Now, Fifty Miles North From Manila

Rino grabbed the back of Cristos combat harness and leapt to the tree tops.

The bursts from Cristos battle rifle hurt her sensitive hearing.

“I can’t hit it if you shake me around!” Cristos snapped.

“Then… stop…” Rino guttural growl rumbled.

“Look out!” Cristos warned.

A small tree speared out of the darkness and broke the thick knot of branches underneath Rino’s clawed feet.

The two of them crashed to the ground. Rino managed to cradle Cristos like a baby as she took the impact on her back.

“Shit!” Cristos opened up with a burst that illuminated the night and revealed a massive shape lumbering toward them.

A thick lower body and thick, stumpy legs shook the earth with each step.

Cristos stitched his gunfire up to the giant’s torso and face before he emptied his magazine.

“I don’t think I’m getting through!” Cristos roared.

Rino heard the fear verging on terror in the hardened soldier’s voice.

It seemed that this monster wasn’t like anything he had ever faced before.

She, on the other hand, had experience with many terrible things.

Still, this monster was beyond her ability to rend and tear. She had already tried and all she had managed to do was to give its thick skin a few scratches. She decided that the best plan was to lead it back to base camp. Hanna’s impossibly sharp sword should be able to cut it and Phillip could probably bludgeon it to death with his ridiculous superhuman strength.

The trick was to avoid getting flattened by the trees and huge rocks the giant kept throwing at her and Cristos.

She scrambled forward just as something went splat where she had been.

Something wet splashed across her back. An alluring scent filled her nostrils.

“Jesus Christ! I think that was a carabao!” Cristos said. “How…”

“What… is…?” Rino growled.

“A cow! It was carrying a cow!”

“Tasty…” Rino shook her head. She need to focus on dodging projectiles, even if, especially if they were living things. The next one could be a monster. Perhaps a venomous mutated animal.

She loped across the rainforest floor, leaping and weaving around obstacles or crashing through them when she couldn’t.

The giant’s long strides allowed it to keep in range and continue to attack.

“Left!” Cristo roared.

Rino instinctively followed, barely dodging another small tree as it whistled by.

New scents drifted in from the direction she was heading. Familiar ones. “Damn…” she growled.

Of all the bad luck.

Her plan was ruined unless she was willing to let allies get stomped by the giant.

“Fight…”

“What? No! Keep running! We can’t hurt this thing!”

Rino howled.

She hoped that it would give the rangers enough warning to get ready because she was bringing the giant right to them.

The thick undergrowth gave way to a small clearing with a rocky outcropping that the rangers had occupied.

Rino dashed across the ground with Cristos in the crook of one arm.

Behind them the giant pushed trees out of its way as easily as a man would with tall stalks of grass.

“Fire!” Sgt. Butcher roared.

Bright spells streaked across the darkness.

Measured gunfire shattered the silence.

The giant covered its smiling face with thick, brawny arms as the attacks struck home.

“Save your ammunition. Its skin is too tough. Might as well be using pellets,” Cristos said as Rino deposited him on top of the rock formation.

Sgt. Butcher looked to Rino, who merely nodded her massive weredog head in confirmation. “Spells only!” Sgt. Butcher ordered. “You, Shaman,” she gestured for Rai, “what is that thing? Weaknesses?”

“Well, it’s a giant and it’s smiling, so I’d guess it’s a bungisngis. The stories say they’re capricious, is a good word for it, they can be friendly one moment and… eat you the next. That’s kind of what it represents in the stories. Gluttony. It eats anything and everything. Whole cows, rocks, people. Beyond that I don’t know about any specific weaknesses,” Rai said.

“The bunghole doesn’t look too friendly right now,” Mouthy muttered.

“It doesn’t like the spells. They’re doing some damage. It’s protecting its face, so that says we should hit it,” Aims said.

The giant’s advance had been stalled as it continued to cover its face while the spells pounded its arms.

Sgt. Butcher weighed the damage they were doing with how much longer her mages could keep it up. “We’re not going to be able to retreat in good order from this thing. There’ll be casualties.”

“It’ll be the same if we stay and fight,” Cristos said. “Rino could lead it away, while the rest of us withdraw. We get back to base camp and let one of the Cruces handle it.”

