From the look of things. It seemed we had made our way to a fake Black Wolves hideout. We'd busted them in random other places in the past. Alleyways, warehouses, bars, and clubs, but this was the first church. All of which were outside Valley Kingdom walls. What could they be doing in a place like this?
We could probably take them just like we always have, but there were a little over thirty of them here, and between me, Code, and Ophelia, I knew both of them were running low on mana after our series of events. Not a dire situation, but also not an ideal one.
Fine then. I'll take care of it—
"YAWN…" a young male's voice echoed loudly, "Ah, man, that was a great nap. I needed that," He said, now refreshed. "Huh, where are we? What's going on?"
He kept talking since we hadn't answered him in time… which was only a few seconds…
"Dang, what did I miss? You guys look beat. Why am I covered in sand?"
Code looked at him with a disdainful expression on his face. Are you fucking kidding me? he might as well have said.
"Havoc, how are you awake?" I asked, slightly looking over my shoulder with my back turned to him, still wary of the fakes around us.
"What do you mean? Don't people normally wake up after a nap?" he jested as Code's face sneered. Ophelia chuckled in the background.
"YOU WERE JUST SLEEPING THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Code burst out.
"Uh, yeah… I was hella tired. Why do you think I kept asking when we were going home the whole day?" He shrugged, then started stretching like he was getting ready to workout. His dirty blond hair and side rat tail whipped around as he did so.
"We thought you were under a spell from that mecha monster thing?" I jeered as well.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Nah, it did try to poison me when I was in its mouth, but that didn't work, and then it tried to chomp down on me, but that didn't work either. So I just fell asleep 'cause it was dark, and it got kinda cozy. By the way, where is it? You guys beat that thing? Doesn't look like it's around. And we're not in the desert anymore. Where are we?"
Havoc kept asking questions as I drowned out his voice. Code was fuming just by listening to him. And Ophelia was still chuckling in the background, all in this slightly dire situation.
I couldn't help but twitch an eyebrow.
Havoc had two personalities, depending on how much food and sleep he got. He was either lazy and sarcastic or hyper and annoying. There was no in-between with him.
"Anyway, I see we're in somewhat of a predicament, so… you guys can leave this one to me," he said casually, still stretching. Grasping the situation just as quickly. "Thanks for letting me nap. Let me return the favor for carrying me around and being such great friends!"
The look in his one eye alone changed as his face went from jest to focus in seconds. His blind left eye gleamed from the light above us.
"I've already assessed their power levels. Thank you for your patience while I sniffed them out. No need to waste your energy on these losers. I can tell Code and Ophy are kinda wiped. And you, Cap? I know you can probably still fight, but let your subordinate take care of this one for you. Consider it my repayment for bailing myself out from that Grade 3 in LeHarla. I know, I'm the best. You're welcome," he said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Every thought in his head. He said it all.
"So you really knew that monster was a Grade 3? It wasn't a mistake. You just didn't want to fight," I acceptingly said to him. I already knew that, though.
"Come on, Cap, what's that saying? 'Let bygones be bygones'? Besides… I'm paying off my debt and repaying you on top of that here and now. It's the perfect opportunity. I can take these guys all by myself. They're no match for me," he said confidently. His words threw punches at each of the fakes there. The smile on his face said it all. Intimidating. Itching to fight.
One of the fakes shouted at this time, "Cocky fuck!" as he cast a basic magic spell and shot it at us. At me.
I didn't flinch as Havoc's arm transformed, and a giant monster claw formed, covering me from the blast. My jacket fluttered from the shielded impact off his thick, armor-like skin. He didn't really need to do that, but that was his way of telling me to sit this one out.
I obliged without question.
He extended his arm and backhanded a group of fakes to the side of us, knocking them out cold. Code, Ophelia, and I ran in that same direction afterward.
Without us in the way, Havoc transformed fully, starting from his feet and all the way to his head. He was now twice the size and fell over onto all fours. His hair was like white ribbons that extended out into what looked like a cape fluttering behind him. Nasty horns on his head. A tail that stretched all the way to the church's double-door entrance. Giant claws and talons protruded from his monster paws. Muscular throughout, skin rough, gray, and the face of a beast with razor-sharp teeth bared. His one working eye glowed red, in contrast to its normal dark green color, and the other, still sightless, but matching the gnarly form he had become.
Havoc's ability was Primal magic, and his primal typing was a Behemoth. Behemoths were apex predators in this day and age and were considered Higher Grade 2 monsters, extremely rare. They also had plenty of versatile abilities, and not much magic could work on them either, which explained why he was immune to the mecha monster's poison.
Against any normal mage, Havoc was unstoppable.
He let out a flamethrower from his mouth in front of him and whipped his head around, catching the fakes there and to his left on fire. His tail also whipped as he turned and slammed down on another group of fakes behind him once he stopped.
A combination of elemental magic and basic magic fired at him from multiple angles, from the floor and from the balcony above, but he didn't even bother to dodge any of it. It was all completely ineffective.
He faced one area of fakes and raised his giant, muscular right arm in the air, slamming it down on the ground, creating a shockwave in that direction. Another group of fakes down.
What started at thirty fakes was now down to only twelve. He had taken them out in a matter of seconds.
A group of them from the second floor began casting combination magic now. Together with their incantations, they formed a giant lightning dragon mixed with earth and debris that scattered sparks throughout the abandoned church. The dragon was bigger than Havoc, even in his transformed Behemoth form, as it raged toward him. Facing it directly, he began charging a beam from his mouth. It started as a medium-sized energy ball and was dark purple. It beat like a heartbeat a couple of times before condensing into a smaller energy ball the size of a grapefruit.
The giant lightning dragon closed in, sparking chaos as it drew near, destroying everything in its wake. Havoc still charging… Then, when the cataclysmic dragon was an arm's reach away…
"Primal Magic: Ecliptic Star Shatter."
FEUUUM!
The beam sounded like stars exploding, blasting over the impeding lightning dragon. The sound ringing, bursting eardrums. It was far larger and stronger than the dragon itself, disintegrating immediately into particles in the air. The blast lasted for only five seconds but took out the entire upper corner of the abandoned church, opening it up where it was once dimly lit. The afternoon sunlight and open sky were beautiful as they gracefully welcomed themselves into this ruined church.
The fakes that were left were intimidated greatly at Havoc's insane power. They could do nothing against him except fall one by one.
He then let out a beastly roar that sent shivers down their spines. And the fakes that could still move picked each other up, along with the ones that had been knocked out and attempted to flee.
He stayed in place as visible steam exited his mouth, letting the fakes run. He was like a mythical statue as he basked in the sunlight, and the fakes continued to flee from all around him.
They flocked in all directions, and Havoc finally shifted back to his human form.
Once they were all gone, he let out a sigh of relief and simply gestured a thumbs up without looking at us—still behind a worn-out wall.
"And that, lady and gentlemen, is why they call me Havoc."
"Yeah, you're a lot cooler when you don't talk. Should have just left it with the thumbs up," Code teased.
Havoc bonked at Code's head with the bottom of his fist as we walked near.
With the sun setting, all we had to do now was figure out where we were and how to get home.
But just when we thought it was only us, the church's double doors creaked open.
A tall, black-haired young man walked through wearing a royal blue cloak with thick gold seams and baggy pants that were cuffed in gold just above his ankles. Monk shoes. And eyes as lazy and dreadful as a dying weeping willow.
I remembered this guy…
"Well, look what we have here… Bunch of stray dogs, it looks like."