A/N Just a quick heads up that this chapter has over 14,500 word. yes really. I thought about splitting this into two chapters like I usually do but I did not expect the Samurai backstory to have this many parts. For future reference, I would appreciate it if you could let me know whether you prefer two regular 3000 - 5000 word chapters or one long lengthy chapter like this one. Anyways enjoy.

...

-o-o-

...

Two fakes: one Arthur and one Eve, ran through the dark woods, hoping to be shielded by the trees.

Their torn clothes could no longer compare to even the shadow of the original's. They had cuts, and bruises all over their bodies and face yet they kept running.

At least until the Eve fake let out a loud scream all of a sudden, falling to the ground.

"Sister!" The Arthur fake called out as he stopped to give her a hand. He then froze at the sight. The reason of Eve's fall was not due to a rock or tree branch. It was due to the sword that had been impaledstraight through her leg.

The next thing he saw was the puddle of blood forming beneath the site of the injury. The eve fake screamed and screamed. The Arthur fake's hands shook. He didn't know what to do. He just froze. Staring.

"Sister... come on, g-get up, sister please, we must flee." Pointless. But what else could this inexperienced Arthur fake do besides plead and pray that the pool of blood and the sword would magically disappear along with the injury. His pleas were drowned out by the Eve's screaming.

"Please sister we-"

Arthur then heard the last thing he wanted to hear. Footsteps. They were close and approaching.

Soon, a man appeared out of a large bush followed by several armed soldiers.

There was no more praying once the Arthur fake saw who had appeared. General Ennard.

The general glared at the pair. A glare so suffocating that even the Eve fake ceased all screaming upon seeing him.

Arthur instinctively embraced his sister, shaking. He looked above Ennard's head and saw two thin, silver swords. The swords were floating, with their sharp blades pointing directly at their hearts. They looked identical to the one that had impaled Eve's leg.

They closed their eyes. They already knew that they were dead. Any small hope of survival they had beforehand were immediately extinguish the moment a General showed up.

He clung to Eve highly, bracing himself for their inevitable deat-

"This is... your sister?"

Arthur opened his eyes, amazed that they hadn't been killed already.

The fake hero looked at General Ennard who was gesturing his hand towards Eve with a questioning look. There was another soldier with a bow who looked as if he was about to shoot an arrow at them but was stopped by the General's order.

"Is this your sister?" The General repeated himself, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Y-yes." The Arthur fake replied, he was not sure of what was to come by answering this question.

The Eve fake shivered under Arthur's embrace, the pain of her leg still rushing throughout her body. Despite really wanting to, she did not dare scream in the presence of a General.

The General remained silent and so did the soldiers surrounding them. It was clear that he was thinking. It looked as if part of his expression didn't believe Arthur's answer. Did he actually mean sister by blood? Arthur asked himself. He did not dare ask out loud.

This moment where no words were being spoken felt like each second was dragging each other to its destination.

Then one of the floating swords above Ennard's head moved towards the fake siblings. Arthur and Eve immediately braced for their death. But instead, the sword gently landed right beside them. Resting on the grass horizontally in front of them.

This was soon followed by the words:

"Kill her. And I'll let you go free."

Once again, silence fell upon the group.

The Eve fake stopped shivering. At first, only confusion filled her mind. But then a new type of horror replaced the old one... once she she saw her brother eyeing the sword.

The Arthur fake's hands, shook. They were both going to die anyway. He tried to reason with himself. His hand clutched the handle before his mind could even fully process the situation. At the same time, Eve pushed his brother away, looking at him with incredulous eyes.

"No...no, no...please." Now it was Eve's turn to plead. With her injured leg, there was no way she was getting anywhere. She could only stare straight at her brother's eyes.

In his hand was a real weapon. Not the wooden starter weapon that Arthur was so used to. Not the wooden sword and shield that could barely kill a slime- no, this was real. It was lighter than he expected yet the very shine of the weapon escalated his shivering. Arthur could only look at the handle because it felt like the very sight of the sharp edge could cut out his eyes.

"I...I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes when he did it. But what he couldn't do was cover his ears, so they were left open to hear the sword pierce its target.

He had hoped it would end in one swift motion. But then he saw her cough, convulse and twitch in ways that almost made him internally puke. Out of sheer panic, he rapidly began stabbing her over and over, like a panicked child trying to kill an injured bird with a rock.

Finally, she stopped.

She was dead.

He said nothing and did nothing after that. He could only stare at what he had done as if in a daze. The thing to finally jolt him back to reality was the General's voice.

"Killing your own so called 'sister' just to save yourself. You demons disgust me."

Now there were 10 hovering swords above Ennard's head. It was the last thing Arthur saw before they all plunged into him into death.

...

-o-o-

...

"Julie! Go to the 'Foresst'! I promise I'll meet you there!"

...

-o-o-

...

It was evening with the land still under the illumination of the setting sun.

A blue squirrel raised its head and look around, as if it heard something. But nothing was there.

The trees leaned to the right, confused by the subtle, irregular movements of the air.

A pair of sandals landed softly next to the squirrel, scaring it and causing it to run away.

A second later, a sudden gust of winds blew everywhere, shaking the trees heavily.

The Samurai sat down and looked over her shoulder. "Let us take a short break, shall we."

Julie popped her head out of the bamboo box on the Samurai's back, her head slowly swinging from one side to the other.

"Oh, my apologies. Was I too fast?" The Samurai asked.

Once she was no longer dizzy, the small eyeless wolf child puffed her cheeks and looked away in a random direction away from the Samurai's voice, "M-my Mama is still faster."

It was the first time there was any hint of hesitation in her voice when talking about her mama.

"Haha, I'm sure she is."

The pair set up a small campfire for warmth which of course sparked another comment from Julie about her mother, "My mama can build fires too."

"Oh wow," The Samurai played along, "How big were her fires?"

"Huge!" The child extended her arms as wide as she could as if rewatching the memory in her mind, "And, and she could do with just her hands."

"Oh really? She could use magic?"

The child nodded her at the mere mentioning of that word, "Ahuh! Mama can do all sorts of powerful magic."

Skill trees were often too complex for children to understand. Majority of children don't even know how to mentally open the menu itself. So it was common for parents to just say "magic", a word which was commonly used in children's stories.

"Mama is very powerful. She can easily beat up bad people."

At this point, the Samurai felt as if she was already best friends with Julie's mother.

They began consuming some of their supplies. The Samurai barely ate while Julie happily devoured a piece of monster meat they had packed.

Julie happily accepted the night plums that the Samurai had packed for their journey.

They rested, all while the discussion on Julie's mother kept going like the wild flames of their small yet warm campfire.

"Aright, shall we get going again?"

...

-o-o-

...

The Samurai stopped. A lot earlier than Julie expected.

It didn't seem like it was time to rest or sleep. They just had a break earlier.

As if able to sense her confusion, the Samurai answered, "Sorry Julie, I am going to take a quick detour."

...

-o-o-

...

It was night by now. Yet in a certain area of the forest, near some medium sized rocky hills, lights of all kinds were being fired in many directions. Glowing water, flaming flying disk, blue energy beams, water cannons and ice shards. Bushfires would start only to be put out by another attack. Weapons clashed. Skills deployed one after the other.

There were two different parties battling against each other. A party of 5 beastmen vs a party of 3 human adventurers.

There was a female with brown hair and the body of a regular human but with wolf ears and sharp nails. She wielded a large blue great-sword. With her were three males who like her, mainly had human traits besides their feline-like ears. Two wielded wooden bows while the third one held a sword. The last beastman was a ware-wolf who was covered all over in black fur and unlike his companions, he relied purely on his inhuman physical abilities and sharp claws for the battle.

The three human adventurers all wielded different weapons: a staff, a hammer and a flying flaming disk.

The first adventurer, who was a summoner, raised his staff and called out, "Summon: Battle Ox.". Emerging from the ground behind him was the upper body of a transparent yet solid spirit minotaur holding a large battle axe.

The beast woman swung her large great sword which triggered magical ice shards to fire at the monster. At the same time, her two allies fired arrows covered in vines. They managed to only shoot two arrows before a flaming sharp disk came swopping in, right past them, leaving deep bleeding cuts on their arms.

The arrows and ice shards did nothing to the spirit monster. It swung its battle axe and it clashed with the great sword. Parts of the axe froze into ice but the monster still overpowered the female beastwoman and smashed her into the ground.