A deep growl rumbled up out of Rino’s chest as she loomed over Cristos.

“Sarge, leveling opportunity?” Hardhat ventured.

“It’s what we signed up for,” Rai agreed.

“Too bad Smores is being a bitch and is milking his ankle thing. We could use his magic. Freeze it in place or something,” Mouthy said.

“I thought his ankle was shattered?” Ambrose said. “It’s only been a week and I’ve seen him hobbling around with only a cane. No cast, no crutches?”

“I know, right? The little bitch gets daily healing spells and is still hiding in the van,” Mouthy said.

“We fight,” Sgt. Butcher said. “Aims, when you get the chance, blind it. Rino… do your thing. You,” she regarded Cristos, “I see you’ve got grenades. If the giant likes to eat then let’s feed it.”

Cristos frowned, but gave her a curt nod.

“Fin,” Sgt. Butcher turned to the stone-faced young man. He hadn’t responded well to the dressing down she had given him after he had disobeyed orders and struck out on his own during the attack on the aswang village. Since then she had kept a tight rein of him.

“Your orders, Sarge?” Fin said flatly.

“I want you to tie the giant down and protect us,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“Which shall I prioritize?” Fin replied.

“Protection,” Sgt. Butcher frowned.

“Understood.” Faint light flared underneath the clothing and armor that covered Fin’s chest. Flat panes of magic light appeared around the rocky outcropping. He placed the shields in tactically sound positions so that the rangers could use them as cover while still being able to lean to the side or reach over them to launch their spells.

“The rest of you keep hitting it with spells and stay in cover,” Sgt. Butcher said.

The amount of spells decreased as the mages had to begin conserving their mana.

The giant took the opportunity to reach down and grab a large chunk of dirt from the ground and hurl it.

It had erred.

“Piercing Shot.”

The giant had given Aims the slightest opening. His bullet tore into one of the giant’s eyes.

The giant roared as blood and gore streamed down its cheek. Yet, strangely, the grin never left its face.

“The damn thing is tough. I thought for sure I’d get the brain,” Aims said.

The giant fell back into the tree line seeking cover in the dark, dense undergrowth.

“Fuck, I can’t see it! Over twenty feet tall and it’s gone just like that,” Mouthy said.

“Aims?” Sgt. Butcher said.

“I lost it too, looked like it crouched down,” Aims replied.

“Watch out for thrown projectiles,” Cristos said. “It likes to do that.”

Sure enough a man-sized boulder came crashing through the tree tops.

“Fin!” Sgt. Butcher said.

The boulder’s arc was taking it over the already conjured shields.

Fin’s hands moved, fingers jerked.

A claw-shaped wave of crackling black energy erupted out of the space in front of his chest and lashed upward.

The boulder disintegrated into thousands of harmless pieces.

“I have enough mana to maintain the shields while fending off… five more attacks,” Fin said.

A great grinding sound suddenly emanated from the dark forest. Deep and rumbling.

They imagined huge stones being crushed together. Except, there was a rhythmic quality to the noise.

It went on for just a little over twenty seconds then suddenly stopped.

The giant burst out of the tree line. It had a tree in each hand. Its smiling face was distorted by bulging cheeks.

Spells arced across the fifty yard distance. The few that struck home didn’t slow the giant.

Gunfire was equally ineffective.

Aims couldn’t get a clear shot on the giant’s other eye.

At 30 yards the giant spat.

Jagged bits of rock showered the rangers and forced them to take cover behind Fin’s magic shields.

Heads down kept them safe, but halted their attacks.

The giant took advantage and hurled one tree like a javelin.

It struck a magic shield, shattering it into nothingness. The impact knocked the three rangers behind it to the ground. Heads lolled as they struggled to remain conscious.

The giant shielded its smiling face as it raised its remaining tree like a club.

A dark shadow darted from one side and crashed into the giant’s tree trunk-thick legs.

Rino clamped down on the giant’s knee. Dagger-sharp teeth and a supernaturally strong bite found purchase. The monster’s blood tasted foul, but she bit harder and shook her head from side to side.

The smile never left the giant’s face as it grabbed Rino by the back of her neck and squeezed.

The immense pressure forced her to let go as the giant lifted her up and dangled her in front of its face like a struggling puppy.

