Hunter's Rise Ch. 18 - Pupil 18

No characters (both humans and non-humans) are below the age of consent.

Also, this is one of the more story-focused chapters.

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The morning was a bit colder than usual. Summer was about to end soon but it still seemed weirdly cold compared to yesterday. Zara even shivered slightly since she was only wearing a leather jacket above a tank top.

"Damn it. There's no time to run back home for something warmer," she murmured to herself as she walked into the park.

To Zara's surprise, this time she saw two people waiting for her, both were unusual sights to see.

The first person to approach her was a young girl, approximately Zara's age.

"You must be Zara," the girl said with a barely noticeable accent, "I got a message from Aritimi to come here because she changed my schedule. Originally we'd visit today's unit two weeks later."

"Oh, yeah. I've seen she mentioned a change," Zara nodded and introduced herself.

"I'm Hristina Yevgenievna," the girl introduced herself.

"Christina?" Zara gave her a strange look.

"No, but sounds similar, just remove the "c" from it," Hristina corrected with a smile.

The other person stayed on the bench behind. Zara wanted to take a look at her as well but her eyes locked on Hristina.

Hristina was a drop-dead gorgeous albino girl. Her skin was white as the freshly fallen snow. Her long, silken white hair cascaded down her back, reaching her hips. Both of her eyes were pale pink. Her immaculate breasts were voluminous, pressing against the fabric of her shirt tightly. She had wide hips with long legs, giving her a really seductive stance. The outfit she got was simple, a white t-shirt and blue jeans, but on her, it looked like something out of a fashion show or a magazine.

"Wow, girl. Are you not cold? I'm shivering just by looking at you," Zara said.

"I got no issues with the cold weather because of my augmentation," Hristina shrugged.

"Good for you," Zara smirked, "Who is this other girl, by the way?" she pointed at the woman on the bench.

"She is one of Aritimi's friends. She will join the course with us," Hristina explained.

"Really? She doesn't look like a monster hunter," Zara examined the woman.

"I can still hear both of you. And yes, I am the chief of the Elemental Unit, Winter Summers," the woman introduced herself with an uninterested tone as she stood up. Zara was surprised because she had never seen a middle-aged woman with a style like this. After all, Winter was an emo.

Winter was a pretty good-looking middle-aged woman with a weird blend of emo style and commanding presence. Her raven-black hair was cut into jagged, layered bangs that framed her pale, angular face, with streaks of icy blue running through it. Her eyes were an unusual pale gray. Dark eyeliner enhanced her eery gaze, giving her a perpetual look of intensity.

She was dressed in a typical emo outfit: an old black shirt with a faded band logo on its front, a studded leather jacket, and a pair of skin-tight black pants with chains hanging from the belt. Her combat boots were tall and laced up, looking more like they were meant for a punk rock concert than a monster hunt.

But the weirdest thing about her was the small stormcloud that floated barely a meter above her head, following her wherever she went, like in a cartoon.

"Oh, sorry," Zara stammered, "It just surprised me that you are already here. Usually, we go to Aritimi's friends."

"My unit doesn't have any fixed location outside of the headquarters since the power of nature can come from any direction," Winter continued with the same lethargic tone, "We only have an office at the headquarters and that's all."

"Is that thing your pet?" Zara pointed at the miniature cloud above Winter.

"No, it's produced by me. It's a side effect of my augmentation. It can be quite annoying, especially when I want to sleep and it starts to rain," Winter said, taking the last drag of her cigarette before flicking it away.

"What are we going to do during this training?" Hristina asked, she clearly had more enthusiasm than Winter.

"Let me answer this question," they heard Aritimi's voice from the fountain's direction. The huntress was wearing her usual jumpsuit. Aritimi was sitting on the edge, her long legs swinging gently, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. She had arrived silently and unnoticed, as always.

"Hi, Timi," Winter greeted her friend with the same tired, lifeless tone.

"I see you are full of happiness and joy as always," Aritimi said with a smirk.

"So today we going to train with some elemental monsters?" Zara asked.

"Oh, it's going to be more than just a training," Aritimi shook her head, "We are going on an actual hunt," she announced.

"That's so cool! But how are we going to kill elementals? Most of them are basically immortal," Hristina said.

"We won't kill them," Winter said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Hristina, "We're going to capture them, not kill them."

"Just capture?" Zara asked.

"Yes," Aritimi replied, "We need to capture and send some elemental monsters to the Crypt. The research team needs them for experiments with the augmentations. The elementals are the hardest to use for augmentations but they are the strongest."