At the same time, using a skill to increase his speed greatly, the sword welding beastman dashed towards the three adventurers, slicing and slashing at their arms, face and legs. The adventurers didn't flinched even when small cuts appeared on their bodies. He may have been too fast for them to follow but the damage that this speedy beastman could deal was so minuscule, they practically ignored him.

Dodging flaming disk and ranged water spells from the summoner, the warewolf boosted himself off a tree trunk before lunging himself at the hammer-wielding adventurer.

In response, the adventurer swung his hammer directly at the incoming warewolf. Most likely using a skill, the warewolf managed to push himself in another direction to dodge despite being in mid air before swiftly slashing the adventurer's face with his sharp claws, leaving a huge bleeding wound on his face.

This time, the adventurer did flinch but it didn't stop him from gripping the handle of his hammer, changing it's angle before smashing the warewolf right in the chest, sending him crashing into a tree. Upon the impact of the hammer, the wound on the adventurer's face stopped bleeding. Then, upon bashing his hammer onto the ground, a huge green circle appeared beneath him and his fellow adventurers which swiftly healed all of the wounds that the beastmen were able to inflict on them. All of it.

The warewolf cursed himself. He wanted to take down the hammer-wielding adventurer first since he was actually the healer of this adventurer's party despite having a hammer as his primary weapon.

The beastwoman stabbed her sword into the ground, creating a solid barrier made of magic ice. However, the spirit ox smashed through the barrier with ease. Diving in from the side, the flaming flying disk flew past and slashed the beastwoman, leaving a deep, burning cut across her face. She clutched her head as agony rushed throughout her face.

"Summon: Silk Spider!" The summoner's battle oz disappeared which was then replaced by a large black spider.

Before she could react, spider webs wrapped around her, immobilising her. No matter her beast-like strength, it did nothing against the spider's string.

Her ally shot another arrow at the creature while another attempt to free her from the string. Both failed and only ended up captured by the spider's web.

The warewolf became distracted by his captured allies which proved to be a fatal mistake as the other adventurer took the opportunity to smash his hammer directly on the wolf's head. To add onto the injury, the flaming disk came flying and sliced the warewolf's knees.

"LUCAS RUN! RUN! GO!" The warewolf cried out to the speedy beastman before the adventurer brought down another merciless hammer swing on his skull.

Lucas stared with wide panicked eyes, sweat flowing down his face like leaking anxiety. Abandon his friends and run for freedom? Or stay and suffer the same gruesome fate that awaits them? He looked to the female beastmen on his left and then at the warewolf on his right. He wasn't sure which decision to make. He was on the verge of tears. His hesitancy would soon make the decision for him as he felt the large spider creature latch onto him. It was a lot quicker than it looked.

With that, the beastmen had lost.

"YOU WRETCHED, GREEDY HUMANS!" The warewolf cried out. He constantly continued to curse at the adventurer.

The adventurers casually ignored them as if they were used to this. They gathered the five beastmen together as if they were herding sheep.

"That's all of them right?" One of the adventurers asked.

"I only saw five... but if any did escape, they'll probably come back to save their friends anyway. That's just how they are."

The third adventurer, the one welding the healing hammer, whistled loudly as he caressed the ice great-sword that they had taken from the beastwoman, "Oh this is lovely. It should fetch a nice price on the market." He faced the original owner of the sword with a taunting smirk, "Where did you steal this little kitty?"

The beastwoman only responded by growling at him despite how much it made her face hurt. That, however, only made him laugh.

Although, it was at that moment when the summoner noticed the severe injury on the beast woman's face.

The summoner turned to the adventurer who welding the flaming flying disk.

"You fool! She's going to be worth way less now because of this!" The adventurer yelled at his companion while gesturing towards the fresh, burn wound on the beast woman's face, that was definitely going to leave an ugly scar, "What were you thinking?!"

"Oh I'm sorry!" the adventurer replied sarcastically, "I would've loved to see you capture them more 'efficiently', especially when they're trying to tear your heart out."

"You better not throw a tantrum when the seller doesn't give us enough money to pay off your dull-witted gambling debt. Maybe you should think twice before you spend your money on whores!"

At this point, the warewolf's cursing and shouting were somehow being overwhelmed by the adventurer's fighting among each other.

"Why can't we just hunt the fakes then? They're worth a lot more than beastmen nowadays. Don't you know?"

"Of course I know that, you imbecile. But every solider and General in the world wants them dead. If we get caught transporting fakes, our lives are as good as forfeit. Better take the safer option, especially with so many beastmen taking the chance to escape. It's practically a gold mine...if you do it right, that is!"

The last few words of that statement were said as a scowl towards the flaming disk welder.

"Alright that's enough of that you two, lets just get goin-"

The three adventurers stopped when they heard the subtle noice of a pair of legs softly landing somewhere very nearby. They turned their heads and saw a Lily fake standing right next to the five beastman they had just captured. She was saying something to them but at that point, the beastmen were equally as confused as the adventurers.

After the initial shock of her appearance disappeared, they didn't think much of it. She was just a fake, what could she possibly do against them? Just a clueless, naive fake who might've been drawn in by the noisy fight. One of them thought to themselves.

The healer adventurer raised an eyebrow while the flaming disk adventurer chuckled, "Where did you come from sweetie? Care to join us?"

She didn't answer.

The first person to become slightly alarmed was the summoner as he was the first to notice an odd detail. The spider string used to tie up their beast targets... had been sliced. Spider string that was tough enough to hold 15 elephants and more... sliced with eased while they were looking away.

It was cut so fast that even the beastmen failed to notice that they had been freed.

Then he saw the two katanas resting peacefully by her waist.

"Summon: Silver Golem!"

Hence a large silver golem, larger than the battle oz from before, emerged from the ground beside the summoner. The golem had two seconds to breath before it was sliced into four pieces.

At the same time, the Samurai walked past the summoner, causing him to fall to the ground into unconsciousness.

The other two sprang into life. They both jumped back, in two different directions.

Both their weapons were out.

Flames ignited. But before the flaming disk could leave the hand of its user, it was sliced in half. The two halves of the disk hit the ground around the same time the owner's body did.

In response to seeing all of this, the hammer wielding adventurer followed his quick thinking and instincts. He dropped his weapon and immediately began bolting in the opposite direction, running away while screaming.

The Samurai stood up straight and gently slid her sword back into its sheath. Once the katana made a gentle "click" sound upon entering back into the sheath; a small, subtle sign of thunder struck the adventure's back causing him to fall unconsciousness and hit the ground.

Just like that, less than half a minute into the battle, the Samurai had won.

But before she could even take a break, she noticed someone coming straight towards her. But this time, she simply did nothing. A pair of furry hands with sharp nails, grabbed onto her neck and lifted her into the air.

"YOU WRETCHED HUMAN BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!" The warewolf cried out while increasing his grip around the Samurai's throat, chocking her. There was still fresh blood running down the warewolf's face from where he was bashed by the adventurer's hammer and his pupils looked dangerously deranged.

The Samurai tried to open her mouth to speak but was immediately interrupted when the warewolf suddenly froze upon seeing something or someone on top the Samurai's head. It was Julie.

Julie had came out of the bamboo basket and was on top of the Samurai's head, sinking her tiny sharp nails into the warewolve's hands, growling at him with pure hostility. Her teeth began extending slightly but compared to warewolf, Julie was like a harmless snowball. But her presence did cause the wolf to stop in confusion.

"W-what the... Why are you with a human-"

"Jarrad! Stop! She just saved us!" Called out the beast woman, still clutching the burnt wound on her face, "Look! She's not a human! She's a fake. The creatures created by the demon lord's curse..."

"Created by the demon lord, you say..." He repeated with a low tone, the word demon lord was spoken in an even lower tone. it was then, the warewolf finally saw the number 0357 on the Samurai's right arm.

Julie growled louder at him, desperately trying to dig her nails deeper and deeper into Jarrad's hands but to no avail. Beneath all that fur, his skin was a lot more durable than it looked.

His glare only lasted a few more seconds before he... lowered the Samurai back to the ground, loosening his grip swiftly. Details that no one would notice at the time was that the Samurai didn't even cough when she was let go or that Jarrad's sharp nails had failed to pierce the skin of the Samurai's neck.

The warewolf then swiftly proceeded to get on his knees and bow his head towards her, "MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES! Forgive my ignorance!" Much to Julie's shock.