Its smiling mouth opened and Rino had a close up view of something she’d never thought she’d see.

Bursts of gunfire flew past her, clipping the ends of her fur.

The giant dropped her to cover its face.

She scampered away

She didn’t much like being prey.

The giant bulled through the rangers’ attacks. It swung its tree down and clubbed another of Fin’s shields, which shattered. Fortunately, the rangers behind it had already retreated further up the rock formation.

“Squad: Enhanced Coordination, Squad: Enhanced Awareness, Mark Target.” Sgt. Butcher rattled off her best Skills. “Scatter! Fin, drop the shields and lock that thing down! Aims, the other eye! Cristos, ready your grenade!”

The magic shields vanished.

Ghostly chains appeared and wrapped themselves around the giant’s limbs and forehead, anchoring it to the ground.

Ambrose darted in, quick as a cat, to land two swipes with his Igorot axe in one hand and kampilan in the other on the back of the giant’s weapon hand. He failed to get monster to lose his grip on the tree. The young Headhunter retreated just as quickly.

“Power Strike!” Mouthy swung her machete high to hit the giant’s hamstring. “Fuck! This bunghole is tough as shit!” All she managed to do was to give it what amounted to a paper cut.

The other rangers swarmed the giant from all directions with spells, guns and melee weapons.

The latter was fraught with risk as displayed when the giant somehow managed to break the chains fixing its weapon arm in place.

It swept down and hit a new recruit in the side.

The brave woman’s smashed body nearly hit Hardhat as the ranger rushed in toward the giant’s left foot.

Hardhat avoided one danger, but couldn’t avoid the other.

The end of the tree clipped the top of her hard hat and sent her spinning to the ground.

Amazingly, she merely shook her head for a moment before standing up and continuing her attack. She slammed her machete down on the back of the giant’s foot.

It was like trying to chop down a big tree with a machete. Her attack was just as ineffective as Mouthy’s was and she was forced to run away before the giant noticed her.

Two-toes struck the giant in the face with a barrage of magic missiles.

“Now, Aims!” Sgt. Butcher roared.

“Piercing Shot!”

The giant’s remaining eye exploded, showering the rangers in gore.

The giant’s smiling mouth opened as it boomed out something that sounded like pain.

At least that’s what the rangers hoped.

“Fire in the hole!” Cristos warned.

The grenade flew with near-perfect accuracy into the giant’s mouth.

They watched the giant choke for a second before the muffled explosion made its throat visibly bulge.

The monster clutched at its throat while it stumbled around the clearing.

The forgotten rangers scrambled to avoid being crushed underfoot.

“It ate a grenade…” Cristos said in awe. “What’s it going to take to neutralize it permanently?”

Rino came roaring out of the darkness. She leapt on the giant’s back and began to tear into its neck. She bit, slashed and rent with a savagery that took the other rangers by surprise.

The giant was blinded and Cristos’ grenade had burned and shredded the inside of its throat, yet it still had strength as it swatted at Rino.

“Fin!”

“Yes, Sarge.”

The ghostly chains reemerged to tie the giant’s limbs down.

Rino doubled her furious assault.

Slowly, surely, the giant’s thick skin and muscles parted under the unrelenting attack.

The bungisngis’ fate was sealed as soon as she had managed to expose its vertebrae.

There was a loud crunch as Rino bit down. Followed by an audible snap that echoed through the clearing when she shook her head.

“That might do it,” Rai said in awe.

“Fin, be ready to restrain her,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“That’s some kill stealing shit right there,” Mouthy grumbled.

“Quiet! She’ll hear you,” Hardhat warned.

Triumphant and blood drenched, Rino howled at the moon.

Cal returned to the rest area base camp with a heavy heart and a headache. The toll of opening himself up to the thoughts of thousands of people was enormous. There was a reason why he kept his telepathic walls strong.

He retracted his helmet upon landing and was struck by a nostalgic scent.

One that oddly brightened his mood just a little.

The cartoonish face of a bee was lit up by the spell orbs set on either side of the logo. A colorful red face topped by a white chef’s hat.

Cal’s dad greeted him with a smile and presents in hand.

“Dessert before dinner?” Cal said.

“You love these things. Still warm. Ate them before the bucket of chicken joy,” Phillip said as he handed the small cardboard containers over.

