"[Enter, Shihon]."

Wasting absolutely no time, Liohime Kitagami recognized the importance of ensuring that the mission was to be completed, and decided to summon his Magical Beast Girl.

Crawling out of the void portal that opened below the ground, the monstrous entity in her beast form had finally made her long-awaited return.

With her large, furry body that was also covered with vines and foliage, along with her two massive black horns and her fanged-filled mouth, she entered while crouching close to Liohime's body, growling under her breath as she awaited orders.

Barely managing to spot a shadow skipping past at the corner of his eye, Liohime could tell that more than one stalker was present, and the harsh imagination of being cornered by a multitude of Killcount or Dalquestis members was engrained into his mind. There would be no way that they could retrieve the Magical Best egg like this, unless…

"Run, Jolene. Go and get that egg by yourself."

"W-What!?"

"It's either you fighting these guys by yourself, or me and my Magical Beast doing the job, and I think we'd take enough time to hold them off while you go and get what we have to get. It's the only way, Jolene!"

Although they continued to whisper to each other, Liohime's tone suddenly grew even more serious, emphasizing what was at stake.

They could not mess this up, not when they were at the last stretch.

Clicking her tongue in frustration, Jolene paused, but then nodded, and darted off stealthily, while Liohime drew all attention to him.

"I know that you guys are here, you know!" he yelled out, while propping his back against Shihon's body and folding his arms. "I'm not fucking stupid, so show yourselves already!!"

Silence returned for a few seconds, and the young man furrowed his brows, with his anticipation high, until…

"Ugh! Why the fuck are we still hiding if he knows we're here!! Hey, handsome, it's me again, oink!!"

"Melty, you dumbass!!!"

A young woman's voice had responded, followed by groans, sighs and an angry retort.

And, he instantly recognized that voice.

Oh, great.

Finally, the ambushers revealed themselves slowly, as they all encircled him while he casually leaned against his partner who snarled back at them.

"Melty, Poly, and Koro. The Piglet Squad," Liohime muttered out, gazing at the trio who stood before the multitude that had joined them.

"Correct!" answered Melty with a cheerful grin, while Poly rolled her eyes and continued, "We're here with the main army of Dalquestis and Killcount. There's almost twenty of our strongest men and women here, so we suggest that you surrender immediately, before we resort to killing you."

"Seriously? You brought twenty of your strongest just for me? I'm honored-"

"Don't get a big fucking head, dork," Poly interjected with annoyance. "This was meant to take down your entire group as we entered the third layer through the Spikey Field that let to the waterfall itself, and we bypassed the Mist of Concentration just to reach here first without you knowing."

"-hk, what?"

"Now, you will be taken back with us, along with the rest of the incoming members who came with you to the Paradisus Legion….if they even survive to make this far, anyway."

On hearing that, some of the Piglet Squad's battalion chuckled and laughed, and Liohime narrowed his eyes, getting up from his casual position, but the dark-skinned beauty known as Koro instantly outstretched her hand towards him, with her spear being gripped tightly.

"Don't you dare try anything funny," she warned with malicious intent. "I'll be the first one to personally behead you if you try to fight back or escape."

"As expected of you, Koro," Liohime shot back with a nervous grin, "You really are hardcore, huh?"

"I'm simply doing my job. Now, come along quietly, but after you terminate your contract with the great Kanshido that lies next to you."

Liohime breathed a sigh of frustration.

There was absolutely no way that he could let go of Shihon here with a mutual termination that did not exist. The only way that his contract with Shihon would cease to exist was either he or his partner died.

Thankfully, it seems like most, if not all of them had no clue about that, so he tried his best to continue stalling for Jolene's sake.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I would like to do a mutual termination of my contract and return your sacred beast, but it seems that my partner here does not want that to happen," he lied through his teeth.

He gave Shihon a quick side-eye, and the Magical Beast was quick to notice his wink, and responded with a snarl at her opponents who backed up almost instantly.

"See? It seems that the beast really doesn't like you guys anyway. So why should I return something that doesn't want to be there in the first place?"

A sudden murmur rose among the members, and the Piglet Squad also began to exchange glances of concern while Shihon continued to show a hostile behavior.

Koro took a few steps forward and tried to converse with the beast herself.

"Kanshido, you belong with us here in the Heart. You need to restore balance and help us. Please understand."

All that she got in return though, was an angry howl. After all, in Shihon's mind, she had no idea what these guys were yapping about, and there was no reason for her to leave her Master.

All of these guys are so fucking lucky that I can't attack yet because of my Master's commands!! I'll kill all of you if I'm given the order!! You dare to speak to him in this way!? You're courting death, just wait-

"In that case, the only other thing other than mutual termination is forceful termination."

…Huh?

Those words had escaped out of Koro's lips, and Shihon froze as she stared at the deathly glare of that woman.

Liohime flinched, and Shihon gnashed her fangs, and as if everyone else had gotten the signal, they all descended into chaos.

***

Jolene stared ahead with a perplexed face.

She had arrived at a peculiar scene.

The Magical Beast lay dormant on a pillar, but a few feet before it lay three figures.

An older woman sat with a bored posture, accompanied by two large, buff guards that stared straight back at her.

Then, the woman finally exchanged glances with her and smiled, before speaking with a condescending tone.

"As expected, one of them somehow made it this far. Very well."

--Kaza, the leader of the Killcount camp grinned devilishly as she stood up and continued:

"Guards. Do not interfere in this fight."

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