<h4>Chapter 28: Equinox Festival - Part 3</h4>


    Oscar Mills was not in a good mood. <i>Maybe Din was right, and this is all my fault. If I hadn''t brought n Warden here... No, no, no... I was the one that said that this was a long timeing... But do I really believe that, or am I just lying to myself?</i>


    He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his flying cat''s reins. <i>I even had to swear to Astrid herself that I didn''t know what Marco was nning. I never felt so embarrassed in my whole life... I swear, if I ever see Marco Souza''s face again, I''ll fucking--What the...? Is that what I''m looking for?</i>


    As his chubby cat soared in the sky, Oscar could see the two-headed dragon wreaking havoc from a mile away. "Call Tamara," he made a voicemand and his User Interface automatically opened an Audio Chat window.


    <i>(Did you find it?)</i> she asked right away.


    <i>(Yes, and judging by its size and destructive power, it must be a Superior Summon.)</i>


    <i>(Oscar, that''d be impossible.)</i>


    <i>(Well, let''s review the facts, shall we? I estimate that it''s 200 feet tall, and its Potential... Umm... By looking at the ease with which it destroyed the entirety of Newsingtown in less than a minute, I''d say it''s Gold B rank. A City Destroyer. What do we call those again?)</i>


    <i>(Oscar! Londorus'' Safe Zone limits our mana capacity to the point that we wouldn''t be able to summon anything bigger than a car!)</i>


    <i>(Well, say that to this big fe.)</i>


    Tamara let out an exasperated grunt. <i>(F-F-Fuck! Okay, okay, where is it going now?)</i>


    <i>Did she curse just now?</i> Oscar thought, chuckling. <i>She must be super frustrated. </i>He gave another nce to the beast.<i> I correct myself. Who wouldn''t? This is really unprecedented.</i>


    <i>(It''s about to reach Westmonster,)</i> Oscar informed. <i>(Hey, maybe it''s going after the Big Beth. Monsters of this size love destroying monuments, right? Like in those movies Helen likes.)</i>


    <i>(Don''t even joke about it! I-I''m on my way! Distract it with whatever means necessary!)</i>


    "She really likes that clock tower, huh," Oscar whispered after Tamara hung up. "Distract it? How? That thing may be ignoring the rules, but I don''t. My stats are currently cut in half."


    As he red at the thing, the System automatically detected a Guild Member in the vicinity. He squinted, and an icon popped up inside his field of vision, showing the person''s exact location and name. "You have to be kidding me," he muttered and ordered his cat to nose dive.


    Afternding at a modest distance, Oscar watched n Warden rushing towards a crumbled building. It was until Oscar got closer that he noticed someone trapped under debris.


    "P-please, wake up! I''ll help you get out of this, okay?!" n was crying out to the unconscious man. His HP was barely holding up.


    "W-who?" the man muttered, slowly opening his eyes. He then uttered a cry of shock. "MY LEGS! I can''t feel them!"


    "D-Don''t worry! A healer will fix you up as long as you have some HP left," n assured, as the man suddenly pulled him by his sleeves.


    "It may be toote by then, so please, young man! I have 3 million gold saved. Let me transfer it to you and let''s meet here in 10 hours so you can give it back, yes?!"


    From his ce, Oscar observed the scene in silence. <i>Was this your true intention, n? Since you''re level 5, that much gold must be like a fortune to you.</i> He snickered. <i>Although Astrid may have you in high esteem, I''m d to see your true colors.</i> He then closed his fists. <i>After all, you''re the true reason our guild...</i>


    n suddenly turned to Oscar, showing a pale face. "You, big guy! Can''t you see this person needs help?! Give me a hand, please!"


    Oscar frowned before stepping forward. "Ah, sure."


    "W-wait a second... Are you level 5?" the agonizing man said in a quiet voice. "I can''t transfer that much gold to you..." He then frowned, looking annoyed. "Why didn''t you step aside so that other man—g-got—f-first..."


