Following right behind the mystic, Nathan kept Luna on his left side, using his jacket in a futile attempt to protect her from whatever will come from their left flank. Meanwhile, the tikbalang lept upward and parkoured through the trees before dropping down on top of one creature and neutralizing another with an axe kick.


    “Behind you!” Nathan shouted as he threw a fireball on a creature that was punching from behind the tikbalang. The attack hits its mark as the creature is sent flying a few feet forward.


    “Nice throw!” the mystic said, giving the young man a thumbs up.


    As the trio continued to push through the horde, a lone creature stood in their way. Immediately, the tikbalang stomps his right hoof on the ground, causing a chunk of the soil to rise up. It then strikes the floating soil with its palm. The earthen projectile traveled at a great speed before collapsing into pieces just about a foot away from its intended target.


    “Barrier!” the tikbalang exclaimed as the creature roared. Within a split second, the gravity within the radius of the trio became much heavier, slowing them down at best and outright immobilizing them at worst as the mere act of even standing up required the same level of effort as climbing stairs. “A distortion type!”


    “A what?” Nathan asked.


    The tikbalang glanced around before its pupils dilated for a moment. “Grab my hand!”


    With Luna tightly holding onto Nathan’s left arm, the young man, with great effort, grabbed the tikbalang’s hand. Quickly, the mystic pulled the two close to it and, while shaking, it did the same rising fist motion.  Several earthen pillars rose up around them, completely shielding them from the threats outside at the cost of everything going dark as the pillars completely cover the trio from top to bottom.


    “What now?” Nathan asked as the sound of claws grinding on rocks echoed inside. “We’re trapped”


    “Wait for it…” the tikbalang answered as the trio felt a cold draft on their legs. “There it is.”


    “What?” Luna uttered as she felt a different presence from the creatures. “There’s… something else out there!”


    “Something else?” Nathan asked as the sounds of battle permeated outside. “Whoah… How DO you actually pull that off?”


    “I don’t know… I just… I just feel it.”


    “You feel it?”


    “Sounds like clairvoyance.” the tikbalang answered with a nonchalant tone. “Pretty rare for a caster to have a strong affinity for.”


    Perplexed, the duo synchronously said; “What?”


    “What do you mean ‘what’?”


    “Exactly as it is.” Nathan answered as parts of the earthen pillars started breaking, letting in some light. “What are you talking about?”


    “Oh… With that reaction, I’m guessing you’re both late bloomers.”


    “Late bloomers…?” Luna wondered.


    “Have you two heard of Yamatai before?”


    “No.”


    “I see… Normies.”


    Nathan crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    “We’ll do a debrief-” the tikbalang said as the earthen pillar fell apart around them. “... later…”


    Nathan readied to throw another fireball. “Alright, who wants some more?! Huh?”


    Though they are still surrounded, the creatures were farther away than they were before and between them and the trio stood a lone beautiful young woman wielding a shortsword and buckler made of pure ice.


    This one looks more human though her skin is much paler than normal. Standing at five feet four inches, her black outer hair reached all the way to her stomach area and, interestingly, it has a snow white underside though it seems like the white is slowly frosting out to the darker side of her hair. Breathable slacks, blue checkered shirt over a white undershirt, black short heels… And most striking of her appearance are her sharp bluish-green eyes that shine with a pale crystal-like gleam. I could continue to analyze her features but her eyes give off such intensity that I feel like she’ll start stabbing me with just that intense glare of hers though I should be imperceptible to all including mystics.


    “Took you a while to get here” the tikabalang said as the young woman slightly turned her head towards the mystic.


    “I do not have hooves or animal features to move that fast.” the woman replied with a firm cold tone. “Besides, unlike you, I am not careless and vulnerable.”


    “Hey! Who’re you calling vulnerable?!” the tikbalang sighs. “... Goddamn ice queen…”


    “Call me what you want. It doesn’t change facts… Enough talk. There are still enemies to eliminate.”


    “Straight to work… You two alright?”


    “Wait…” Nathan replied, checking his torso, arms, and legs. “Y-Yeah! Luna?”


    “I-I’m ok…”


    The tikbalang then cracked his knuckles. “Good. Stay close and pick your targets. We’re getting out of here!”


    “W-Wait!” Luna said as her ‘gut feeling’ took her attention elsewhere. “There’s one… more person… in here! Nearby… But there’s something dangerous next to her!”


    “One more?”


    “Yeah… There were… three of us when we got… sucked into the portal.”


    “That’s a problem then… Kaede!”


    “... What?”


    “There’s one more lost puppy in the domain!”


    “That doesn’t change the mission parameters. First priority is to evacuate civilians.”


    “Yeah. I’m not sure about that… Turns out this girl is clairvoyant, says that the third civvie is close by. We go in quick and evacuate all of em without needing to come back.”