“Peach mango and ube pie,” Cal smiled, “almost makes what I did tonight…” it just as quickly fell away.

“Did everything go as planned?”

Cal took a deep breath and nodded to his dad. “Mostly, at least I hope so. I can’t truly be sure that the senator will listen and do as I say.”

“You did all that you could for now. We’ll be back to make sure the people are okay,” Phillip said.

“Thanks, Dad.” Cal took a bite of the peach mango pie. The crust was just as buttery, crispy and flakey as he remembered. The filling was sweet, warm and gooey. “I haven’t had this in—”

“— over a decade,” Hanna finished. She had rushed over as soon as she had seen Cal landing. “Been hearing that a lot tonight. So… did you make things right?”

“Hanna,” Phillip warned.

“It’s fine, Dad,” Cal said. “Didn’t kill anyone. Seared the terror of what I’d do to them if they didn’t free the enslaved and treat them well into the leader. I also gave firsthand experience of what it was like to be enslaved to those responsible.”

“Mind stuff,” Hanna nodded. “Good enough… for now.” Her hard eyes suggested that the slavers wouldn’t escape retribution.

“The enslaved will have a say on that,” Cal said.

Hanna blinked.

Cal blinked. “Like we’ve talked about before, remember?”

“Yeah, I do,” Hanna said.

Cal smiled while he bit into the pie.

“Just head inside to get the real food, Anak,” Phillip said.

Cal walked through the crowd of people eating in the parking lot. They were gathered around the vehicles. He scanned them quickly, not delving into their thoughts. Merely to check something he had sensed from his father and Hanna.

There had been fights. Both here and in the rainforest.

The claimed structures had been the most obvious clue.

Exhilaration and joy at survival was palpable. Excitement and anticipation filled the people as thoughts of leveling filled them. Sadness and guilt was interwoven into everything.

Deaths.

Two of them.

He scanned the crowd with his eyes and recognize the missing.

Efren and Lisbeth.

New recruits from Ilagan.

No.

They were part of Rayna’s Rangers. They fought and died as rangers. As part of his Quest.

The taste of the peach mango pie in his mouth soured.

His thoughts threatened to turn dark, so he made a conscious effort to focus on the lightness around him.

He took in snatches of conversations while he continued to slowly walk toward the Jollibee.

“C’mon, Captain Lawrence, aren’t you glad I talked you into letting us take out the secret boss?” Jake grinned widely, a bucket of fried chicken next to him.

“I need to accept that our strength has increased significantly,” Demi replied with uncharacteristic openness. She was eating a plate of spaghetti.

Elsewhere the rangers were gathered near the hobbled Smores as the young man pestered them for exacting details on the giant monster they had fought and killed in the rainforest.

Bungisngis.

Cal recognized the name.

The giant that never stopped smiling. Whether it was being friendly or eating you.

Sgt. Butcher and Aims patiently entertained Smores, while the rest ignored him.

“I don’t get this shit,” Mouthy said.

“I thought you liked it,” Hardhat said.

“I get the fried chicken and gravy. That’s a classic combo, but why rice? Why not just use mashed potatoes like normal?” Mouthy shook her head.

“It’s a different culture. Show some respect,” Two-toes hissed. She sipped out of a huge cup of soda.

Cal realized he hadn’t had soda in years.

“I ain’t saying it in a bad way,” Mouthy tried to argue her point. “All I’m saying is it’s fucking weird.”

“What do you think of the spaghetti?” Hardhat shared a conspiratorial look with Two-toes.

“Why is it sweet!” Mouthy threw her hands up.

“It’s awesome though,” Hardhat grinned. “I wish I knew about it sooner.”

“The pies are the fucking truth, though,” Mouthy said. “I like the purple stuff.”

“It’s made from a root according to Ambrose,” Two-toes said.

“Shut your lying mouth,” Mouthy said. “How’s it sweet if it’s a vegetable? Tell me that, huh.”

“You mean like sweet potatoes,” Hardhat deadpanned.

The three women continued to bicker as Cal focused his attention elsewhere.

He entered the Jollibee to find Ginessa behind the counter.

“What would you like, sir?” the supernaturally beautiful young woman smiled hesitantly.

