Ning’s eyes narrowed with a sharp glare. ’Number 3? They’re just skipping all the numbers now, aren’t they?’

From 7 to 5 to 3, they were sending the higher numbered fighters after him. Ning couldn’t help but wonder if the numbers truly represented their strength or not, and if it did, why they hadn’t sent number 1 already. Were they not aware that he was just that much stronger?

Godhood turned toward the monkey, his voice taking on that ethereal quality once more. "Friend, you do not have to live this life of crime. Stop this—"

"Save your breath," the monkey said, cutting him off entirely. "Your little trick won’t work on me."

Godhood’s eyes widened slightly. It was the first time he had seen his power fail so completely. There were people that took more than a few words to get to, but even they were at least lulled by his voice the first time around.

How was this man not affected by his voice?

The monkey’s head swiveled toward the elf that was captured. "Calvin, if you believe in our lord Tritus, then go and reactivate the suppression field. Now."

"Calvin, no!" Godhood said immediately, countering Number 3’s words.

Calvin’s face twisted with conflict. His mouth opened, torn between two voices pulling at his mind.

"Calvin! You have to—"

Ning didn’t let him say another word.

He lunged at the monkey, crossing the distance in half a second, reaching out to grab him by the neck. But as his hands approached the beast, its features were already morphing. The monkey’s body rippled and changed mid-attack, becoming a bird that flapped upward, barely gaining a few inches to dodge.

Ning paused for a second, confused how Number 3 had managed to react to his speed. It had reacted quite quickly earlier too. Did it perhaps have insanely fast reflexes compared to normal?

Ning closed the distance again and threw a punch. This time, the bird shifted instantly into a jellyfish. His fist sank into the translucent mass without resistance, causing no damage at all.

The jellyfish dropped to the floor and became a fly. It buzzed in rapid circles around the room.

"Calvin!" the fly’s voice was high-pitched but still clear. "Snap out of it! Remember why you’re here! Remember what Tritus promised you!"

Ning’s jaw tightened. If Calvin regained his mental state and reactivated the suppression field, he would be alone in this. Godhood and Sharron would be in trouble. While he could protect them, it would come at a risk of exposing himself, and possibly alerting Tritus himself.

"You won’t do that. The only true path in life is that of the light," Godhood said calmly, still watching the elf. He turned toward Ning and spoke in a softer voice. "My voice has already taken root. He cannot go back so easily."

Ning nodded. At least they had that.

The door burst open just then, spilling outside light into the room. Frostveil rushed in and stopped as she looked at the group in a confused stare.

"Is that the one who attacked?" she asked, staring at the elf Calvin.

Suddenly, a massive rhinoceros formed atop Frostveil, its multi-ton body coming down to crush her completely.

Ning moved right at that moment, crossing the span of the room before Frostveil even had a chance to notice anything. His fingers were straight, looking to dig into the rhino’s head in a fluid motion, but as his hands got close, Number 3 morphed again, taking the shape of a moth that immediately dodged.

Ning’s other hand reached out in anticipation that this might happen, but even as his hand reached for the moth, the moth turned into a lightning bug and flew away, quickly changing into something else that then hid in the room.

Frostveil didn’t even realize something had happened until Ning crashed onto the wall next to her and stopped.

She turned, ready to attack Ning, but he wasn’t even facing her.

"Frostveil, stand down," Godhood spoke before anyone else. "There is someone else in the room. Stay on guard."

Frostveil’s eyes narrowed before she looked around the room.

"What happened?" Ning finally asked. "How’s everything outside?"

"It’s alright for now. I found the generator room and saw that someone had knocked out the guards and activated it. I shut it down just now and came here to check."

"That’s good," Ning said. "We got two attackers. That elf and someone who calls himself Number 3. Keep at your guard, he can come as any animal or insect. You can never tell."

Frostveil nodded, looking around.

Ning gestured for Godhood and Sharron to climb down from the table and be on the lookout. As he looked around the place, Frostveil looked at Calvin.

"Who is that exactly?" she asked. "He looks familiar."

Ning’s eyes narrowed. "You know him?"

"No, but I feel like I’ve seen him before," she said, unable to come up with any name.

"We can figure out who he is later," Godhood said. "We need to leave this place now."

Ning nodded. "But we must make sure he’s not getting out."

Could he just shut the door? No, he would get out easily. He needed to seal it entirely and make it impossible for Number 3 to leave.

An idea formed.

"Frostveil, freeze the entire room," Ning said. "Walls, doors, everything. We need to trap him."

Frostveil looked at Ning with a strange look on her face that lasted no more than a second. She immediately obeyed him and pointed her entire palm on the other side of the room, sending out a massive beam of ice-blue ray that created large chunks of ice wherever it touched.

She slowly moved her hands around, targeting all the sections of the wall.

A tiger formed mid-air and lunged at Frostveil. Before Ning reacted, however, she raised her hand and sent out a concentrated frost beam at the tiger. The tiger, however, twisted its body around and turned into a hummingbird that quickly moved around the beam.

It landed on a desk and immediately became a snake, slithering rapidly toward Frostveil with impossible speed once again.