"So this is where they dumped the bodies." Tsukuru muttered.
It made perfect sense.
A Red Portal Planet was the absolute last place someone would look for the bodies of a couple of students who died on one of the military bases.
Still looking down at the body in contempt, Tsukuru began to step back away from it.
He kept going until there was a sizable distance between the two of them.
He then created an Intermediate-Tier Firebomb Arrow, holding it in his hand.
He clenched his hand around it, and threw the arrow at Riley's corpse like a thrown dart.
Instantly, the arrow burst into flames, creating a roaring fireball, engulfing Riley's body.
He knew that the fire wasn't strong enough to destroy Riley's bones, but that wasn't his aim.
He was doing this for two reasons.
First, the flames would burn away the military uniform, erasing the last piece of evidence connecting him to Military Base 2.
Second, it would make him look as if he had died due to a Fire Ability User.
And with the bad reputation the Sunshield Family, the Original Family with the Fire Ability, had, being the most prevalentabusers of the "Ability Level" system, no one would even question the fact that one of them had burned a child alive.
As Tsukuru watched the raging flames, the light from the flames illuminated his face, and the fire could be seen reflected in his eyes.
"It's on days like this, that people like you…should be burning in Hell!" Tsukuru muttered, his face twisted in anger.
***
In another location within the abandoned base, blood dripped down from a cut on the top of Vorden's head, trickling down his eyebrow.
He raised his hand, now covered in the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlet, to wipe it away, gripping a dagger made of hardened mud in his other hand.
"If we make it out of here…" Vorden panted. "The first thing I'm doing is asking Tsukuru to make me a copy of one of those Basic-Tier Daggers he's always throwing around like candy!"
Inside the dark space, Raten's eye twitched in annoyance.
"That's a pretty big'if', Vorden!" Raten retorted. "Like I said, you sent us to our deaths!"
Vorden grit his teeth, and turned his head around in the chair to look at Raten.
"Unless you want to take a crack at fighting this thing, then shut it!" He snapped.
On the floor in front of him was a dead Rattaclaw, its lifeless body sprawled out.
Nearby, another Rattaclaw waited, unharmed.
Its beady eyes were focused on Vorden, claws poised to strike.
When Vorden had arrived on the Red Portal Planet, he had encountered his first Rattaclaw.
Not wanting to attract more Beasts, he had run into the closest structure he could find, a large, mostly-empty warehouse.
The space was filled with various broken crates, and scattered pieces of scrap metal.
With only one entrance, he realized that he had no choice but to fight.
Despite the limitations of the Level 1 Earth Ability he had copied from Peter, Vorden had bridged the power gap by equipping the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets Tsukuru had given him from his bag.
He transformed a chunk of earth into a dagger, the weapon that he was the most comfortable wielding.
With precision and careful timing, he had dodged the Rattaclaw's attacks, and struck back when an opening had appeared.
However, the Rattaclaw had a tough hide.
Hit attacks with the weak, earth dagger barely made a dent.
Without the sheer force of a high-Level Ability or monstrous strength, all Vorden had to rely on was pure skill and determination.
Eventually, he managed to inflict enough damage to the Rattaclaw to damage it.
However, just as he was about to deliver the killing blow, another Rattaclaw had appeared out of nowhere.
He had reacted quickly, spinning around to block the attack.
Unfortunately, he had not been fast enough the dodge the attack completely.
Three shallow gashes now showed on the top of his head, blood dripping down from the fresh wounds.
Vorden grit his teeth.
"If all you're gonna do is be a backseat driver, then here, knock yourself out!" Vorden shot back at Raten, as he got up out of the chair. "Take the damn seat, and fight this thing yourself!"
Vorden got up out of the chair, leaving it empty.
Raten then took his seat in the chair, and assumed control over the body.
The dark room that allowed the three of them to take turns controlling the body was reminiscent of three friends hanging out, and taking turns playing a video game with only one controller.
All though, in this case, it was more like a set of identical triplets, as Vorden, Raten, and Sil all had the same appearance.
Vorden walked back towards the back of the dark room, and stood next to Sil, who had resumed his rocking.
He was sitting on the ground, his knees pulled into his chest.
He rocked back and forth, his fingers endlessly twisting and untwisting around each other.
Part of Sil's shirt was stuffed in his mouth, a nervous habit of his that he couldn't seem to break.
"How are you holding up, Sil?" Vorden asked gently, looking over at him. "Are you feeling better?"
Sil paused for a moment, but didn't stop swaying.
"Is Quinn…is Quinn going to be…okay?" He asked.
Vorden offered a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Vorden replied. "You know he's special. We all knew it from the moment we met him."
Sil smiled faintly, and continued to sway.
"Caser was special, too." Sil replied. "So was Marlin and Fuffu. But they all died too."
Hearing Sil list off names made a tense atmosphere fill the dark room.
In the chair, Raten clenched his fists in anger.
'Hilston…' Raten thought. 'You will pay for what you did! I'll make sure of it!'
Hearing the names, Vorden swallowed hard.
He watched as Sil rocked faster, and more frantic.
"This time will be different." Vorden said firmly. "This time, we are here to protect you. Stay here for as long as you want. Leaving the talking to me, and the fighting to Raten. We'll handle this together."
Sil's swaying gradually slowed, and Vorden felt his nerves ease.
He then returned to Raten, standing behind the chair.
Looking at the screen, he saw that Raten had already dealt with the second Rattaclaw.
The Beast's lifeless body was sprawled out on the floor of the warehouse, its tail severed, and countless earth spikes piercing its torso.
The Beast's black blood pooled under its open maw, a grim testament to Raten's ruthless efficiency.
Raten looked back at Vorden, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"See?" He replied. "I told you I could handle it!"
Vorden stared at Raten for a minute, looking like a parent staring down an overzealous child.
"Did you really have to go that far?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.
Raten let out an annoyed snort, and turned back to face the "screen".
"That little shit damaged Sil's body!" Raten retorted. "I couldn't just let it get away with that!"
Raten held his hand out.
"Tag out!" He replied.
Vorden nodded.
He reached his hand out, and slapped Raten's hand, like the passing of a baton.
Instantly, Raten stood up from the chair, and allowed Vorden to retake the seat.
Vorden returned to the real world, and started carving up the Rattaclaws body, looking for the Beast Crystal.
Once he located it, he repeated the process with the other Rattaclaw.
He then slung his bag off of his back, and held it in front of him.
He unzipped the lid, and dropped the two tennis ball-sized Beast Crystals into the bag.
It would've been a waste to leave the Beast Crystal behind after the effort it had taken Vorden and Raten to defeat the Beasts.
Just as Vorden zipped the bag back up, and slung it over his back, the sound of metal clanging echoed behind him.
Vorden's eyes widened.
He spun around, his senses on high alert.
However, to his surprise, instead of a Beast, a fully-grown man emerged from behind a stack of crates.
"Don't worry, I come in peace!" The man replied, raising his hands in the universal gesture of "surrender".
But the moment he raised his arms, he grimaced in pain, and lowered one hand to clutch his ribs.
It was clear that he was injured.