Lucas watched as the group battled against the fire-breathing horse.

"What happened?" Arnold wondered as he opened his eyes. He had passed out after Carol dragged him out of danger.

The moment he saw the others fighting, he pushed himself to his feet.

"Wait, I’m still not done," Elena called out. She was still trying to heal his injuries as he attempted to join the fight. "If I don’t at least stop the bleeding, you could collapse at any moment."

"Then finish quickly," he ordered without a hint of concern.

Lucas couldn’t understand how he could speak to her like that when she was only trying to help him. Then again, he also couldn’t ignore the fact that the guy was prepared to jump back into battle immediately after waking up, despite being covered in injuries.

"The fuck are you looking at?" Arnold snapped after catching Lucas staring.

Streaks of flaming arrows flew through the air and struck the horse, but the flames exploded harmlessly against its black hide as though they had hit water.

"I think it’s flame-resistant," Gavin said as he stood beside them.

Carol launched several attacks of her own, which only seemed to anger the monster.

It charged straight at her.

She flew away at the last possible moment, causing the beast to crash through the wall of a nearby building.

"How is it so strong?" Arnold spat blood. "I can hardly leave a mark with my spear."

"Maybe you should have considered that before charging at it on your own," Carol said as she landed beside them.

Arnold mumbled something under his breath, unable to deny that it had been a stupid decision.

"I think it’s because this one doesn’t have any minions," Gavin said.

"He’s right," Damian agreed as he approached them. "Out of all the monsters we’ve encountered, this is the only one that moves alone and doesn’t command an army."

By then, the horse had recovered. It shook the dust from its body and stepped out of the ruined building.

"For now, our best option is to retreat and—"

"Like hell I’m running from this thing," Arnold cut him off. "If you guys don’t want to help, then I’ll kill it myself."

He charged toward the monster.

The others exchanged glances.

"What do we do?" Carol asked.

Damian gritted his teeth before making his decision.

"We fight for now. I’ll figure something out."

Saito had already followed after Arnold, while Tank leaped into the air.

He landed with a heavy crash.

The ground beneath the horse suddenly shifted, and thick stone spikes burst upward.

But the horse galloped from side to side, dodging every single one.

Then it lowered its head and slammed into Tank, sending the giant man flying into a nearby light pole.

More flaming arrows struck its face, creating more of a distraction than actual damage.

When the monster turned toward the attacker, Gavin nearly shit himself.

It immediately switched targets and charged at him.

It was too focused to notice Damian flying in from the side with a flaming fist.

His punch landed cleanly.

Thanks to Elena’s enhancement, he actually managed to hurt it.

But the victory was short-lived.

With a violent swing of its head, the horse sent Damian flying across the battlefield.

Lucas watched everything unfold from behind a car.

It was terrifying.

Seeing so many powerful people struggle against a single monster made it difficult to even breathe.

At first, he could barely think straight.

Then he looked at Elena on the other side of the road.

Even while hiding, she remained calm, constantly using her abilities to empower whoever happened to be attacking.

’This isn’t the time to be scared.’ he told himself, ’I have to do something too.’

He stretched out his hand.

"I command you to stop."

His voice was quiet.

Full of doubt.

Yet the horse froze.

It had been charging at another target, but suddenly its body locked up.

The monster struggled to move, as though fighting a battle inside its own mind.

’It-it’s working!’

Then, with a violent shake of its head, it broke free.

Lucas felt a surge of hope

Until the horse’s eyes slowly scanned the battlefield.

And stopped him.

"Fuck..."

The hope he had just felt instantly turned into dread.

It was as if the monster knew exactly what he had tried to do.

The horse charged straight at him.

"Stop! I said stop!"

Even as he shouted, the monster continued its advance.

At the very last second, Lucas threw himself out of the way.

The horse slammed into the car behind Lucas, crushing it like an empty soda can.

He scrambled to his feet and ran.