    “... Still, protocol dictates we evacuate the civilians first before going further down an Oizite Domain!”


    The tikbalang then turned to Luna. “How close are they?”


    “Not too far…” Luna replied pointing north of their position. “But there’s something… dangerous getting closer to her! I-It feels much stronger than these other creatures…”


    “You heard that, Kaede? That civvie is close and there’s a meaner creature headed towards them! We can scoop them up and get out!”


    “Protocols exist for a reason! Even if we reach the civilian, we might be forced into a fight with a stronger lost soul. Those three civilians will become a liability and-!”


    The woman stopped mid-sentence as she placed her index and middle finger just above her right ear. “We read you, command. What? But sir protocol…! copy…”


    With a sigh, the woman turned to the trio. “It is your lucky day. Command ordered all three civilians collected before extraction.”


    “Ha! I knew Director Cadaing would see it my way!” the tikbalang said with a smirk.


    The woman shook her head before muttering: “The Japanese bureau would not allow such unnecessary risk…”


    “Alright” the tikbalang said as he turned to the duo and presented his ID. “Name’s Tacio Valdez. Spelled with a ‘c’ but pronounced as ‘sh’.”


    “Nathan Domingo.”


    “... And I’m Luna Pancho”


    “Nathan and Luna, huh? Nice to meet ya! The ice queen over there is Kaede Sugihara.”


    “I would advise that we do not throw our names so carelessly.” the woman responded as she blocked an enemy attack with her ice buckler before stabbing the creature through its torso. “I am honestly surprised you have not been punished for all the protocols you’ve broken so far.”


    “Pays to have a flexible leader.” the tikbalang responded as he blocked a fireball thrown at him with both his arms. “Don’t mind her. She’s more booksmart than fieldsmart.”


    Kaede shook her head as she got into a battle stance and leapt high above before making an explosive landing in the middle of a group of creatures, generating ice shards and pillars around the landing site.


    “Alright!” Tacio said as he punched the air on his left and right, creating two wide pillars on both sides. “Let’s go!”


    Luna and Nathan nodded as the party made their way north, still pursued by the horde.


    “H-Hey!” Luna shouted at Kaede. “Eight of them! Dead ahead!”


    As if on cue, five creatures lunged from the trees. In an instant, Kaede reformed her shield and sword into a scythe before swiping all five at once though three more were quick to replace the fallen.


    Tacio conjured a pillar to erupt from the very ground his hooves were standing, catapulting him towards the new attackers. He punched one, kicked another, and did a bit of both to the third.


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    “Nathan!” Luna shouted as she turned around. “Behind us! Two more!”


    The young man quickly turned around and threw the fireball he had been hovering over his hand. His attack hit its mark and the creature was blown back but it did not go down. Meanwhile, the other creature, still sprinting towards the duo, swung its tentacle at them. Nathan dodged to his left before stabbing his scissors into the tentacle. The creature wailed in pain as the young man hurled a fireball, sending the creature flying back a few feet. For some reason, Nathan thought he had enough time to revel in his victory. He was quickly jolted back to reality by another creature’s sharp appendages nearly burrowing into his forehead.


    Caught off-guard and disadvantaged by inexperience, Nathan stumbled and was having difficulties conjuring his counterattack. Lucky for him, he was not alone.


    “Pay attention to your surroundings!” Kaede shouted as she reconfigured her scythe into a tower shield before blocking the attack. “Death easily claims the imperceptive!”


    The creature continued to chip away at the tower shield with its sharp claws and appendages, it even placed itself against the shield which put more weight for the woman to hold back. As I expected of an agent, Kaede punched a hole on the other side of her tower shield before pulling a spear from the inside. With all of her strength, she pushed back the creature before quickly throwing her icicle spear, puncturing the creature in its heart.


    “Looks like the horde’s thinning!” Tacio said as he conjured an earthen pillar to erupt from a group of creatures’ feet, sending them flying. “How much further?”


    “She’s just past there!” Luna replied pointing towards a clearing. “Be careful! There’s something dangerous next to her!”


    “Copy. Keade?”


    Without a word, the woman nodded as she transformed her tower shield and spear into an ice yumi and arrow.


    “Alright then.” the tikbalang said as he turned to the duo. “I’ll take point. You two stay close to Kaede.”


    “O-Ok…!” Luna replied.


    “Be careful…” Nathan answered with a nod.


    Tacio nodded as he hid behind a tree while Kaede positioned herself on his left.


    “You two. Hide behind me. Do not stray.” Kaede said as she readied her yumi. “Positive visual on the target civilian and an unknown humanoid.”


    In the middle of the clearing was that girl who leapt some time ago. She was unconscious but uninjured though a tall figure loomed over her.


