Upon stumbling onto this scene, Gil was initially frozen in sheer disbelief.
He couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, and as he caught clearer glimpses of the attackers, he reeled as if physically struck.
What are those things doing in here?!
He recognized them immediately.
He had killed one of their very kind not long ago.
They were larger than hounds, with powerful, coiled muscles and hideous, spotted hides. Their beady yellow eyes gleamed with a cruel, bloodthirsty light.
There was absolutely no mistaking them: these were the exact same chimeras unleashed upon the captives in the arena pit. The only differences were the absence of the glowing red threads around their necks, and the fact that they looked strangely translucent, almost incorporeal, within this space.
But if that had been all, Gil would have only been surprised.
What truly shook him to his core was the presence—and actions—of the other attackers.
Standing upright among the beasts were pale red, human-looking shadows.
They were entirely featureless, yet they were attacking his Aegis with even greater ferocity than the monsters.
They frantically shoved, clawed, and tore at everything in their path, even striking at the chimeras and their fellow shades, distorting their shapes and twisting their forms in their desperate, maddened attempts to shatter Gil's golden sphere.
Even in this disembodied state, Gil could vividly perceive the raw emotions driving these intruders. While the beasts were guided by simple, predatory instinct and basic bloodlust, the pale red shades were driven by much more complex, uglier human impulses.
Though it was a chaotic whirlpool of feelings, jealousy, envy, and sheer greed dominated their actions.
While Gil couldn't quite tell whom the jealousy and envy were directed at, their greed was painfully obvious.
They coveted whatever lay protected inside his golden shield to the point of absolute madness. They were willing to do anything to breach it.
Despite their lack of facial features, Gil could almost picture their faces—contorted into ugly, frantic masks as they hammered away at the barrier. With every strike they landed, the brilliant gold of the sphere dimmed slightly, tainted by creeping veins of crimson.
It was slow, but with each successive hit, the corruption spread a fraction faster. If left unchecked, it was only a matter of time before...
Something snapped inside Gil. His frantic thoughts ground to a sudden, dead halt.
How... How dare they?!
The initial shock and confusion vanished in an instant, replaced by a single, all-consuming emotion: wrath.
He felt a burning wrath toward the mindless beasts for the agony they had inflicted upon him.
But even more intense was his wrath toward those traitorous, pale red shadows.
How incredibly naive he had been to think those shadows in the arena were allies.
How foolish to think they had a common foe simply because they had temporarily swarmed the chimeras.
Now, it was clear he had been technically right—they did share a foe—but they certainly didn't view him as an ally in return.
He almost wanted to let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh at the sheer absurdity of his own stupidity.
An overwhelming tide of rage rushed over his consciousness, drowning out everything else. But unlike his usual hot-tempered outbursts, this anger was different.
With every passing second, his mind grew colder, sharper, and infinitely more dangerous.
The only thought remaining in his head was a singular, icy directive:
Erase them.
Erase every single trace of these intruders, and make them pay dearly for daring to covet what is mine.
Before he could even figure out how to channel this rage, the desperate calling from the sphere suddenly stopped.
Gil felt himself irresistibly pulled toward the golden orb, hurtling forward without any conscious effort on his part.
Feeling a trust deeper than kinship toward the golden sphere, he didn't fight the pull.
He let himself be sucked into the core, disappearing entirely into the light. Once inside, a feeling of profound warmth and relief made him involuntarily sigh.
As strange as it sounded at that moment, he felt, for the first time in his life, that he had finally returned home.
And unknown to him as he basked in this soothing feeling the stars all around him lit up in unison,as if in cheers.
One breath passed. Two. Three.
The intruders didn't even register Gil's arrival, completely oblivious to his consciousness merging with the shield.
They simply continued their frantic assault.
But then, it happened.
The golden sphere, which had passively endured their relentless blows, began to change.
It started minutely, almost imperceptibly.
