Chapter 22

The gust of cold wind blowing from the crack on the window made Sana shivered. Still contented in her deep sleep, the phyton curled and moved the comforter to further cover her body. But it's not enough for her. Her cold-blooded animal form made her easier to feel the chill, and she groaned as one of her hands reaches back to the spot behind her.

"Chaee... cold... hug meeee...."

Sana wails as she s around. When she found nothing, the girl wailed harder then turned to face Chayeoung's sleeping form. Or, well, supposedly Chaeyoung's sleeping form. She blinked for a few times to shoo the sleepiness in her as the only thing greeting her is emptiness.

"Whaaa..." Sana moaned in disappointment. She squints to look at the clock hanging on the wall and groaned. "It's... freaking six..."

The light-brown-haired Anihuman slithered her way out of the comforter, stretching her stiff body once her feet touched the floor. Sana yawned and rubbed her eyes cutely, waddling out of the small bedroom she shares with her Sabertooth tiger friend.

Faint clacking sounds from the kitchen told her that Hyejin is wide awake, probably having another early class at the university. True enough, the young keeper is busy preparing herself some lunch while munching on a sandwich. Hyejin noticed Sana's presence and she waved at her sister.

"Mornin' Sa," she greeted after swallowing her food. "Up early?"

"Ngg," Sana nodded absentmindedly, throwing herself down on one of the dining chairs. She flopped her upper body to the table and yawned again. "Too cold."

"Autumn's coming, after all," Hyejin responded, already on her way to clean the utensils she used.

"Right," Sana scoffed. Her snake side trembled at the prospect of the incoming cold. "Where's Chae? Exercising?"

"Ah, she said she's going to the Ani-world."

"So early in the morning?"

"Yup," Hyejin confirmed calmly. "Said she's going to fetch Kim Taeyeon or whoever her name was."

Sana's heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage when Hyejin mentioned that name. The cold in her body feels freezing now, different from the chill of the autumn wind. It's the dreadful, terrorizing kind of cold and she went rigid. Mind halted, Sana stuttered when she tried to repeat Hyejin's words.

"K-K-Kim Taeyeon?"

"Yes."

"W-w-" Sana gasped. "Why did– how did– you let her?!"

Hyejin seems surprised by Sana's sudden rising tone. The college girl turned to find her sister standing upright at the side of the dining table, eyes so wide and face so pale she's almost like a statue. Hyejin shrugged.

"I did."

"How could you?!" Sana slammed the table in blind anger. A flicker of white flashed in her brown eyes. She strode to her keeper, hands fisted and oozes her aura from her skin. The girl snarled, showing her elongated fangs. Her nape hair rose with aggression as she uses her full height to intimidate the shorter human.

But Hyejin doesn't seem to be afraid. In fact, she seems concerned about her sister's sudden change. Hyejin leaned against the counter, showing that she carries no threat to the raging Anihuman while still eyeing the other girl carefully.

"Sana? What's wrong?"

This made Sana stopped in her track. The phyton Anihuman blinked, realizing what she's been doing and faltered. Her aura evaporates and the flashes of white in her eyes disappeared. Sana closes with both of her hands, tearing up once the gravity of the situation dawned on her.

"W-what did I–" Sana couldn't finish her sentence because her body loses her strength. Thankfully, Hyejin's near, fast and strong enough to catch her before she stumbled down to the floor. Her head is pounding as she clenched her eyes shut, willing her power to return to her.

"Sana! Are you okay?!" Hyejin called worriedly. She laid her sister against her smaller frame, Sana's hair to soothe the panting Anihuman. "Sana, I think you're sick–"

"N-no, I'm–" Sana coughed and she pushed herself off of Hyejin, standing up with mild difficulty. Once she managed to steady herself, she sent a smile to the panicking human before her. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Hyejin asked again to reconfirm, and when Sana nodded firmly, she exhales in relief. "Thank God. You scared me."

Sana grinned sheepishly. "Um, yeah, maybe I was just surprised."

"Surprised? About Chaeyoung's whereabouts? I mean, it's expected for you guys to show up at the other world from time to time," the keeper hummed, thinking to herself. She doesn't notice Sana's alarmed expression as she turned back to her previous activity. "And who even is Kim Taeyeon?"

The phyton gulped. She got the idea on what the hell is Chaeyoung doing, or at least, going to do. She also knows that her fellow Anihuman was not being entirely truthful to their keeper about her activities. With a trembling hand, Sana tugged Hyejin's sleeve. "Unnie, can I borrow your phone?"

The young keeper nodded. "Sure, I'm charging it beside the tv."

