Ploritan awoke in a pool of water.

'Where am I? It's so dark here... ah... I remember this place... this is the underwater cave.... urgh!!'

Ploritan grabbed his chest, which felt much lighter than usual as he experienced a sudden surge of pain.

When he felt his chest, he noticed that there were uneven stitches across it in an X pattern.

His hand was missing, and his foot felt completely shattered and unmovable.

'What are these... how did I get here... wait... it's coming back to me....'

Ploritan remembered making it into the final round, stumbling through the events... and passing out right as he begun the endurance test.

But why was he here?

Why did his lungs feel like they had been ripped out of his very chest?

More importantly.

"Shit! Does this mean that Kota won and he is now the chief!?!"

Ploritan held his face in dread with what would have been his hands, but was now a single hand and a handless nub.

"Oh no.... this is a tragedy... this may well be the end of the fishmen village....I need to make it back and do damage control... if everything hasn't already been destroyed by the Determined that is.... if Kota angered her, who knows what is going on right now..."

Ploritan tried to swim upwards to get back into the city, and he made it to the entrance where the gates were.

He stuck his head above water and tried to take a breath.

What was this?

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't breath above the water.

"Urg!! Gasp!! Gasp!!! Ugh!!!"

He tried and tried, but no matter how much he struggled he couldn't obtain any oxygen.

Ploritan dived back underneath the water, and took in oxygen through his gills.

'Could it be that my lungs.... they've been removed!?!'

It then hit him.

'Ah.'

'So that's how it is...'

Ploritan recalled taking out Kota's lung in their previous match.

He remembered Kota's violent stare on that day.

And he remembered the sinister grin Kota gave him just earlier.

Kota had not forgotten his grudge against Ploritan. No, just the opposite. It had festered and grew this entire time, until it culminated with this punishment.

"I... I have failed..."

Ploritan sunk to the bottom of the ocean, sitting down and thinking about what he could possibly do.

The underground cave was large enough so that he wouldn't have a problem finding food to survive, but it would be as if he was living life in a prison.

'So this is how things turn out... while my people are above, suffering under the rule of that fanatical tyrant, I am bound to sit here where like a prisoner where I can do nothing to help...'

Ploritan smashed his fist to the ocean floor in rage.

"SHIT!! If only I had won!!! This is all my fault for being so weak!!!"

Ploritan was left to wilt in his sorrow and remorse for his people.

He couldn't save them from the coming tragedy that the Determined- that being who was far above him in both strength and elegance- had gone out of her way to warn him of.

And now, with a foolish, impractical, and fanatic ruler like Kota leading the fishmen, a tragedy was bound to happen.

'Just which will happen first? Will Kota's idiocy cause him to offend one who holds extreme power over him, or will his recklessness create a situation that the fishmen cannot recover from?'

----

As Claire left the palace, her demonic side began to retract.

'Well... that was a lot of fun... heh heh... I look forward to seeing those idiots burn...'

One of the spider cameras Garett had crafted climbed out of Claire's pocket and headed back to the throne room so she could keep an eye on the leader of this village.

'Why would you want to see them burn!! We should hope that they realize their mistakes and listen to me!! I hope that leader is able to get himself together by the time things come down to it...well... perhaps it would be easier to convince the humans to stop the attack... maybe the antiheroes are doing their best to do so...'

'You waste brain cells caring for a leader like that, and you are too optimistic in thinking that the antiheroes would be so gracious as to negotiate a peace between the two. They are all the more likely to slaughter the entire unit than they are to convince them to stop the attack. It would be better for the fishmen if the current leader were killed and a new one took the position.'

'I can't believe you...'

'Oh but you can. I'm right here. That is enough to believe.'

Her devilish side was by this point mostly retracted, leaving only her left hand in the demonic form, and she traveled down the stairs into the city. The guard who had been assigned to her was nowhere to be found, however she had no issue with that.

'It might actually be easier without someone tailing me...'

Claire once more walked through the streets. By now, word had spread to almost everyone in the city- not only of her meeting with Ploritan and her position as the Determined, but also regarding her exchange with Kota- and more particularly, the horrible demonic form she took when speaking with him.

To some, this gave them encouragement in knowing that their leader stood up to a demon without fear and was able to speak openly as equals.

To others, this gave them fear that their ruler was a fool who would take on any opponent regardless of their strength or ability.

Only time would tell whether this would be a good thing or not for the fishmen.

Claire, however, had no intention of letting things rot while she was seen as some sort of demon in this place. While she had entered with a frown and a sinister glare, her angelic side had now taken over her body, and it was time to repair those nasty first impressions she made.

