55 CH55: THE SECOND DEMON TIER.

The Malware Units and a few of the Gazanerrin witnessed in horror the colossal monstrosity of the beast standing in front of them. The creature's immense size and horrifying presence caused some of the terrorists to kill themselves, assuming that the beast would likely do it anyway for their failure to complete their mission.

As for the Malware Units, their objective was to kill the beast, but they soon discovered that it was not an easy task. Each time they approached it, their crystals would shut down, nearly ending their lives. To make matters worse, a mutant was controlling the beast, and if they wished, they could command the creature to kill them and advance without being disturbed.

Lucky for them, the white-robed man's target was a suburban town that allegedly had its own demon-tier beast.

"Do not try and get in my way," he said, his voice echoing through the beast's mouth. "Interfere, and I will have this beast flatten Desper and Neveah in a day!"

"That sounded less like a threat and more like a possibility," Carla warned as she looked to Dheng Zhao for their next course of action. "What should we do, Zhao? We can't stop that thing."

With his finger on his ear, Dheng called for immediate backup while keeping his eyes on the beast. "MAYDAY, MAYDAY. WE NEED ASSISTANCE. SEND THE CAVALRY UNITS. I REPEAT, SEND THE CAVALRY UNITS, NOW!"

"Carla," he faced his colleague after calling for reinforcements, "we have to get the evacuated people as far away from those beasts. Luckily, there were so few when we got there, so it won't be difficult. We must do it before the second beast shows up and-"

"Too late," one of the Zhao squadrons remarked, pointing towards the suburb. Just like with the first beast, the second one's presence produced a mighty gush of wind that would have blown the Malware Units away if not for their advanced bodies. However, unlike the first beast, the second one revealed itself in a more surprising manner.

"The second beast is..."

"THE SUBURB ITSELF??" Everyone wondered, thinking their eyes were playing tricks on them. "ARE THOSE BUILDINGS MOVING?"

To their surprise, the ground on which the town sat broke, slowly turning with mighty tremors emanating from its direction. The gushing wind and mounds of earth caused dust clouds, as high as three Neveahs stacked onto each other, blocking everyone's vision. Everyone except the Malware Units, whose eyes produced a dustproof layer to navigate through the cloud.

"Is everyone seeing what I'm seeing?" Dheng Zhao gasped.

"Affirmative!"

"Holy mother of God. That's one hell of a beast."

The beast from the depths of the Earth opened its jaws wide and let out a shattering roar so powerful that some of the Malware Units' systems temporarily shut down. Unlike the first beast, the second one's roar had more power and strength, terrifying enough to cause sudden death to any faint-hearted person.

"Guys, look." Carla pointed at the blue-furred beast. The creature slowly crawled backward, its head hanging over its body as if it wanted to back down from a fight.

"Looking at that beast, I'd be afraid to have to confront it as well." The Malware Units understood as they looked at the earth beast.

The creature was shaped like a turtle with its shell being the foundation of the city. However, its shell had a series of bones protruding from each segment. Its body was covered in thick black scales and its four feet had long, thick claws. Its head had four eyes, and a mouth filled with long teeth. Its tail, longer than its body, had a round ball with spikes coming out.

**ROOOAAAR**

With one mighty step, the ground beneath the turtle beast's foot traveled towards the other in the form of earth spikes. As they reached the blue beast, they grew longer and thicker.

*SHLING*

The blue beast roared in pain as one of the earth spikes dug deeper into its left shoulder. It struggled to pull it out, but the spike was too thick and sturdy.

Once again, the turtle beast lifted the same leg and attacked the beast's right shoulder. Black blood poured out as the energy and glow from the crystals started to fade. The man in white robes groaned with anger and struck the dying beast's head.

"DON'T CELEBRATE YET, FOOLS," he shouted, transferring blue energy into the beast. "I SHALL NOT FAIL." The seemingly dead blue beast suddenly sprung to life, snapping the earth spikes out of its shoulders. Its body regenerated, growing more muscular, with elongated bones and red eyes.

*ROOAAR*

The beast stood on its hind legs and charged at the tortoise beast. Fortunately, everyone stood at a safe distance, out of harm's way. The blue beast attacked the turtle at full speed, effortlessly dodging the earth barricades.

