Luna was the first one to arrive at the rent, having passed everyone in her wolf form. The moment she saw the first monster, she transformed back into her human form and regarded the creatures. They appeared almost human, but much taller and very slender. The black creatures had wicked looking claws instead of fingers, and pulsed with power that rivaled a gold level soul cultivator. They wouldn't pose much of a challenge to her family, but if enough of them converged, it could be dangerous.

Linda and Grace were the next to arrive, stopping next to Luna with wide smiles.

"Are you ready?" Linda asked.

Grace was already juggling two poison orbs. "More than ready."

"Wait!" Luna yelled, but it was already too late. The poison bombs were in the air and crashed down among a large group that was over fifty strong. Purple gas spread in a large radius from each impact, and Luna watched the entire group collapse, their flesh melting as Grace hummed.

Linda simply glowered at the skunk. "Really? You couldn't save me one?"

Grace pointed to the north. "Be a good elf and run up that way. I'll take the south."

Before Luna could argue, Linda had summoned a rifle and was already firing upon the monsters. Bullets ripped through the creatures, exploding heads and chests as the ground started to rumble.

"Dammit!" Luna growled. A second later, a tide of thousands of humanoid creatures flowed over the edge of the rent. It was only thanks to them being several hundred feet away that they weren't overrun.

"Linda!" Grace yelled. "Look what you did!"

"I only shot a few!" the elf snapped back. "You killed dozens with your little poison!"

Rubbing her temples, Luna took a slow, calming breath. "You two are on your own." Tapping into her energy, she wrapped the girls in a protective force. "If you die, you'll return to the temple."

"What?"

"Luna!"

Ignoring their protests, Luna started walking away. She wasn't about to help the trouble makers. Thankfully, Jamie was the next to show up and watch with wide eyes as the monsters grew closer.

"What did they do?" Jamie asked.

"It's your problem now," Luna said before wrapping her sister in energy.

"Luna!" Jamie yelled before realizing that she was on her own. Summoning her bow, she started sending flaming arrows toward the monsters, exploding the area in a burning inferno.

The Elson brothers arrived next and took one look at the approaching army before racing in with their clubs. Luna wrapped them in energy as well, wholly expecting someone to die.

Before she could contemplate actually joining the fight, Zenaria and Amber arrived, the latter having fallen behind in their race. Once Amber realized she wasn't going to win, she stuck with Zenaria.

The kitsune walked to the front of the group and once she was wrapped in energy, she did a few movements with her fingers. The approaching army of over a thousand, simply stopped moving.

Luna's eyes widened as Zenaria pulled her hands together and every single creature fell to pieces. The fighting stopped as everyone turned to the kitsune with jaws dropped.

"What the fuck was that?" Grace shouted.

Amber laughed. "She's the strongest one of us, Grace. What did you expect?"

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Luna shook her head. Zenaria is a freak of power. I can't believe how easy she made that look.

James and Mender arrived last, and Luna made sure Mender was protected. It wasn't longer than a few seconds before another thousand monsters were racing toward them, coming from the north and south, as well as over the rent's edge.

"Zenaria, let the others kill some stuff," James chastised.

Tails falling to the ground, Zenaria slumped back over to James. "Sorry…"

Luna watched as Zenaria's ears fell flat and her eyes started to tear up. Her lip quivered as she held James's gaze and the man broke. Groaning, he gestured to the south. "At least only fight in that direction."

Like a switch was flipped, Zenaria beamed and raced off.

That little minx, Luna thought. She played him so well.

With Zenaria racing off to the south, Amber raced off to the north. Once the nekorian made contact, her first slash killed over a hundred creatures. The wounds on the first monster replicated over the others.

Yeah, I'm definitely not the greatest threat anymore. Amber and Zenaria are monsters in their own right.

That's when Grace spun in a circle and a massive wave of poison washed out in all directions. Zenaria and Amber froze as their vision was obscured and every monster collapsed to the ground, coughing and melting.

The cloud lingered, and no new monsters approached. Grace kept a perpetual smile on her face as Zenaria and Amber stormed over.

"Fuck you, Grace!" Zenaria growled.

"Did I do something wrong?" Grace asked innocently.

James laughed, startling everyone. "That was great! You're my new favorite, Grace. Behind Luna of course."

Zenaria and Amber scowled before racing toward the edge of the rent and throwing themselves over. It appeared they weren't about to be outdone by the skunk.

***

Victoria settled in to her chair, having finally returned to the sect. Those that had gone with her had built their cores and had risen higher than most of those in the sect. They were humble upon their return, making her smile.

Their experiences with helping bring the Valiants to rest helped. I couldn't ask for better disciples.

It was a victory, and she couldn't wait until she could tell James that they had cleared the entire African continent of the Valiants and the world was healing. Word had come in that James removed the Europe rent, yet the continent hadn't resurfaced and appeared to be gone for good. Maybe that would change in time.

There was also a rumor that a beam of light pierced the heavens near Australia and the whole world watched as it struck somewhere in the Americas. Victoria knew it was James, but now she had to find a way to get him a message. Thankfully, Tim had contacts over there and a communication orb. The sects were already searching for the man.

How will you handle the last rent, James? I bet it won't even be a problem.

Chuckling to herself, she poured a glass of wine and settled in to relax for the night. It was late, and she couldn't wait to sleep in a proper bed again. Tomorrow, she would check in on the demi-human district and search for those with the spark to cultivate. A new era was coming. And she didn't want to disappoint the Valiant that was saving the world.

***

James stood back with Luna, finding the energy wrapping around his family a comfort. Luna had given them all the ability to come back to life in the temple if they fell to the monsters, but he could tell that it had drained her.

"Will you be okay?" he asked softly.

Luna gave him a weak smile. "I'll be fine in a few days. It'll last that long and then I can reapply it. Not sure how helpful I'll be with fighting."

"We don't need you to fight." Kissing his wife, he hummed. "But with them distracted, I bet we could build ourselves a little getaway."

"Please do!"

Chuckling, he watched Grace stand at the edge of the rift and hurl poison down at Amber and Zenaria, trying to take their kills. "Do you think Zenaria will kill her?"

"Grace will be smothered in her sleep." Sighing, Luna shook her head. "We are going to have to get after all three of them tonight. I can't see their rivalry ending without a fight."

Rubbing his chin, James shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with them playfully fighting. I'll step in if it becomes serious. They won't like me stepping in."

Luna nodded and pointed out the Elson brothers and Linda. "They forgot to make our fort."

"I'll handle it." James watched all four of them fight for a few minutes. Linda was snarling as she fired shot after shot into the monsters, killing them in one hit while the oni brothers crushed them. Bronson had a club, while Brakin had a staff. Boris also had a blunt weapon. A massive two handed hammer that he swung around with ease.

"They aren't as strong, but they fight well together," Luna commented before they both turned to Jamie and Mender. The former had flaming daggers as she danced amongst the monsters, cutting them down with ease while her flames spread out over the area. Mender was keeping her healed with a Consecration Field that not a single monster could enter. Those that tried, turned to ash within a couple of seconds. Slowly, the healer walked with his sister, continually burning the ground for a few hundred feet.

"I feel like we aren't needed," James said with a shake of his head.

"It's not worth getting involved," Luna said in agreement. "Let's make that fort. I think I need to lay down."

Kissing her one last time, he got started. Everyone would return eventually and after today, they would head up the rent to find the facility.

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