Far amongst the gaps of the pillar-like trees, a small and open field stretched across the horizon.
Four figures stood there with vigilant eyes, watching Quia and Ciel's every move.
The elf, in particular, waved his shortsword, gesturing for his allies to drop the caution and advance.
"Hey." Quia let out a shuddering growl. "I didn't ask because I know it's not the right moment."
She continued with bated breath. "But how did you know there was a mimic earlier on the cliffside?"
Ciel gave a flat look. Quia's edged voice just now was a tip of her boiling anger.
"I merely thought how a mimic would hunt a human," Ciel stated, as if a mimic choosing the cliffside as a hunting ground was all but certain. "But why ask?"
"Ah…" Quia's knee bent. "I've a feeling it's something like that."
Quia's lips released into a cruel, small smile.
"Hunting these bastards for so long, I've thought the same as well."
Quia's leg then sprang into a skilful sprint.
The elf's figure blurred, weaving in between the trees with skilful footwork. A trace of wind shrouded her body, hinting at magic to help with her manoeuvres.
The team of four, except the elf mimic, shuddered.
A giant beastman, with cow horns protruding from his forehead, rushed out with his two-handed axe.
His broad shoulders faced the forest before him. The clearing offered a clean view without obstructions, but his pupils struggled to follow the blurred figure.
"Run! This elf is not our opponent!
Judging smartly, his eyes flickered. Left.
And so he leapt there with his arms curled back, muscles clenching for a strong, wide swing.
And as the figure appeared a step closer, a few steps right before him-
Crash! The axe chopped the tree trunks in half, bark splintering under the sheer force.
The cowman's eyes, however, found no relief or pleasure for his grand feat.
Beyond the falling bits of chunks stood Quia, smiling as she stopped a foot short of his strike, the momentum halted like a roaring engine silenced in a mere second.
"Stripey. Paw."
The tiger's stripped limb manifested and punched forth. The force blew away any scattering chunks and sank into the cowman's ribs.
A crunch, then he was sent flying.
The corpse glided for a while before tumbling back to his companions from afar, consisting of two humanoid females and an elf mimic.
The two humanoids both shared brown hair, pale skin and black eyes, the lookalike suggesting they were twins.
The dead eyes from the cowman's corpse stared back at them before disappearing for a rainbow spire.
Shudders coursed through the twins, while the elf only sent a deep scowl.
Quia hopped over the axed trunks. She then approached them with steady steps, her cold voice belying a calm storm.
"The Stormveil is close to us at the North, so I don't want many attractions here."
She pointed at the elf. "You two can go. I just want his head."
The two females froze, their heads turned to meet each other's gaze.
Then, as if the cowman's earlier bravery ignited fooleries, a resolved glint crossed both their eyes, as they both drew their staffs, a telling hint they were spell-casters.
Ciel, who had been leisurely striding to the scene, sighed at the chaos. It seemed 'escape' was not in the youngsters' dictionary nowadays.
As Quia gritted her teeth and dashed forth in the clearing, Ciel watched keenly, staying within the forest's range.
The elven mimic was not a threat. She had confidence that Quia, with her sight on the elf, could snuff out any trick.
And the twins. Well, she prayed Quia would pull her punches.
'That leaves the humanoid archer from earlier.'
Ciel's enhanced senses began to warn her.
Across from beyond the trees, from where Quia finally ran towards the twins, she caught a flash of iron in the bushes.
She frowned. The distance was about twenty-five feet away, and Ciel's aim ended just short at twenty.
Her habit to 'rush in and moonblast later' was always to compensate. This time, Quia and her confronters acted as a shield, making it hard to aim.
And yet, Ciel took in a deep breath.
Her nerves tingled when recalling Quia's rage, as the former shadebeast's eyes began to be void of hesitation and emotions.
She raised her staff, aim steadying.
Orbs of lightning erupted from the twins' staffs. Quia's body twisted, dodging them perfectly by the waist.
Ciel, on the other hand, must fire when Quia ended her attacks.
She wasn't sure if the elf would dodge, now blinded by her rage that a mimic possessed her kin.
But she will find out now.
The elf finally closed in. With her arm crooked and released, a huge wing arrived at her call to slap away the twins.
Brown, fluttering feathers blocked Ciel's view like a wall. She knew the time had come.
The moment the magic circle retrieved the wing, revealing Quia's vulnerable side to the forest-
Her enhanced sense blared as an arrow shot from the other side, a timed attack to avoid the 'wing' shield.
Ciel didn't shout to Quia and just fired.
Blue ray crossed the forest. It grazed by the trunks, branches and grasses before reaching the elf.
Quia's brow raised. Not even a glance and she ducked, the blue ray soaring above her back.
It met the arrow, melting it into pieces, and finally rocketed into the unsuspecting bushes.
A loud boom occurred. This time, no rainbow spire arose, leaving only a panel in Ciel's vision.
[ You have slain a mimic. ]
The fiery leaderboard celebrated with a two beside her name, but Ciel's eyes had no time to linger there.
Her arm jerked and swiped the system away, before her steps darted towards Quia.
Her elven partner, still with her waist bent, let in a moment of weakness-
As the shadebeast wearing her kin's flesh lept, his shortsword raised for her neck.
But not before a blue ray pierced his arms, leaving the halves torn with black scorch lines.
Almost landing from mid-air, the mimic elf soon met a palm strike on his chin, before another elbow thrusted into his stomach.
His body folded as he fell, a gasp failing to escape his lips, the sign of his insides mangled by the jelly flesh of a slime.
Now fully assured he was a mimic, Quia sent a warning glare at the whimpering twins.
The wing flap earlier twisted their legs. The staff were left far away from their grasp, a testament to their now-helplessness.
Quia's glare, however, died as she turned to Ciel, a gleeful smile blooming at her lips.
"Nice aim." Quia nodded, the exaggerated gesture whipping her ponytail. "For real, for real. This time."
Ciel flinched a little. After Quia's outrage, her calm demeanour seemed so surreal.
"Either way…" Ciel sighed. "Do what you must."
The white-haired shortie then headed for the twins. "I'm going to do some interrogation."
She had a feeling things weren't so simple.
From the cowman volunteering to defend them, to the twins' ironed resolve, the mimic seemed unnaturally close to them, indicating the long relationship was cultivated, not made on the spot.
Why then would the elf choose to cast away the long-term investment known as 'trust' here?
Just to hunt her down? Maybe. But it felt more like a spur of action rather than a grand scheme.
If they followed the Queen of Hunt, a lousy plan to bait her wouldn't cut it.
So then, what was the mimics' true goal?
Recalling how this place was close to Summer's abode, Ciel arrived at a conclusion, theoretically.
But she needed more clues.
Compared to the uncooperative, unfeeling mimics that were impossible, Ciel's cold eyes scanned the twins as she towered above them.
She didn't hesitate.
"Did you know your friend there is a mimic?"
Confusion flickered in their expressions, but their stares didn't budge away, as if Ciel's claim confirmed a suspicion.
Indeed. Ciel had quite a few hearts broken today.
But she had been crueler. This time, truth will be her mercy.