Kaito and Dante move quickly tailing the people who took the girl. Careful not to let them be aware they're following. At this point, they're well outside of the barrier, and have made their ways into a dense forest where the sunlight barely breaks through the tree line.
With the people who took her they made sure to tie her up well, to prevent her from going anywhere. "Come on Reyes, Luci, FRED!" The trickster pleads. "I said I'd pay you back!" The trickster yells.
Reyes laughs. "Yeah right, you said that the other fifty times!" He barks back.
"No, no, but I was close this time real close!" She says before she can explain they bang on the cage. "Shut it will ya!"
The trickster snarls. "Rell will mess you up If you hurt me, so I advise you let go of me!" She demands. Her arms becoming sore from the ropes.
They all begin laughing at her. "He won't come out here for you, and you know it!" Reyes taunts, "yeah face it kid, no one would save a lil bit like you!" Fred also taunts there words stinging a bit.
"No ones ever going out of their way to save someone like you, lucky for us that's perfect!" Reyes happily says. Luci folds her arms agreeing. "What we need to hunt this monster is live bait, this things a sniper with a bow." Luci explains.
"It sits waiting for someone to enter it's line of sights and then WHAM, snatches your head clean off, did it to my buddy Leroy!" Fred says before he pours out a bottle for good ol Leroy.
The trickster begins panicking. "Live bait!?" She squirms in a fruitless attempt to escape her bonds. "I was only trying to help!" She shouts.
Reyes snickers. "Well you ran out of time." He coldly says.
The trickster then snarls. "Do you have any idea how hard it is getting that kind of cash when you're all alone!?" She questions, her desperation evident with every word.
Luci laughs at her. "Should've asked your guild to help." She responds. "Any of the two hundred she's been in." Reyes says and they all laugh at her again, her mood souring.
Kaito and Dante lingering nearby hear all of this. "Did you hear that? A sniper beast?!" Dante speaks in hushed shouting. He hurriedly scrolls through his bestiary. He swipes through a few pages then finds it. "They call it the hunter, it's a PHANTASMAL TIER, there's no way we can beat that Kaito!" Dante shouts.
Kaito shakes his head, never taking his eyes off of the girl. "We don't have to beat it, we just have to get the girl away from those people." Kaito explains with a smirk and a thumbs up. Dante shivers. "I think we're heavily underestimating this." Dante says.
Kaito nods in agreement he knows far too well underestimating a strong monster. "I don't have any other ideas." Kaito says, clearly unsure. Dante sits back in the tree and takes a deep breath. "Me neither Kaito." Dante says accepting they have no other options.
Kaito seems to be a bit uneasy about what they're walking into however. "She didn't rob us because she wanted to, she had a reason." He thinks to keep himself in it.
The forest becomes more and more dense as they continue further. The light from the sun becoming harder to see through the thick foliage. Nearly until it seemed as dark as night inside.
"This is where we encountered it last time." Fred speaks in hushed whispers. They slow down and stop. "Alright get her ready." Reyes instructs.
Luci goes and unlocks the cage. The trickster begins squirming as they undo her bindings. "Don't even think about using your little Illusions and disappear, do that and next time we get you we'll gut you!" Luci threatens her.
"Don't use me as bait please, PLEASE!" The trickster whines.
They toss her out into a clearing in the trees. THUNK. An arrows with shocking speed scrapes her face as she barely manages to dodge it. Her heart dropped instantly as panicked deep breaths escape her. Reyes laughs. "Knew she'd be quick enough to dodge it." He says as they begin looking around for where the arrows came from.
Another arrows comes flying towards her. The trickster again dodges it. The arrow rips through the air with such force it leaves shockwaves thundering through the air. Kaito and Dante even effected by it from their perch. Dante sweats nervously.
"Come on where are you?" Fred questions. As they scope the area for the beast.
"Why is this stuff always happening to me?!" The trickster panics as she runs away from the arrows. Another arrow shot where she was running ends up right in front of her. She barely had managed to jump back out of the way.
Kaito notices how fast her reaction time is. Dante watching close looking for an opportunity to grab her.
