The tentacles retracted and the hill which confined the headquarters of the scums was demolished once the entire body of number XII propelled up. The rare ancient landed exactly on its four, hirsute, and spider-like legs creating mild vibrations on the ground.

I have never seen a more magnificent creature in my entire life.

"I know this is a wrong time to say this but—I forgot that ancients had some ugly folks in them," Crowley murmured.

"I believe that nature takes beauty in many forms...but this form isn't one of them..." Garrison supported Crowley's statement.

Garrison must be impressed with its superior beauty. A man with his standards must be awed.

What stood before us was an ancient of towering height taking in the form of a monster with four spider legs and six tentacles with deadly needles at its suckers. What connected the irregular limbs was a spherical head covered in scaly-metallic petals that acted as eyelids. The spherical head had a lone big roguish red eye that peeked between the curtaining function of the lids. Slowly, the spherical head grew a smile; a smile that was lined with razor sharp teeth.

"Watch out for Bebe's oil; it seems harmless at first but once you get covered with it, fire will erupt with the oil's association with strong winds," Garrison warned.

Crowley's nod was stopped midway and he snapped his head to look at Garrison with bewilderment and disbelief.

"That thing doesn't look like a BEBE to me!"

"Watch out!" Ziru yelled.

I stomped my foot to the ground and created a barrier of earth to protect us from the black oil that Bebe had spat out.

"Harden that wall for me!" Crowley growled.

I shifted the elements of the soil and made an iron out of it. Crowley knocked the metallic wall with his foot and the iron was instantly covered with blaze as it twirled towards XII's eye. The lids immediately shaded the exposed parts of the eye and the spider legs retracted back to the spherical head before lowering down on its tentacles and swiveling to our direction.

"If we stand here and wait for that vagitation of gorilla sea urchin salad with a considerate amount of utensils we'll be the perfect interracial meal," Kox spoke up.

"Please stand back," I deadpanned.

"Bebe's weakness changes with every monstrous form it takes. We might be wasting your mana Lucian," Garrison cautioned me.

"He has plenty to waste. If you don't let him intervene we will die before we can figure out its weakness," Kox intervened.

"That is correct, we will not know unless we try," I approved.

If I can only finish this as quickly as possible then my companions wouldn't have to risk their lives or injure themselves.

No one had to fight for me. I did not want to involve people in managing my safety whenever these situations occurred.

The Higher Order wanted me therefore I should be the one to turn them away.

"May the earth trample the arrogant and the malicious..." I murmured and landed my right foot heavily on the ground sending waves of tall and slanted jagged steel from beneath the soil.

Number XII's continuous spinning stopped once the steel blades skewered it. The waves of sharp metal continued past it until almost every tentacle was pierced.

"The big ball wasn't punctured!" Ziru yelled in disbelief and truth to what he had said, the blades merely hoisted the sphere instead of impaling it. "I'll handle it!" he volunteered before leaping up from the ground and having his arms take in a stance of an archer.

"Troublesome kid," Crowley huffed with amusement.

Sparkling white light spread out in Ziru's grasp in a form of a bow and an arrow. He released a shot that was extremely impactful that sent the little boy in series of spins further upward. The beam of light separated into smaller arrows which rained upon the skewered XII but proved ineffective against the protective scales.

"Hurl me," Garrison instructed Crowley who gave him a confused look. "I'll levigate him," he explained that made the hanuman grin and lift him up.

Crowley pivoted with Garrison in hold before tossing him high with his notable strength.

"Chalk him up!" Crowley cheered.

Garrison managed to grab one of the needles near the tip of a dangling tentacle and a gray color steadily erupted from there.

"That thing is big, we need to buy time for Garrison  so he can pulverize that fucker completely," Crowley informed us just in time for Ziru to land. "Focus your attacks on that ball but be careful not to hit Garrison," he instructed.

"Oui (Yes)" Ziru responded and returned back to the skies.

In the end, their involvement cannot be thwarted and asking them to leave would only cause an argument.

I looked at Fenris and found him pacing back and forth for some reason.

"The wolf is frustrated that he couldn't contribute," Kox explained and sighed. "Hey, lone survivor of the Crowned Moon Howlers," he called up which caught Fenris off-guard. "Prepare yourself for a very vital role. Only you can end this."

Kox must not pressure Fenris and his lovable paws.

The wolf did not need to concern himself with my protection. He did not need to be anxious and force himself to do things that would cause him harm.

I was not worth his life.

I was not worth anyone's sacrifice.

I take it upon myself to protect those who I did not have in the past.

"I shall keep you safe with all my power," I assured him.

Fenris' eyes glimmered red with resolve but made no attempt to move. I took that as a sign that his worry had ceased and that he trusted me with his safety.

I raised my arm to the side and the steel jagged blades detached themselves from the ground in my command and aimed at XII. The lids still shielded the spherical head and voided every attack. Once the eye took a peek after Ziru's series of attacks, I took the opportunity and launched the blades right into the core but a certain force kept the blades still just as they were about to pierce through the eye.

