He looks down to see a vine slowly coiling around his leg, and he’s promptly launched straight into the air. Mera turns to hear his shout of surprise, followed by the sight of a plant-like demon rising from the soil. Covered in a manner of black and red spots, the demon had razor-sharp spines on the inside of its body, and overgrown roots that extended further into the soil. The demon rose high into the air after Seiren, extending its mouth wide.

“Oh hell! A plant this time?” Mera questions. As she prepares to raise her hand in offense, she pauses.

Maybe now’s a good time. I didn’t have much faith in him, to begin with. But he did save me. At the very least I’ll return the favor. She thinks.

Mera holds her hand up to the demon in the shape of a gun.

“This attack’s based on a theory I had.” She states.

Dew from the nearby shrubbery and grasses collect at her fingertip. The misshapen orb begins to shape itself into a bullet.

The smell of gun powder, the heat of shell casings, the ear rupturing loudness and weight of a gun. I know them all very well. Recreating that same feeling of power when I pulled the trigger, is easy. Mera thinks. 

“Water gun.” She says. The bullet blasts forth from her fingertips and tears a hole through the plant’s body then exits through the other side, in an instant. The plant begins leaking acid, as it dissolves the outer part of its own body. In a last-ditch effort, the plant makes a beeline for Mera, pointing its sharp spines at her. Mera recoils in surprise falling to the ground, after thinking it was over. Seiren uses his spear to cut the vines around his feet, before diving from the tree. With a powerful thrust, he stabs the plant trapping it to the ground, as he lands on its roots, causing them to separate from it.

I kept thinking of him as incapable, but he didn’t actually need my help with this fight. If anything I was the one to screw up. Have I been overvaluing myself? Mera thinks.

Seiren extends a hand to Mera.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah.” She mutters.

“I’m probably not the right person to say this, but…” He begins. “You should stay focused until we know for certain a battle is over.”

“Says the guy that got caught in a tree.” She says. “But, I understand what you mean. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Carried by the momentum of the conversation, Seiren decided to speak once more. 

“I’ve also been meaning to say that we need to experience more fights.” Seiren begins. “Without proper experience, we won’t stand a chance against the devil.”

Combat experience… It was such a simple concept that I hadn’t even thought of. I was so obsessed with trying to get out of here as fast as possible. I would’ve been marching to my death. I was trying so hard to find a strong partner just so I could get carried through hell. What value do I truly bring to the table? Mera thinks.

“You’re right. It’s probably better if we take our time building our strength rather than rushing through it.” She agrees.

I thought of it as a temporary partnership, but he might not be such a bad partner. We might be complete opposites, but I think we can make this work. She thinks.

Mera grabs his hand and he pulls her up.

“There might be some moments where we disagree, but hopefully we can work it out.” She says.

Seiren nods.

“Okay… let's just press on, we need to find a meal for the advocate, but I don’t wanna just bring back anything. Anything that’s not suitable, we can just kill.” She says.

Wow. She can say that without hesitating. He thinks.

Traveling onward, the pair moved through the forest, getting a glimpse of all the different flora and fauna. They eventually come across a herd of animals, sipping from a nearby river while others are grazing on the nearby grass. Seiren summons his spear but Mera stops him.

“Leave it to me, from this distance you’ll miss.” Mera whispers. “Plus, I’m confident in my aim.”

Mera silently inches forward, gently creeping across the dirt, watching for anything that could make a sound in her vicinity. She came up behind a bush and began lining up her aim. The sound of a twig snapping nearby caused Mera to nearly stagger, as the creatures looked up from the water. Their eyes looking almost glazed over, their pupils horizontal and staring at the source of the noise, yet Seiren and Mera were paralyzed.

What is this overwhelming feeling…? Seiren thought. His hands trembled and sweat began to roll down his forehead. His whole body shivered as his jaw could only hang in surprise.

Mera was taking small labored breaths, struggling just to stay put.

You’re telling me these herbivores are making us feel like this? This is pissing me off. She thinks.

Mera’s body tenses up as she clenches her fists and lets out a loud shout from the depths of her diaphragm.

The sound of Mera’s shout echoed throughout the area. The herbivores stunned by the obvious challenge began taking off in the opposite direction. At the same time, they felt that overwhelming pressure leave their bodies as they rose to their feet.

Was that some sort of defense mechanism? Like they were using it to force a fight or flight response from anything nearby? Seiren thinks. 

“That was dreadful. But I’m not about to be intimidated by some dirty herbivores.” She says with an exasperated sigh.

Dirty? Seiren thinks.

A roar erupts from the opposite side of the herbivores, who start running toward Seiren and Mera.

“Now what?” Seiren muttered, taking a deep breath.

“A predator.”  Mera thinks.

Ignoring the fact that my shout possibly drew them here, this is a prime opportunity for a good fight. Knowing what type of demon it is will make it easier to plan. The moment I get a good glimpse, I’ll start thinking of one. She thinks.

Blood flew into the air like the yelps of the herbivores. Their screams were short and concise, meaning the killer was terrifyingly accurate. The speed at which each shrieked made sweat drip down to her brow.

