Karuizawa, Japan—
Emeru was in Han's room, slapping his casket as he resided within it, unmoving. "Han! Han! Han! Han! Wake up! You're supposed to be taking care of me! Stop sleeping!"
She shifted into a humanoid form, her face worried. "Okay. Maybe he's not just sleeping. But Mr. Omariro can fix this, all of this, right?"
A vision of her brother appeared before her for just a moment, causing her to fall to the ground. "Ahh!"
The door opened, and as she reverted to a blob and covered her face, she noticed Gakuto standing there, with bags of groceries in his hand.
"Heard a bunch of screaming in here," he remarked. "Everything okay?"
"Y—yeah! Why wouldn't it be?"
Gakuto pulled out an apple. "Do slimes eat fruit?"
Emeru began to pout. "No! I want meat! Not some cheap dollar store apple!"
"Figured. Well, you hold on! I've got another shopping trip to make!"
Gakuto left the room, heading downstairs as he surveyed the damage to the house, which still had a few holes in it. He shook his head, walking toward the door.
Behind it was Yuka, who had a gift bag in her hands. "Oh. Gakuto. Funny I should find you here."
"Yuka? I could say the same to you! What, did the Director summon for Omariro?"
She shook her head. "I just came to visit him. His declining state has the rest of us worried. Shino has basically been begging me to visit, but I've told her to focus on her training."
"Well, Omariro's busy handling some personal issues right now," Gakuto explained. "Real nasty stuff. Like, giant beast stuff!"
"I believe it," Yuka nodded. "Anything personal with him is bound to have teeth. What happened to the house?"
She pointed to the holes.
"Giant beast stuff," Gakuto told her. "I'm heading for the store. Wanna join?"
"I suppose."
Yuka left the bag at the doorstep, walking alongside Gakuto as the two took in the sights.
"Those monsters still running people around ragged?" Gakuto wondered.
Yuka nodded. "Most definitely. The police are over-reliant on us Kaitansha to the point that some of our own are near-death. They've been calling for Omariro's return for months now."
"I'm sure Sunahara is enjoying the spotlight though, no?" Gakuto chuckled. "He always wants the top spot!"
"He's been more burdened lately. Looking around for his missing rookie, dealing with domain bosses, and that's before we even consider that we've still got Floor 10,000 threats in the mix."
"There has to be a way to stop them from spawning in, no?"
"There is. We have to find the woman who released them. If we defeat her, we may yet be able to reverse the situation to a more manageable level."
Gakuto rubbed his chin. "Mujinsha...maybe when Omariro gets back, we'll have a better chance at stopping them.
Meanwhile—-
Leviathan dropped Omariro and his group off on the coast of Todowara, before sinking back, her head just above the water.
"I wish you the best, Master," she stated. "You know how possessive and territorial Ziz can be. He may try to erase the kids."
"Beast will behave," Omariro stated. "Children will be safe."
Leviathan gave one final bow and sank beneath the waves, leaving Omariro alone with the kids. Once Omariro turned around, he noticed their conflicted faces. Sōshin stood next to them, a bright smile on his face.
"Children minds heavy."
"Gosh, is it that obvious?" Rika blurted out. "Sorry, Master. We just...all had something we wanted to ask you."
"Mhm!" Rei added. "We don't mean to alarm you or anything, sir!"
Zaria stepped forward. "Sir. Please. Tell us. Do we matter to you? Like, I know you protect us, and you take care of us, and all that, but do you...feel anything toward us?"
Sōshin looked amongst the girls as they anxiously awaited Omariro's answer. Omariro simply leaned on his staff, his eyes disappearing beneath his hair.
"Children have doubts. Must know why."
Nonoka twiddled with her fingers before clearing her throat. "It's not that we doubt you, sir. It's just that...we don't understand you. Then, when we think we do, we find out we understand even less than we think. For someone we care about more than anything, it's eating us alive."
Rika nervously rubbed her arm. "We still love you, and we trust you, we just...want to know how you feel about us. That's all. Knowing what you can do, we know we can't measure up in the slightest."
Omariro looked at the students, and sure enough, silhouettes of his past students began to overlap their faces. Itsuki. Rin. Renka. Daigo. Even Mirei.
"Hmm," Omariro noted. "Past must not be repeated."
Even more so, hallucinations of a destroyed kingdom arose in his mind, with the sounds of death and destruction ringing inside his ears.
Six dark eyes stared him in the face, and he gripped his head, dropping his staff. Zaria immediately noticed and went over to help him. "Master? Master!"
Omariro grabbed his staff, supporting himself. "Children must not know too much. Knowledge is poison. Conversation ends here."
"But sir—-!" Zaria protested.
Omariro put a hand on her head, and she calmed down, looking away. "...Alright. But please, can you at least tell me what Leviathan meant when she separated us?"
Omariro looked Zaria up and down. "Girl mother passed away. Girl has never met father."
Zaria shook her head. "No. Mom always said he died when I was little. Why?"
Omariro put a hand on Zaria's shoulder. "Time will come to confront that truth. Girl must stay on steady path."
He turned to Rei. "Same for Rei."
Omariro began to head off for Nakashibetsu, while Sōshin looked at the girls. "What's going on, friends? Why are you all so sad?"
Zaria watched Omariro tread forward. "Master won't let us in. We'll have to figure out another way to convince him."
Rei nervously looked at the ground. "But he said that's exactly what happened to his last students! I don't wanna become evil and hurt Mr. Omariro..."
"We aren't his last students," Nonoka pointed out. "We trust him, now we need to show him he can trust us."