He had gone from hostile to apologetic real quickly. The four others quickly joined him, "THANK YOU FOR SAVING US!"

"That reaction is only natural in times like these." The Samurai responded softly as she rubbed her neck, "I am more concerned about your injuries."

As if on cue, the warewolf clutched his bleeding head and groaned in pain. The female also followed in a similar agonising manner. Once the adrenaline of battle had worn off, the pain was finally registering in them.

The Samurai was amazed that they still took the time to apologise and express their gratitude despite those wounds, "There's a river nearby, let us rest there."

...

-o-o-

...

And rest by the cold river, they did.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lucas," He greeted before gesturing to the rest of his friends, "This is Johnathon. That's Elijah. She's Merly and ah... the warewolf is Jarrad. Again, sorry about earlier."

Johnathon and Elijah were the ones who wielded bows and arrows covered in vines. Both of them had brown hair, similar medium heights and the ears of a cat. It's important to note that the aging process and growth of beastmen are signficiantly different than from a human and they often live much longer lives. With that said, using the standard of human appearance, they both looked like humans in their 30s.

Merly on the other hand, looked barely like a teenager for human standards which didn't really match her mature way of speaking. Either she is a lot older than she looks or she went through tough times that forced that maturity. She had light blue hair and wolf ears that matched her hair unlike Julie's wolf ears that matched her purple hair.

Jarrad was the only one who barely any human features except for the fact that he was bipedal. In fact, his kind could actually travel faster when on all fours. He was the largest amoung the group.

Jarrad and Meryl were the most injured. A large, burn wound on Jarrad's knees made it hard for him to stand. But the most concerning matter was his head where the adventurer had bashed him multiple times. He had bandages around his knees and a cold blue slime ball against his head. All of which were provided by the Samurai. Blue slime balls weren't inherently cold or wet and actually start off with the colour grey, making them easier to bring on trips. The item had the ability to match the temperature of any water that it absorbed which made them quite useful for most travellers.

Meryl had bandages around most of her face, except one of her eyes. She thankfully didn't lose any of her eyes but the burns on her face were still a massive concern. Elijah was attending to Meryl with wet cloths while Johnathon assisted Jarrad. Leaving Lucas to chat with the Samurai.

"A pleasure to meet you all, I am a Samurai. I apologise for not coming sooner."

"I'm Julie! Hello!" The purple haired child cheerfully waved her hand in Lucas' general direction, not realising that she was actually waving at Lucas' stomach.

Lucas seemed slightly intrigued by the way the Samurai introduced herself but did not question it.

"Please don't be sorry for something like that. Believe me, we're grateful someone actually came to help at all. I'm not sure whether you're aware of just how lucky we're all feeling right now."

Lucky to be saved by you. It was a common comment that the Samurai had received many times before.

"We picked this route because it's known to be unpopulated and less popular with the humans. Most humans don't even know that this route even exist. It would take a lot longer to reach our destination but we figured the safer option would be best. But it seems those adventurers anticipated that line of thinking. They set up traps and ah...well you know the rest."

"Conceited, good for nothing, whore eaters..." Jarrad still took the time to insult those adventurers, despite the fact that it only made his wounds hurt more, "You should've killed them."

Lucas didn't comment.

"Killing them would only bring greater trouble." The Samurai replied.

"Well, they're going to come back with more trouble anyway... so we should get moving."

"No, we will rest here for a few nights."

"Few nights?" Jarrad's tone almost sounded like he was offended, "Did you not hear what I just said? We have to-"

"We will rest here." The Samurai repeated once again with a slightly more sterner tone. The certainty in her voice cause Jarrad to be go silent. He could tell there was no way he was changing her mind.

"Mama always told me that sleep is very important." Julie chimed in.

"What if they come back?" Lucas asked.

"I will take care of it."

Under usual circumstances, these beastmen would've called her cocky, naive, or straight up delusional after hearing such a bold claim. But this time, they were left feeling... assured. After all, they saw what happened with those three adventurers. It was definitely not a fluke, that's for sure.

"So if isn't too personal, may I ask how you and Julie met?" Lucas asked, changing the subject.

"I come from a community of fakes hidden deep inside a desert," The Samurai began. This was news to all the other beastmen as they had no idea that community of fakes even existed, "I often go out on hunting trips to get supplies for my people. But on one of these trips, I found Julie stranded nearby in the sand during a storm and so I took her in."

"Ahh...I see."

The Samurai half expected Lucas to ask Julie why she was wandering the desert all alone despite being a child. But Lucas did not ask. He most likely already knew why. However, he did ask:

"And why leave that safe place? Well, I guess my actual question is where exactly are you two heading?"

The Samurai paused. Chances are Lucas already knew the answer to his own question and only wanted full confirmation.

She then said with a slow, gentle tone.

"I was taking Julie to the 'foresst' where her mother is." Upon saying the word forest, there was a brief noise of singing birds despite there being no birds nearby yet it was audible to anyone who heard the word come out of the Samurai's mouth.

Previously, the other three beastmen were being incredibly subtle in the way they eavesdropped on the consversation between the Samurai and Lucas. Except Jarrad who simply spoke whatever came to his mind. The other three would only move their ears ever so slightly. At points, they would briefly pause their current activity to listen closely to certain parts of the conversation.

However, the moment that magical word was spoken, all that subtly was obliterated. Johnathon and Elijah both did complete 180s with their heads and hips to face the Samurai with wide open eyes. Meryl began coughing as if chocking despite there being nothing in her mouth. Jarrad completely forgot about his injuries for a moment and attempted to sit up but he was immediately forced to lay back down when the agony in his head worsened. Lucas couldn't stop his eyes from expanding two times its neutral state, out of shock. Julie flinched upon hearing all the grunts, coughing and audible gasps. She instinctively clung to the Samurai's sleeve.

The Foresst was meant to be a secret safe heaven only known to the races who inhabited there. It is said that most will go through months of torture and die a painful death before ever saying the very name of the place. Now, it was not uncommon for a minority of 'outsiders' to believe or know the existence of this secret place. However. not one of them has actually been able to reach that place, let alone, get blessed by the fairies to say the name correctly. Yet here they were, witnessing an outsider say the name with audible evidence that she had been to that exact location. It was a very understandable reaction.

Previously, the beastmen had already guessed that Julie must've told the Samurai about that secret place so that she could take her there. After all, what else would a child in her situation do. But they most certainly did not expect the Samurai to have already been there in person.

"This is not the first time I have had to make this trip. In the past, I have met and assisted a few other beastmen who have stumbled across our hidden desert community. They all wanted to go to that place. They led me to there and eventually I was blessed by the fairies as thanks."

This explanation was actually half a lie and half the truth.

There was a much more complex reason as to how the Samurai became blessed by the fairies. But she did not want to complicate things by telling them her "eccentric" past. Fortunately, it made sense to everyone present.

After being saved by her and seeing her travel with one of their kind, they really had no reason not to believe her.

"I assume you were all headed towards the 'Foresst' as well?"

"Y-yes." Lucas replied once he and his allies had calm down, "I mean where else can we go? It's pretty much the destination of every beastmen trying to flee slave traders."

"Good. Then once you have recovered, we can travel there together."

"Yay!" Julie cheered, raising her small arms.

"Really?" Asked Lucas.

"Of course. It will be beneficial for both of us if we travelled together."

"You mean beneficial for just us," Jarrad once again spoke what was on his mind without thinking twice about it, "You two could probably reach that place way faster without us."

This time Julie cut in before the Samurai could reply, "My mama said it's ALWAYS better to travel together. No matter what!"

The Samurai chuckled, "Well there you have it."

Jarrad didn't comment after that.

Lucas stood up and bowed his head, "Well in that case, we gladly accept your offer. On behalf of everyone here...Thank you so much!"

...

-o-o-

...

The campfire they made continued to burn as their source of warmth and light under the blanket of the late night sky.

"Psst! Julie." It was Merly, whispering to the child to come over to where she was resting, "over here."

Julie turned her head to where her voice was coming from while tugging on the Samurai's sleeve. The fake hero smiled as she gently guided Julie over to where Merly laid.

"Nice to meet you Julie, I'm Merly." The blue haired woman greeted with a friendly tone.

"Hi Merly!" Julie greeted back. Without even asking for permission, the child immediately started touching Meryl's face in order to find the shape of her face.

"Julie..."