My jaw tightened as I battled with the resisting force and just when I thought that I had succeeded and the blades impaled my target, the petals propelled the sphere up into the air before they got fully transformed into chalk.

"Kuso (fuck)" came from Crowley.

The sphere smirked sinisterly and dodged Ziru's arrows in the air. I noticed that a white beak protruded at its bottom which I then discovered as the source of the tentacles as new ones crept out and stretched the beak-like structure. The suckers of the flexible limbs did not grow any needles like before but instead, the tentacles spread out and released the oil that we were warned about.

Ziru was directly targeted with oil coming from the sphere's mouth and the young Sky Hood swerved away before seeking refuge with us.

"Stay near me," I said as I maintained the earthy roof above our heads.

"That thing will regenerate no matter how much we damage its exterior form," Kox drawled.

"Do you have an idea that you can share with the group?" Crowley asked with gritted teeth.

"Bebe will have to detonate from within," Kox replied. "All of you will have different tasks. Do not concern yourself with someone else's duty as that would hinder the plan's success," the young child drawled. "Now...Let's start with Lucian."

I peeked from under the roof of soil and looked at Garrison nearing us. He was holding a flowerbed umbrella as he waltzed towards us while avoiding the puddles of oil on the ground.

I bid the winds to hurl XII out of balance to momentarily stop him from releasing oil. I then extracted bits and parts of soil from the ground and set them afloat to serve as scattered pathways leading to XII.

Before I lunged out, I felt Fenris' nose nudge my palm causing me to kneel in front of him. I took his large head on my shoulder in order to encircle my arms around his neck.

"I will do my best," I murmured and looked at Kox. "Please do not make him do anything dangerous," I requested. Kox continued to stare at the turning pages of his book and nodded.

"I'll try."

"Are you ready kid?" Crowley asked.

"Please take care of me," I spoke monotonously and let Crowley lift me with one of his arms. I shielded his front body with mine and placed my hands securely on his shoulders.

"Let's do this!" Crowley yelled and leaped from one floating rock to another.

As stated by Kox, XII will avoid hurting me at all cost and with me covering up Crowley, XII will have no choice but to cease fire.

"Hey ball sac! We come in peace. We'll return your fancy Prince to you!" the hanuman tried to settle.

XII's eye relaxed a bit and his smile became lesser. Once we landed on the rock just one level below him, Crowley's hold on me loosened.

"Here...Take him!" the hanuman growled but instead of tossing me to XII, he threw me to the side causing XII's eye to widen in shock.

XII dove to chase my falling form and at the same time, his tentacles adducted together as his long tongue rolled out to grab hold of me. I gathered venom in my mouth and spat directly at XII's exposed eye which caused great distress on him. Crowley took that as an opportunity to gather the tentacles all together in his arm before slashing the limbs overall to give Ziru a clear shot at the beak.

Ziru was already up behind Crowley and once the hanuman was done, he moved away and let the bright arrow pass through and hit the target spot. XII's mouth stretched open as a pained response from the arrow and Crowley appeared and slammed his fist to the sphere's side eliminating him from my vision. A loud crash occurred signifying that the plan was somewhat successful but the next events were not clear to us yet.

I let the zephyrs assist me with a gentle descent and as soon as my feet touched the ground, Garrison grabbed my arm and hauled me away.

"What is the next course of action?" I questioned and looked at the disheveled state of XII. His mouth was stretched open with his long tongue rolled out to the ground.

"We get away from here as soon as possible," Garrison responded with a sense of urgency in his voice.

My chest grew heavy at the thought of leaving without Fenris and I gazed back and saw a blaze of fire enveloping the charging wolf. My eyes widened and I pulled away from Garrison only to be held back.

What was this? Why was Fenris in flames? What did Kox make him do?

I watched in horror as Fenris bolted out while being burnt alive. The wolf dove inside of XII's mouth and just as I yelled out his name, a bright light engulfed our fields of vision and a loud explosion resonated creating gales of dust and smoke.

The light died down and we were left with smog and leftover fire from the explosion. My vision blurred not for the reason of unclear surroundings, but because of tears which corresponded with the sting in my heart.

"Fe-Fenris..." I whispered breathlessly and coughed.

"Fenris..." I managed to say firmly in an attempt to get a response.

My lower limbs wobbled and threatened to give up and Garrison caught me midway in my fall.

"It is going to be okay Lucian...It is going to be fine..." he comforted.

I stared endlessly at the clearing smoke and my teeth ground together with this intense and uncontrollable emotion within me.

How... Could they?

"Don't you ever fool me," I spoke and swallowed the ache in my throat. "Do not trick me with false hope. Do not hurt me with words coated with lies," I sternly added and broke away from his grasp to stand by myself.

I clenched my hands tightly and heard the tremble in each breath I release. "He's gone...Tell me...Tell me how will that turn out okay for me?" I questioned.