A tiny shudder ran across its smooth surface, followed by a single, slight ripple.
Then another. And another. Silently, little by little, the shield seemed to strengthen, and the red stains were wiped clean.
Soon, the tremors running through the shield grew so violent that both factions of attackers finally halted their assault, sensing the sudden shift.
Stimulated by the change, the featureless humanoids redoubled their efforts. Believing these tremors meant the barrier was finally on the verge of collapsing, they threw themselves forward, desperate to claim their prize.
They were so incredibly close!
But in their frantic greed, they failed to notice that the bloodthirsty beasts had ceased all offensive actions.
Stranger still, the chimeras were slowly backing away from the very sphere they had been savaging moments prior.
They lowered their heads, growling in low, warning rumbles, their hackles raised as if trying to intimidate an unseen predator.
This unusual retreat finally drew the attention of a few shadows.
A handful of the pale red shades froze, hesitating, unwilling to retreat when victory was within their grasp.
Others were too far gone in their madness to care, continuing to claw at the golden surface, while a select few opted to step back, adopting a cautious, wait-and-see attitude.
Unfortunately for them, by the time they realized something was terribly wrong... it was already far too late.
The golden sphere suddenly ignited with a blinding, radiant light, and then—
Claaaaaaaaaaang! Clang! Clang! Claaaaang!
From the depths of the orb, the deafening, furious rattle of heavy chains reverberated through the void.
Then, like bolts of golden lightning, solid metallic links erupted from the shield, hurtling outward and targeting every single entity that had dared to participate in the assault.
Grooar!
Grooar!
Grooar!
Sensing mortal danger, the chimeras leaped into action—dodging, fleeing, or desperately trying to swipe at the oncoming metal.
Alas, all resistance proved utterly futile.
The beasts that tried to flee were instantly run down and ensnared.
Against those that tried to dodge and fight, the chains twisted and coiled like living serpents, binding them tight and reducing their defiant roars to powerless, muffled whimpers.
One larger beast managed to bite one of the chains, producing flying sparks and making it recoil slightly, but only temporarily. More and more chains lunged at it, overwhelming it and binding it tighter than the rest of its kind.
But the plight of the pale red shadows was infinitely worse.
Binding them wasn't enough.
As if the entity controlling the chains wanted them to suffer maximum agony, jagged, blood-red spikes and crystal shards suddenly erupted from the golden links, tearing deep into their incorporeal forms.
The shades shuddered violently, letting out silent shrieks of torment.
Several of the weaker shadows instantly shattered upon contact, dispersing into harmless red motes of light.
The stronger ones managed to cling to their forms, but they grew incredibly translucent, looking so fragile that a gentle gust of wind might blow them away.
The strongest and shrewdest shade, understanding the direness of the situation, tried to fade away, temporarily losing the pursuit of the chains.
But the one behind the chains didn't give up.
After several seemingly fruitless probes into the void, the links suddenly darted in great numbers toward an empty-looking spot, dragging that shadow out and tearing into it even more viciously than its peers, only stopping when it was on the brink of collapsing.
Though it takes time to describe, the entire counter-offensive had taken place in the span of a single breath.
In those mere moments, the roles were entirely reversed.
The arrogant oppressors had become the helpless oppressed, utterly at the mercy of their enemy.
Clang-clang-clang.
With another heavy, metallic rattle, the chains began to retract, dragging their bound captives across the dirt of the floating island.
Clang-clang-clang.
They were dragged slowly, like condemned prisoners being marched toward the gallows.
Clang-clang-clang.
Finally, the chains halted, pooling the battered, shivering intruders a short distance away from the brightly shimmering orb.
They waited in terrifying silence until, finally...
Step. Step. Step.
A foot appeared first, followed by a slowly materializing silhouette stepping out of the radiant golden sphere.
The chains gave way to the newcomer.
The light of the barrier dimmed, and finally, the silhouette opened its eyes, looking down at the squirming captives with eyes as cold as ice.