"It's fine." Meryl assured the Samurai that she didn't mind despite the wounds on her face. She was a child after all.

It was at that moment, Julie's hands felt the burnt skin, wounds and bandages that were wrapped around Merly's face.

"I'm sorry! Are you ok?" Julie asked with genuine sadness and guilt in her tone. She must've felt bad for touching them without asking.

This touched Meryl's heart. A kid with no eyes was genuinely asking whether the burn marks on her face were okay or not. She raised her hand and gently rubbed Julie's hair, assuring her that she was perfectly okay, "I'm feeling wonderful Julie, thank you."

As the two got to know each other, the Samurai looked and noticed that despite her injured state, Merly's other arm was still closely holding onto her large, blue great-sword as if it would disappear if she let go of it.

"That's a beautiful sword." The Samurai complemented.

"Thank you. It's a sword that's been passed down for many generations in my family."

"Oh really? How old is it?"

"Well so far, this sword has seen fourteen generations of my family tree. It would've been the last if it were't for you."

"That's amazing." The sword didn't look like it's age which probably showed just how much care and attention had been given to this sword.

"It really is... You see, the tribe I come from greatly values "inheritance" almost above all other things. So much so that the one iron rule that all couples must follow is that they are only allowed to have one child so that all the inheritance can go to them." She chuckled, "Haha, it's quite funny actually, you can cheat and have as many partners you want, but the moment someone has a second child, that's when shame in brought upon them."

Meryl's chuckles almost turned to full laughter. The Samurai did not expect Merly to mock her own culture so casually like that.

"My father had a skill that could hide this sword. A skill that couldn't be disabled...no matter how much he was beaten... tortured... whipped... He never revealed the sword. Not until the day it was time to finally escape that cursed camp. When that day came, he gave it to me... right before he was killed by the humans."

The Samurai and even Julie remained silent for a moment out of respect.

"My condolences."

Meryl smiled as she took a moment to remember him, surprisingly, the memory made her chuckle, "My father... died with a really dumb, smirk on his face. At least he still pointed up at the moon though, I'm surprised he didn't forget to do that. But now every time I try to remember the memory of him dying to save me, I cant help but laugh. I'm pretty sure he did that on purpose."

The Samurai smiled softly as she silently imagined what type of person Meryl's father was.

Meryl continued, "Samurai...I don't think we expressed enough thanks to you when we first met."

"Oh believe me, you most certainly did."

Merly gently laughed again. She tried her best not to laugh too hard since it would've opened up her wounds, "Our group was actually a lot bigger than this before. We thought we were free once we escaped...but then obstacle after obstacle stood in our way, it was like everyone and everything in the world was out to get us... many had to sacrifice themselves just so we could get away...Jarrad actually had to knock Lucas out a few times because he often refused to leave his friends behind."

"..."

"Back then, when we lost to those adventurers, I genuinely thought all their sacrifices were going to be in vain...wasted... But then we witnessed a miracle... you... Thank you, Samurai. All of us will forever be in your debt."

The Samurai smiled as she bowed her head towards her, "Rest well, Meryl."

Julie's hands discovered Meryl's hair which she gently rubbed in order to comfort her.

The group enjoyed a restful sleep that night.

...

-o-o-

...

It wasn't long till everyone got to know every possible detail about Julie's mother through the blind child's mouth during their time of recovery. Just like her time at the fake community, Julie took every chance to mention her mama. Every-time Julie did so, the Samurai would spot Jarrad and the others making a particular expression. An expression made of concern and a hint of sympathy. But she never commented on it.

Thankfully, Julie got along with everyone, especially Meryl. Julie would often offer to help Elijah take care of Meryl. This would often spark jokes from Jarrad about how she never offered to help him with his head injury. Julie often recoiled at these jokes. Jarrad was the only one Julie was still a bit scared off. Most likely due to their first encounter.

About two days went by with no events until-

"Samurai!" Lucas called out to her, "They're coming!"

Everyone looked at the Samurai who in response, simply sighed.

"I will be right back. Please take care of Julie."

Julie shook her head and clung tightly the Samurai's leg.

Meryl placed a gentle hand on the child as to not startle her. The Beastwoman had already recovered enough to be able walk around now but still had bandages around her face, "It's ok Julie. She'll be right back before you know it. Come here, you can hold my hand if you want."

To the Samurai's utter amazement, Julie actually let go and held onto Meryl's hand. Although she looked quite sad the moment she was separated from her.

"Be careful," Said Lucas.

"As much as it hurts my pride to say this: we're counting on you," Jarrad said before asking, "What's your plan exactly?"

"I will try to 'negotiate' with them. I would prefer to resolve this peacefully."

Jarrad looked at the others in the eye before looking back at the Samurai, "Good luck with that."

...

-o-o-

...

There were nine of them this time. Two of which included the summoner and flaming disk user from before. Interestingly, the healer who wielded a hammer was no where to be seen.

The adventures group stopped upon hearing footsteps. The Samurai walked out from behind a tree and into the open, raising her arms.

"Guild master! That's her! The one I told you about!" The summoner adventurer pointed with a shaky finger. The guild master snorted. He didn't look impressed.

"Adventurers! I only wish to talk!" The Samurai called out.

Meanwhile, watching from a distance on top the hills were Julie and the others. The blind child could only listen as she held onto Meryl's hand.

The beast people watched with neutral, calm expressions as they witnessed the events unfold between the Samurai and the adventurers.

Soon, it got really noisy.

Julie, half understanding all the loud noises she was hearing, puffed her checks and claimed, "My mama can do that as well."

Meryl looked at Julie with 'that look' before looking back at the main event with that exact same look, "Oh reeeeally?"

"Y-yeah!...m-maybe...I think..."

The other beastmen watched with the same 'blank' wide-eyed look on their faces.

"You want a plum?" Julie offered after fiddling for it in the Samurai's backpack.

"Oh thank you," Meryl happily accepted as she took the night plum and bite it. Upon biting the night plum, her face lit up as she let out a joyful humming noise, "Oh wow! This is so good! You guys want some?"

Jarrad and the other guys turned away from what they were watching and looked at Meryl.

"Oh night plums." Said Jarrad as he recognised the fruit, "seeing those sure is nostalgic. Been a while since I last ate one. Sure, hand some over."

"Here you go!" Julie said cheerfully.

They all had one to try. Similar to Meryl's reaction, they all hummed in satisfaction at the 'wonderful' taste of the night plums.

"This is good. Wow."

"To think I almost forgot how they tasted."

"Reminds you of home doesn't it?"

"Sure does."

The group proceeded to happily enjoy the plums as they watched the noisy events unfold before them.

About 10 minutes later, the Samurai returned to the group, calmly sliding her sword back into its sheath.

"Is that how all fakes 'negotiate' with people?" Jarrad asked with a pinch of sarcasm while chewing on a night plum, "If so, I'm starting to love your people."

The Samurai could only sigh as she patted Julie's head.

...

-o-o-

...

After that, came another uneventful day. It was lunch, then dinner then the moon rose to flex all of its glory. Another night, another restful sleep.

The moon came and went as fast as the rising sun.

Jarrad woke up to the sensation of morning light greeting his fur.

He sat up, scratched his back and looked around. He flinched slightly at what he saw.

Near where he was sleeping was an unconscious human who held a broken weapon in their hand. He looked around again and spotted some more unconscious humans just laying around them, each holding onto a broken weapon.

Shortly after, Meryl, Johnathon and Elijah woke up, only to be surprised by the same sight of the knocked out humans. Elijah almost screamed.

Soon after, the Samurai, Julie and Lucas returned with the meat of several monsters that the Samurai had slain.

As they began cooking it over the campfire, Jarrad faced the Samurai and asked, "Did you try to 'negotiate' with these humans too?"

"Jarrad!" Meryl scolded.

Lucas, who had seen what happened, just softly laughed out of nervousness.

The Samurai could only let out a deep sigh.

It had only been three days yet Jarrad and Meryl had recovered at incredibly fast rates to a point where they could walk around as usual. Meryl no longer needed the bandages around her face but there was a huge scar on her now. Upon seeing this recovery, the Samurai agreed that they should get going after they eat.

However, as they were about to finish eating, Meryl approached Julie slowly, making sure not to startle the blind child, "Hey Julie. How about we practise our growls?"

"Growls?"

"Yeah! Give me the best one you can muster!" said Meryl.

