Marie and the others furrowed their brows while some muttered under their breath. "A fantasy? You mean she-"

"Right now she's probably dreaming." Mimir said as its golden horns shone from the light. "But this is also a good thing. Instead of waiting for Fenrir to devour all the souls, all you need to do is wake up Martha."

Grans nodded, but his grey eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. "Does killing work as well?"

Mimir tilted its head. "Yes, it does."

Silence descended as no one moved or said anything for a couple of seconds.

Reinhard broke it by turning to Anasha with his hand moving gently through her hair. "We need someone to stay back to look after Anasha while the rest of us go to the Mehko Research Center."

Gran sighed as he crossed the distance between them and placed his hand on Anasha's shoulder. "I'll be able to better protect her with my Beast Spirit Hercules and Vector Path."

Scath blinked. "Huh, I thought you would want to come—"

"I would, but not with Anasha." Gran's expression remained steady. "Out of everyone except Roana, I have the best chance of moving her out of dangerous situations."

Nikki beamed, her crimson hair bouncing as she grinned. "Just admit you don't like seeing kids get hurt, Gran."

Gran glared at Nikki while Marie laughed at the exchange. Anasha giggled, the sound light and genuine despite everything that was happening right now.

"Thank you, Mr. Gran." Anasha says softly.

Gran's expression softened as a faint smile touched his lips. "No problem."

Reinhard crouched down to Anasha's eye level, and his smile came easier now. "Stay with Gran and listen to everything he says, okay?"

Anasha's hands clutched at Reinhard's shirt, bunching the fabric in her fists. "A-Are you guys going to be okay?"

Marie walked over, her hand moving gently through Anasha's long blue hair. "Of course!"

Anasha's frown remained for a second, but then her expression shifted to determination. "Then... Okay! I'll be here waiting for you guys. This is a promise you have to keep!"

Reinhard, Joseph, Marie, Scath, Nikki, and Roana all smiled before nodding their heads.

Then they ran.

…

The clinic door burst open as the six of them landed on the streets before rushing ahead and straight into the chaos.

A Werefang crashed through a building wall to their left, its golden eyes locking on them before rushing at them.

Scath's crimson-purple spear materialized as she pivoted and swung her spear out towards the side. The shaft of her spear smashed into the side of the Werefang before the impact redirected its momentum, sending it crashing into a vendor stall instead of them.

They didn't stop running and left the Werefang behind.

But as they were rushing through the south district, the ground ahead erupted. Black roots burst from the ground, they were thick as tree trunks and rushed out quickly. They shot over, moving through the air and piercing out towards them.

"Split!" Roana's voice cut through the chaos.

They swiftly scattered!

Reinhard dashed to the right just as the root pierced the space where he'd been, piercing through stone. Marie jumped to the left and landed on a fallen beam while Joseph leapt over a root that swept horizontally. Scath slid beneath another on her knees, and Nikki jumped straight up, flames erupting from her feet to carry her over the obstacle.

But then the roots kept coming with more bursting from the ground! Dozens of them, creating a forest of black wood that blocked their path forward.

Roana's hand swept outward with ice shards forming around her and shining. Then she swung her arms, dozens of shards shot forward and cut through some of the roots while sinking into the rest.

Then Roana opens her hands, leading the shards to tremble before bursting out, coating them in frost. The roots trembled as their movements slowed and ice crept along their lengths.

Marie then hurled her spear forward, blasting a hole through the forest, and then the others rushed through the gap.

Then a scream rang out, leading them to see a middle-aged woman running away from a Cheronos and clutching a child. The beast's golden eyes fixed on her with mindless hunger as it quickly closed the distance.

Joseph's lance appeared before he threw it, and the weapon spun before slamming into the Cheronos's side, throwing it off course. It crashed into a building's wall while Joseph's hand extended, and the lance vanished before reforming in his grip.

"Run!" Marie shouted at the woman. "Get inside! Find shelter!"

The woman didn't need to be told twice as she clutched her child tighter and sprinted toward an open doorway.

Roana then created an ice wall around the building wall and then the open doorway before they kept running.

After a bit, they saw a City Guard fly past them from a Bear-Terrow, swiping at them. He crashed into rubble with a sickening impact while the Bear-Terror turned to them and rushed towards them.

Reinhard's foot came down with the third black spot on his right hand shining before a purple-black energy erupted from the impact point. The gravity well formed instantly, pulling the Bear-Terror's charge off-balance. Its massive bulk stumbled, paws struggling for stability as gravity bent around Reinhard's position.

He released the pull and activated the push.