    The man looked sleepy as his HP finally dropped to zero, and when his body vanished, the debris fell over the empty spot left behind. Oscar observed n staring at that spot for long seconds.


    "W-Why?" n asked aloud with a broken voice. "I heard younding like half a minute ago, so why didn''t you help me save him earlier?!"


    Any other day, Oscar would find it annoying that someone had questioned him. He would have grabbed n by the cor of his jacket and yelled back at him, but this time, he only shut his eyes.


    "I''m going to confront that thing," Oscar said, gruffly. "What about you, Ghost?"


    n wiped something off his face and evaded Oscar''s gaze as he passed him by. "You know I can''t fight, so I''ll try to help as many people as possi--"


    Something crossing the sky at great speed interrupted him and a current of air pushed them when it passed by. They looked up and saw a group of ten winged Mounts flying low, towards the menace.


    Oscar squinted at them, waiting for the System to give him some info. "They''re from the Titan Hunters guild. They''ll take care of it."


    "Well, I''ll wish them good luck, then!" a third voice said from atop a copsed building. "There you are, Little Mouse. Don''t run again like that. I promised to show you something exciting, remember?"


    n nced at the girl dressed in ck for a second before walking in the next street''s direction.


    "n, wait. Who''s this?" Oscar asked.


    "Who are YOU?" the girl asked back in a lower voice. "Doesn''t matter, don''t even present yourself, for I''m only interested in that little bloodnut over there. So go die somewhere else and leave us alone, pretty <i>pleaaase?"</i>


    n clenched his jaw, turning his back on both. "She''s that dragon''s summoner. That''s all I know."


    "Is that so?" Oscar grinned, stretching out his hand to his side, materializing ance. "Fine. Do whatever thing you think is best for you, Ghost. Meanwhile, I''ll do the only thing I''m best at."


    "n, wait! We haven''t finished talking yet!" the girl yelled, before letting out an exasperated grunt. "Great! Now I''m stuck with this freaking--!"


    Oscar powered up first, exerting a fire aura, and swung hisnce in a long upward curve, cutting what remained of the building in half. The cut was so clean that not even a single brick fell down.


    "The name''s Oscar Mills, sweetie. Now, show me how you bleed," he said, chuckling, but grimaced after noticing that the girl not only was unharmed but was also yawning. <i>What the hell just happened?</i>


    "You''re not a tiny, cute little mouse like him. You''re a big, fat rat," the girl said, surrounding herself with a purple aura. "And I detest rats. They''re not fun to y with."


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    Three and a half miles away, another fight took ce on Castlenaut Street. There, surrounded by burning buildings, Karen Svensson kneeled and puked blood. As she tried her best to remain conscious, she squinted at the warrior strolling toward her.


    <i>I had to take a beating to realize that their helmet looks like some sort of carnivorous beast.</i>


    "A-Are you deaf?!" Karen cried. "I told you I''m not HER! I''m not the real Astrid Bradford!"


    "Oh, I heard you alright," the warrior said hoarsely, grabbing Karen by the neck. "That''s why I can''t let you go unscathed. Your pathetically slow moves and yourughable weak-ass spells are staining her reputation."


    "W-Who the hell cares?" Karen replied as she was lifted off the ground.


    The unknown warrior chuckled. "I do. I care so much that seeing your pitiful impersonation disgusts me. So, good night, whoever you are."


    "C-Can I say s-something first?"


    "Sure, why not?" the warrior shrugged.


    "T-Trigger off..." Karen whispered, grinning.


    The Warrior looked at their sides, finding several magic circles surrounding them. Before the spells could reach them, the Warrior closed their fist to crush Karen''s neck, but the witch''s body had turned into solid ice.


    "Oh, you bit--"


    A plethora of elemental spells hit both indiscriminately. Lightning zaps, icences, currents of frozen air, fireballs, methrowers. Even the ground they were standing on had turned into quicksand, trapping the Warrior''s feet.