She was a bit shy at first. She had never willingly growled at people that she liked. But if it was just for practise then it should be fine. So Julie breathed in before letting out her loudest growl towards Meryl.

"Aww, that was really cute!" Meryl said cheerfully, clapping her hands.

Julie pouted, "It wasn't suppose to be cute."

She laughed, "I know, I know. Here, let me show you how it's done."

Meryl let out a more intimidating growl but made sure not to be too aggressive or loud towards the blind child.

Julie flinched at first but then she quickly puffed her checks again in order to state, "My mama's growl is still better."

"Of course! But don't you want to practise and surprise your mama with it later."

The thought of it made Julie's face light up as she happily nodded in agreement.

With that, the pair entered into a growling competition where they repeatedly began growling at each other as loud as they could. But it was clear that Meryl was holding back since Julie was just a child.

At first, the Samurai wondered why Meryl entered into such a random game with Julie. Her confusion and question would soon be answered when Lucas approached her and whispered, "Jarrad wants to talk to you in private."

Meryl and Julie both faced the opposite direction as they continued growling while the Samurai and the others walked away into a more private area hidden among the trees.

...

-o-o-

...

Jarrad and the Samurai sat down, both facing each other while Lucas, Johnathon and Elijah surrounded them, listening from the trees.

"Before I address the main topic at hand, I want to thank you for saving us once again and I truly do apologise if I came across as ungrateful with my attitude," Jarrad began as he bowed his head, "please don't take it personally. It's a habit of mine."

The Samurai spotted Lucas nodding his head as if he too had been a victim of Jarrad's sarcasm.

"There is no need to apologies for something as trivial as that, Jarrad," The Samurai replied with a gentle smile before moving the conversation, "So what was it that you wanted to discuss?"

"Before we head to the 'foresst'..."

Upon saying that word, she heard the brief noise of waterfalls as soon as that word left Jarad's mouth. It had been a while since she heard someone else say that word properly.

"I want to talk about Julie... I'm sure you are aware of what beast tribes are, correct?"

The usual human would typically assume that all beastmen all came from one big happy family. But anyone who actually looked into their people would soon be aware of tribes. Besides physical appearance, there was mainly one distinct thing that distinguished tribes from one another:

"Each tribe follows a single code of conduct. An aspect of life that they value higher than all other things. As you know, Merly's tribe values "inheritance". The tribe that Lucas comes from values the "bond of allies". Elijah's tribe values the 'spirit of battle' while Johnston's tribe values the 'spirit of peace'. Which is quite ironic since those two are always so close together."

In history, there have been examples of tribal conflicts because these values would sometimes clash with one another. For example, in the past, Meryl's tribe often had fights with another tribe that valued "ancestry", a tribe that placed the elders over the young while Meryl's tribe placed the young over the elders.

Jarrad continued, "My tribe values 'inner strength' which is honestly just a fancy way of saying that they don't believe in using skill trees. In the eyes of my tribe, skills trees are a form of cheating that should never be used. Quite foolish if you ask me."

Once again the Samurai did not expect to hear that. The beastmen she had met in the past always strictly followed their tribe's one code even if it meant their deaths. Yet here she was, meeting Meryl who mocked her own tribe and then Jarrad who straight up disagreed with it, "You use your skill tree?"

"Yes, well... I use what I have, at least… To be honest, the skills I have are not actually that useful. My skill tree hasn't changed for 6 years now so I've almost given up on it."

"I see…"

"Now as for Julie… Are you familiar with the tribe that she comes from?"

"No, I have not." She had seen many different tribes in the past but she has obviously not seen all of them.

"I wasn't sure at first since it's common for beastmen to join other tribes… But after seeing how Julie behaves, I'm sure of it now…that scent… that hair… I… used to have a good friend who definitely came from the same tribe as Julie."

The Samurai's eyes could not hide their interest on the subject.

The warewolf continued, "Even if you're not familiar with her tribe, you may have picked it up from the way Julie acts… You see, her tribes values "motherhood". From what I heard, the mothers in that tribe would do everything with their child. They would eat, sleep and wash together. Even if they went out hunting for food. A mother is to never be separated with their child, there was no exceptions to this rule. In Meryl's tribe, if a couple was ever discovered to have more than one child, they would be shamed by the rest of the tribe and sometimes even kicked out. In the same sense, I heard that if a child was ever seen separated from their mother, great shame would be brought upon that woman."

The Samurai was finally beginning to realise what Jarrad was beating around the bush for.

"So if a child from that tribe is in a situation where they are separated from their mother…well… it's usually not for a good reason… Do you understand what I'm trying to say, Samurai?"

"…"

"In times like these, it's more safer to assume that… Julie's mother is already dead."

Even from there, they could still hear the faint noise of Meryl and Julie practising their growls.

...

-o-o-

...

"Hey Julie... Can I ask you something?"

Julie stopped growling and titled her head.

With a slow and steady hand, Meryl slowly reached for blindfold around Julie's face, only gently touching the surface of the fabric. Julie flinched a little.

"Would it be okay if I have a look?... you don't have to show me if you don't want to, of course."

Julie was silent for a moment before she gently nodded her head.

The blue haired beastwoman made sure to be as gentle as she possibly could.

Once the blindfold had been removed, Meryl-

"Oh my lord..."

A wave of emotions washed through her mind: sympathy, and sorrow mixed in with an intense whirlpool of anger. How could someone do this to a young child? She asked herself. She held herself back.

"It's okay!" Julie said with an unusual amount of glee, "The Samurai's friends in the desert helped me heal a lot it so now it doesn't hurt anymore."

"... You're very strong Julie, you know that? A lot stronger than me, that's for sure." Said Meryl.

"Really?"

"Of course... If I lost my eyes like this, I probably wouldn't be able to stay so cheerful like you." Meryl replied as she proceeded to carefully put the blindfold back on Julie.

Julie fiddled with her shirt, her wolf ears began lowering themselves, "Umm... it does make me sad that I won't be able to see mama's face ever again..."

It was a rare moment to see Julie this down and depressed. It almost made Meryl regret bringing up the subject.

"But!" Almost instantly, her wolf ears stood up proudly as a smile replaced her gloomy expression, "I still have my ears. So I can still hear Mama's voice. That still makes me happy. My mama has a really beautiful voice. She always sings to me when it was time to sleep. Later when you meet my mama, I'll ask her to sing for all of you! She loves to sing for others! Hehehe. Oh! oh! I can also still smell! Mama also smells really nice and and-"

Meryl immediately covered her mouth from making any sound. She couldn't stop the waterfall that began flowing out of her eyes. She cried and cried as the tears ran down her hands. She found herself hugging Julie.

"What's wrong Meryl? You don't like singing?"

"N-no, no. I...I would love that to her sing..."

...

-o-o-

...

Silence followed those words. Lucas could only look at the ground. Elijah clenched his shaking fist. Johnathon silently closed his eyes. The Samurai stared down at the grass, clutching her katana. She would be lying if she claimed that the thought never crossed her mind. But she tried her best to ignore it until now.

"Here's my guess..." Jarrad continued after the silence had settled down, "Julie's mother lied to her. She must've told Julie to meet her at the 'Foresst' because she knew Julie wouldn't let go of her otherwise. Perhaps... she was killed while escaping a slave camp..."

It was a fair guess, unfortunately. In order for some to escape, many had to throw their lives away just to give others a chance at running back to their freedom.

"Do you think... we should try tell her?" Asked the Samurai.

"We probably should... After all, She'll find out one way or another... But maybe not now... not now... I can tell the poor kid has already been through a lot already... The time will eventually come to tell her..."

Once the meeting had been concluded, they regrouped with Meryl and Julie before they finally began their journey towards the 'Foresst'.

...

-o-o-

...

"Jarrad, if I may ask: why exactly did you leave the 'Foresst?"

"Hmm? You mean why did I make the biggest mistake of my life? Well it's quite simple actually. Back then I was just stupid, young and naive. My past self was bored, wanted something bigger. Originally wanted to start a large world-wide business. In hindsight, I agree that it was a very foolish decision."

"Not really. On the contrary, I think that was quite admirable of you. It is never an easy thing to move away from your home and into foreign lands."

"I would've agreed with you if this world wasn't so messed up."

...

-o-o-

...

"Mama knew the name of every star in the sky!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! That one is called 'Pointy, Fluffy Crocodile!". That one is named "Poppy Floppy Flower" and- Oh! oh! and that one has a really funny name-"

"Oh wow! I had no idea! Your mama is really amazing, Julie."

