More than sixty-five percent of the animal forces were dead.
Infact 80% of teh bodies were consumed by parasites, the remaining buried in fog and debris. Entire units had vanished. And worse still, three of the major threats remained active.
Despite the devastation, the surviving animal soldiers rushed across the field, moving through the thick mist in frantic waves, searching for the wounded, calling out names, dragging bodies free from rubble.
Kellix stood at the center of it all, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Save as many survivors as you can!"
He turned slowly, scanning the battlefield, burned earth, shattered stone, silence where life once stood.
"...Darn it," he muttered. "This is worse than I thought."
Rufo stepped beside him, his armor cracked, his breath heavy.
"We've got mass casualties for sure," Rufo said grimly. "Yeah, you and I took down the female parasite. But..."
He shook his head.
"I don't even know if I'd call that a win, especially given the fact their are two others just as strong as her."
ABI: 335%
Kellix didn't answer immediately. His eyes stayed forward, fixed on the fog.
"Listen," he finally said. "As long as we're brave, our Abi will grant us the power to win."
Rufo glanced at him.
"I know someone," Kellix continued, voice calm, almost distant, "who could imagine anything he thought about. Bravery works the same way. As long as you truly believe something will happen... it can."
Kellix through a bag on his back with firstaid life saving items "My resolve has not changed, regardless of the outcome, I will slay the King."
ABI: 130%
Rufo heard the words, but they didn't fully ease his chest.
The plan to overthrow the king had gone horribly wrong.
They hadn't even reached the royals.
Most of their army had been wiped out before the real battle ever began.
And yet... Kellix's words still carried weight.
His unwavering positivity, his refusal to break, was impossible to ignore.
Without another word, Kellix and Rufo moved back into the fog, joining the rescue mission, lifting the injured, stabilizing the severely wounded.
Kellix raised a hand and summoned several clones.
"Kellix!" Rufo shouted, half angry, half worried. "What did I say? You need to preserve your Abi! Stop wasting it on clones!"
"I don't have a choice," Kellix replied firmly. "The more hands, the better."
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Not far from them, Debora's body lay motionless in the mud.
Several monkey soldiers gathered around the corpse, staring down at it with a mixture of hatred and disbelief.
"So this thing killed most of our army," one of them muttered.
"Serves that piece of shit right," another spat.
Then one of the monkeys froze.
"...Wait."
He leaned closer.
Maggots were moving across her corpse, too many... and too fast.
The monkey crouched, squinting
And suddenly tentacles erupted from Debora's body, lashing outward and wrapping around him. He didn't even have time to scream before he was dragged inside, his body absorbed into her flesh.
The corpse began to twitch.
Grow.
Another monkey soldier turned and ran in terror, But the tentacles extended again, snaring his neck, yanking him backward, pulling him screaming into the expanding pink organism.
The battlefield fell silent.
When it was over, the mass convulsed... reshaped... and stood upright.
Debora rose once more.
She wiped her mouth slowly...
and licked her lips.
Kellix and Rufo worked side by side, lifting injured bodies onto a wooden rescue wagon as quickly and carefully as they could. Blood soaked the planks. Limbs hung limp. Some soldiers were conscious, most weren't.
Kellix steadied one last survivor and turned to the driver.
"Take them back to the village safely."
The driver nodded once, no words, and cracked the reins. The wagon lurched forward and disappeared into the fog.
Rufo exhaled, looking out across the field.
"There are so many..."
Kellix didn't stop moving.
Rufo lowered his voice.
"Kellix... aren't you worried about the others? The leaders, our friends?"
He searched Kellix's face. "How are you staying so calm?"
Kellix "I am worried, especially about Releyanda but I can't get too worked up about it., I have to do my part," he said firmly. "We just help the ones in front of us."
Rufo shook his head, chuckling.
"That's what gets under my skin about you. I've got way more Abi, and you still carry yourself like you're superior."
He smirked. "Still... I respect it. I hope my daughter turns out just as brave."
Kellix smiled back.
"She'll be braver than both of us," he said.
"And you'll be the one telling her how we beat the creepy parasite lady."
Then the screaming started.
Not distant.
Not fading.
Close.
Rufo snapped his head toward the sound.
"What's going on?"
A monkey soldier stumbled out of the fog, eyes wide, body shaking, then collapsed face-first into the mud.
Kellix rushed to him, dropping to one knee.
"Hey, what happened?"
The monkey coughed, blood bubbling at his lips. His grip tightened weakly around Kellix's arm.
"The parasite woman..." he whispered.
"...she's alive."
Kellix froze.
Rufo shook his head in disbelief.
"Alive? No, we—"
BOOM.
A massive parasitic sphere tore out of the fog like a cannon shot, slamming into Rufo's torso and impaling him mid-sentence. His body was ripped off the ground and hurled backward, crashing violently into a tree several yards away, the impact shaking the earth.
"RUFO!" Kellix shouted.
He spun forward, And there she was.
Debora stepped out of the mist, her form whole again, flesh pulsing faintly as if breathing. Her eyes gleamed with sick delight.
She licked her lips slowly.
"I really don't like it," she said sweetly,
"when my food runs off my plate."