Before the Guard could even utter another word, Lance had sliced through its neck, blood oozing out of the large wound like a fountain.

"Lance, what the hell?" Elliot gasped. "It talked."

"We've seen this before and I told you then," Lance said with a serious expression. "Humanoid beasts can sometimes utter human language but does not actually talk. They're only able to do that because they have the closest anatomy to us."

"But–"

Lance raised his right hand, stopping Elliot from continuing. "Shh."

The five of them were silent for a few moments, eeriely waiting for something, but they do not know what.

Lance felt something move above them. He pushed Elliot out of the way and brandished his other sword, blocking the spear that was thrown to them. His sword flicked the spear to the ground beside them, the weapon stood upright as it hit the brick floor.

When they all looked above them, they could only gasp in shock as they saw the bricks on the wall morph into hands that were each holding spears.

"What in the hell is happening?" Elliot walked back and watched a part of the wall transform into Guards. Each beast landed on the ground, creating loud clanking sounds.

"They were made of bricks, but they're actually metal?" Ed gasped. The group brandished their swords and prepared for the fight.

'Multiple beasts detected.'

'Grass Palace Guard'

'Grass Palace Guard'

'Grass Palace Guard'

…

Elliot could only grip the handle of his sword tighter. There were fourteen Guards according to his Console, completely outnumbering them.

"I'll take five," Lance said and dashed to the soldiers. He whipped his white sword and conjured a rope, leaping above five Guards and wrapping the rope around them. When he landed on the ground, he pulled the ropes away to separate the Guards from their team.

"Then, I'll take three," Elliot said. "You guys can take care of the rest."

"Okay," the other three chorused. They all ran up to the guards at the same time with Elliot using his Hasty Aspire to let himself glow and catch the attention of three Guards

"I'm here!" Elliot yelled. Successfully garnering the attention of the beasts, Elliot ran to the side to take care of his opponents.

From their looks, they weren't threatening. He could easily defeat these guards and he could also help on Lance who took care of so many.

"Lotus Blast!" Elliot casted and slashed three of his petals to test. Each of them took significantly large amounts of damage, making Elliot's smirk in victory. "This is gonna be easy."

"They left us with four," Ed deadpanned. "We can't just let Connor burn them and we're all done."

"No we can't," Connor said. "My flames would grab the attention of other beasts in the area. And we do not want that."

"We don't?" Hope asked that made the other two look at him in disbelief.

"Sometimes," Ed placed his hand on Hope's shoulder. "You ask the weirdest questions, and that worries me."

A spear was thrown towards them but was blocked by Hope's large sword. The boy sighed as it picked the spear up and gripped the shaft with his fist. He then threw the spear back at the Guards that hit one through its head.

"Guard's eye!" Ed cheered. "Get it? It's like, bull's-eye but since he hit a Guard… it's…"

"Sometimes, you're just as ridiculous as Hope," Connor deadpanned. "And you dare make fun of him."

Connor placed his staff on the floor. He was still not good enough in close combat but at least he can still beat a Guard with his skills. It wasn't his forte to use swords. After all, he was originally a Caster, and he's still mostly a Caster.

He only requested for the sword because he needed another weapon when he morphs since his speed and strength increases. He needed the extra weapon to maximize his potential.

The three of them braced themselves to attack the remaining Guards. Hope was in the front lines, Ed was in his back as a support while Connor covered them in the rear.

Hope pierced his skin on the brick floor, holding the handle with both his hands and casted, "Dragon Shield."

His body lit up with a light gray color. It was like a second layer of skin was forming in the form of mana, but it was made of scales. The outline of the scales were bright glowing silver-like color and the scales themselves were transparent gray.

The glowing of Hope captured the attention of all the guards. While Ed was behind him, they waited for the guards to get closer.

As time had passed, Hope had gained skills that sustained himself. Lance believed that he could actually tank in their party. His skills, such as this one, were mostly about shields and his skin hardening.

And Hope being Hope, he wanted to be in the front lines. He was always insecure because he felt like he was useless, and him being in the front to take most the damage excited him.

Oddly enough, this reminded Elliot of George. Ethan had told him before that the only reason why George likes to take damage because he was insecure just like Hope. He didn't exactly tell how George became a big psychotic masochist in the battlefield, but the main reason for it was insecurities too.

"Eternal Chaos Bloom," Ed whispered. The tip of his sword started to drew purplish black thorny vines in the air. His movements doubled and he traced curves in the air using the vines, coming through one of the Guards and thrusting his sword through its body.

The guard shook rapidly, unable to move for a moment before its body exploded with the vines inside of him. Ed pulled his sword out and waved it in the air, the vines stopped following his sword and the vines on the guard bloomed dark purple roses.

"Damn," Connor chuckled. The two were showing their new skills off and he didn't want to back down. "Infernal Domineering Lioness."

A blaze of a trailing flame ran from the other end of his staff to the tip. It paused on the tip, forming a sphere before it shot up from the staff, forming a female lion that swerved its paws on the dark green bricks. When it got near the Guard, it formed a large spear and shot through the chest of the Guard, forming a lion after it pierced the beast and bowed, vanishing in midair not long after.

The last Guard was still attacking Hope, but wasn't dealing any damage. Hope saw the other two taken care of, so he took care of the remaining one too. He pulled his sword from the ground and hacked it on the Guard's shoulder down to its chest.

The Guard fell with a clank that made Elliot turn their way. They were now laughing and competing who killed the Guard the coolest, making Elliot snort.

They have grown so much, yet they still act like children sometimes.

"Oh, brother," Elliot chuckled. A spear just barely passed through his side, making him jolt and jump back. "Oh, looks like I still have my own problems to deal with."