Elemental Cats

"Do you think I should get a haircut?"

Toz's attempt to deescalate the situation after Red Hook threw a Blood Spear right above his head seemed to have worked as she snorted and turned back to the gradually thinning fog of blood attribute demonic energy.

The Blood Demon looked on with a smug expression as more and more demonic energy entered the dagger and Red Hook.

"Oh, wow! Despite being demonic energy, this is kind of refreshing."

However, Red Hook's remark made the Blood Demon's face stiffen. And his expression only grew worse as Red Hook continued weakening the magic in the room without showing any signs of becoming a Blood Berserker as he thought she would.

"You! Why aren't you affected by the dagger?!"

Red Hook raised an eyebrow at the Blood Demon's outburst of disbelief. 𝐟𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘄𝗲𝐛𝐧𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Eh? Because I'm a blood mage?"

Red Hook and the Blood Demon looked at each other. Both with expressions that said they couldn't believe how stupid the other was.

"Do you think just anyone with the right attribute could use the Sanguine Monarch's weapon?"

"Well, I'm not just anyone, though."

"No way! The Blood Ancestor had human descendants?!"

"Idiot. I am the Pirate King of Pirate Haven!"

Red Hook puffed out her chest and pointed her nose upward proudly.

"Pirate Haven?"

The Blood Demon was at a complete loss.

While the Blood Demon tried to understand what was going on and the mystery behind Red Hook being able to use Bloodletter, Red Hook finished weakening the magic in the room enough for them to enter. Blood attribute demonic energy still suffused the room, but with Red Hook leading the way, they didn't have to worry about getting trapped in the cages as the cats had been.

As they stepped inside the room, more and more demonic energy swirled into Bloodletter under Red Hook's control. Eventually, the pressure of the demonic energy lessened enough for Toz and Asilean to move on their own without having to rely on Red Hook. So, while Red Hook proceeded onward to the marble of blood in the middle, Toz and Asilean went to save the cats.

Since Nil was closest, they began undoing the cage of blood around him first. With Toz and Asilean combining their efforts and use of Dissolution, the cage quickly faded, despite the continuous stream of demonic energy strengthening it and trying to restore it.

"Thanks a bunch, you two."

Nil jumped out of the cage and into Toz's arms as soon as he could and thanked Toz and Asilean.

"I'm gonna take a quick nap while you finish up."

Nil was apparently quite tuckered out, and Toz only gave him a gentle head pat before sending him into the familiar space.

"He did work hard after all."

Asilean spoke as he and Toz walked over to the cage with Lucy and Scrael.

"I am sure you all did."

"Well…."

Even while looking as if he didn't quite agree, Asilean joined Toz in using void magic on the cage.

Before they could even get rid of the wires of blood, Lucy spoke.

"Tozzie! My hero, you've come to save me!"

Toz looked at Asilean.

"T-that's not my fault!

Toz didn't say anything and looked at Lucy instead.

"How's it hanging, Lucy?"

Toz's words managed to get the expression of an enamored princess off of Lucy. The tiny black kitten instantly switched to his standard cheerfulness as he answered.

"Like a bat!"

"Really? With or without a hat?"

"With, of course!"

"Ah, because of your battle with Mindle?"

"No way! You figured out it was me?"

Toz leaned down close and whispered sneakily.

"It was just a guess. You confirmed it just now."

Toz couldn't suppress a grin.

"Argh! You got me!"

"I wasn't the only one. How did you get trapped? And both of you in the same cage like this?"

As he spoke, Toz looked between Lucy and Scrael. The cage was a little stronger than the one around Nil, probably because of its proximity to the blood marble but also because the magic sensed a greater threat from Lucy and Scrael than it did from Nil.

Scrael avoided Toz's gaze while answering.

"I tried to save Lucy, but it didn't work so well."

"Huh. Let's get you out of here first. And then, when Red Hook's done, I want a full rundown on everything that's happened."

"Okie dokie."

"Okay."

"Alright."

The three cats responded, and only moments after that, Toz and Asilean finally got rid of the cage. Lucy and Scrael were free. Lucy instantly jumped up and hugged Toz's head.

"Toz!"

"Didn't we already go through this once?"

"No!"

Toz patted Lucy and moved him from his face to his head so that he could see.

And before walking to Red Hook, Toz bent down and patted Scrael's muscular body as she walked up next to his legs.

Toz felt his heart finally settle down after confirming the safety of all the cats. He hadn't felt this at ease ever since Lucy disappeared and went radio silent. But now, he was back, and all of them were together again.

While Toz walked toward Red Hook, the cat's paw pattern on his head grew. The ink-like color spread and deepened even further than it did before the war.

The pattern went from the outline of a cat's paw with ink seeping from the edges toward the center of the toes and foot pad to a black filled-in cat's paw.

Toz sensed the change and looked at his hand, slightly puzzled. He couldn't quite understand what had happened or what induced the growth of his inclination. He also couldn't tell if there were any obvious changes.

However, he could think about those things at a later time when he wasn't as mentally fatigued. But he could at least tell that the bond between him and the cats had grown stronger. For some reason, Toz felt like he wouldn't as easily lose his connection with the cats as had happened when the cats were inside the tunnels and Toz was too far away on the outside.

After accepting the change and sharing the discovery with the cats, Toz simply shrugged and walked to Red Hook.