizardwoman asked. "She has more guile than first sight betrays."

Tara looked questioning at the Tialax's dark grin and then back at Fauna. The Hoplax abomination was beginning to reach the very roof of the room now, its body welling up so that its limbs were nothing but dangling threads at its side at this point.

"She's…she's letting it grow…so that –"

A rush of air swept passed her before she could finish her thought. It seemed that Klax had realized exactly what she just had.

"One balloon popping coming right up!" the Lycae howled as he charged his fists with fire and leaped for the beast's heaving, gelatinous chest.

Klax managed to dodge the mana-embued spittle that the creature spewed at him as it grappled with Fauna. Meanwhile, Tara leaped to help her friend keep her footing.

The wolfman let out a clamorous battle cry – one that resounded through the whole dark interior of the nightmare-realm – and let his attack fly.

But not before Fauna noticed something unusual about the Hoplax's reaction.

The eyes of the beast were suddenly aglow with spectral energy, both its sockets emanating a strange mix of purple and green hues that flickered on and off like some kind of…

No.

The thought consumed Fauna as she Appraised the beast's swollen belly:

Mana Discharge (Rank S) Activated.

"N-!"

In the moment Klax surged to deliver his fiery punch, the beast's entire bloody carcass deflated and sagged, releasing a miasma of mana that spread out like a billowing flower of death.

"Lamphrey!" Fauna urged. "Shields, no-!"

But the Hopla's shrieked command was swallowed as all light left the room. The stained windows fell apart – disintegrating at the touch of so much built up mana - and the very foundations of the entire prison-castle shook with the power of the mana-burst.

She could only hope that her command had been heard in time.

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