As she walked through the village, she gave a gorgeous smile to anyone who passed, and waved to the children who were playing in the streets.

Everyone seemed to be put at ease at this pure and graceful figure passing in their midst.

'Is this really the person they were calling a demon?'

'There's no way. An Angel like this could be the savior of the world!'

'But look at that disgusting hand... are we so sure we can trust her?'

'Maybe the people at the banquet over-exaggerated because of her ugly hand...'

'That could be the case... to think they would call such a figure of beauty a demon over one flaw...'

Claire made her way through the village, improving her relationship with the people who resided there.

Finally, she reached the front of the village where she would have to exit through the water.

'Geh... looks like I have to get all wet again...'

Claire plugged her nose before lightly jumping into the water feet first.

She started swimming over to the other side of the crypt when she saw someone at the bottom of the pond.

It was Ploritan.

Plugging her nose and in need of a breath, Claire emerged from the surface of the water but swam back down after taking a deep breath, in order to confirm if it actually was Ploritan.

She approached the tiger shark man, who was sitting with a face of despair.

She waved to him underneath the water, and took out another spider like gadget that Garett had made- this one equivalent to a walkie talkie, water proof and all.

She let the spider go in the water, and it swam its way over to Ploritan, who had taken notice of Claire at this point. He picked up the device, somewhat confused, and Claire returned to the surface before taking out the counterpart walkie talkie.

"Hello? Ploritan? Can you hear me? What are you doing down there?", Claire said while sitting with her legs dipped into the pond, kicking the water like a girl at the pool who was considering whether she was going to go in or not.

"That voice? Are you the Determined?", Ploritan asked as he looked up from his wallowing. "What is this thing? Why do you look so different from when I last met with you?"

"It's a long story... but lets just go with I am a very complicated person with many different sides to me.... or something like that. Anyways, what are you doing down here!? Kota has taken over as village chief and he seems pretty unreasonable..."

"Kota?! What has he done so far!? Please tell me!!"

"Well, I informed him of the attack but he refused to listen to my strategic proposal... something about heroism and not being cowards... I think he was trying to light a fire in the hearts of the people but he rejected a sound strategy in order to look heroic and courageous. He also insulted me directly... not that I mind, but my other self almost lost it when he did that... well.. she is pretty sadistic and wanted to see him suffer over the long term, so she didn't retaliate against him, but I don't really know what to do about this... at this rate the fishmen are going to be wiped out without any chance to negotiate with the Empire..."

"That sounds exactly like what Kota would do... I can't believe I let him become the new chief... Determined, I no longer hold any power in this village, but could I make a request of you?"

"What is it?"

"Please, look beyond Kota's stupidity as a leader. You said before that you have your own domain... as a leader, you must understand then what it means to care for your people... can I take it that it would be in your best interest for the Empire to not gain a foothold in the monster realm?"

"That might be true... what are you asking?"

"Could I ask you to form an unofficial alliance with the fishmen village? I understand that this is not my place to ask someone as great as yourself for such a favor, but surely you have the power to assist us, and perhaps it is to your benefit as well?"

Claire thought for a moment.

She did want to help these people, despite the fact that they were currently overarched by a terrible leader.

"I will see what I can do, however I am not the one who will be making that decision. My word may hold some weight... but there are four others who hold just as much if not even more weight than myself in our domain."

"Four others!? Do you mean the legendary antiheroes!?"

"Indeed."

"But the legend said that the Determined was the one who would lead them!"

Claire laughed somewhat bitterly.

"Heh... Those people will not be led by someone like myself. We are equals at best."

"I... I see. Thank you for your consideration. I don't believe that I can do much now that I have been imprisoned here.... my lungs have been removed, and I have been banished to this pond. I cannot exit water anymore."

"Ah.. so that is why you were not coming up to speak with me. I.... I would heal you if I could.... but I don't have that sort of power."

"I would never ask you of such assistance! And I would never treat you with such rudeness as to force you to talk to me in this manner if I were only able to come up their and speak. More importantly, I ask that you speak with these antiheroes and see what you can do about things."

"I believe they already have a plan. I am not sure exactly what it is, but I am sure they are more aware of the situation than even I am. I will contact them later and ask, but I can't guarantee anything. Please take care of yourself."

"Thank you, Determined. Just your effort alone gives me a slight bit of hope for my people."

With this, Claire lifted her dangling legs out of the water and happily strided through the outer village to her chariot of death.