"Hehehe, my Mama can do everything."

...

-o-o-

...

"Hey Samurai?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you make that weird face every time you eat a night plum?"

"Oh, hahaha, it is no big deal. The fruit is just a bit too strong for me."

...

-o-o-

...

"Hey Samurai?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look tired. Very tired. Honestly, it looks like you're the one who needs the most rest out of all of us."

"...I will be fine."

...

-o-o-

...

"Frankly, I also didn't want to accept the death of my parents..." Jarrad and the Samurai discussed while Julie was busy playing with Meryl. "Not until I found a human wearing their fur."

The Samurai looked at Jarrad with a sorrowful expression.

"My parents were stubborn...way too strict with ancient traditions... but they were still good people, you know..."

"I am sorry."

"Haha, you're the last person who needs to be sorry for that, Samurai... "

"If I may ask... What did you do to that human?"

"Hmm? I crushed their skull of course."

"... I see."

...

-o-o-

...

Red sand. Everywhere. Was it the natural colour? Or was it red because it had been tainted by the blood of the many souls that this desert had digested.

Large pillars of moving, sandy tornadoes rushed from one place to the other.

Every gust of wind had a tsunami worth of red sand. Blowing rapidly in all directions, faster than any flying creature could handle.

Hills of sands would form, only to be toppled swiftly by the bloody red storm. Disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

This storm had quite the infamous reputation as the storm that never stopped. No one knows how long it's been active but no doubt it has been going on for years non-stop.

To many, this place was known simply as the "Bloody Desert".

But to others-

The Samurai, Julie, Jarrad, Meryl, Lucas, Johanton and Elijah stood there, side by side, at the very edge of this blood red desert. If they stepped any further, a punch made of wind and sand might've torpedoed straight into their mouths.

Yet despite the monstrous, unconquered storm in front of them, they were all calm. Some were ecstatic even. Others were speechless.

"I almost can't believe...We... we actually made it."

But to others... This desert was known as the "Entrance to the Foresst".

It was then, everyone slowly turned to face the Samurai. Julie was still holding tightly onto the Samurai's sleeve.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Samurai?" Meryl asked.

"Well... I actually do have old friends in there who I would love to catchup with... however, I cannot. My people are waiting for me so I must return at all cost."

"Choosing your people over your own safety... You have my deepest respect for that." Jarrad commented.

Naturally, the one who was the most sad about this was none other than Julie. The small wolf child pulled down on the Samurai's clothes with both her hands, "Can you come with us? Pleeeease?"

"I am sorry Julie. But I still have many things to do back at my home."

"Awww... but...b-but..."

The Samurai knew Julie would be sad but the blind wolf child was straight up crying.

The Samurai picked Julie up and hugged her. It was a long hug. The rest waited patiently.

Afterwards, Julie then began touching the Samurai's entire face again. Making sure she had the shape of the Samurai's face memorised.

"This will not be the last time we see other Julie. Do not worry, I will make sure to visit one day, okay? Can you wait till then?"

Julie immediately perked up with a more cheerful mood, "Okay! And then you can meet my mama! I'll tell her all about you! I'm sure you and mama will be great friends!"

Everyone looked at Julie with a look of sorrow but the child naturally did not notice.

The Lily fake rubbed Julie's head gently making the child even happier, "I look forward to it."

They then hugged once more as the final goodbye. While still hugging the small child, the Samurai turned to face Meryl, "If I may ask for a favour... Could you please take care of Julie for me?"

"Of course!" Said Meryl, "After everything you've done for us, it's the least we can do."

The Lily fake nodded, "Thank you. It will comfort me greatly knowing she is in your hands."

After Lucas, Johnathon and Elijah expressed their unending gratitude, Jarrad was last.

If the Samurai wasn't mistaken, Jarrad was almost about to cry.

"Samurai! We won't forget about this! All of us here are no name individuals with zero influence but... We'll make sure to tell everyone about what you did. We'll protest if we have to... so that one day... you and your people will be welcomed here!"

The Samurai smiled back, "Thank you, Jarrad."

Meryl bent down next to Julie who was still within the Samurai's embrace, "Come on Julie, it's time go."

After a few more moments, Julie slowly let go, "You promise to come back?"

"I promise." The Samurai answered honestly.

With that, Julie held onto Meryl's hand as the Samurai slowly took a step back.

"Until we see each other again." Meryl concluded.

"Of course."

With that, the five beastmen turned around to face the bloody storm. With no hesitation and Meryl carrying Julie on her back, the five of them began sprinting straight into the storm.

Despite the storm, the furious sand tornadoes, the harsh killer winds...the running beastmen looked completely unaffected by it. As if they were running through calm grass fields.

Soon, the shadows of their figures vanished. The Samurai was alone once more.

...

-o-o-

...

"Whoa," The four yukari fakes said at the same time.

Almost half the underground community of fakes had gathered around the Samurai to hear about her journey with Julie and the other. Of course, Lily4339 was also there to hear the whole story.

There was a round of applause for her once the story had ended. Since most of them had previously interacted with the wolf child in person, they were very relieved to hear that not only was she in a safe place, but the Samurai had fortunately found good people to take care of her.

However, there was one person who couldn't help but ask-

"So you still don't know what happened to Julie's mother?"

The mood shifted slightly once that topic had been brought up. There were many others who had the same question it seems.

"No... Unfortunately not." The Samurai answered honestly.

"Poor child..."

"I'm glad she's safe now but... I can't imagine how she's going to feel once she finds out her mother isn't there."

The Samurai said nothing. She didn't know what to say. Julie seemed so adamant, so convinced that her mama was alive and waiting for her that trying to tell her probably would've broken her heart for life.

"Hey let's not jump to conclusions here!" Lili4339 chimed in, "Julie said her mama was strong right? There's still a chance that she might've survived...You never know.. right?... Right?"

Her words were met with silence and zero eye contact.

She was right. You never know. They had no way to knowing. Whether Julie was happily reuniting with her mother or not, they may never know and probably never will. It was that feeling of dread you get from not having the answers of the questions you really want to know.

Maybe she did survive. Maybe. But in a world like this... that was highly unlikely.

The Samurai finally stood up after giving everyone enough time to contemplate the topic, "Perhaps... I did promise to visit her sometime in the distant future... when I do, I will make sure to keep you all updated. As for now, shall we head to sleep?"

...

-o-o-

...

Yelling, explosions and weapons clashing echoed throughout the entire field. Boisterous spells and skills being activated from all different directions.

The moon hid behind the dark clouds in the sky as if turning its eyes away from the events that were occurring.

Several parts of the huge camp were on fire and was already transforming into roaring bushfires around the many trees that surrounded it.

Fleeing from this camp were hundreds of beastmen. Hundreds. All from different tribes, including tribes that were assumed to be extinct. The colour of their fur, or ears varried greatly as if they were plucked from opposite sides of the land.

They wore brown dirty, rags. Their clothes were ripped and even looked like they were rotting. Some carried children while others were frantically carrying their elders or those who couldn't physically stand up. Their injuries ranged from intense bruises, deep cuts covered in used bandages, and some even had missing limbs. Some were still wearing their shackles with dangling chains that had been previously cut.

Some had stolen horses and carts to flee while many simply ran on foot as fast as they could.

Chaos only properly described the beginning of all this.

Within the fleeing crowd, was an adult woman with purple hair and wolf ears. Within her arms, she held a child. A blind child who had a bloody bandages wrapped around her head like a blindfold.

As they ran with the group, a figure holding a large axe descended from the sky and landed directly in front of their path. The figure wore a black helmet that covered his face and his muscular size was almost three times the size of the fleeing slaves. It's unknown whether that was his natural size or if he used a skill to enhance his body. He also looked incredibly more clean compared to the beastmen he was trying to stop from escaping.

The crowd all stopped, screaming and clinging onto their children as they watched the huge slave guard raise his weapon.

The only person who didn't stop was the purple haired woman carrying her blind daughter. She continued to sprint directly at the enemy. Seeing this, the slave guard changed target and swung his axe at her.

The sole of her feet began igniting with bright flames that launched her straight past the axe and past the man's head. Before the man could turn around, the mother swiftly kicked the side of the man's head. Upon impact, a mini explosion of fire blew up the man's face, sending him flying through several trees. She did all this while still holding onto her daughter.

