This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Looking around at the expressions of helplessness on everyone's face, Kain knew that they couldn't come up with any decent solutions.

Healing her didn't seem possible under the current circumstances, the best they could do was find a way to keep her alive and repress any further spread of the corruption.

'Looks like it's up to me again…' Kain thought helplessly, already mourning the large amount of credits this was about to cost him. Again.

With a sigh of resignation, he reached into his space ring and pulled out one of the other (extremely expensive) essential items from the purchase list he had been given. The moment it appeared, the temperature in the surrounding air plummeted, sending a biting chill through everyone's bones.

A translucent sphere, swirling with deep blue and white energy, hovered in his palm—the Cryostasis Nexus.

A device utilizing a combination of spatial, temporal, and ice-attribute energies, it was capable of preserving the state of any living being beneath the indigo-grade threshold.

As long as someone still had a breath of life left, they could be stabilized inside and transported back to the Order for treatment.

Such an advanced lifesaving tool was naturally rare and extremely expensive, nearly impossible to obtain had he not been a member of the empire's most elite organization.

Thankfully, its limitations meant that it could only contain low to mid-tier spiritual creatures and beast-tamers—if it worked on high-level individuals, Kain wouldn't have been able to afford it even if he sold a kidney, a lung, and his last shred of dignity.

Claudia whistled lowly, the earlier panic and sadness at Aura's state being forgotten as Kain flaunted an item many of them weren't even able to afford without giving up on making any further progress in their strength for a long period of time. "Damn, Kain, you've really been holding out on us. You should have let us know you had this thing earlier."

Kain shot her a look, already feeling a pang in his heart at having to use two of the most expensive items he'd purchased, just within a couple of hours. "I was saving it. You know, for emergencies? Like the current 'our tiny teammate is rotting from Abyssal corruption' kind of situation?"

Claudia snorted. "A real tragedy. Your wallet, I mean. I doubt you even have any credits left to purchase resources for you and your contacts."

'And whose fault is that?!'

Ignoring her, