Lemres stands outside the entrance, arms crossed, his long coat flapping slightly in the dry alien wind. The sky above Mauna Loa is still that haunting purple, the stars sharp enough to cut.

  He doesn’t pace. Lemres isn’t the pacing type. But his fingers tap lightly against his elbow, a silent rhythm counting the minutes.

  He glances at the temple doors — still shut tight. No noise. No sign. Just silence pressing against the landscape like a held breath.

  Lemres closes his eyes for a second, trying not to imagine the worst.

  He stands still beneath the alien sky, his gaze locked on the silent temple doors. Just as he reaches for his communicator again, it buzzes in his hand.

  He checks the ID.

  “It’s from Demono.”

  He answers. “Lemres. What is it?”

  Demono’s voice comes through, tense and urgent.

  “We’ve got a big problem. Another Morgi creature just appeared.”

  His expression darkens. “You’re sure?”

  “Well… unless tigers are normally this big, then yeah — I think we have one,” she says dryly.

  Lemres curses under his breath and turns away from the temple. With a flick of his wrist, he opens a swirling portal to his base.

  “How bad is it?” he asks, stepping through.

  “It’s using more mana than the Ox did,” Demono says grimly as Lemres steps into his base.

  He runs a hand through his hair, frustration simmering beneath the surface.

  “Why now?” he mutters. “It would’ve been so much easier if I had Markus ready to hold it down again, but…” He trails off, thinking.

  Then he looks to the monitor and focuses.

  “Alright. Think you and Alexia can work together long enough to bring it down?”

  There’s a pause on the line.

  “We’ll have to,” Demono replies. “Because it’s already heading toward a city.”

  Lemres lets out a long breath and steadies himself. With a flick of his fingers, the portal shimmers open again, and he steps through.

  He arrives outside the hotel room and raises his hand to knock.

  A moment later, Alexia opens the door, her eyes narrowing with concern the second she sees his face. Behind her, Liddle sits on the bed, mid-bite of a pancake, her gaze flicking up in surprise.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” Lemres says, his voice low but urgent. “But we need help. Another Morgi… has come to Earth.”

  Alexia’s face hardens instantly.

  She grabs her jacket from the chair without hesitation.

  “Hey, Liddle—mind staying here? Just in case Markus comes back.”

  Liddle nods, already setting her plate aside.

  “Okay. Be careful.”

  Lemres opens the portal, its light casting flickering shadows across the room. Alexia gives Liddle one last look, then steps through without another word.

  Lemres follows, the portal snapping shut behind them as they return to the base.

  The portal opens onto a quiet clearing nestled deep within a dense forest, moonlight filtering through the tall trees above. Lemres steps out first, boots crunching softly against the moss-covered ground, followed by Alexia.

  Ahead stands a wooden cabin — simple but sturdy, its dark timber walls weathered by time. A faint, magical glow pulses along the roof’s edges, keeping wards in place. Smoke drifts lazily from a crooked chimney, and small blue lanterns hang from the porch, swaying gently in the night breeze.

  Alexia blinks. “This is your base?”

  Lemres doesn’t slow. “Looks like a cabin. Works like a fortress. With a little magic, I make it feel like home.”

  A fireplace crackles in the corner, casting warm orange light across an assortment of mismatched furniture — an old couch, a tea-stained table, and a large scrying mirror mounted above a cluttered desk.

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  At the center of it all, Demono stands with arms crossed, staring at the mirror. The image shimmers with static — until it sharpens into the shape of a massive beast moving through a cityscape.

  Alexia steps closer to the scrying mirror, her eyes narrowing at the massive shape rampaging through the city. She reaches down and taps her Mahoishi, the gem glowing faintly in response.

  “Looks like we’ll be fighting together for once,” she says, glancing over at Demono with a smirk.

  Demono cracks her knuckles, the sound sharp in the warm cabin air.

  “Yeah. Just make sure you stay out of the way of my fists.”

  Lemres sighs, already opening a swirling portal that lights up the cabin with blue-white light.

  “You two done with the bonding? We’ve got a planet to save.”

  Demono stretches her shoulders as the two of them make it through the portal.

  The portal spits them out onto a wide, open field just outside the city limits — grass torn up in jagged lines, trees split down the middle like snapped toothpicks. The air hums with residual magic, thick and charged.

  A deep, rumbling growl answers her.

  Across the field stands the Morgi Tiger.