"Really?" Zara wondered.

"Yep. For example, Flesh Fiends are also elementals, Flesh Elementals," Aritimi nodded, "Technically, you are wielding the power of an element."

"Ugh... how are we going to capture these monsters? I mean, we have to subdue them and then put them in containers but also have to watch them to not escape," Hristina was thinking aloud.

"We got an entire team to take care of the transport and security. We just had to beat them so they can be placed into those portable containment units we have," Winter explained. Her tone was still unenthused.

"That sounds interesting but we will have to visit multiple locations then because it's hard to find more than two or three types of elementals at the same place," Zara speculated.

"Most of the time, that's true," Aritimi nodded, "But we got a report on a big territorial fight between some strong elementals in the forest and now all the other elementals who want to stay out of that turf war are escaping, all at once. We can capture a wide array of them without moving too much. The eggheads made some calculations on where we should wait for them outside of the city."

"Okay, I wonder what kind of monsters we will see," Zara said with a smile.

"Bad news," Winter said suddenly, looking at her phone, "A Twilight Drake appeared at the place where the elementals tried to go and this forced them to change their route. They will try to go through the city," Winter revealed.

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"Yeah... okay, I'll tell them," Aritimi spoke into the phone.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Zara asked.

"We going to wait for the horde at the border of Crowsend. I'll relocate the reinforcement team and their equipment to this new site. Just wait here, pupils," Aritimi explained and then she and Winter walked into a portal opened by Aritimi.

Zara and Hristina only needed to wait like 20 minutes before Aritimi opened a portal for them as well.

The place looked like a military camp. Armed soldiers and vehicles everywhere.

"Nice job, Timi," Winter complemented Aritimi.

"Ugh... a long time passed since I had to move that many people this quickly, but I did it," she panted.

"Who's going to be the first monster?" Hristina asked.

Zara noticed that the people around them stealing glances at both her and Hristina, and also at Aritimi.

"I see one approaching," Winter pointed at a moving tornado. It was relatively small, maybe twice the size of an average human. It seemed to slightly glow with a purplish tint.

"Oh, this must be some kind of air elemental," Hristina acknowledged.

"Yes," Winter nodded slowly, "I will try to capture this one with my power. I'll leave the more solid ones for you two."

Zara was interested in seeing Winter's work. She was also surprised that Aritimi didn't ask them to undress for the hunt.

"I'm so excited," Hristine whispered to Zara, "I was a little bit afraid because of what the other girls said about Aritimi but looks like it was just a joke."

She didn't want to ruin Hristina's fun so Zara stayed silent about it, it was already Aritimi's job to begin with.

"Winter!" one of the armed guys spoke, "We got a report on some birdwatchers who recently encountered a living tornado, just like this one and they were all caught by it."

"Any casualties? Or injuries? Or missing person?" she asked.

"No, but all of their clothes were torn off by the tornado. Just their clothes, nothing else," he replied.

"Do we need to rescue them?"

"No need for that. I already met them a few minutes ago and also saw the monster. It's probably a Stripper Twister. It feeds on the fabric of the clothes. Now that it's here, we can capture it," Aritimi smiled ominously as she used to. Zara had a bad feeling about this.

The living gust of wind swirled closer to the camp.

"Why it's just coming through here? It's not afraid of us?" Zara asked.

"Elementals are only afraid of other monsters. Not even an entire convoy of armed human soldiers can frighten them," Winter said, lighting up another cigarette.

"Damn, this thing is so slow," Aritimi said with a mischievous grin, "Let's make this faster."

In the next moment, a portal opened in front of the living wind, and the other side opened between the Zara/Hristina duo and Winter. The Stripper Twister appeared near them and before anyone could do anything, all three of them were caught by it.

Zara could feel her boots, socks, and pants slipping off of her body as if they were claimed by invisible fingers. It took more time with her jacket but the elemental took it as well and continued stealing Zara's clothes.

A few seconds later, Zara was ejected by the small tornado and she landed on her back with a thud. Her breasts bounced as she did so. Whistles could be heard in the moment she was out of the windy monster.

Hristina was the next to be undressed. She was holding onto her clothes but the Stripper Twister won and she was thrown out once she was nudified.

Hristina's alabaster skin glowed in the early morning light, a stark contrast to the shadowy figures of the onlookers. Her voluminous breasts bounced with the force of the impact, the nipples erect from the cool breeze and the excitement of the situation. Her areolae were the same alabaster color as her skin. Without the tight clothes around them, they lost all firmness and gravity took over, creating a mesmerizing sight. They bounced and jiggled like two soft, pale melons as she struggled to get back up on her feet.