Cal winced. “Please, don’t do that. Remember, you don’t owe me anything. Just act normally.” He didn’t need telepathy to sense Ginessa’s wariness.

Killing three aswan— people in front of her had left a mark.

She was afraid of him.

Which was fair.

“I guess I’ll take a bucket of chicken joy, gravy, rice, two orders of Filipino spaghetti and a large coke,” Cal smiled. “And is it okay if I just grab pies from the back later?”

“Sure, it’s not like anyone needs to get paid for this stuff.” Ginessa’s return smile was mired with nervousness.

“Thank you,” Cal decided there wasn’t anything he could say in the moment to ease her fears so he’d just take his food and give her distance. “Um… are they making you do this? Work the counter, I mean. Because everyone should be more than capable of getting their own food.”

“Oh no, I volunteered…” Ginessa looked away. “I just…” she trembled.

Cal glanced outside.

The others were either wary, scared or both when it came to Ginessa. She was an aswang to them. Even if it was a Class, he knew that, at best, most of them thought of her as not entirely human.

He understood.

“Did you have some food at least?”

“Yes. I still have plenty of blood bags in the fridge L&L set up for me,” Ginessa said.

“I meant this stuff,” he gestured at the bucket of chicken she had just set down on the counter.

“I tried a little,” she smiled sadly. “It didn’t taste like I remember.”

“Ah… well, if you ever need to talk, about anything, you can talk to me or maybe my dad. Believe me when I say that neither of us are scared of you.”

“Er… thank you… I mean, I will… if I need to, I mean,” Ginessa stammered.

Cal figured he had terrified her enough so he remained silent as she gathered the rest of his order.

He left the young woman to the empty fast food restaurant as he went in search of his dad to share the meal.

The night was relaxing, but with the morning came a return to reality.

Cal flew about ten feet over the convoy’s lead vehicle. “They’ll open the wall and leave us alone as we drive through their territory,” he said into the comms.

“Copy that,” Demi responded.

“Really?” Cal blinked. “Just like that? No questions? Skepticism?”

“You’ve been good on your word so far,” Demi said.

Cal was speechless.

He quickly scanned the surface level thoughts of the guards manning the barricade. As expected they had no intentions other than to follow the senator’s orders.

They opened the way immediately so that the convoy only had to slow a little.

The convoy drove south down the highway. They passed villages, towns and the larger city. All had obvious signs of life. There were plenty of people out on the streets and other vehicles driving about.

A truck filled with armed men shadowed them at a respectable distance.

Cal let it go. He would’ve done the same thing.

What he wasn’t going to ignore were any delays in the freeing of the enslaved.

“I’m going to check to make sure the rest of the agreement is being followed. I’ll catch up with you,” Cal said.

“Understood,” Demi said.

As Cal flew to the mansion he opened up his telepathic walls and scanned the surroundings. He searched thousands of minds for confirmation.

Sure enough, the senator had kept his word.

The man had decreed that all enslaved were free. That slavery was once again prohibited. That the formerly enslaved were to be given free housing, food, medical care and every other right shared by those privileged to not have been subjected to such cruelty. They had been freed from their chains, given more food and water than they had in close to a year and were now in the process of being assigned their own housing.

It didn’t make much sense to Cal why certain people had been enslaved and others had not.

It had all seemed so arbitrary.

Perhaps an individual hadn’t been deferential enough to someone with connections to power or one didn’t have a Class considered useful to the ruling elite. While others had come from poor backgrounds.

As if any of that should’ve mattered in the post-spires world.

He scanned the former enslaved. To his dismay not all of them had lost their Slave Class. Some still feared another cruel trick. That they’d be thrown back into chains at any moment.

He sent them all thoughts of reassurance.

That they were truly free.

He intended to keep it that way.

He flew to the Senator’s mansion.

“Remember what I said,” Cal spoke directly into the man’s mind. “Treat them as you would your own. Their well-being will determine your own when I return soon.”

He read the senator’s terrified acquiescence and flew away to catch up with the convoy.

Manila was only 50 miles away.

Soon they would face the gray fog that had engulfed an entire city and taken tens of thousands of people. Including some of the strongest individuals in the country, his family.

He didn’t know if Eron was still alive, fighting.

Had his brother been subsumed?

The thought of having to fight his brother’s shade filled him with dread.