"Forgive me Lucian, I did not mean to further upset you," Garrison meekly spoke.

Silhouettes of three people came into view and without delay, my eyes pinned to Kox who was behind the strategy.

My body trembled and I wished nothing more but to lay my hands tightly on him and ask him why—why Fenris?

"I know you want to ask me something, get on with it Prince," Kox asked knowingly.

I sauntered towards the young boy and stopped right in front of him before gently placing my hands on his shoulders.

"Why?" I asked calmly and lowered myself to my knees. "Why did you take him away from me?"

Why didn't he give me the most precarious task? Why did it have to be Fenris?

Kox shut his book and I felt his hand drop on my head. "Gods are cruel aren't they?" he asked. "They can take everything away from you. They can create things and leave things in ruin. They put themselves in a pedestal and create beings to worship them. But as cruel as Gods can be, I assure you, you have lost no one today."

My mind became less comprehending and I toppled to my side becoming less responsive to my surroundings.

If what he said was true then Fenris will come back. I'll just have to wait for him here. I will welcome him and tell him how much he did a great job.

"I will wait for him."

"It's not safe here Lucian," Garrison murmured with concern and sneaked his hands under my armpits to lift me up.

"I will stay here," I persisted and sat back down.

With a few more back and forth disagreements with Garrison, a wave of voices and neighs of horses cut us off. Aniki's group had just arrived to the headquarters finely demolished, newly embellished and perhaps slightly reformed.

"What happened? Someone talk to me!" Lucius demanded and slipped off from Argo. Crowley was quick to respond yet in an awkward manner.

"Uh... Hi you must be wondering how this happened," Crowley sheepishly laughed and extended an introductory handshake. "I'm Crowley by the way."

...

...

...

I awakened in a simple room with windows that let the fresh cold breeze of the night enter. I sat up from my place and my stomach dropped when I saw that Fenris wasn't beside me.

I was instantly on my feet and scrambled outside of the foreign corridors of dark brown walls and ivory white embellishment.

Ancients who passed by tried to calm me and settle me in place but I ran past them and continued to yell out Fenris' name.

Upon my descent to the stairs my eyes widened when a certain wolf came hurrying up in panic with a basket of treats and flowers in his mouth. He stared at me at the bottom of the stairs with excited wags of his tail.

My breaths were accompanied by soft executions of my voice. Immediately after I was done securing the fact that Fenris was indeed in one piece, I leaped from the very top of the steps and Fenris released the basket from his mouth in a hurry to meet me halfway.

My pounding heart increased in its beating when Fenris' body shifted into a more man-like figure starting with his arms and feet. Once our bodies clashed, I felt paws on my shoulders belonging not to a wolf but to a man.

My head snapped up and our faces almost touched. My eyes met with gold ones that glimmered with delight, elation and so much more.

Fenris was the man with the moon on his face.

"You... Did well," I whispered and grew limp against him. All those emotions rampaging inside of me had caused me exhaustion.

"I apologize for causing you a fright but I just wanted to prove to you that I am more than just a pet..." Fenris spoke.

"Yes you proved to be so much more...you are now my explosive pet," I deadpanned and made him droop forward in desolation.

"Lucian~" he whined. "Only you can turn a werewolf into a pet," he sighed.

I detached myself from him and my body warmed up when I realized that he was once again, bare. My eyes trailed down from his well-defined chest down to his now hardening—

"P-please don't stare!" Fenris stuttered and covered his ling.

I blinked at his obvious embarrassment and decided to show him that I bear the same characteristics.

"I have a ling too," I told him and slipped off my pants before lifting my shirt up. "How can I make mine stand up like your—"

Fenris released a screech of panic and suddenly yanked my pants up and  squeezed my shoulders firmly to focus his spilling energy elsewhere.

"What are you guys doing down there?" Aniki's voice popped out from above.

I turned around and slightly tilted my head to the side. "We are introducing our—"

"Lucian was scolding me for doing what I did," Fenris spoke out fast after covering my mouth with his fluffy paw.

Lucius cackled. "I see and I am glad that you finally introduced your other form, Caleb."

"You knew Aniki?" I queried.

Oniisan nodded. "I did for the longest time. Caleb is pretty bashful when it comes to you so please don't make him uncomfortable."

I nodded in obedience. "I shall do my best of becoming a man of comfort," I assured and turned to look at Caleb who readied himself for the next thing that will come out of my mouth.

I actually had nothing to say.

"Ask him how babies are made..." a voice in my head suggested. These voices were getting frequent but that was indeed a good inquiry.

"Would you like to make a detka with me?"

"Ha... HUH?!" Caleb shrieked.

"That is not one you'd normally ask in a conversation in front of someone otouto!"

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A/n: I'm finally done 😣 It's difficult to write when you're drowsy and dizzy from meds. I'm sorry for the mistakes and I hoped you enjoyed the chapter.