Chapter 26: Outrageous Beast

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This is fanfiction, so the familiar characters you see belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

'Thought,'

—Line Breaker—

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Volume 1 - Chapter 26: Outrageous Beast

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Sora and Jean arrived at the fountain and noticed Tifa and Atalanta sitting by it. They must be exhausted from these first waves of Grimms.

Atalanta was the first to notice their arrival as she waved. Tifa soon saw Atalanta's action as she smiled their way.

"Hey, guys!" shouted Tifa in joy as she saw her friend were safe.

"Wait! Jean!? Are you okay?!" said Tifa as she noticed her leader's clothing state. She quickly left her seat as she approached Jean in a hurry with Atalanta behind her.

"W-W-W-Wait! Tifa, what are you doing?"

"Stay put, Jean. We have to verify!"

"Verify."

"N-N-No Don't pull my… Where are you touching!"

While Jean was struggling with her friends, Sora averted his eyes from them. He didn't want to be labelled as a pervert or useless trouble.

He took the time to observe their current situation. The walls were fine, and they couldn't hear the Grimms growl behind it.

'Weird.' Thought Sora from his experience with Grimms, those kinds of beasts would never abandon their prey.

Grimms were soulless beasts, after all, as they move by instinct. Sora licked his dry lips as his gut told him to run away from this place.

Unfortunately for Sora, they were in trouble as Atalanta suddenly became stiff as she stared behind her in a hurry.

Her sudden reaction startled Jean and Tifa but, more importantly, Sora as his feeling became even more sure.

'Trouble is coming…' thought Sora as he chucked out four vials being Healing and Aura recovery. He threw them to Tifa and Atalanta in a hurry.

"Quick! Drink those potions, and let's leave this place immediately! Trouble is coming, so let's abandon this place!" shouted Sora as he brought those three guys to reality.

"O-O-O-Oh yeah, let's leave." Said Jean as she pulled Tifa and Atalanta. As they quickly ran off oppositely from where Atalanta was staring at.

[ROAAAAAAAAAAAR]

A terrifying roar could be heard from miles away as team JSTA ran even faster by hearing it. Tifa decided to take a look behind her and witnessed something shocking.

"Uhm, guys? I think we are in big trouble…" shouted Tifa with a bit of fear. The rest of the team listened to Tifa as they turned their heads back.

"…"

Sora: Fuck me

They saw a giant Beowolf with enormous wings and a spiky tail. That's a mutated Grimm if they ever saw one.

That beast was clearly after them with a legion of small Grimms behind him on foot.

"Why us…" whispered Sora in pain as he began to think of some countermeasure.

[Meanwhile….]

"Huh… Should we help them?" asked a doubtful Gran as he pulled his sword from its sheath.

"… We'll block those small Grimms and let them deal with the mutated Grimms." Said Glynda as she fixed her glasses.

Gran and Lyria were confused by Glynda's unexpected answer. He thought they would deal with the mutated ones, not those small ones.

Of course, Glynda noticed the duo's confusion as she lightly chuckled and left their building.

"This is team JSTA's trial. What if they meet with another mutated Grimms in the future? We can only let them experience the life of a Huntsman and Huntress. I hope hunting this monster will help them get more insight into their future path. But we can help them lighten the pressure."

"…"

Gran scratched his hair as he understood Glynda and didn't expect this sudden lecture. Yet, he could understand where Glynda was coming from. He and his team did experience something like that last year.

His eyes trailed on the nervous Lyria before he shook his head and left the building as he took Lyria's hand.

"Gran…" whispered Lyria as she looked at Gran's face with a complicated expression.

"… Let's go, Lyria, let's help our friends, okay?" coaxed Gran as he slightly massaged Lyria's hand with his thumb.

"Mmhh."

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Sora and his team were still running around the kingdom as they evited the attack from the mutated Beowolf. They almost got attacked by a fire breath from this guy.

They became even more cautious about how to deal with this monster. They were also flustered since it was their first time dealing with this new kind of Grimm.

They were currently running down the street with many houses beside them. Probably the residential area before the kingdom fell.

"How are we dealing with that big guy." Said Tifa as she punched left and right three Grimms that appeared in front of them.

"We must deal with those wings and make them fall to our level. Only Atalanta can realistically deal with it; we are helpless with that flying enemy." Said Sora as he impaled a Grimm that lunged at them from behind.

"We should- DODGE," cried Jean as she pushed Tifa away while Sora hugged Atalanta and rolled on his left.

The winged Grimm dived from the sky and plunged into the street, and the area collapsed. Sora stood up from the ground with some difficulty with Atalanta in his arms.

He took cover from a collapsed building and tried to observe the Grimm that came from the sky. The beast didn't give them many chances. Sora was looking for the trace of Jean and Tifa from his hiding place, but no luck.

The street was filled with smoke and debris caused by the dive. Sora calmed the shaking Atalanta in his arms and used his semblance to locate his teammates.

"Atalanta helps me find Tifa and Jean. We need to kill that Grimm quick." Said Sora as he calmly whispered into Atalanta's ear.

Atalanta calmed down as she felt Sora's comfort in his arms as she used her heightened senses to locate her friends.

Unfortunately, the beast's roar enveloped the area before they could implement their plans. The beast was angry as it rampaged the site, further destroying the streets.

It created many potholes on its destruction not before it charged toward Sora and Atalanta. Of course, Sora and Atalanta noticed the colossal beast coming into their spot.

"Damn! Atalanta, I'll bait this guy. You support me and try to find the other!" said Sora as he came out of his hiding place and attracted the beast's hatred.

"Sora!" cried Atalanta with nervousness at Sora's recklessness. She gripped her bow tightly and left to find Tifa and Jean while keeping an eye on Sora.

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Sora weaved through the barrage of attack as he evaded left and right. Sora's attack barely caused any significant damage because of its sturdy hide.

All Sora needed was to stall this beast until the whole group was back. He was still not convinced he couldn't punish this Grimm for making their situation difficult.

"There is no way I can't injure you…."

Sora poured aura on his sword as he charged forward while the Grimm turned its back on Sora as swept its big tail toward Sora.

"Shit!" exclaimed Sora as he created an elevating platform and jumped in the air to dodge the tail. Sora was not helplessly flying in the air, completely exposed to any attack.

The beast who noticed Sora in the air opened its jaw and spat a fire cannon. Sora's face darkened by this shameless guy as he activated his glider from his back.

He controlled the glider as he dodged the fire cannon the best he could. The beast was annoyed to see every attack miss this puny human.

The Grimm unfolded its wings and flew toward Sora with rage. Sora's face paled as he noticed the charging Grimm.

Sora can't fight in the sky as his wings can only glide in the sky. Sora didn't expect the speed of the Grimm in the sky, as Sora needed more time to dodge this incoming charge.

"Fuck! I can only tank it…." muttered Sora as he unleashed his semblance with full force and created a crystalline protective wall in front of him.

Sora and the winged Grimm collided with each other. Their confrontation continued for a few more seconds as Sora's shield began to crack little by little.

Sora didn't give up as he poured more aura inside the shield as he was unwilling to lose this clash.

"AHHHHHHH"

"ROAAAAAAR"