    Surrounded by a purplish aura, it stood around five feet and six inches tall and was wearing a faded brown standing-collared shirt, a patched hood with long lappets, and a seemingly old scarf long enough to obscure most of its face, scowling with its striking yellow eyes. With a bolt-action rifle on its right hand, the figure reached out to the unconscious girl, revealing a variety of small- and medium-sized black crystalline growths on its left arm.


    “Unknown is looming over the civilian.” Kaede reported, aiming her yumi at the figure. “It is showing at least Stage 3 symptoms of Pravus Syndrome. High probability of it being one of the Lost.”


    “Solid copy.” Tacio responded. “Can you ID our little unknown there?”


    “Hmm… It is difficult to see however, the uniform is unmistakably military in design and it is showing signs of advanced wear and tear however I am able to spot a patch on the unknown’s upper left arm. Seems to be an insignia. Too faded to properly identify though I am able to make out a two-headed bird in the design.”


    “Two-headed bird huh… Military too. Hmm… Alright. Getting into position… Hopefully I can make a quick smash-and-grab.”


    Crouching behind some bushes, the tikbalang observed that the unknown man was lifting the unconscious woman’s arms before lifting her head to check her face. The tikbalang then took a deep breath before bursting from the bushes.


    He closed the distance within seconds and swung his fists in a sucker punch. Caught off-guard, the unknown humanoid instinctively grabbed the woman by her shirt and jumped out of the way, landing a few feet to the side.


    It quickly crouched and fired its rifle at the tikbalang, who responded by conjuring an earthen pillar to block the bullets. As soon as the pillar rose, the humanoid narrowly dodged an ice arrow to the side of its head. Consequently, it grabbed the unconscious woman and hid behind a nearby rock. It checked on the unconscious woman before turning to the mystic and shouting at him.


    “It’s talking?” Tacio said, unable to understand what the man was saying. “Kaede you understand what it’s saying?”


    “No.” she replied, maintaining her focus on the rock.


    “Sounds Russian. And it sounds coherent, might not be mindless.”


    Kaede then angled her aim and loosed another arrow, landing just off by a few feet to the enemy’s right side. “Does not matter. It is in the advanced stages of infection. Killing it is mercy at this point.”


    “How’d you know that? I can barely see its face.”


    “It is inside the deeper parts of a domain filled with infected exhibiting Stage 4 symptoms and beyond. It is also exhibiting at least Stage 3 symptoms. IT is beyond saving.”


    “I don’t know, Kaede… This guy doesn’t sound too far gone to me… I’m not sure if it’s actually a Lost.”


    “Infected who have lost their minds do not necessarily lose the ability to communicate. If anything, many use that ability to lull friends and family into a false sense of security. You should know all this from the textbooks!”


    “I know! I’ve read the manuals and the books! It’s just that… there’s something off about this guy.”


    At that moment, an object in the shape of a stick with some kind of pine cone stuck at its tip lands close to the tikbalang. “Shit! Grenade!”


    The mystic leapt from his cover and braced himself as Kaede was still maintaining her sight on the rock. The moment she saw movement, she loosed her arrow, flying past the enemy who responded with a shot from his rifle. The bullet whizzed past the woman and hit the tree behind her. The woman moved her body a few degrees to the side, trying to evade another bullet on instinct, before hiding behind a tree.


    “You two!” she said, turning her gaze upon Luna and Nathan. “Stay down and stay behind cover!”


    Doing as she asked, the duo crawled their way towards a nearest tree. Nathan checked on Luna, who was deep in thought.


    “Luna?” he called. “What’s on your mind?”


    “I’m sensing something else…” she replied.


    “Something else…?”


    “There’s a… building… Not far from here and there seems to be four people there.”


    “What about it?”


    “I can’t explain it but… my gut feeling tells me that we need to go there…”


    Meanwhile, Tacio was still in his bracing position when he realized that the ‘grenade’ had not gone off yet. “What the hell…?”


    He quickly got back up to investigate the object, realizing that it was an actual stick with a pine cone stuck at its tip.


    “Clever motherfucker…” he said, as he turned to see the enemy running off with the unconscious girl in the distance.


    Tacio wasted no time in chasing the enemy and his half-horse features allowed him to quickly close the distance. With the man holding the unconscious lady in a princess carry, the tikbalang expected little resistance as a bullet whizzed past him.


    “Shit!” he exclaimed, diving into a bush. “How’s he able to… Floating rifle… I see… Kaede! Be advised! Hostile is using distortion magic. One spell I’m seeing is vector hands!”


    “Copy. Proceed with caution.”


    “Oh no!” Luna exclaimed as she turned around. “Behind us! Those things again!”


    On cue, several creatures, some with bladed appendages sticking on their backs and others with tentacles and gaping maws on their stomachs, emerged from the woodland.