'Whatever happens... I'm sure the antiheroes will find a way to solve these issues.... just like they did with the birdmen and the lizardmen....'

Claire got into the carriage, which was hidden in a corner near the village entrance out of sight of most people.

'I have redetermined the fate of that foolish leader... he will not face an easy road ahead of him if he continues on his foolish fanatics... unless he experiences a major change of heart soon, he will be shown the naivety and selfishness of his way of thinking.'

[5 Days Until the Legion sets out for the attack. Claire leaves the fishmen village after having gained information on the village and warned them about the attack.]

----

[Currently 6 days before the fishmen village is attacked, the same day in which Claire had set out for the fishmen village, the antiheroes reach the port town of Githard where the first legion plans to set out by sea for the campaign.]

Trevor was whispering to himself out loud so that the other three members could hear his thought process.

"I wonder if we could establish trade among the human nations somehow.... that would certainly be a difficult challenge... given that our domain exists within the monster realm, is ruled by us- monsters, and is filled with monsters.... not to mention the monstrous appearance of our domain... everything about it screams 'stay away' to the humans... not that it's a bad thing... it will certainly make anyone think twice about attacking us... however, is there any way we could use this to our advantage? Perhaps we could use that very fear to pressure the merchants into lowering their selling prices, and rank up our prices while we are at it.... heh heh heh.... delightful.... however, either way this will be a difficult endeavor... it will take much time, and it will require the Empire as a whole to undergo a change of opinion regarding the intelligence and negotiating abilities of monsters in the first place... we should begin with a cultural infiltration to allow for a gradual shift..."

"Theo."

Samantha stared at him with an unimpressed face.

"Ah but that certainly would take a lot of time... time which is such a valuable resource, and especially for us, who cannot be separated from each other, and thus have to consistently be performing tasks in the same location... is there any way we could send subordinates to perform such a task? No no no, we don't currently have any subordinates who would even be able to infiltrate the human realm as they are all monsters... then again, what if they were to infiltrate as powerful monsters and prove to the humans that they could live peacefully within society, after first forcing their way in? Ho... that could be extremely interesting... but who would I dare subject to such a dangerous mission? Coran is the only person who comes to mind... yes, he is the only one loyal enough and powerful enough to do such a thing... I trust Berith, but she has.... a disturbing psychology which would likely effect her duties on such an operation... perhaps Arlo or Hiru could also perform the task, but I simply feel that Coran would do a better job of it.... yes. I will speak to him later about it..."

"Theo.", Ashley said in an annoyed tone.

"And if we were indeed able to have a monster enter the human realm through force, and then proceed to- beyond all expectations, live peacefully... what would the human response be? Of course, at first they would be furious... many attempt's on Coran's life would be made, and he would have to sleep with one... no, perhaps 3 eyes open... heh heh... but if he was able to avoid killing anyone... or perhaps even if he discretely killed only a few people who disagreed with allowing a monster to live in the monster realm... which, with his new abilities... taking into account the strength that we have observed even from the stronger humans... which by Gary's analysis there are some mercenaries who were significantly stronger than civilians or even the trained soldiers... and a few soldiers as well who were much stronger than the average person... if we take the strongest person we have encountered thus far and assume that every single person is at double that level of strength to take into account the worst possible scenario... even then, he is so strong that he would have no issues, even if an entire village of 50 people tried to kill him. he wouldn't have any issues..."

"Theo.", Garett said, while rolling his eyes.

"If every person was twice as strong as the strongest person we have met thus far, I think he would be able to handle at least 200 of them... however, if an entire legion were to take him on.... lets see... there are a total of 5 legions, that is 50,000 men which composes of the entire military strength of the Empire... no, double that if we consider mercenaries.... is that an overestimation? Well, we should consider the worst case scenario, so I'll stick with that for now... from what was observed, the mercenaries on average were stronger than the soldiers, and the strongest mercenary was so strong that he might be able to raise one finger a single millimeter under the full pressure of Ally's magical aura... quite terrifying if you ask me... how did a human ever obtain such a massive amount of strength? Anyways... if we assume a more realistic scenario.... say that this man's strength was a 1 in 10 power.... then that would make up 10,000 of them still... this is certainly not a good outcome... Coran would almost certainly die under these circumstances...no, his death would be a certainty. I suppose we shall have to be a little less pessimistic in our simulation for the conditions to be acceptable...."

"THEO!!!!!!", all three of them shouted at once.

"Hm? What on earth are you all screaming at me for?"

"Were here. Take a look around.", Samantha replied with one hand on her forehead.