Guardians of The Damned-Chapter 25: Get Him!

I reverted to my human form, and by the time Moose realized someone was suddenly next to him, it was too late. I delivered a punch as hard as I could, sending him crashing into a wall a few meters away. Dust billowed around the area.

At that moment, Goo Han and Hakku arrived. Hakku immediately moved to Miem, changing a rock into an apple. Miem ate it, and her wounds began to heal visibly.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Thank Sunny. Without him, we wouldn't have found you," Hakku insisted, trying to shift the attention to me. I ignored it.

"Miem, can you still fight?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course," she replied, walking toward me. She bit her thumb, letting blood trickle down, and pulled out a bone, bathing it in her blood.

As soon as the blood touched it, the bone emitted a green glow, and decaying flesh began to regenerate. From the bone rose a grotesque, decayed four-legged creature with two heads—one a goat with sharp horns, the other a lion with glowing red eyes. Its front legs were eagle talons, its back legs horse hooves. It let out a battle cry—a mix of a lion's roar, a goat's shriek, and a snake's hiss. The sound rattled the building.

Impressed, I whistled. "Can't we get him to cooperate with us?"

"I tried, but he refused," Miem said, shaking her head.

"Why? Isn't his job to guard the black market? With Scarecrow messing things up, shouldn't he focus on them instead of us?" Goo Han asked, confused.

"True, but what if this guy is part of Scarecrow?" Miem speculated.

"He is?" Hakku raised an eyebrow, unsure but considering the possibility.

"What else could it be?" Miem countered.

"Moose, is it true you're part of Scarecrow?" I asked directly.

Moose slowly stood up, snapping his neck left and right, the bones cracking loudly.

"I'm not interested in such an outdated group," he grumbled.

"Then why fight her instead of doing your job?" I pressed, narrowing my eyes.

"Why are you guys here? If you're trying to steal something from the vault, then you're my enemy," Moose sneered.

"We're not thieves. We made a deal with Rinesse. You can confirm that," I said, throwing out a lie. Whether Vie succeeded in contacting Rinesse was still unclear, but I knew Moose had no way of verifying it.

Vie's silence through the comms confirmed something was off. But if anyone could handle themselves, it was Vie—still, the situation didn't look good.

"Do you have any proof?" Moose asked, his voice suspicious.

This guy's a pain in the ass, I thought, gritting my teeth.

"Can't you call her?" I suggested.

"I can't get through her. Something must've happened. Until she confirms it personally, you four are my enemies."

"You don't care about Scarecrow? They probably want to steal something, definitely, not just us."

"I'm not alone," Moose replied cryptically, his words hanging in the air.

So there are others as powerful as him protecting the black market, I mused.

"Moose, why don't you spill it? Who's your friend, and how many are there?" I demanded.

"Make me," he taunted, a sly grin forming at the corners of his mouth.

"Goo Han!" I called, and Puffy appeared at once.

Goo Han dashed toward Puffy, jumping into the phantom's embrace. Mid-air, his body turned into liquid, merging seamlessly with the phantom. The result was a figure clad in white and black armor with a power core at its center, a sword that crackled with deadly energy.

While they merged, Hakku, ever resourceful, turned pebbles into raw salmon and tossed them to us.

"Catch!" he called out.

Miem and I exchanged looks of disgust before reluctantly catching them.

"Do we really have to eat these?" Miem asked, her face twisted in distaste.

"Don't you want to win?" Hakku countered. "It's not like it'll give you any disease."

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"Yeah, I know, but it's raw," Miem replied.

Ignoring the conversation, I steeled myself and ate the salmon whole. As an Honor, my teeth were strong enough to crush its bones, but it was the internal organs that made it unbearable. My stomach churned, and my cheek bulged as I fought the urge to vomit. After a few agonizing seconds, I managed to hold it down.

But as soon as I swallowed, I felt my strength surge.

"Are you done?" Moose asked, not even looking at us, though his impatience was clear.

"Underestimating us already?" I challenged, creating a thick mist around us, cutting his visibility to three meters and dulling his other senses.

"The Mist, huh?" Moose smirked. "Fits your name. But you've met a bad match."

"If you're thinking about using your plasma energy to disperse the mist, you should think twice," I warned.

Moose clapped his hands, releasing a pink shockwave that spread out, clearing the mist. But we had already moved, our positions completely different.

The mist quickly crept back, enveloping the area once more.

"See? I tried to warn you," I called out from the mist.

"Don't get too cocky," Moose growled.

"I'm not," I said, sensing his focus sharpen as he tried to detect our movements.

Suddenly, he spun around, expecting an attack. But nothing came—at least not from where he expected.

His senses were overwhelmed by something he couldn't place, and his focus wavered. That was enough for an undead creature to launch itself at him from the mist, its attack cracking his plasma barrier, though it didn't break it.

Hot on its heels, Puffy, now merged with Goo Han, struck with a heavy armored phantom sword. It slashed at the barrier with such speed and force that it broke the sound barrier, creating a thunderous boom.

The impact shattered his barrier and sent Moose hurtling into the sky. He crashed through the wall, flying out of the building in a shower of debris, and fell to the ground with a massive thud. The earth caved in beneath him, and dust obscured everything.

Without hesitation, we pursued.

"Is he dead?" Miem asked, riding her dragon.

"No," I replied. "Everyone, prepare yourselves."

I transformed into mist again, and Hakku quickly turned a nearby branch into a tentacle, handing it to us. We ate it and forced down the rising nausea. Our stamina began to recover.

"That hurts, bastards!" Moose's voice rang out from the dust. His shirt was torn, and when a gust of wind blew, it whipped the cloth away, leaving him shirtless, his muscles glistening under the harsh light.