The Bear-Terror was thrown backward, rushing across the street away from them before smashing into the wall.

But then more roots erupted ahead, these ones blooming with massive black flowers. The petals opened, revealing centers that glowed with sickly light, and spores began drifting from them in thick clouds of golden particles.

"Don't breathe it!" Scath shouted.

They rushed around the flowers and quickly outran the spores, but a Phane City Beast Master Guard wasn't as lucky. She ran through the spore cloud, but three steps later, her legs gave out as she collapsed to the ground, and her hands clawed at her throat.

They couldn't help but stop, but that didn't stop the frustration from appearing on their face as they continued moving.

They then saw two Tonothus bulls charging down the street ahead and directly in their path. Their horns lowered, black-plated hooves thundering against stone. Behind them, three Phane City Guards gave chase with their shields manifested and were trying to chase after the beast.

"Through the alley!" Roana pointed.

They cut right, squeezing into a narrow passage between buildings. The walls pressed close on both sides with debris of broken wood, shattered glass, and stone littering the ground.

But then they saw a Bumbodusk blocking the alley's far end. Its massive bulk filled the space completely, and its golden eyes glared at them as it began charging. But Longinus appeared in Marie's hand before the spear glowed with a terrifying light, and then Marie thrusted forward.

A pillar of golden-white light erupted from the spear's tip, illuminating the entire alley. The beam struck the Bumbodusk square in its face, throwing its head back with explosive force and piercing through it.

They ran past the bleeding Phantasm Beast.

As they ran, more roots continued erupting at irregular intervals. Some thrust upward, others swept horizontally, a few even dropped from buildings where they'd climbed walls.

The group dodged, weaved, jumped, and slid; they were in constant motion to avoid being impaled.

And when roots appeared with spores near them. Roana would create ice walls, or Nikki flames would burst out to burn away the spores, both creating a pocket of clean air around them.

Then, as the roots burned, a Bone Wyvern crashed down ahead. Its twenty-foot frame smashed through a building's roof, sending debris cascading across the street. Bone armor plates gleamed as it turned toward them, wings spreading wide.

Scath's spear transformed and became a crimson-purple bow. She drew back a string that appeared with the transformation before releasing, and then the arrow split apart, turning from one to double and then multiplying to dozens.

They rained down on the wyvern's wings, puncturing through its wings and drawing shrieks of rage.

The wyvern narrowed its eyes at Scath before lunging at her just as Reinhard's hand moved and the shadows around trembled.

Black spears erupted from every shadow around the wyvern, beneath debris, along building walls, in the darkness of its own shadow. They pierced through bone armor, finding gaps, and pinning the beasts in place.

They ran past while it thrashed.

The street opened into a wider plaza where bodies lay scattered.

They saw guards, Beast Masters, and civilians caught in the chaos. Some were moving weakly while others didn't move at all, making all of them frown, but they kept moving.

A group of Phane City Beast Master Guards fought in formation against five Autumn Deer. Ice spears materialized and shot forward, and darkness crackled between fingers before striking out.

Walls of spears erupted from the ground to block antler strikes, but the deer's intelligence showed they were coordinated.

"Keep going!" Roana's voice carried command. "We can't stop for every fight!"

They skirted the battle's edge, giving both sides room.

The chaotic pattern continues to repeat with more roots, more beasts, more beast masters, and more civilians.

They crossed from the Southern District through rubble-filled streets, burning buildings, collapsed buildings, and smoke rising up in the air. The Central District was far worse, with Phantasm Beasts fighting each other as often as they attacked people.

Roots had transformed entire streets into impassable forests, and flowers bloomed everywhere, their spores creating a golden haze that obscured vision.

A City Guard with two diamonds grabbed Marie's shoulder as they ran past. "Don't go north! It's a death trap!"

Marie nodded, but they kept running north anyway since they had no choice.

They jumped over a crater where some massive attack had torn through the street. Dodged around a collapsed building that still burned and slid beneath roots that swept overhead.

The Northern District appeared through the smoke with buildings here showing less damage initially, but that changed rapidly.

Fresh roots burst from the ground with increasing frequency, with more flowers blooming, and the density of both increased with each street they crossed.

Then they saw it.

The massive towering roots that were thick as ancient trees, reaching toward the sky like grasping fingers. They twisted around each other, formed a trunk, and climbed higher than any building in Phane City.

At the top was a massive black flower that was closed, easily a hundred feet across.

The Mehko Research Center, or what remained of it, lay at the roots' base as the building had split down the middle, the two halves pushed apart by the tree's emergence.

And somewhere in there, Martha dreamed.

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