115. Totemic beast.

The thing that emerged from the room had very few human characteristics. It was shaped and walked like a human, but that was all the resemblance. 

The creature's entire body was covered with black feathers, with a patch of white feathers on its neck. 

It had a human-sized head, but it was a raven's head. Just like a bird, it had a beak, too. The feather on its head stood as it opened its beak and cawed at Rika. 

Thyra could see that the three claws of Rika's three-toed rock sloth had also cut the general, leaving a gaping wound on his body. Thyra didn't know how he was still walking on his own two feet, but the general also noticed Thyra.

"Pat…" The general screamed at the top of his lungs, glaring at Thyra. Thyra was in the shape of a muscle stud commander. 

He could understand what the general meant while he screamed at him, "What are you looking at, you idiot? Come here and protect me, you dumb head."

Thyra gave an awkward nod and walked towards the general. Seeing his strongest fighter return to support him, the general relaxed a little. 

However, before Thyra could reach close enough to attack him, the raven-headed beast turned and glared at him with red eyes.

Thyra wasn't sure if it was the manifestation of the general's essence or his summoned beast, but he felt that it had seen through his disguise. Thyra paused to look at it for a moment before taking the next steps.

*Cawwww…* 

The bird-headed monster attacked him. Thyra took a defensive step back. The general's surprise at the move was understandable. 

"What the heck are you up to, you featherhead?" The general yelled as tattoos began to appear all over his body and began to glow brightly. 

It was only then that Thyra felt the mana in the body of the general, and the beast was somewhat similar. 

However, he didn't have the time to scrutinise it. With the beast's talon-like claws just an inch away from his face, Thyra ducked and rolled back to create some distance.

As soon as Thyra stood up, he found that its beak opened up in front of him while showcasing its rows of sharp teeth. Thyra was sure that it was about to bite his shoulder with its needle-like teeth, but it stopped.

It was like it was stuck, and some kind of invisible rope wrapped around its body. Even if the red eyes glared at him with hatred, it couldn't move its body. 

"What are you doing, you fucker?" The general screamed, "Stop wasting my mana. He isn't the enemy, you bird-brain."

And he was correct. While the monster was inching closer to landing an attack on Thyra, Rika moved, too. 

She didn't let the chance go, as her hand was wrapped in red energy, forming the three-toed claw and slashing at the general. 

Thyra was sure that without using his thunder movement technique, there was no way that even he could have saved the general. 

It was a direct hit, but the talons of a Raven-head monster met her energy claw instead of the general's unprotected body.

Thyra wasn't sure if he had seen it correctly, but all he had noticed was the monster melting on the ground. As soon as it did, the monster appeared between Rika and the general to receive the attack.

The attack was strong, even making the beast's talon bleed with blue blood, but it was nowhere near strong enough to take it out. 

The only reason Thyra could follow the beast's movement was because he had the essence of a thunder elemental beast. 

However, it happened in a blink for Rika, which left her dumbfounded. She looked at Thyra, knowing that only Thyra was capable of such a movement.

"Careful," Thyra cried. The floor underneath his feet cracked as Thyra's body slammed the beast with her body. 

Although Thyra directly slammed against the monster before it could use its other talon to attack, he couldn't feel the impact. Instead, it felt like he had slammed into something similar to slime.

"What are you…" The general was already fuming. He had no idea why his totemic beast was suddenly attacking Pat. 

Now that dumb Pat was attacking his totemic beast. He was about to scream at Pat, reminding him they were on the same side. When he looked at him, he couldn't.

"Who are you?" The general looked at Thyra, not realising it wasn't the Commander Pat he knew. 

With a thin body on one side and a muscled body on the other, he wasn't even sure it was a human. 

The most eye-catching feature about him was his long, curly orange hair. But not for long. His body twisted and turned as if some demonic creature was trying to break out of its demonic human shell.

"Kill it." The general didn't know what it was but had a feeling that it wasn't something good. And the beast lunged at the blob of human mass.

The monster threw its talon towards him, but Rika was close enough to stop the attack. It was then that the general heard the blob say, "There is no need. I can take care of it."

'It was a woman.' The general felt it from her voice, and Thyra's final form confirmed it.

{From now on, Thyra has returned to her standard shape. So I will use 'she'.}

He had heard the report that the commander of the kingdom's army had sent a young female knight to take back Luxor. 

But he couldn't find any logic explaining how she could be here. 

"There was no way. After all, we have destroyed them." The general was sure that he had massacred each and every one of the kingdom's soldiers. The lord of Luxor even sent his own army to support them.

The morphing mass changed again, turning into someone he knew. It was the Lord of Luxor, Feitur. Although the body was male, the voice wasn't, "Yes, I know. I even sent my force to ensure no chance of miscommunication."

"You are…" His hand tightened, and the tattoo on his body started to glow. 

The monster with a raven's head jumped at Thyra. He was sure that something was wrong, but he knew he had to clean up the mess in front of him first before he could look for damage.

As the girl took her final form, he realised his opponent was young. She might not even be at the age when she could have her coming-of-age ceremony. 

'How strong can she be?' As soon as the thought appeared in his mind, he shook his head. 

The only reason he had survived so long was because of his cautious nature. No matter how young the opponent was, he was sure she must have some skill if she was sent to the frontline.

  However, he also knew that his totemic creature was a lot stronger than a normal fifth-grade knight. Even if he couldn't say he could beat a fourth-grade knight, he was confident that he could escape with his life intact.

Alas! A moment later,  he helplessly watched his confidence crumble in front of his very eyes. 

His totemic beast was a shadow elemental beast. The number of people in the kingdom who could move faster than his beast could be counted on one hand.

Alas! He had never expected to face one of them here. So as soon as the beast's talon was caught, it collapsed in its shadow and… 

He felt his chest tighten. He looked down to see a bloody hand come out of his chest. His beast, which was about to come out of his shadow, collapsed, never to return to this world again.