Here we go. Seiren thinks as he slaps his cheeks to ready himself.

Seiren shoots up from the bush to see a bloodbath. Surrounded by the bodies of the herbivores, its claws hung in the air dripping profusely with blood. The black fur around its claws were covered in both wet and dry blood, that dyed its arms and legs red. It stood over double the height of Seiren and Mera. It turned itself to Seiren and Mera as they stood up. A breeze rolled in as they stared each other down. The bear-like demon quietly looked at them. Seiren’s spear materialized and Mera readied her water bullets. The bear’s claws extended as it leaped straight off its hind legs toward them. Surprised, the two of them stumbled to dodge, both dodging to the opposite sides of one another. The bear landed between them, kicking up some dust.

With its back to Seiren, he ran forward, and stabbed it into the back of the demon. The spear pierced, but the damage was mostly superficial. The demon swung its arm at Seiren like a backhand. Seiren releases the spear, nearly falling back as he dodges. Mera aims at the demon’s head and fired off two shots. Much like a spitball, they collide with its head. The demon delivers an upward swing digging into the dirt, sending chunks of rocks at her. Mera dove to the side. Seiren rips the spear out of its back, regaining the beast’s wavering attention. He gains a bit of distance from the demon as the two eyes one another. The beast moves from its bipedal position and got on all fours. It dashes forward at Seiren throwing itself at him. The demon rams into Seiren knocking him over, and biting at his face. Luckily, Seiren manages to pull the spear up in time to block it.

Mera gets up and aims yet again at the bear.

I need to up the strength.  Mera says.

The water begins forming at her fingertips and swirls into the shape of a bullet. The bullet begins to spin as Mera fires it off as the kickback sends her arm up. The bullet hits the bear on its side and spins at the outside as if fighting a battle against its tough skin. The bullet pierces through traveling through half the beast’s body and not even seconds later, several more join it. It tears a basketball-sized hole in its side, its blood begins pouring out as well as some of its organs as it roars in pain. In a last-ditch effort, the demon stands bipedal and raises its paw. Seiren’s eyes widen as he feels his arms full of fatigue. Hoping his arms still had enough strength, he extended his arm beyond his head and grabs onto a tendril poking out of a nearby shadow. The shadow drags him from the front of the demon and through some bushes where he manages to flip over.

Astounded by what she just saw, Mera’s mouth hung wide in surprise. But, it wasn’t over. The bear in its last moments wraps its arms around Seiren’s body applying all of its pressure, which starts to make Seiren’s bones crack.

“GRAAAAAAAHHHH!” Seiren shouts.

Mera leaps into action to save him. Time was short so she needed to act immediately. She jumps into the air sparing no time at aiming her finger pistols.

The brain is already destroyed so I need to free him by targeting him… She thinks.

In a split second, she aims at the demon’s shoulder joints and with both hands fires her new water bullets. They tear away at the skin and muscle at the right joint, destroying the joint. She grazes the left tearing a good chunk of flesh, but missing the joint.

I’m not used to using my left hand for this. She thinks.

As the right arm begins to loosen up, Seiren manages to wiggle free of the demon’s grip and gains some distance as he falls back to the ground, meanwhile Mera straddles its back as it begins to flail around.

“Hold still!” Mera shouts as she starts popping it with shots from the head down. Each shot tore hole after hole through the beast’s body until it finally stopped moving, and collapses onto its stomach. Mera rolls off the beast’s back taking deep breaths, looking at Seiren.

“You good?” She asks.

“I’ll live,” Seiren replies.

“That demon alone was like a boss battle.” Mera says.

Seiren nods.

Still, she did a number on this thing. Seiren says while looking at the bear’s body full of holes. 

As they get off the ground they dust off their clothes a bit. Mera notices how the sky begins to darken.

“We’ve only been here for an hour at most, and it's already getting this dark,” Mera says. “This isn’t good. We haven’t made much ground, and it’s probably incredibly dangerous out here at night.”

Seconds later, howls erupt in the distance, indicating it could be a pack well over a hundred through the resonation alone.

“We should find a place to wait out the night.” Mera says. “We’ll be overrun if we don’t start running now.” 

So the two start taking off despite their exhaustion from the previous fight. Running through the forest as fast as they can, they begin looking for anything to use as shelter. Meanwhile, other hellraisers were in a similar predicament, while some were just fine. Coma found himself lying in a tree against its giant trunk.

Looks like night won’t be optimal for hunting. Coma thinks as he takes a bite of an apple.

The orange-haired woman who stormed off earlier stood amongst the large pack of wolves. Standing at the center with her was a giant blood-colored wolf with extra appendages on its back that had eyes and claws on them. 

“Fights like this were just another day of work, where I’m from.” She says as she charges in.

Back at Seiren and Mera, the two manage to find a cave with a small entrance, it was just big enough for them to get inside. They have a fair bit of room for them to each have their own side. Mera manages to get a little fire going, and Seiren was gazing up at the sky through the small hole at the top of the cave.

“So this is how it is tonight.” Mera sighs. “Woulda been nice to find something to bring the advocate.”