She quickly assumed the classic "enf" pose as the whistles grew louder around them. Before Hrisitna covered her pussy with her hand, Zara could see that Hrisitna's pubic hair was shaved into the shape of a snowflake. It was white just like the hair on her head, and it made her pink pussy look even more delicate.

Covering her breasts with one hand was hard because of their size. She looked like she was pressing two big seethrough plastic milk bags against her chest.

At last, Winter was also ejected from the wind monster. She landed between Zara and Hristina on the ground, naked.

Winter's skin wasn't as colorless as Hristina's since she wasn't an albino, but it was still pale. She had a relatively fit physique for someone in their 50s. Her breasts were C cups and sagged just a bit but still had a good shape. They had small dark nipples and areolae. Her stomach was flat but had a few stretch marks here and there, hinting at a past pregnancy or two.

Similarly to Hristina, Winter also had uniquely trimmed pubic hair. There was a big tuft of untamed black hair at the highest point of her pubic area and a thin line of hair connected it to her pussy. The line itself was shaped like a lightning bolt and died in an icy blue color, matching her hair.

"Damn you, Timi," Winter said with her usual melancholic tone. She didn't even try to cover herself.

"Hey, I just wanted to bring it closer to this portable containment unit," Aritimi patted the size of a huge metal cube. The front of it was open wide.

"Move you damn monster," Winter gruffed and lightning bolts sparked out from the cloud above her head into the tornado but all she managed to achieve is burning their clothes inside the tornado monster. It was about to go through the camp like nothing was there.

"Hey, big boy. I got something for you to eat," Aritimi said with a wink. She was naked now and held her jumpsuit in her hand. She then threw the jumpsuit into the cube-shaped container.

The Stripper Twister hungrily followed the jumpsuit into the trap and once it swirled into the cube, Aritimi pushed a button and the container's door slammed shut with a metallic clang.

"One in the bag!" Aritimi exclaimed triumphantly.

"Um... can I have some clothes, please?" Hristina said, her voice trembling. The people were ogling her naked body from every angle.

"No need for that. We will fight nature in the natural way. Clothes are just shackles in a fight. That's why I always fight naked," Aritimi said proudly.

"I... I think I'm okay with those shackles," Hristina said awkwardly.

"Give up, girl. She's not going to let us wear clothes until we finish here," Zara said and Winter nodded. The cloud above her began to produce snow.

"I'll have to check on the other groups to be sure we can capture as many monsters as we can," Aritimi announced as she opened a portal, "There's no priority unless you see very dangerous or hostile monsters. Focus on those and let the canon fodders run away if needed."

"Hey," Hristina walked to one of the soldiers as Aritimi left, "Can you give me some spare clothes. Even a jacket would be enough," she said.

The guy was lost for words for a few seconds as he was looking at the naked girl, "Ugh... sorry but Aritimi already warned us to not put the "shackles of conformity" on her pupils cuz she will make us regret it very badly."

"I told ya. Accept it. It's just one day of humiliation," Zara said with a tired sigh.

"Get ready, girls. Unless things go really bad, I'll let both of you have one-on-one fights," Winter said.

"Oh, look! I see something small flying around here," Zara pointed at the sky. Indeed, small flying creatures, resembling translucent scarabs, flew above them at high speed.

"They are Impulse Scarabs. They are also elemental creatures. Energy beings to be accurate. Their whole body is made of raw kinetic energy," Winter explained, "We not going catch any of those since it would be too time-consuming and they are not hostile so we can ignore them."

"The scouts saw a Fire Goblin running towards our direction," Winter got the report from a soldier.

"Okay, I'll take out this one to show you the ropes. Plus it's going to be a good warm-up," Winter sighed as if she was telling sad news.

The Fire Goblin emerged from the woods.

It was squat and wiry, its hunched form barely human-shaped. Its skin flickered like molten coal, glowing cracks running across its body as if it were barely containing the inferno inside. Flames licked from its fingertips, and its wide, sinister grin revealed rows of jagged, soot-black teeth.

The creature cackled, a high-pitched sound like firewood snapping in a blaze, and without warning, it hurled a fireball directly at Winter.

Winter shifted to the side with an elegant step, dodging the flaming projectile with practiced ease. The fireball exploded on the ground, leaving behind a blackened scorch mark.

Winter raised her hand, and a small, silvery cloud drifted out from her palm. The cloud floated lazily toward the Fire Goblin, its edges swirling with moisture.