  Easily over ten feet tall, its striped fur shimmers with glowing mana veins, pulsing like lightning beneath its skin. It stands upright on two legs, its massive paws balled into fists. The creature’s posture is eerily human — knees bent, center low, arms raised like a practiced martial artist.

  It tilts its head, a wicked grin spreading across its snarling face.

  “So… you’re the ones who’ve been making trouble,” it says, voice low and rough like gravel dragging across metal.

  Alexia takes a step forward, her Mahoishi already glowing.

  “This is our planet,” she snaps. “And we’re not letting you tear it apart.”

  The Morgi Tiger cracks its knuckles with a slow, deliberate motion — each joint popping like distant firecrackers.

  Then it lunges.

  Alexia barely has time to react before the beast is on her, slamming into her chest with enough force to send her crashing to the ground. Dirt and grass fly up around her as she hits hard, the wind knocked from her lungs.

  She grits her teeth, yanking her staff up just in time to block the tiger’s follow-up swipe. Claws spark against the Mahoishi crystal as they miss her face by inches.

  “I see… only you can move it,” the tiger rumbles, stepping back and watching her struggle to rise. “Looks like I’ll have to try something else.”

  The tiger turns, preparing to leap again — but Alexia has a plan this time.

  With a surge of energy, she sweeps low and catches its back paw with her staff, twisting hard. The beast stumbles, snarling, one leg yanked off balance and frozen mid-motion.

  “Now, Demono!” she shouts.

  Demono doesn’t need to be told twice.

  Flames explode around her fists as she charges forward and launches a powerful punch straight into the tiger’s gut.

  “Eat this, stripes!”

  The impact booms like a cannon blast, sending the tiger skidding backward across the field, carving a trench in the earth as it struggles to stay upright.

  It groans, steam rising from its body.

  “Not bad,” it mutters. “But I’m just getting warmed up.”

  The Morgi Tiger drops to all fours — and vanishes into motion.

  Wind roars as it circles the field, faster and faster, a striped blur kicking up a wall of dust and debris. The air becomes a vortex. Dirt stings Alexia’s eyes. Demono crouches low, fists burning, trying to follow the movement — but it’s like tracking lightning in a storm.

  The world narrows to noise and motion. Then—

  Impact.

  A flash of orange and black slams into Demono’s side, lifting her off the ground and slamming her into the dirt. A heartbeat later, Alexia feels claws rake across her ribs as she’s yanked off her feet, hurled backward like a ragdoll.

  Both hit the ground hard.

  Alexia coughs, her fingers twitching toward her staff. Demono groans but doesn’t rise. The tiger stands between them, steam curling from its body, muscles taut and ready for the next strike.

  The Morgi Tiger looms over Alexia, its massive jaws opening wide, hot breath washing over her as it prepares to strike.

  Then—

  Boom.

  A missile shoots through a swirling portal in the sky and explodes against the tiger’s shoulder, blasting it off course in a burst of flame and smoke.

  Before the creature can recover, a second portal opens behind it—

  Another missile.

  This one strikes its back leg, sending it stumbling forward with a roar of pain.

  Across the field, Lemres stands calmly beside an open portal, one hand raised, his coat whipping in the wind. Without a word, he launches another spell — two missiles fired simultaneously, one in front of the tiger, the other behind.

  The beast has just started its high-speed circle again — only to be caught mid-loop.

  Explosions rock the field, tossing the tiger off its feet. It skids through the dirt, howling, smoke trailing from scorched fur and cracked mana lines.

  It snarls once, limping — but doesn’t risk another charge.

  “I see now… how you defeated the Ox and the Rat,” the tiger growls. “No matter. I’ll be back.”

  It opens a shimmering portal of its own. With a final glare, it steps through, tail flicking as the rift seals behind it.

  Silence falls again, broken only by the crackle of fire and the soft whimper of wind.

  Alexia coughs, a sharp pain jolting through her ribs as she tries to lift herself on one elbow.

  The world tilts. Her arm gives out.

  She collapses, unconscious before her head hits the ground.

  Demono stirs nearby, bruised but breathing.

  The portal shimmers, hungry for pursuit.

  Lemres clenches his jaw. He could still catch the tiger. End it now.

  But then he looks back.

  Alexia’s body is crumpled in the dirt. Demono isn’t moving.

  If I go now…

  I won’t come back with both the tiger and them.

  And Markus would never forgive me for picking the wrong thing.

  He closes the portal.

  “Not this time.”

  With a swipe of his hand, he opens another — this one home.