    Karen escaped the bombarding area and started casting: "Calling Familiar, <i>Bearmental Family!"</i>


    "NICE TRY!" the enemy roared, dashing towards Karen.


    "Baby Bear!" Karen yelled, and a bear cub made of ice gotunched out of a summoning circle. It curled up into a ball and hit the Warrior in the chest, pushing them. "Mama Bear!" Karen called, and a fully adult bear came into existence, engulfing its whole body in mes.


    The creature threw a swipe that melted part of the Warrior''s chest te and released a fire breath. The enemy could do nothing but shield themselves with their arms.


    "Andst, Papa Bear!"


    When itnded, the ground shook. It doubled the Warrior in size, and when it roared, it extinguished the nearby mes.


    "You had it in you all this time, huh, Impersonator?!" the Warrior said,ughing out loud. "It''s a shame that the Safe Zone is limiting you, but whatever! Tell your pet to give me a big hug!"


    "Papa Bear, crush their spine!"


    The summoned beast made of solid rock extended its enormous arms and the Warrior reciprocated by embracing it. "Come here, pal!"


    The golem bear was so huge that it blocked the Warrior out of vision.


    "Mama Bear, light him up!"


    The fire-breathing beast followed the order and began scorching its partner. In a matter of seconds, Papa Bear''s rocky body began emitting light, as if it was made of magma.


    "How are your bones, dipshit?!" Karen asked, loudly sneering. "I measured Papa Bear''s strength once, and its embrace is equivalent to 120,000 newtons of force, so enjoy it, you asshole!"


    "Oh, geez! That could do some serious damage... if the Safe Zone affected me."


    Karen''s grin disappeared. "Affected...?"


    "Fire Style, <i>Meteor Punch!"</i>


    "Meteor--<i>what?"</i>


    The street darkened for a second, a series of blue sparkles manifested around them, and with a blinding light and a deafening bang, the enormous bear got sent flying in a straight trajectory, hitting its family. The three bears ended up smashing against a building before turning into fading pixels.


    Karen''s lips trembled in disbelief. "N-no way..."


    <i>That attack reminded me of Astrid''s Meteora Ferrum... And now... I''m officially out of mana.</i>


    Karen fell to her knees as the Warrior chuckled. "Time''s up, princess. It was fun, so I''m not angry with you anymore. Thanks to this little warmup, we ended up calling the real Comet''s attention."


    Before Karen could say a word, something heavynded between them. Something that made the ground shake several times more than Papa Bear did. Karen looked up, staring at something resembling a golden cape in front of her. When she blinked twice, she noticed it was hair, and the owner was ring at her. Her eyes gleamed silvery blue.


    "Who the fuck are you?" Astrid Bradford asked Karen.


    The still disguised Karen only muttered: "I..."


    "Let me guess, this is one of Kathleen''sme attempts to get back at me, isn''t that right?" Astrid snarled. "There''s only a pair of bitches crazy enough to try this. You must be Amelia Lamme or Karen Svensson, most likely..."


    Karen pursed her lips and clenched her buttocks, ready to receive her deadly wrath. <i>This is going to hurt way more than that stranger''s attacks.</i>


    "Get out of my sight," Astrid said with closed teeth. "You''re too pathetic to kill."


    Karen shut her eyes, repressed any urge to curse, and ran out of there as fast as she could. Onest nce at the Warrior confirmed they were only after the real Golden Comet.


    Karen could have shared what she had learned about the enemy with Astrid. She could at least have warned her about what they had said. That the Safe Zone was not affecting them...


    But no. Karen decided not to say a word and ran away instead.


    <i>And who the hell was that? That person was super annoyed after finding out I was a fake... Ha, this is so funny. I''dugh, but my everything hurts. Whoever that person is, it strikes me as a very obsessive, psychopathic fan. Hu-hu-hu... Ouch. So have fun with that, you bitch.</i>