"I'll attack first. Stay here and support me," Ren told Evie.
"Aren't we going to use Pii?"
"We'll reserve Pii for later — once either of them enters Berserk Mode. We don't know anything about this quest, so we should take precautions. Let's test the waters first and see if we could take both of them without Pii's help. If our life is in danger, then we'll ask for its help."
After he said all of that, Ren returned Pii to its home in the Pet Menu before facing Regard and Sebastian.
He neither knew about their attack patterns nor what to expect in this fight, but the only thing that dismayed him was that his high MP was still insufficient to copy some of their spells.
Each of them was at the level of a mini world boss, yet he was nowhere near their level. What's worse was that there were two of them.
At the side, Evie said nothing, only casting spells as needed.
The moment Ren attacked, Regard ushered his arm forward, and Sebastian zoomed for the kill with his giant axe.
Both Evie and Ren were surprised, not expecting that Sebastian alone would come at them, while Regard only stayed at the back without doing anything.
Although Ren was baffled, he didn't get too distracted. One hit from Sebastian, and it was game over. Not to mention that his AGL was way greater than him.
For this fight, Ren equipped [Inferno] and [Monarch Sovereignty]. Faced with Sebastian, he let our four spells simultaneously from each staff.
However, the damage was only more than five thousand hit points. Ren clicked his tongue when he realized that this would take way longer than he thought.
While his spells were in cooldown, Ren focused on evading Sebastian's attacks. The Centaur was only dishing out normal attacks, much to Ren's confusion.
"Ren," Sebastian said as he swung his axe again. "I have no control over my body, but I still have a bit of control over my mind."
Ren was intrigued by what Sebastian said as he ducked and avoided the blade by a small margin. It swiped some of his hair, though.
"What is it?"
"Listen carefully. I don't have a lot of time until my consciousness is taken over by the strange item that he used to bind me. By then, I would use all my spells to kill you and Evie."
There was a short pause before Sebastian spoke again, this time with haste.
"You cannot defeat Regard," he told Ren.
Ren already knew that the moment he saw the question marks in Regard's stats.
Ren tapped his foot on the ground and quickly evaded another one of Sebastian's attacks.
At the side, Evie was watching the fight carefully while also looking at Regard from time to time. Two [Butterfly of Deceits] were at the ready to cover Ren and her if ever their life was in serious danger.
Evie looked at the two of them with worried expressions. She didn't know what would happen with this fight, but she didn't want to see either one gets killed.
But if she were to choose, to be honest, she'd rather that Sebastian didn't die because an NPC killed was lost forever, while Ren could still revive whenever he wanted.
Sebastian swung his axe again and again, but each time, Ren dodged it. He was doing pretty well, considering Sebastian's AGL.
At this point, Ren believed that Sebastian was going easy on him.
"While I can still retain my consciousness, forget about me and directly aim at Regard. Regard won't use any of his spells unless my HP drops in half. Use that opportunity to attack him with everything you have before I lose my mind. You must deal at least ten thousand hit points to him."
Sebastian growled and shook his head. His face contorted as if he was fighting something within him. "You must hurry . . . The longest I can give you is five minutes."
Ren hopped to the other side, narrowly dodging another swipe of Sebastian's Axe. Now that he had a general idea of what to do, thanks to Sebastian's hint, he no longer had any reservations about unleashing Pii.
The goal wasn't to kill them, fortunately. He didn't want to kill the centaur. But the reason why was because he didn't want to see Evie sad. She was close to Sebastian, and Ren knew that she would be affected if he died.
For an emotionless woman who always wore a poker face like him, she was passionate about the NPCs. He remembered how affected she was by Orakh's death when they were doing Shurna's quest to get the mask for Ragnar.
"Thanks. Five minutes is more than enough," Ren assured Sebastian with a confident grin.
He then jumped back and evaded another swipe from Sebastian's Axe before releasing Pii into the air.
It was his time to shine.
Sebastian still swung his axe around like he was trying to chop down trees, and the innocent Pii, who only wanted to protect Ren, came charging at the centaur with its full might, wanting to block the blade that was aimed at Ren.
Piiiii!
Evie closed her eyes when Pii was hit with an axe. She didn't want to see the little guy hurt.
Ren only smiled, though. Pii's body cracked like an egg, and a blinding light erupted from the cracks. Following that were the sound of electricity crackling and a mighty loud roar that split the air and shook the ground.
This was the first time that Evie witnessed Pii transforming into another beast entirely.
The titanic beast was dark in color that its shadows paled in comparison. Statics of bluish electricity sparkled on its two massive wings, whip-like tail, breasts, and limbs. It was like a hybrid of a fox and dragon with two long curved horns protruding at the side of its big fluffy ears.
It was adorable and scary at the same time. The sight could really make anyone's heart beat a hundred times faster.
And Evie couldn't believe her eyes. "P-Pii?"
