Whatever it was, it hit with intensity.

Confusion.

Shock.

And the worst of it: a sense of loss.

I looked around.

There was no one, at least as far as I could tell.

My monsters were nervous, though.

I just couldn’t shake the feeling, the distress, the loss, unexplainable, and sudden.

An attack. Somewhere not here.

I had to struggle to calm myself.

My monsters, however, stayed alert, listening, stiffing the air.

Narita desperately tried to examine me for what had forced me down to my knees, worried expression in her red eyes.

“Master? Master!” she tried.

I wasn’t hurt, at least not physically.

“It’s not… me…” was the only response I managed.

Narita had nothing of it.

The sudden jolt of energy from her life-transference kicked my consciousness back to reality, overriding whatever clutched my brain, and putting my mind on overdrive.

In slow motion, I watched as the small circle of corrupted plantlife in my immediate vicinity turned to dust scattering in the wind.

There was a certain level of control because my monsters weren’t currently rushing to meet the assailants. They were, however, strongly agitated. Looking around, snarling, their ears moved to trace the sounds, while the ‘Corruptors’ frantically moved the greenery forward for the alpha ‘Defiler’ to process.

I didn’t need it.

A sudden infusion of power only helped in bringing more focus to the emotional distress I experienced and couldn’t properly explain, let alone process.

My attention was elsewhere, entirely fixated on the strange, pervasive sensation that never gripped me before with such a force, or rather, never happened before at all, but now it felt something, or rather someone, ripped out the very part of me.

I could only guess that last, sudden, unexplained power-up did more than grant me with the new skill or new type of monster to fill my ranks. It was almost like it changed something else within me, deepening the connection I felt with my monsters.

Only one thing was certain: it didn’t dispel any of my confusion and I struggled with not the sudden weakness, but also getting in the situation's grasp.

Miwah growled, staring at the horizon.

She was directing some fights happening elsewhere.

My werewolf showed that ability before when calling and dispatching scouts or reporting what they saw, with the perfect clarity without necessity to exchange words with their smaller kin.

She, however, wasn’t as distressed or angered back then as she was now. Only moment which sent them over the edge was the proximity of that one strange woman.

Although, no matter the changes, I still couldn’t see what she was experiencing.

“Miwah?” I asked softly, worried.

No response.

Then the feedback I never received kicked in once more, flooding me once more with the unpleasant sensation of loss, almost like I was robbed by the part of me once more. It was indescribable, almost like it beckoned me to make action.

It was the urge to flinch in metaphorical pain before more damage occurs.

Realisation was worse with Narita’s help than it would be without it.

Her power may mend flesh and bone in seconds, but in my state, it did more harm than good, as there wasn’t a wound to fix. The physical vitality only allowed me to concentrate on the horrible sensation the feedback provided in greater detail.

All the attention which contradicted the overbearing sense of urgency - there simply was no shock to shut me down.

13 units sealed until the caster is dead.

The notification was back.

And with it, more puffs of red fog that heralded monsters before dying off, producing nothing but fear and anger in me. Thirteen more of my creatures weren’t able to return to me, and combined with the unnatural vitae given, it only infuriated me.

Never I felt the link between me and all the monsters as I did in that very moment.

In fact, I never felt one earlier at all,

“Miwah!” I said, and getting no response, I almost yelled out: “Miwah, whatever you are fighting, have everyone pull back! Retreat, now!”

I scrambled back on my feet and rushed towards Miwah.

The canine monster regained her focus as I reached for her face, gently touching her under her muzzle. It was rather awkward, since my werewolf was taller than me and I was reaching up, but I didn’t care. None of my furry menagerie interrupted us.

“Master?” she said, looking at me for the first time with a mix of sadness and anger in her blue eyes. “My kin are banished. Over twenty, gone.”

“Tell me, what happened?” I urged.

“There were two women in the village with abilities we didn’t see before.” Miwah answered, sounding upset: “We tried to flank them. They could sense invisibility.”

She wasn’t the only one that felt that way. I was disquieted by this as well, a sensation I wasn’t quite able to come to terms with, and something within me forced me to take action immediately, rather than later, all despite my previous vow to stop the fighting.