"Do not resist, beast," the man in white robes taunted as he moved forward. "You shall submit to me. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

While the man yelled uncontrollably about resistance, the turtle quickly spun around and drove the end of its tail deep into the blue beast's head. Then it stomped its feet, causing the ground beneath the blue beast to soften and sink.

"HALT!" the man commanded, his glowing hands exerting a force that immobilized the turtle beast. The turtle's eyes darted around, searching for a way out.

Fearfully, Carla wondered, 'Did he just command the beast? Controlling something that powerful requires someone even stronger. That man... he must be...'"

"The leader of the Gazanerrin," Dheng Zhao replied, his hands ready to propel him forward. Carla quickly pulled him back, cautioning him, "Zhao, we have to wait for backup to arrive. We cannot fight that man. Look at what he's controlling and look at you."

"We cannot let him get away with these creatures either," he replied. "We have the leader in our sights. It's our duty to stop him completely."

"At what cost, Zhao?" Carla questioned. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you can defeat that man. Or even better. Tell me we have a chance against those two beasts he's controlling like they're dogs."

Dheng couldn't reassure his colleague or the squad that they could defeat the Gazanerrin leader. He recalled how the leader had effortlessly pushed him away with a wave of his hand.

"Fine," Dheng relented and reconsidered. "What do we do now? We can't stand around and let him take that beast."

"This isn't a fight we can win." Dheng and the rest of the Malware Units received an automated message from their commanding officers. "Stand down, warriors. Do not engage with the enemy. Even if we show up with airships, we don't have enough firepower to make a dent in those creatures, let alone capture the Gazanerrin leader. Fall back. That's an order."

Dheng Zhao groaned in anger and disbelief as his commanding officer practically told him to not fight. With nothing left to do, the Malware Units considered this a loss and witnessed the white robbed man take control of the turtle beast. Before he left, he faced Dheng and through his voice being echoed in the blue beast's mouth, he shouted, "DO NOT THINK THIS IS THE LAST WE'LL EVER MEET. MARK MY WORDS, HUMANS. THE DYAS OF YOU NORMALS RULING OVER US WILL COME TO AN END. I'LL CRUSH THIS NORMAL DOMINATED WORLD AND FROM THE RUBLE PRODUCE ANOTHER WHERE WE MUTANTS WILL REIGN. MARK MY WORDS. THIS ISN'T THE LAST WE'LL EVER MEET."

The man rendered the turtle beast unconscious and made the blue beast carry it on its back before he and his creatures disappeared over the horizon.

**[A few hours later.]**

The airships arrived at the scene of the beast battle and quickly deployed more Malware units who did their best to conceal what had just happened. While Carla and the Monroe and Zhao squads provided accurate reports on what they had witnessed, Zhao remained seated outside, deep in serious thoughts.

"The leader was within our grasp. He was right there. We could have put an end to the Gazanerrin, but why couldn't we? Why did I hesitate?" Dheng Zhao sat on the sand, gazing at the massive hole in the ground that had once been a suburb. His anger and guilt silenced him, forcing him to dwell in his thoughts. "He said we'll meet again. Fine. I'll make sure to take you down for good. No matter what it takes. I just feel bad for those who stayed in that area."

While he was still wrestling with his thoughts, one of the soldiers in his squad tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Sir, there's mail for you." A white letter was handed to Dheng, and after reading it, his mood worsened even further.

[Incoming message from Lead Malware Commander.]

[Captain Dheng Zhao Prince. By the time you receive this message, you will likely have already received a letter from your brother, most likely relating to your father. At this moment, former Chief of Desper's Police, Damian Prince, was involved in a terrible accident that has rendered him unconscious and could potentially leave him permanently deaf.]

"Former Chief?" Zhao questioned in disbelief. "Accident? Deaf??!!"

[As of today, you have been relieved of your duties and will be notified when you are needed back. Please take this time to heal and prepare for the worst to come, God forbid. You may keep the body, but do not disclose what happened here to anyone. Your on-duty system will be shut down after all the recorded videos have been extracted for further investigation.]

With his orders given, Dheng Zhao Prince was set to travel back home to Desper. As much as he wished to pursue the Gazanerrin leader, he now had much more demanding issues concerning his family. "What has Father gotten himself into now?"