The goblin hissed, clearly sensing the threat, and launched another volley of fireballs. This time, Winter barely moved, her cold gaze locked on the creature.

The cloud swelled above the goblin and began to rain. It wasn't a torrential downpour, just a simple and steady, persistent shower. But it was enough. The flames licking off the goblin's body sputtered and died, steam rising in thick plumes as water met fire.

The Fire Goblin let out an enraged screech as its body dimmed, the cracks in its skin fading from fiery red to dull black. It stumbled forward, the fire gone from its limbs, and collapsed face-first onto the wet ground.

"Good job," said Hristina in ave.

"Good ass," murmured one of the soldiers behind and some giggles followed from the crowd.

"Put this one into a container before wakes up and starts to burn once again," Winter ordered and two guys, wearing fireproof suits, approached the downed goblin. They managed to drag it into a metal box without much struggle.

"The scouts saw a Glass Ghoul approaching," came the new report.

"Huh, this one sounds good for you, Zara," Winter said.

"Okay, that sounds interesting," Zara cracked her knuckles, readying herself.

The creature emerged, its movements slow and deliberate.

It looked like a grotesque and very life-like glass statue of a zombie brought to life: humanoid but unnervingly still, its body composed entirely of jagged, translucent glass. Pale light refracted through its form, scattering sharp beams across the place. Its hollow eye sockets gleamed faintly, as though something dark and restless lurked within.

"Creepy," Zara felt her skin prickle. But she stepped forward regardless.

The Glass Ghoul turned its head toward Zara with a faint creak, as if the joints of its crystalline body were grinding together. Then, with a quick and sudden burst of motion, it lunged forward, its arms outstretched to grab Zara.

Zara was already moving. With effortless grace, she sidestepped the attack, the creature's glass fingers swiping through empty air.

"Too slow," she muttered under her breath.

The ghoul seemed to register her evasion. Its hands were twitching, the glass of its fingertips warping and elongating into jagged, shard-like claws. Without hesitation, the Glass Ghoul lunged again, faster this time, its claws slicing through the air with a sound like knives scraping steel.

Zara ducked under the first swipe, her movements sharp and controlled. She pivoted around the second slash, her eyes locked on the monster's form. The ghoul's speed increased with every attack, its movements jerky but deadly, its claws leaving deep gouges in the ground.

"She's playing with it," Hristina said with a strange look.

"Not playing," Winter corrected. "She's analyzing it."

The Glass Ghoul let out a low, hollow groan, its arms quivering. Then its forearms began to stretch and reshape into long, glass blades, razor-sharp and deadly. Its attacks became blindingly fast, its arms slicing through the air like twin guillotines.

But Zara was ready. Her muscles flexed and she landed a karate chop on the elbow joint of the attacking monster. The glass elbow shattered and the blade arm fell to the ground. The creature howled, a sound that made the air around them vibrate.

With a quick move, Zara picked up the severed blade-like arm and tossed it at the Glass Ghoul. The shard sliced through the creature's torso, shattering into a handful of large pieces as it pierced the glassy flesh. The Ghoul stumbled back, its body fracturing from the impact.

"Come and place this guy into a container quickly because he's ain't dead. Glass Ghould can rebuild their bodies even if they are broken into thousands of pieces," Zara said, shaking her slightly. Strucking the glass monster's arm was a bit more painful than she expected since it was tougher than normal glass.

The staff collected the pieces of the Glass Ghoul and placed them inside a container. Zara could hear the sounds of the monster moving inside as it began to reshape its damaged body.

"Hmm... okay, we can handle it," Winter murmured melancholicly into the phone.

"What happened?" Zara asked.

"Hristina, it's your turn," Winter announced.

"Mine?"

"Yes, the scouts spotted a Gold Gargoyle approaching. It's all yours."

Hristina gulped and turned toward the forest, her arms still covering her goods.

"You will need your arms Hristina," Zara said.

"But..."

"Everyone is busy with the monsters and will barely have time to gawk at you. Plus, me and Winter are also naked. Just do it," Zara tried to encourage her.

Finally, Hristina let her arms fall to her sides, exposing herself completely. The chilly breeze kissed her bare skin. Her breasts, losing all firmness without the clothes, fell like two heavy sacks of dough. The soldiers around her snapped back to attention, the sight of the naked beauty jolting them into focus.

The trees trembled in the forest as the Gold Gargoyle approached and then finally showed itself.