“We will get them back. It said sealed until the caster was dead.” I answered, giving a warm hug to my furry, anthropomorphic wolf, and without further thought, and added, “I’ll kill that bitch.”

I surprised myself more than it surprised my companions. With their strong, natural hatred of humans, it was hardly striking.

Misanthropy, however, wasn’t a natural part of me, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Tama, Narita.” I glanced back at the others. “Grab what we need for the journey and the fight. We are leaving immediately.”

“You too, Kuma. And half of the Corruptors, Mai stays with the prisoner.” I raised my voice, though it was obviously unneeded. The entirety of my monster horde was already whipped to a frenzy. Even Tama didn’t follow with her usual teasing and flirting about my closeness to Miwah.

Then, after giving my werewolf a few affectionate touches, I stepped back from Miwah and added, “Hide the remaining Eviscerators out there in the forest until the rest of us arrive. Retreat if they come close. We must rush them together.”

I might be short of merely twenty monsters, a miniscule number compared to the veritable force a constant spawning created, but it was twenty more than I would part with, a strange, if not outright invasive sensation filled me with rage against the people who dared to harm my little canines.

Miwah understood we were leaving and stepped out to make sure it would happen as I ordered, though I wasn’t entirely left alone in the crowd. Narita and two of her rat-girls stayed around in case I needed the healing.

I didn’t - the overdrive probably did more harm with me obsessing over things in excruciating detail.

“Master?” Narita asked to assure herself that I was fine, but I didn’t reply.

Whispering “Overview” I tried to divert my urgency by inspecting the damage.

The Master

Skills

Units (Active)

Tama, The Purifier Alpha

Miwah, The Eviscerator Alpha

Narita, The Defiler Alpha

Mai, The Corruptor Alpha

Kuma, The Ravager Alpha

316 * Purifiers

28 * Named Purifiers

292 * Eviscerators

40* Named Eviscerators

98 * Defilers

8* Named Defilers

341* Corruptors

14* Named Corruptors

4* Ravagers

Units (In queue)

Sealed (per caster)

15* Eviscerators

13* Eviscerators

The status screen was updated to our recently doubled numbers, and the addition of my bear-like followers, but it was the new category of sealed monsters that got my attention. It wasn’t there before, and the losses we suffered were divided into groups despite comprising one type of creature.

Maybe there was a limit on how many monsters they could affect, which made my thoughtless and rushed idea to overwhelm them with sheer numbers a valid strategy.

The fact there wasn’t any timer made attrition a worse strategy in either case, though.

A permanent loss.

Death, in all but the name.

I was, once again, upset, sending the overlay window away with a swipe of my hand.

I had to act.

“My Master, I don’t want to stay with the slimy human.” Mai suggested softly as she appeared on my side when I was preoccupied studying the window.

“Cut that crap.” I retorted sharply at first, turning my head towards my lizard-like follower, but I gained my composure quickly after.

She didn’t deserve my outburst.

It was my fault my girls were taken, sealed, and I was going to make that right.

We were going to make that right.

“I am sorry.” I said before she could reply and made a few steps closer to her to hold her, first by her waist, then gently caressing her reptilian facial features. She, unlike most women, didn’t consider this invasion of personal space.

“I don’t enjoy moving around, my Master.” said Mai, “But the human…”

“I am sorry, Mai, but please, bear with the filthy human.” I said, “Do it for me. Someone who can talk to him is what I need, but I can’t ask this from Narita, or others. I need their powers with me.

“Yes, my Master.” She answered, looking at me with understanding.

“I will get my girls back and then get back to you.” I assured her, planting the small kiss on the tip of her jaw.

“Yes, my Master.” Mai said, pleased with the promise.

Though it wasn’t hard to convince her to do something she obviously disliked, it was my own words that surprised me more in hindsight, immediately after I spoke them. Twitching with the energy, and pushed by the compulsion to free my monsters from the ‘seal’ to reunite them with me.

Even if mere seconds ticked away, I dwelled on implications less and less.

A mere few steps forward made me realise that the day was probably heading towards its end.

Journey might take more than the couple of hours of daylight we had left. But with the influences of the vitality transfer mixed with the feedback I never felt before, I opted to ignore it all completely.

There was a part of us missing.

I would get that back.

Something within me screamed again: this would not stand.