"KEEP MOVING!" She yelled to the group.

"Mama?" Her daughter was terrified and shivering.

"It's ok honey, that was nothing. Everything is going great!" The woman told her daughter was unusual enthusiasm as she began sprinting once again.

The woman's smile grew even more when her eyes laid upon a series of multiple horses and wagons in the distance. To add onto that, there were multiple, large wolf-like creatures summoned by someone's skill tree, that could each hold about 20 or so people. The people who had brought the horses and creatures were other fellow beast-men. Beastmen who, despite being free, had dedicated their lives to collaborating and planning with slave beastmen in secret, in order to break them out, instead of seeking the safety of 'The Foresst'.

The wolf beastwoman and her daughter were the 22nd and 23rd people to get on the mode of transportation.

"You feel this Julie?! We have reached our super, get away escape vehicles! Exactly as we planned!"

"So... Are we free now, mama?"

"Yes! YES WE ARE! Relax, okay. Those bad people will never catch us now. We are now on our swift way! "

"To that place?"

"Yep! And once we get there, we'll do ALLL the things we said we'll do. We'll eat all the tasty food we want! We'll try all the different types of fancy clothing! Have warm baths! I can even ask the kind fairies to use their super healing skills on your eyes!"

"R-really?"

"Of course!" That was a lie. No matter how powerful the healing skills of the fairies were. You cannot heal what isn't there. But there were many types of skills out there so she stayed optimistic.

Julie stopped shivering and snuggled closer to her mother.

As soon as a wagon or giant wolf was jammed packed with enough people, it took off immediately while the other wagons were still being boarded.

The wagon that contained Julie and her mother was the fourth to finally leave. The woman took in a deep sigh of relief as if she had held her breath that whole time.

This was it. It was finally it. They had escaped that wretched camp. The camp that had tortured and slaved them for so many years. They were finally out. They still had a long journey ahead of them but at least they had overcome the hardest part.

"We're free Julie. Isn't that great?"

The small blind wolf child nodded, "All thanks to you mama!"

"Now now Julie, this was a team effor-"

The mother stopped talking when her wolf ears twitched and heard it. The screams. The screams of children and the cries of their desperate parents. The slave guards. They had captured some of the children of the escaping parents. To make matters worse, they-

"Turn yourself in along with 10 of your kind! Then we'll let your child go free!" The slave guards demanded. They were obvious lies. But what else could these desperate mothers and fathers do? Leave their children behind to relive the fate of slaves once more. That wasn't an option for them.

The captured beast children cried as they reached helpless for their parents while a dagger was aimed at their necks. The beastmen began turning and betraying one another, apologising profusely. They tied up, tackled and bit their own kind, their own friends whom they suffered along aside with... all just to save their own children.

Mothers screamed out the names of their offspring, kneeling before the slave guards feet, pleading and begging them to let them go, even if it meant turning themselves in. Of course, the guards would ignore their pleads and shackle both the mother and the child.

The unfortunate truth was that the mother had lied to Julie: not everything went exactly according to their plan. It may have been hard to believe after hearing the screams and the burning bushfires, but all of this was originally meant to be a quiet escape into the night. But when organising the escape of hundreds of lives, something was bound to be leaked.

The purple-haired, wolf mother listened to all these cries as she looked back at the bushfires that surrounded the camp. She watched and listened, watched and listened before finally-

"Mama?"

She looked down at her daughter and embraced her. They sat like that in the moving wagon squished up against other beast-men who were also embracing their children. They were free. They were on the wagons already on their way to freedom while the guards were too busy dealing with the ones closest to the camp. This was it. Their new lives were beginning now.

They had finally escaped...

"Julie..."

"Yes mama?"

"Julie listen to me, I..."

The mother paused for a moment.

"Mama?"

They had finally escaped... And yet-

"Julie... I need you go ahead of me, okay?"

Almost immediately Julie raised her head and grasped her mother's face with her hands, "W-what?"

"Some people were left behind Julie. I got to go pick them up quickly. Don't worry, I'll be right back!"

"No! No! No! I don't want to be separated from you again!"

"Julie please..."

"Mama please don't leave me! I don't care about my eyes. I just want to be with you! I don't want to lose you like Papa!"

"Julie..." She nuzzled her head against her daughter, "I want to make sure the other kids can live happy lives with their parents...just like us, you know?"

"..."

"Julie. Go to the 'Foresst'! I promise I'll meet you there!"

"Y-you promise?"

"I promise..."

She didn't seem convinced as her grip on her mother didn't loosen at all.

"Hey! Am I strong?"

Julie nodded her head.

"That's right! I'm super duper strong! So you have nothing to worry about. Once I save everyone, I'll head straight there to meet you. Then we can live our peaceful, fun lives together. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"In fact, I bet I could get there before you. How about it we make a race? Whoever gets there, wins! How about that? If you win, I'll cook your favourite dish for you."

That seemed to cheer Julie up a little bit. It had been years since Julie last had her mother's cook, "Okay! I'll be way faster than you!"

She smiled, "Good girl."

They hugged as the mother kissed her daughter's head. Julie wanted the moment to last forever. But instead, the moment seemed to flash by within seconds.

The mother willingly pulled herself away from her daughter for the first time ever in her entire life. She stood up and-

"I love you, Julie."

"I love you too, Mama."

With those parting words, the mother leaped off the moving wagon. Her legs ignited in flames as she flew straight towards the very camp she had just escaped.

"Mia! Wait!"

The wolf beast woman looked to see three other beastmen following after her. Mia knew them. They were the close friends she had made during their time at the slave camps.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to resist the temptation." One of them commented as he somehow managed to keep up with Mia's speed on all four of his limbs.

"What happened to: every man for themselves?" The other beastwoman chuckled as she rode a flying wooden staff.

Mia seemed shocked to see them following her, "You guys...What are yo-"

"We're with you Mia, whether you like it or not."

"...Thank you, everyone."

"But Mia... Are you sure about this?" The third one rode a horse made of hardened dirt and grass, "No one will blame if you leave it to us and go back to your daughter. You've already done so much for everyone here."

"I'll admit, that's exactly what I want to do."

"But you won't."

"Pretty much. Haha, you guys know me too well... Well then... LET'S GO!"

One of the guards who was holding a dagger to a child's neck didn't even have time to react when she came flying in. In one swift motion, Mia's flaming fist collided into his cheek while her other arm smoothly grabbed the child. A hand made of flames then appeared in front of them. Despite being made out of pure fire, it didn't seem to hurt the child. The hand swiftly brought the child over to her mother. Before the mother could express her thanks, Mia demanded "GO! RUN!"

The one who rode the flying staff, grabbed the handle of her flying weapon and did a front flip before landing on the ground. "Come to life, my summons!"

The flaming trees around them suddenly began to move on their own. They grew faces and were given loud voices as they attacked the slave guards. The trees that weren't on fire yet also moved but they focused on extended their branches to latch onto the captured beastmen to get them out of there.

Many of the guards attempted to grab hostages.

The one who moved swiftly on all four limbs suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind those guard. He summoned a wooden scythe which began glowing the moment he held it. He sliced their necks. The guards he had sliced all suddenly disappeared and reappeared above the heads of other guards, causing the dead bodies to fall on top them. He then tapped his scythe on the shackles of the beastmen he had saved. The shackles disappeared once his wooden scythe touched them. He then tapped all the children and captured parents, teleporting them away.

He teleported again behind other guards. He swiftly cut them, causing those guards to teleport into the air and crush their skulls upon falling back to the ground.

The last one who rode the dirt horse unsheathed his rusted, metal katana.

"Go save them," He ordered his horse before jumping off it.

The horse charged right through guards and efficiently grabbed hostages with its mouth and throwing them onto it's back. It focused mainly on back and fourth trips while knocking over all slave guards that got in it's way.

Meanwhile the owner of that horse swung his katana despite not being within close range within anyone. This was because his katana was actually a long ranged weapon that shot out energy blades. The blades sliced off the legs of many of the guards and pierced straight through their weapons.

The four beastmen, followed by a small army of moving burning trees, charged towards the army of slave guards.

With fist of burning flames, Mia punched a guard, causing a pillar of flames to burst out of him which left a large gaping hole in his chest. The flames around her began moving on their own and forming shapes that resembled the heads of viscious wolves with sharp teeth. The flamming wolf heads fired themselves like arrows, causing huge explosions wherever Mia targeted.