The creature was a stunning yet menacing sight, standing around three meters tall. Its body looked as though it had been sculpted from molten gold, polished to a shine that reflected the light. It was humanoid but with exaggerated, monstrous features. Jagged, blade-like wings extended from its back, their sharp edges glinting with a razor's gleam. Its elongated limbs ended in clawed hands that tapered into golden talons, and its feet left deep gouges in the ground as it moved. Its face was a twisted mask of fangs and glowing amber eyes, its snarl revealing teeth that looked more like gilded spikes.

As it took a step forward, the Gold Gargoyle's heavy body let out a faint grinding sound, like metal scraping on stone.

"Ugh, are you sure she can handle this alone?" Zara whispered to Winter.

"Yes," she nodded slowly as if she was half-asleep, "Timi told me about her and the Snowball Sylph powers she got."

"Let's see," Zara whispered to herself.

The Gold Gargoyle took another step forward, the ground trembling beneath its heavy tread. Its eyes locked onto Hristina, its snarl growing wider.

With surprising agility for someone of her stature, Hristina dodged the first swipe of the monster's golden claw. She felt the breeze of its passing, the cold metal brushing against her skin. She was ready to use her augmented powers, but she held back, waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, a snowball materialized in her hand, out of thin air. She threw it with surprising force, aiming for the creature's eyes. It hit with a satisfying "thock", and the Gold Gargoyle roared in pain. The snowball melted instantly, leaving a trail of steam. Hristina knew she had its attention.

With a graceful twirl, she conjured another snowball and sent it hurtling toward the creature. This one smacked into its gaping mouth, momentarily silencing its roars. Hristina laughed, the sound cutting through the tension like a knife.

The Gold Gargoyle stumbled back, flailing its arms wildly. The snowballs were more than just an annoyance, they were an assault on it.

"Keep it coming, Hristina!" Zara shouted, a smirk playing on her lips.

Hristina nodded, her breath coming in short bursts as she focused her power. More snowballs formed in her palms. She threw them with precision, each one hitting its target, the creature's eyes, nose, and mouth. The Gold Gargoyle staggered back, its snarls turning to choking sounds as the snow invaded its orifices.

The monster's swipes grew wilder, its eyes now glittering with a mix of rage and confusion. Hristina danced around it. She ducked and weaved, her movements fluid as she avoided the golden claws. Each time the creature lunged, she threw another snowball, each one hitting home.

With a muffled sound, the beast fell to its knees and then onto its side, the barrage of snowballs ceasing only when Hristina had no more to throw. She stood there, panting, her naked body gleaming with a light dusting of snow.

They needed some extra help from a car, but they managed to drag the Gold Gargoyle into the containment unit.

"Aritimi and the rest of the team also got some good catch," reported a soldier.

"We got a big one this time," said another, "The scouts had to relocate their hiding spot because of a Swamp Ogre."

"Aritimi knows about it," said the first soldier, "She wants the one called, Zara to fight it. Alone, if possible."

"Sure," Winter nodded.

"Bring it on," Zara said cockily.

The trees were shaking once again but this time a handful of them fell as the monster walked across the place. Then emerged the Swamp Ogre.

The Swamp Ogre was a towering, grotesque figure, four meters tall at minimum. Its hunched form was covered in thick, mud-encrusted skin that dripped with some foul-smelling sludge. Moss and reeds clung to its shoulders and back like a damp cloak, and its legs were as thick as tree trunks, caked in wet dirt. Its face was squat and brutish, with glowing yellow eyes set deep under a heavy brow, a flattened nose, and a mouth lined with jagged teeth that looked like broken, mossy stones.

As it stepped forward, its enormous, webbed feet slapped wetly against the ground, leaving smears of muck behind. The Swamp Ogre lifted its massive head and let out a thunderous roar that echoed through the camp. Droplets of filthy water sprayed from its mouth as the bellow shook the very air.

But Zara didn't flinch.

"That's my cue," she muttered.

The second the ogre's roar reached its peak, Zara shot forward, her movements a blur of speed and precision. Her legs pumped powerfully beneath her, her augmented strength propelling her like a bullet across the field. At the same time, she transformed into her Merewolf form to gain a boost from her transformed muscles.

The ogre's roar began to falter, just as Zara leapt into the air.

She tucked her knees to her chest, twisting her body mid-flight before snapping both legs out in a dropkick aimed directly at the ogre's massive, square jaw.

The impact sounded like a car collision. A thunderous CRACK rang through the air as Zara's mighty Merewolf paws connected cleanly with the ogre's chin. The monster's yellow eyes widened in shock as its head snapped backward, the force of the blow rippling through its enormous body.