Sana was already gripping Hyejin's phone in a flash. She quickly dialed the first contact name of the keepers saved by Hyejin. It was Byulyi's, and Sana prays as she pressed the black item to her ears. She heard some static before it changed to a familiar voice greeting her from the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

"Jeongyeon-unnie?"

The phyton exhaled. She is lucky that one of the people she's looking for is the one answering her.

"Hi! Is this Sana? What's up?"

"Unnie, can I talk to Momoring?"

"Hm? I don't know where she is. Byul-unnie said she's out but Momo didn't tell where."

No.

No, please, no.

"U-unnie?" Sana's voice is wavering. "Do you know where Momoring keep her Silver Moon crest? The one given by Seohyun-unnie? The one that could bring us to the Ani-world?"

"Yea, of course. Why?"

"Unnie, they're... they're... Momoring and Chaenggie–"

Jeongyeon seemingly caught the panic in Sana's voice because her tone grew grave after that. "Sana. You know where they are."

It was not a question. It's a statement but Sana couldn't help but nod. "They're.. they're going to chase Taeyeon-sunbaenim into the NML."

There's a harsh intake of air from Jeongyeon's side. The bear is snarling when she says her next words, which Sana understood perfectly because she herself is feeling the same emotion.

"I'll find the crest. Alert the others. Yongsun-unnie's house in 20."

Jeongyeon ends the call before Sana even responds. The phyton doesn't waste any more time, immediately calling another number because there's fear gnawing at the back of her mind. When a calm, quiet voice greeted her, Sana immediately cuts to the point of her call.

"Mina, put Jihyo on the phone."

Mina failed to give her an answer.

And Sana didn't bother to take a bath, or even to change her pyjamas, as she bid her keeper goodbye and dashed to the streets.

###

"I'm ashamed."

A quiet voice from beside her made Jihyo turned her head. Tiffany is walking beside her with her head hung low, all wounds already healed. The Phoenix tilted her head. She touched Tiffany's arm lightly and it made the ruler looks up to her.

"What of, Tiffany-unnie?"

Tiffany sighed. "Myself, actually."

Jihyo understood. The ruler doesn't need to elaborate further as Jihyo linked their arms together, tucking her head on Tiffany's shoulder. Walking ahead of them are seven girls, with Momo leading while occasionally sniffs the fouled air. All nine of them, Jihyo, Chaeyoung, Momo plus the Soshi team minus Sunny, are currently venturing deep into the heart of the No Man's Land.

Albeit the hesitation and the fear of hurting their pupils even further, the SM rulers all fell to the three young Anihumans' offer. It took only twenty minutes of Jihyo's flawless negotiating skills to make the rulers agreed to accept their help. To find their missing leader.

Sunny, being the only Common in the group, decided that she's better off staying behind. She knows she's going to hinder her friends' powers if she comes along. And now, with 6/9 of the Soshi team, Momo leads the group to cross over the barren land.

They had found Taeyeon's tracks just after they entered the isolated area. Now, utilizing Momo's tracking and scavenger senses, they followed the nine-tailed fox silently, alert of any approaching berserks. Momo is gripping a blue pendant that Taeyeon used to wear, repeatedly sniffing the pendant to confirm if she's following the same scent with the one left within the pendant.

Jihyo knows that deep down, Tiffany and the other five rulers are beating themselves up for accepting their offer. Even though they gave pretty unforgiving tests, the rulers loved their candidates with all their heart. Their loss two eras ago also undoubtedly made them all promised themselves not to let their candidates die as long as they live.

That's what made Jihyo nuzzles Tiffany's neck, trying to tell her subtly that it's actually okay. They were the one offering this. The Phoenix tightened her grip as Tiffany exhales. But a soft pat on her head told her that Tiffany's eased up enough to not blame herself anymore.

"She's near," the fox leading them suddenly stopped. Momo crouched down low on the ground, taking a grain of dust and inhales. She then lifted her head and took another deep breath, turning to the eight Anihumans waiting anxiously behind her. "Beyond this hill is a wide plain. I smelled that she's down there. But I also smelled blood, lots of blood, so prepare yourself."

Jihyo unlatched herself from Tiffany to wraps an arm around the taller girl. Momo huffed, butting her forehead to Jihyo's cheek in acknowledgment. Momo is not afraid, not anymore, to any of the berserks. Even if they are berserk, they could still sense their enemies' rank and power level. And they would choose not to challenge people stronger than them.

Since the group entered the No Man's Land, none of the berserks are brave enough to approach the parading Anihumans because of the power they exude. Momo knows that she's stronger now, strong enough so that her presence alone could shoo lesser Anihumans. That's why she's not afraid, confident that she, along with her friends, would be able to put a stop to Taeyeon's terror.