"Bingo!" Reyes says. Pinpointing the hunters location. High in the trees just behind some cover. Two of them climb as Luci stays back. The two of them slowly approach the beast, careful not to make to much noise. "It should only have the bow, this'll be quick and easy." Reyes quietly whispers.
Fred goes in first for a quick strike.
The sound of flesh ripping at first brings joy to the party. It brings less when they realize who had been stabbed was Fred. He's kicked off of the blade by the hunter.
Reyes grabs him and he jumps back. "What the heck?!" He questions as he holds his friend. Luci inspects the monster closer from the ground. "A dagger?!" Luck questions, before peering closer. "No it made that dagger out of talon!"
Reyes grits his teeth. "That means this thing can adapt."
Kaito is shocked by the takedown. "We have to do something!" Kaito says as he goes to jump in. Dante grabs him, quickly snatching Kaito back. "We can't fight that thing!" He yells at Kaito, fear etched deep in his voice. Kaito watches on, even if they were bad guys he wasn't ok just letting people die.
Reyes summoned a sword, his stance sharp, eyes narrowing as the hunter loomed above them on the treetop. Luci flicked her wrist, conjuring a dagger that shimmered faintly in the forest light. For a heartbeat, there was silence, then Reyes charged, blade meeting blade in a violent clash.
Steel screeched against hardened talon. Sparks scattered, but the hunter barely budged. With a feral snarl, it lashed out, a swift kick sending Reyes flying across the dirt. He rolled, coughing, the sword slipping from his grip as he scrambled to his knees, shaken.
Before the monster could press its advantage, Fred roared from behind, hefting his war hammer with both hands. The blow landed hard into the hunter's back with a thunderous crack, the shockwave rattling the nearby branches. "Come on then!" Fred shouted, chest heaving, defiant in the face of the beast.
The hunter's head turned slowly, unimpressed. With inhuman speed, it seized Fred's shoulder, lifting him like a child's toy. In one brutal motion, it hurled him from the treetop. Fred hit the ground backfirst with a sickening thud, his cry strangled as pain exploded through his ribs and spine. He writhed, breath shallow, vision blurring.
The hunter drew back its bow, string groaning as it prepared to finish Fred where he lay.
Luci's eyes widened. Without hesitation, she darted forward, her dagger carving a quick line across the beast's leg. It snarled, momentum broken, its arrow deflecting wide. "Over here!" she shouted, slashing again.
The retaliation was merciless. The hunter pivoted and kicked her in the chest, the force hurling her back. She twisted midair and landed hard on her feet beside Fred, but before she could breathe, the beast leapt down from the branches, its shadow blotting out the light.
The impact of its landing rocked the ground. Its heel came down on Luci's stomach, slamming her into the earth, driving the air from her lungs. She gasped, coughing, pinned beneath its weight. Fred tried to push himself up, but his arms trembled uselessly.
The two of them lay broken, helpless beneath the beast's looming figure.
The hunter's eyes burned red as it turned, its gaze locking on Reyes. It didn't need to speak, the challenge was clear. With a guttural roar, it charged, talon dagger raised to rip him apart.
Reyes froze. Terror seized him, choking the courage from his veins. Desperate, he snatched up the trickster by the arm and hurled her forward, voice cracking.
"No!" she screamed, arms flailing as the hunter drew back its blade, ready to cleave her in two.
CLANG!
A flash of steel cut the night. The beast's weapon locked against another, sparks flaring at the point of impact. Kaito stood between them, body low, his blade braced against the crushing force of the hunter's swing. He had leapt in without hesitation, intercepting the killing blow at the last possible second.
Dante's voice rang from above, panicked but exasperated. "He did it again! Just jumping into stuff!" He scrambled down from the tree, muttering curses under his breath, though his hands shook with nerves.
The hunter stands tall observing the new combatant. It tosses it's arm to the side a green glow coming from it. The forest around them shifts. The trees creating a thick wall trapping them in with it.
The trickster celebrates. "Rell I knew you'd save me!" She says but then realizes it's Kaito. "Wh-you?!" She questions. "What are you doing her do you not see the murder beast?!" She questions him.
Kaito smiles at her. "You can worry about it later, seemed like you needed a rescue." Kaito says with a playful smile.
She nods. "Well you ain't wrong." She agrees.