For a heartbeat, the Swamp Ogre just stood there, wobbling like the trees it made fall a few moments ago. Then, with a ground-shaking thud, it collapsed onto its back, the muck and moss on its body splattering outward like a burst water balloon.

Silence.

"Did... did you just one-shot an ogre?" Hristina gasped. From the crowd, one of the guys let out a low whistle.

Zara stood up, brushing some stray swamp water off her skin as she turned back into her normal form, looking entirely unfazed, "It roared too long. Gave me an opening. It should have stayed less theatric."

"Show-off," Hristina muttered with a grin.

With the help of two more cars, they pulled the sleeping behemoth into a containment unit before it could awake.

"Oh, shit!" they heard someone cussing loudly through the phone.

"What happened?" Winter asked.

"As we were busy escaping from that hulking brute, we didn't notice another strong monster coming. Our seismic device noticed something moving underground. Something big," panted the scout through the phone.

"I think our next guest is here," Zara pointed at a crack in the ground between the camp and the forest. The earth began to tremble more intensely as if something was pushing its way through.

Then as if a hill-sized volcano opened there, magma erupted from the ground. And then the monster revealed itself.

"That's a... Gorillava!" a soldier gasped.

A deep, guttural rumble echoed through their eardrums as the Gorillava arrived. It seemed to be angry.

The beast stood at nearly three meters tall, its massive, muscular body resembling a gorilla, but with cracks along its obsidian-black skin, through which molten lava pulsed like veins of fire. Its arms were thick, glowing with heat, and every time it moved, tiny embers flickered from its body. Its fingers ended in blunt, stone-like knuckles, still smoldering. Its eyes burned like molten gold, intense and unblinking.

The air around the Gorillava shimmered from the heat radiating off its form, and each breath it took released a plume of smoke and cinders.

"Hristina, he's yours. A perfect enemy for your powers," Winter said.

"Oh... okay... I'll try my best," Hristina stammered as she went closer to the Gorillava before it could reach the camp.

Hristina exhaled, narrowing her eyes, "Well, you're definitely an ugly asshole."

The Gorillava pounded its chest, molten cracks spreading wider with each impact. Then, with surprising agility, it reached behind itself and lifted a barrel-shaped mass of hardened magma from the ground.

Hristina's eyes widened. "Oh, no way..."

With a roar, the Gorillava hurled the magma barrel straight at her!

Hristina dove to the side as the barrel smashed into the ground, erupting into a splash of molten rock. The heat was intense, but she didn't flinch.

Another barrel came flying. Then another. The Gorillava was barrel-bombing her like there was no tomorrow.

Hristina skidded to a stop, "Alright, enough of that," she panted sharply.

She raised her hands, and tiny snowballs formed in her palms.

She lobbed one at the Gorillava's face. It hissed, steam rising from where the snow made contact.

The monster snarled and threw another barrel, but Hristina was already summoning more snowballs, faster now, pelting the beast in quick succession.

Each one sizzled and steamed as it hit, cooling the lava slightly. But it wasn't enough.

The Gorillava beat its chest again, charging straight for her.

Hristina took a deep breath and held her hands out wide. The air around her dropped in temperature, and suddenly, a much bigger snowball materialized between her hands.

Then a bigger one.

Then another.

She grinned, now rolling a massive snowball, almost as tall as she was.

The Gorillava roared and lunged.

Hristina hurled the gigantic snowball forward.

The moment it made contact, the snowball exploded into a freezing shockwave, completely encasing the Gorillava in thick ice!

For a moment, the molten beast stood frozen in place, steam hissing from beneath the icy shell. Then, with a final groan, it collapsed onto its back, unconscious.

Hristina dusted her hands off and smirked, "And that's how you cool off a hothead," she panted heavily. This took a lot from her.

With the help of some fireproof blankets and a bit of brute strength, they managed to transport the now-defeated Gorillava into a container.

Suddenly, Aritimi stepped out of a portal near the girls.

"Ah, I see you are doing great. I'll have to borrow Zara to help," she said and pulled Zara into the portal.

"What happened? What kind of monster you are fighting right now?" Zara asked as they arrived. Then Zara noticed a big tornado approaching.

"This one is a flesh elemental. It's your type," she replied.

"Flesh? But that's just another tornado monster," Zara raised an eyebrow.

"No that's not a tornado. That's a Sharknado," Aritimi revealed.

Zara examined the monster once again.

At first glance, the Sharknado appeared to be an ordinary water tornado, a massive swirling column of churning, stormy liquid. However, as it moved, the true horror became clear. Within the vortex, jagged teeth gleamed maliciously, and writhing masses of flesh twisted and morphed into nightmarish shapes. Suddenly, shark heads emerged, snapping their jaws hungrily before retreating back into the maelstrom.