"Can we even achieve something like that?" Rika wondered. "Master's so strong and protective, I'm sure he only sees us as burdens..."
Zaria clenched her fist. "Then let's change that. We'll protect him, not the other way around. Then maybe...just maybe...we can get him to finally open up."
They noticed Sōshin walking alongside Omariro, supporting his weak side. Without wasting time, the girls caught up, and each of them did their best to help Omariro walk. Zaria watched him, a single thought echoing in her mind.
"Please, Master. Let us in."
The group continued walking until they reached Nakashibetsu, which was overrun by armed goblins chasing farmers off their lands.
"Monsters taken over," Omariro noted. "Not coincidence."
As he prepared to move, Rika gently wrapped her arms around him. "Master, we can handle this. Please don't exert yourself."
Almost on cue, Zaria, Rei, and Nonoka got into fighting stances. The goblins turned their attention toward the group, and one charged at Zaria, who formed her spear.
"Jugen-Tōshi: Senkai Yari!"
The spear knocked the goblin over and ripped through its body like tissue paper. More goblins came forth, but Rei threw both hands out.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Tsuki no Megenka!"
A moonlight beam blasted through all of their chests, reducing the goblins to nothing more than ash. Another goblin tried to attack from behind, but Rei easily blasted it away.
Nonoka avoided a large goblin that tried to squish her, before touching her neck.
"Jugen-Sōunsha: Ningensei Tōki!"
Her body shifted, allowing her to battle the creature back before tossing it over to Zaria, who tore it to pieces.
Rei used her moon crests to counter an axe-wielding goblin, eventually slicing its chest. Nonoka punched a goblin in the jaw hard enough to break it, and Rei finished it off.
Omariro watched as the girls thinned the goblin herd, eventually getting rid of all the monsters. Rika gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze as he remained silent.
Once they were done, they all turned back to Omariro, giving him hopeful smiles.
"Did you like that, Sir?" Zaria asked.
"See?" Rei cheered. "We can handle all of your problems for you, Master!"
"You can trust us, 100%!" Nonoka assured. "We'll do anything to keep you safe."
Sōshin stared at them, confused. "Friends? What's going on? Why are you all acting so...upbeat?"
Rika patted Sōshin on the head. "It's nothing, little brother. Nothing at all."
Omariro didn't utter a word, leaving the girls disappointed.
Not long after, a farmer came over to Omariro, holding a pitchfork. "Ah! Mr. Nyugawa! Good to see ya! Why'd ya come back to Nakashibetsu?"
"Beast needed. Rampage ensuing from destroyed house."
"Ah. That messy old Land Beast, eh? Well. Since it is you, I can let ya pass, but Ziz won't like the extras."
He pointed to the group around Omariro, and the girls surrounded him defensively, eliciting a laugh from Junichi.
"We're coming," Nonoka hissed. "So you can save your concerns and shove them."
"Relax, relax! There's other ways to enter. You'll have to bring offerings. The King of Beasts does love himself some potatoes, no?"
"Beast never changed," Omariro grunted. "Glutton Beast."
"Perfect! Then come on and follow me, Farmer Junichi, and I'll gather some ripe and ready crops for ya!"
They followed Junichi as he went to a nearby field, nabbing a sack and harvesting crops out of the ground.
Junichi grabbed potatoes, corn, and various grains, filling the sack up to the brim.
As they watched, Omariro began to slightly age further, but he made sure no one noticed by allowing his hair to cover his face.
"Hmm," Junichi commented. "A little of this, a bit of that, and... voilà! A plump sack, perfect for the taking!"
He handed the sack to Omariro, whose fingers struggled to grip the bag, and Rei took it for him. "I'll hold it!"
"Aren't you a beauty? Right. Should probably lead ya to the gate. This way, folks."
Junichi directed them to a barn with a mysterious locked gate inside. Omariro stepped forward, touching the gate with a wrinkled hand.
It opened, with a white-gray allure emanating from the gate. Junichi tipped his hat to the group. "If the rest of ya aren't incinerated by lightning, I believe you'll have a splendid time in there!"
Omariro entered the gate, and Sōshin got into a running stance before zooming through the gate as well. "Let's go, friends!"
Zaria took a deep breath, her resolve steadying. "Girls, we got this. We'll save everyone, and we'll save Master."
"Agreed." the other girls chanted.
They ran through the gate, and it closed behind them, leaving Junichi to return to his farm. "Eh. Maybe they'll live. Just maybe."
Meanwhile—-
Behemoth was busy standing atop a large mountain while Emerald surveyed the city below, walking the streets as a massive blob with six legs. Emerald returned to Behemoth, but not before eating a few screaming humans in the process.
"No Nyugawa?" Behemoth questioned.
"None in the slightest," Emerald replied. "My sister is missing as well. No clue where that old fool took her."
"He must be collecting the other beasts," Behemoth mused. "Leviathan and Ziz never had the heart to do what must be done."
"Then how about I intercept their location?" Emerald proposed. "You can't enter the gates, can you?"
"Correct. Land cannot overlap with the Sky or the Sea."
"But I am one of the Mujinsha Elite. I am part of the Dungeons' ruling party. Remain here. I shall put a stop to their plans."
Emerald returned to his blob form, stomping away from the scene as Behemoth watched. "Such a reckless creature. Nothing like the Jōi at all."
Behemoth began to sink into the mountain itself, enlarging it.
"But it doesn't matter. Even with the power of the others on his side..."
A tiny earthquake formed in the ground.
"...there is no stopping me."
——