I would not drive my furry menagerie to the ground, though. We didn’t have dinner, even, and despite all the pressure, I didn’t want to make them travel on an empty stomach. Still, time was at the essence.

“Narita?” I said, quickly planning the plan with little thought. “Can you drain the energy for us to force march though this?”

“Yes-yes, Master.” She said energetically, evidently capable of what I was asking her to, without the hint of objection. It provided me with assurance I was making the right call, whether it was true.

“Thank you.” I replied.

“Ready when you are, Master.” Miwah and Tama added, “If we don’t have to move the little goods we have stored, we can go.”

They did little with that regard, grabbing a few items they could carry, mostly what could be used as weapons, or the remaining bits and pieces of armour no one wore yet.

Kuma didn’t look any less bored, even with the armload of assorted junk she took to carry, with the rest most likely ready to dash away to catch with the enemies that took their kindred away.

The same drive made me twitch as well, nervously scratching my hands.

I had to act.

“Lead the way, Miwah.” I replied, raising my voice and gesturing forward to the gathered crowd. “Forward!”

Despite the experiences, and my monsters rarely disputing my rash ideas, I was still somewhat surprised by the immediate, intense reaction they had.

“For Master! For Master!” The crowd erupted in cheer.

With little to no care for the day fading away, nonexistent preparations for our departure, or the absence of the plan, the thousand-headed horde of fur, scales, and teeth spilt forward as one destructive wave, washed in the sickly emerald glow of ‘Defiler’ powers.

I was swept with enthusiasm, and the life-eating glow, as we rushed towards the aim with the destructiveness of the locust swarm, wanting to bring our entire might against the people who disturbed the connection I never thought I had

Still, I couldn’t help myself but to think about the loss, the pervasive, unnatural feeling, the so-called ‘sealing’ left upon me, entirely unprepared for the response my power fed me after the last, entirely undeserved infusion of skill.

I would get my girls back.

I couldn’t stop.

When the sensation that lashed me towards the action finally ceased, forcing me to stay down, the night had already fallen over the forest. Nothing but the dim, menacing light of the unnaturally red moon shining down on the lifeless husk of the trees left in our wake.

Changes I endured since the sinister message weren’t reflected only in my turbulent, raging interior, or the relation I had with my horde. It was echoed in the world itself.

We were back to our old camp, staying in place in the looted pagoda, still too far from the supposed human settlements where the confrontation triggering this madness began.

Perhaps there was a time to rethink this.

I was, for once, finally able to stop, forcing us to make camp for the rest of the night. The shrine, and the couple of houses surrounding it, were still around.

Despite the throbbing sensation given by the continuous infusions of vitality, there was one limitation of the human body even the endless stamina couldn’t overcome - unlike my monsters, I wasn’t able to see in the dark, even the ominous glow of the changed sky.

There was still very little rational thinking to be had.

Forced to cling to Miwah for the last hour or two, relying on her guidance through the gloomy forest shadows, I was happy to crash under the roof of the same house we spent the first night in this forsaken world in, even though it was frustration, anger and sadness, rather than fatigue, that gripped my mind.

I had to think about those encounters in just three days. I only narrowly survived thanks to the devoted protection of my monsters, defending me from the hostility of natives and the lands that surrounded us - I wouldn’t be alive without them, as much as they wouldn’t exist without this glitched system behind ruby glow.

Being bombarded with the alien sensations I could neither explain nor come to terms with only made my inner turmoil worse.

Here in relative privacy, I snuggled to Miwah, finding her warmth and soft fur soothing, sinking into a most welcoming embrace. Reaching up, I leaned for a kiss, which she eagerly accepted, our tongues joining.

It was weird kissing the werewolf taller than me, all muzzle and teeth, the fur and claws, the true she-beast, though quickly my mind pushed those thoughts about the anatomical differences, and came to touch her smooth furry body with much more eagerness.

She accepted it, hungrily and impatiently, bringing us down to the floor of the house we found shelter in, to let through the sudden allure driven by the overall uncertainty.

Miwah was a werewolf, but I refused to accept the unnatural weirdness of it. She was my beautiful werewolf, and at that moment, I loved her as one.

It was just like those dubious decisions that drove me here.

I wasn’t able to stop myself in that either.