    Nathan hurled fireballs at the creatures and now that I think about it, I guess the young man lacked imagination as he simply focused on creating fireballs during the entire incident. Well… I can’t completely blame him. He is just a ‘late bloomer’ and I was rather cryptic. At times like these, I guess many would agree that it’s safer to pick the tried and tested option.


    The young man’s fireballs were able to keep about two or three away but these creatures are more than three. Fortunately, Kaede ensured that none of them got close to the duo. She charged forward with her ice buckler and shortsword, parrying an attack before plunging her sword into the creature’s torso. She then turned around and slashed one after another in quick succession.


    “Are you both alright?” Kaede asked as the creatures regrouped.


    “We’re fine!” Nathan answered as he turned to Luna.


    “I-I’m ok…” Luna replied as she turned her attention to the left. “But…”


    “Good.” Kaede said, reforming her buckler into another shortsword. “We are regrouping with Tacio-san. Move!”


    “W-Wait! I-I’m sensing four more people!” Luna replied, pointing to the northeast. “That way!”


    “You are making this mission more and more difficult… That direction is unknown territory. We must regroup with Tacio-san first.”


    At that moment, I wondered what little Luna was hoping to accomplish when she took a step forward, especially wearing such an unconfident face. “But…!”


    “Enough!” Kaede shouted as she blocked a bladed appendage from piercing her neck. “Protocols exist for a reason!”


    As if powered by anger, the woman managed to put enough force on her push to send the creature flying back. She then proceeded to slash her target numerous times while it was in midair. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she put on a pretty great sword dance especially with the shifting dark clouds and red sky in the background.


    Without Tacio to interject, it seemed that this woman outright refuses to go against those fancy rules and regulations ratified all those centuries ago though the horde may not be so cooperative with her precious protocols. Quite the hard headed woman, honestly.


    On their way to regroup with the tikbalang, more and more creatures seem to be blocking their path the further they get closer to their ally and that girl’s abductor.


    “Three on the right!” Luna shouted as Kaede engaged the creatures in that direction, ending in a… what should I call this? Sword-lock? Appendage-lock? Tentacle-lock?


    Meanwhile, about two more approached from behind her. Nathan, once again, threw fireballs at his problems. He managed to repel a few creatures here and there but the horde wasn’t getting any thinner. “There’s too many of them!”


    “More coming from that direction!” Luna exclaimed, pointing towards the route they were supposed to take.


    Frustrated, Kaede shattered her double shortswords into smaller icicle shards that then proceeded to float around her like satellites to a planet. She uttered a clearly angry invective in Japanese before turning to the two humans behind her. “Get down, now!”


    The two comply and within a second, the icicle shards launched in all directions, stabbing many creatures around them. The horde was thinned… somewhat but it didn’t even last a minute as more of the creatures emerged from the woodland, all very eager to sink their teeth and bladed appendages into the trio.


    Kaede yelled a curse word in Japanese. “... They just keep coming…”


    “Kaede!” Nathan called. “I don’t think we can stick to the original plan! I think we should go to where Luna suggested!”


    The woman looked at the young man for a moment before turning her attention to the increasing number of creatures that are all ready to pick a fight. She then conjured a pair of ice daggers and a small group of floating icicle shards. I could tell that she was about to contact her handlers for advice.


    Though that is the most logical decision in that situation, I was rather curious about what would happen if this by-the-books agent would be forced to improvise and giving them a setback from the previous help I provided should balance out the meddling I had already done. Thus, I did a little trickery here and there that interfered with her connection to her handlers.


    “Command! This is K-2.” Kaede said. “We are unable to regroup with T-1. Requesting alternate routes! Command? Do you read?”


    And, of course, nothing but static answered her call. Nathan stood up with a look of disbelief. “You’re not seriously gonna stick to the plan, are you?!”


    The woman didn''t respond as she gripped her ice daggers tightly.


    “Kaede!” Nathan yelled.


    Upon hearing her name, Kaede closed her eyes as her head and arms began to shake. Nathan continued to call her name, seemingly demanding an answer from the woman. At the same time, the horde was alarmingly increasing in number and threatening to attack the trio all at once. After what she felt was minutes of annoyance, the woman opened her eyes and boy, they were filled with fiery rage or at least that’s the best way I can describe it. “... FINE! Which direction, clairvoyant?!”


    “Wh-What?!” Luna said as she stood in attention.


    “WHERE DID YOU WANT US TO GO?!”


    Shaking from Kaede’s loud angry tone, Luna pointed behind them towards a less enemy dense area. “Th-That w-way!”


    The woman then pointed at Nathan. “YOU! Throw a fireball at the creatures to our right!”


    “O-Ok!” Nathan answered, complying. His fireballs hit their mark to which Kaede followed up with a forward dash. She sliced the necks of a couple of creatures that stood in her way before embedding the ice shards on the ground behind them, creating a temporary ice wall.


    With a path opened, the trio made their way towards the direction Luna pointed at.