"This creature is a living storm, its "body" is made of constantly shifting, fleshy masses that can take the form of various types of sharks. It has no single, fixed shape. It can produce multiple shark heads at once, transform parts of itself into full-bodied sharks that lunge out of the vortex, or shift into a chaotic wall of gnashing teeth if needed. One of the ugliest beasts nature can produce," Aritimi explained.

"And why I should handle it?" Zara asked.

"It's kinda similar to your slumbering powers. Maybe a fight with a similar creature can awaken something inside you," Aritimi speculated.

"Alright," Zara nodded, "But how I should beat something like that?"

"It has a brain in the center. Just punch it and you can knock it out."

"Oh, so I just have to jump into the storm of razor-sharp teeth. Easy-peasy," Zara rolled her eyes.

"Your powers can protect you from getting killed by the Sharknado, so don't be a wuss," Aritimi sneered.

"Fine," Zara sighed, starting to rub her pussy.

"It's a weird time to rub one out, but I won't judge you," Aritimi smiled.

"I just stimulate myself." she replied, "I already used my Merewolf transformation once today so I need some extra to motivate my body," and she turned into her wolf-hybrid form as she finished the sentence.

The Sharknado was dangerously close to the camp so Zara had to act quickly.

She broke into a sprint, leaving holes in the ground where her clawed feet had been. Her eyes narrowed on the swirling mass of teeth and flesh ahead.

The first thing that greeted her was a car-sized great white shark head that she managed to dodge and entered the swirling mess.

The inside of the monster was hellish. A chaotic mess of spinning, twisting, rotating, and morphing flesh. Shark heads launched at Zara from every direction.

Zara managed to punch, kick, and bite as many as she could, but the sheer number of them was too much for her. She was fighting for a handful of minutes until she reverted back to her human form. At least her injuries kept healing rapidly without issue.

She expected the heads trying to shred her but they stopped as she returned to her human shape.

The heads grabbed Zara by her wrists and ankles and spread her limbs apart as wide as they could.

"What the fuck!" she exclaimed in surprise and fear.

Two shark heads launched themselves at Zara's breasts, their teeth clamping down with surprising precision, but instead of pain, she felt... something else. The tongues began circling around her nipples, teasing her.

"Ah!" she moaned.

In the next moment, a small shark head, which was attached to a long fleshy neck, targeted Zara's pussy and plunged into it.

"Aaah!" Zara screamed. Then another small shark-like appendage entered her but this time through her mouth to muffle her screams.

Another one pried her asscheeks open and started to probe her anus with its pointed snout, making Zara's body spasm in a mix of shock and arousal.

The one in her pussy went deeper while the duo on her breasts began to bite into her skin, not enough to cause severe pain, but enough to keep her in a state of heightened arousal. Her eyes rolled back as the sensations overwhelmed her.

Not so much later, the waves of an orgasm crashed through Zara. She spasmed, her back arched and she moaned around the invading selachian monster.

But the monster's ministrations didn't stop. It ventured deeper into Zara's orifices with each second, causing her to climax once again, and then again.

Zara was tired and overwhelmed by the orgasms, She had no idea how she could escape from this. She could imagine Aritimi saving her once she waited long enough, but Zara didn't want to be saved. She wanted to prove that she could reach to top one day, just like Aritimi.

Things became more intense as the minutes passed. Their heads were biting deep into her skin as if they were trying to rip off her breasts. Those in her pussy and ass also began to move faster and harder as if they were trying to make her holes wider.

She lost count of the orgasms after a dozen, yet they were still coming.

Zara could feel she was about to pass out, and she was right. She climaxed once again and then everything went dark.

Then an even weirder sensation came.

She felt like her whole body was on fire but then it felt very cold out of nowhere.

But the weird things didn't stop there. Zara began hearing noises, a lot of them. Then she also began to see things, also a lot. It was like watching things through hundreds of small windows.

"A Queen is here!" Zara heard a high-pitched voice exclaim.

"Queen? Where?" echoed hundreds of similar voices.

"She just connected to us. Must be a young one. Can't you feel her?"

"I can feel her!" Beamed a voice.

"Me too now!"

"Yes, me too!" replied more and more of the voices.

"What is your wish Queen? How we should be at your service?" the first voice asked Zara.

"Help me fight the Sharknado," Zara said instinctively. No, she didn't say it. She just thought about it.