She swung her arm, causing a wave of fire to wash over a horde of guards.

Large tents and structures with guards still in them, crumbled down to the ground.

Mia spread her arms out wide. A giant warewolf made of flames appeared behind her. She then clapped her hands together loudly, commanding the flaming creature to dive towards another horde of guards, causing explosions with each of its punches.

The flames she controlled were somehow about to distinguish between enemy and hostage. It burned her enemies yet the captured beastmen were left unharmed and were being carried to safety by the moving flames.

One guard charged at her with a huge, metal spiked club. Each one of Mia's nails sharpened and transformed into hot blades made of flaming lava. She swiftly sliced the club before slashed the man's neck.

She then swung her sharp lava claws at incoming arrows that were shot at her. She managed to slice them all except one arrow that got her in the shoulder. She kept fighting.

The teleporting scythe user stopped them from using hostages. The summoner made sure they weren't swarmed by the insane amount of guards. The one using the katana supported his friends from behind, providing long range fire while his horse focused on saving more of their captured kind.

Someone managed to stab a dagger into Mia's back. She retaliated by slashing the attacker's face, burning it with flames.

Then, Mia saw him. A slave guard standing amoung the other guards, holding a sword. Upon seeing the man's face, Mia sprinted towards him. Seeing this, the man panicked and fell over on his back. Many guards charged towards her but Mia swiftly sliced their necks, burned them to ashes and even suffered a few stab wounds. All so she could reach that one guard who wielded a sword.

Before he knew, Mia was standing right in front of him.

"Look! About your daughter! I-" He didn't finish his sentence as he attempted to swing his sword at the wolf woman, hoping to catch her off guard.

She sliced the sword along with part of his hand. The man screamed in agony as his held his burnt hand. Without hesitating for even a moment, Mia aimed two of her sharp, lava nails... and plunged them into the man's eyes. There was a dark, glare on Mia's face when she did it.

Why did Mia specifically choose to gauge out his eyeballs instead of just slicing his neck like she did with the others? Perhaps there was a certain history between the two.

The man screamed even louder and cried out as he wailed around on the floor, writhing in pure, burning agony. Instead of finishing him off, Mia left him to suffer the slower death.

She continued fighting along side her comrades.

From the other side of the camp, was a guard holding a spear. The guard pulled back his weapon, aimed and while activating a skill, launched the spear towards his target with the speed of a bullet.

Mia's comrade dropped his katana... as the spear impaled him straight through the chest.

Mia and the other two beastmen back at his direction, "No..."

The spear had pierced right through his heart. The beastman smiled back at his allies before he pointed up at the moon, "See you guys."

Mia, the summoner and the teleporting beastmen continued fighting on as his body hit the ground. The horse commanded also began to crumble down into dust.

They continued to fight and fight against what seemed like an endless crowd of guards. All while saving as many of their kind as they could.

The one who wielded the teleporting scythe suddenly found that he could no longer teleport. He looked to see that one of the guards glaring at him with glowing eyes, most likely using a disabling skill.

One guard holding a huge hammer charged at him. The beastmen raised his wooden scythe to block but it stood no chance as the hammer smashed right through it and into his skull. He fell over on his back, pain rushing through his skull. He looked at the upside down view of Mia and the summoner who were both looking back at him.

He pointed up at the moon, "Nice knowing you."

A large hammer was swung down on him, smashing his entire head completely.

Two dead. Two alive.

Mia and the summoner stood back to back, covering each other whenever a guard attacked their blindspot.

"You know.. I was actually in love with him." The summoner confessed.

"Really? You should've told him." Mia answered.

"He would've teleported away if I did."

"True that, haha."

"Mia... There's no one left to save. Whatever you do now..."

Mia felt the summoner use a wind skill to push her away. When Mia looked back, she saw the summoner get sliced into two pieces by a huge halberd.

While the summoner's upper body was still in the air, she smiled at Mia while her index finger pointed towards the moon, "We're with you."

All the moving tree-creatures who were supporting Mia stopped moving and began crumbling to the ground.

"Thank you, everyone."

She was alone now. Surrounded by almost a hundred guards. The same guards who had tortured and enslaved her people for so many years.

"Do you honestly think you've saved your people?" One of them suddenly spoke, she knew him quite well since he was the leader of the camp, "You've only doomed them. Not one of them is going to survive out there. They're bound to be caught by our competitors and they're not so merciful like we are, you know."

Mia... Did not respond. She only smiled silently.

"Kill her."

Holding spears, swords, axes and crossbows, multiple guards launched towards her.

But not all the guards were sprinting towards her. Out of the corner of her vision, she spotted other guards getting on horses and other fast and vicious creatures most likely with the intention of pursuing the others.

Mia closed her eyes and pointed at the moon.

As she did, her skin began to crack. The cracks in her skin began releasing light rays of burning fire in all direction.

"Julie... I'm so sorry."

"I know we still wanted to do so many things together."

"But I'm going to have to break our promise."

"Please forgive your foolish mother."

"I know it'll be scary without me."

"There are many kind people out there."

"I pray you find one of them."

"Julie, I love you."

The leader of the camp noticed too late and tried to run.

Her entire face and body was covered in glowing cracks by now.

The voice of a monotone woman echoed through her ears, asking, "Are you sure you wish to active the following skill?"

She smiled. Her tears evaporated the moment they left her cracking eyes.

From within Mia's heart, an explosion ignited. A explosion so huge that it covered the entire slave camp. Taking the life of the leader and every single guard along with her own.

...

-o-o-

...

"Oh wow!"

"It's as beautiful as I remembered!"

"I can't believe it, we actually made it!"

"You've already said that twice now, you want me to pinch you?"

Even with no eyes, Julie could still smell and hear the beauty of this place. The air smelt like fresh golden apples and the falling waterfalls sounded like a holy choir. But of course, all of that beauty and peace paled in comparison to Julie's excitement of finally being able to be reunited with her-

Julie tugged on Meryl's arm excitedly, "Can we go look my mama now? Please!"

Everyone gave looked at Julie.

Meryl rubbed Julie's head, giving her the brightest fake smile even though she knew Julie couldn't see it, "Of course!"

"Yay! You'll love mama! She's really really nice!"

"Umm, ah... I-it's a big place Julie, it might take a while to find her." Lucas stumbled with his words.

"Yeah! It's almost like an entire continent of its own you know?" Elijah chimed in.

"Not to mention we still got to settle in, find a place, and all that complicated stuff." Johnathon added.

Jarrad remained silent.

"That's okay!" Julie replied cheerful, "I don't mind! Mama is very patient after all! Let's go!"

With that, the group embarked into the peaceful country of their people.

...

-o-o-

...

The sun was about set on this noisy camp filled with drunk, tired soldiers.

However, due to a certain incident, they suddenly all went silent after what they just heard.

General Ennard and the soldiers stared at the lifeless Arthur fake who Ennard had just killed.

It was silent. Why? Well because this Arthur fake in particular had a few last interesting words to say right before he was killed. Before death, the arthur fake had made a lot daring claims. But to put it bluntly, every solider who heard the fake's last words thought nothing of it. He was clearly just bluffing. All bark but no bite. All the soilders thought to themselves.

Some of them even started to chuckle. After all, this Arthur fake made such a bold claim right before being killed himself. It was very ironic in their eyes.

A entire parade of laughter would've began but then they heard General Ennard say-

"Call all the generals."

The solider standing next to him stopped chuckling and looked at the General. He stumbled with his words, as if thinking he misheard the General completely, "...pardon, General?"

"Call all the generals."

"A-all? E-every single one?"

"Yes."

"But General, that's impossible. Each general have their own duties to attend to... a-and surely you don't actually believe-"

"Call... All the generals!" He said with a more stern tone "SEND THE WORD NOW!"

"Yes General!"

"EVERYONE! READY YOUR WEAPONS AND SKILLS! WE LEAVE NOW!"

Upon several more orders, the entire camp of previously slacking soldiers sprang into life and got ready for battle.

...

To be continued.

...

-o-o-

...

A/N That was long! I apologise for my long absence. I am currently studying and riddled with assessments so updates will be incredibly slow compared to when I started this series (since I was on holiday).

This chapter is incredibly long compared to the others so again, for future chapters, let me know if you would've preferred if this chapter was split into two.

Thank you all for reading this far. Till next time.

...

This chapter was finished on the 10/09/2022