Adrenaline drove every step.

"That does it."

Lucas turned.

Arnold was standing behind him, directly in the monster’s path.

He tossed aside his shield.

Then his spear.

"Elena!" he shouted. "Give me everything you’ve got. I’m ending this right now!"

"Arnold, don’t be stupid!" Carol yelled.

But it was already too late.

The horse was charging at full speed.

Seeing this, Elena didn’t argue.

She poured every ounce of her remaining energy into him.

Arnold’s eyes widened.

"Yes... at this rate, I can boost my strength tenfold."

He planted his feet and spread his arms.

"Come at me, you filthy animal!"

The monster crashed into him headfirst.

The impact carried enough force to derail a moving tanker.

But Arnold didn’t fly.

His feet sank into the ground.

The pavement cracked.

His entire body trembled under the force as he gritted his teeth and let out a roar.

Then, inch by inch, he stopped the monster’s charge.

A heavy breath escaped his lips.

With a burst of strength, he lifted the massive horse into the air and flipped it onto its back.

The ground shook from the impact.

Before the monster could recover, Arnold snatched up his spear and drove it straight into its exposed underbelly.

He pulled out his spear and prepared to give one final attack to end everything when another horse came out of nowhere and slammed into him.

The horse was much smaller than its mother, but two horns protruded from its forehead.

[Defend yourself from the Hell-Fire Foal]

"What the hell was that?" Arnold asked as he got back to his feet.

"I think it’s her baby," Elena said as she stepped out from behind the car.

The foal stood in front of the bleeding horse protectively, stomping its feet and shaking its head threateningly.

Arnold scoffed.

"I call dibs on the little one. Nobody else attacks it."

"What exactly do you plan on doing with it?" Carol asked as she approached.

"Kill it, obviously. What do you think?" Arnold replied with a smirk.

"Do we have to kill it?" Elena asked, looking apologetic.

"Don’t be stupid. Does that thing look like an ordinary animal to you?"

"But it’s not attacking us," Carol pointed out.

"What?" Arnold frowned. "You too?"

"Aren’t you curious about where these things come from?" Carol asked. "This could be our chance to observe one from an early age. It doesn’t seem to have developed any aggressive instincts yet."

"So?" Arnold asked. "We’re talking about an actual monster. Are you seriously suggesting we keep it alive?"

"Would an ordinary monster try to protect its mother like that?" Carol shot back.

"I agree with Carol on this one," Saito said, stroking his beard, "I used to own horses. When they’re raised properly, they can be very obedient."

"Oh my God..." Arnold grabbed his head.

"It’s like I walked into some unbelievably shitty movie. Even the people watching from home can tell how insane this is!"

He made his screen visible for a moment.

It was flooded with messages.

[Flexidoll: Are they actually serious? How can they even suggest keeping that thing around?]

[Fighter_jetman: LOOK AT THE FUCKING HORNS!!!]

[TheSmartOne: I agree with the Queen of Violence.]

"Damian," Arnold said, "don’t tell me you’re actually considering this bullshit?"

The leader wore a serious expression as he thought it over.

"Carol, I agree that we need to study these monsters," Damian said, "but I don’t think this is the right time. There are still too many things we don’t understand, and we don’t even have a place to keep it."

"I know," she sighed. "We could let it go and observe it as it grows. Maybe try interacting with it occasionally."

"There’s no guarantee that would work," Damian replied. "It could end up killing someone."

"I can’t believe this conversation is actually happening," Arnold muttered, looking genuinely bewildered.

"Fine," Carol exhaled. "Do whatever you want."

She turned and walked away.

"Run," Lucas said quietly.

He had been watching the argument the entire time and decided to try saving the foal.

He expected the same resistance he had felt from its mother.

Instead, the foal suddenly raised its head—

and ran.

"Shit! It got away because of all your time wasting," Arnold cursed.

"We’ll get it another time," Damian said, "let’s just finish off this one,"