"As you wish!" the voices replied in unison.

Then Zara began to see things much better. She could see through the eyes of someone. They were flying in the air and she noticed a lot of semi-translucent bugs. The Impulse Scarabs. She was talking to a swarm of these creatures. But how?

She didn't have time to think about this because the Sharknado came into view quickly.

The small-sized energy elementals charged into the Sharknado, tearing holes into its flesh. It seemingly didn't affect it in the beginning. But as the onslaught continued and more and more of Zara's little friends arrived to help, the Sharknade was too overwhelmed to continue and collapsed to the ground as a big pile of flesh.

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In the next moment, Zara found herself buried beneath the mass of the still alive but tired monster.

She dug her way out of it with her bare hands. She thought she would never see the daylight but then her hands broke through the last layer of abominable monster flesh and she was free.

Aritimi was waiting for her with a proud look on her face. But as Zara crawled out of the defeated monster, her expression shifted to shock.

"What the hell? Looks like you got a new upgrade, Zara," Aritimi exclaimed after the initial shock.

"What are you talking about?" Zara asked. Her voice sounded very off. As if it was a buzzing noise rather than human speech.

"Take a look," Aritimi said and she produced a large standing mirror from a portal.

"Oh, my God!" Zara almost screamed in confusion.

Zara's skin became milky white, and it was covered in some chitinous armor. She was still nude but her limbs seemed to be covered in a similar chitin but black. There were some growts on her hands which turned her fingers into chitinous claws. Zara's feet also had some extra chitin but this formation took the shape of high heels. From afar, she looked like a nude albino woman with black high heels, stockings, and long elegant gloves. She then noticed that her hair became white as well, her eyes became red and bug-like and she got two long antennas sprouting from her forehead. She looked like Koshka, the Bug Queen. She even had a long scorpion tail with a stinger at the tip of her clit as if it was a grotesque phallus.

"Looks like the stimulation helped you awake this," Aritimi murmured.

"Yes. Weeks ago, I absorbed some of Koshka's biomass when she placed her eggs inside of me," Zara nodded, "Looks like my body managed to recreate what it absorbed."

They looked back at the defeated monster. The soldier tried to move it to a containment unit but when it noticed the Impulse Scarab swarm that still circling above it in the air, it began swirling and went into the container by itself, just to get rid of those annoying bugs.

"This was you? I mean, you controlled those bug monsters? Like Koshka?" Aritimi asked.

"I asked them, not controlled them, but yeah," she nodded.

"Oh, I see your time has come. You are about to turn back into a human," Aritimi noticed the change on Zara's hands as the claws began to shrink back into human fingers.

"Wait, there's one more thing I want to do," Zara said and began searching. She found what she was looking for, an empty containment unit.

She asked the swarm to fly into the container because it would be safer for them than dealing with the monsters outside.

The Impulse Scarab swarm obeyed and swiftly moved towards the container, their tiny forms a shimmering cloud of light. As they entered, the container's lid snapped shut with a hiss, sealing them safely inside.

Zara could no longer hear them as her antennas shrank back into her head. She then collapsed to the ground as she became a human once again.

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"That's incredible," Aritimi exclaimed, "The research team will be thrilled to hear about this."

"Oh, you are so lucky. First a Merewolf and now a Bug Queen. I wish I could turn into a full-fledged monster for some fights," Hristina said.

"The way I acquired them is not something you should envy though," Zara said with a smirk.

"Hey, Timi," Winter spoke to Aritimi, "The scouts found something and they want you to take a look."

"I hope it's something important," she gruffed and opened a portal.

"Ah! You're finally here," a soldier greeted her as she walked out of the opening.

"What did you guys find?"

"It looks like it's not an elemental but we thought maybe it would be better to capture it because it reminded me of a certain monster that was recently registered in the database," he said.

"Let's take a look then, shall we?" Aritimi said, her curiosity piqued.

They approached the containment unit and the soldier opened it.

"Oh, yes... that definitely looks familiar," Aritimi examined the creature. It looked similar to Koshka the Bug Queen but this one had different colors, like a wasp.

"She's in quite bad shape so bring her to the medical wing of the Crypt at first. I'll tell the research team and the Council about this," Aritimi took another glance at the injured monster.

"Just to be clear, not we hurt it this bad. It was already in a rough state when it approached us to ask for something but collapsed before we could do or say anything," the soldier said.

"Oh, did she say something?"

"It was hard to understand but Mika managed to notice some words in its incoherent speech."

"And what it was?"

"It sounded like it was searching for a "baby" as Mika heard it."