Tiffany taps both their shoulders and she stepped forward. Being the current commander, she bravely leads her team hiking the hill, following Momo's earlier guide. The Pegasus took deep breaths to calm herself as they got nearer and nearer to the top.

Once she's able to look at the plain below her, Tiffany inhales sharply.

There are probably more than a hundred of berserk Anihumans laid lifelessly on the vast clearing. Corpses ranging from as small as a cat to as big as a dinosaur littered the plain. Their dead bodies are filled with claw marks, bite marks, and any other wounds imaginable to human. The broken skin pours blood like rivers, painting the short grass carpeting them with red.

Standing in the middle of the carnage is a small woman surrounded by black fire.

"Taetae," a sob escapes Tiffany's throat as an ache seared through her heart. Her fellow rulers are also disheartened by the sight before them. Sooyoung found Tiffany's hand and grasps it tightly, biting her lips to stop herself from crying.

As if sensing the approaching team, the woman in the middle of the clearing turned.

Jihyo gasped as she finally able to takes in Taeyeon's whole figure. The woman is short, about Sunny's height, wearing a ripped and ed white blouse with a black sports bra beneath. The exposed pale skin was smeared with ashes, soil, blood, and many other substances. Her ribcage is showing, and her stomach is sporting crisscrossed scars. Some of them are old, some of them are fresh they're still dripping blood.

She's pretty normal, ignoring the anomalies that currently caught Jihyo's eyes. Replacing the berserker's lower arms are a pair of claws, complete with the sharp, thick and pointed nails at the end of every finger. A black, bull-like horn jutted out from the left side of her skull, through the pitch black tresses with light blue tip. Her eyes are different in color, golden on the left and fire red on the right one. From her spine, just above the waistband of her leather pants is a long, scaly tail whipping back and forth lazily. A distinct blue fire blazed at the very end of her tail.

Taeyeon scoffed at the sight of the nine Anihumans, showing a pair of sharp prominent upper fangs.

"Taetae," Tiffany called, slowly moving down the slope with a tense stature. Taeyeon blinked at her, snarling when Tiffany reaches the base of the hill. Behind the Pegasus are the other girls, cautious while simultaneously trying to pose no threat to the Dragon.

"Fany-ah," Yuri warned her fellow ruler, and Tiffany nodded.

"I know. Just let me try."

She then turned to face her berserk leader, who is standing stiffly while eyeing her with interest.

"Taetae it's me," the ruler called again, carefully moving through the corpses laying around her.

Taeyeon sniffed the air once. She tilted her head repeatedly as if trying to recognize the approaching woman. Encouraged by Taeyeon's apparent composure, Tiffany stepped closer with her hand outstretched, hoping for Taeyeon to reciprocate her gesture.

"Taetae, you remember me?"

The Dragon wheezes. She took a step forward, leaning her face to Tiffany's welcoming palm.

Momo noticed the blue light illuminating Taeyeon's throat.

"–"

Tiffany noticed late, though, as she happily reaches further to try to touch Taeyeon. But once she's only a few centimeters from the Dragon's face, Taeyeon roared and together with that, bursting a line of blue fire from within her chest. Tiffany closed her eyes in shock, fearing the worst, but when she feels arms around her frame and the missing scorching sensation, she dared to open it back.

"Momo?!"

"Tiffany-unnie!" Momo yelled at the ruler in her embrace. Her hands trembled in fear but she managed to keep her hold firm. Momo had made a split second decision, using her signature super speed power to save Tiffany from being burned alive by the very woman she loves with all her heart.

A resounding roar caught their attention. Taeyeon is crouching low, growling angrily while the black aura fire engulfing her doubled in intensity. Her heterochromatic eyes flitted to one Anihuman to another, prepared for any attack coming her way. She snarled at the females surrounding her, whole body tensed in both anticipation and aggression.

"She doesn't recognize us," Tiffany said slowly. She tapped Momo's shoulder once to tell her to let go, standing to her full height and summoned her own power.

"Girls," the Pegasus is now covered in pink light, eyes shining blue as she gazes to her teammates. Following her, Yuri, Yoona, Seohyun, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung are all ready to fight, covered in their respective aura colors. Jihyo soon followed suit, and Momo and Chaeyoung crouched low in preparation to change their form.

Taeyeon roared again, stomping her claws to the ground to show her acceptance of the challenge given by the newly arrived Anihumans.

"You know what to do," Tiffany continues.

The other Anihumans accompanying her nodded, and the Pegasus took a deep breath before she voiced her command.

"Kill her."

To be continued...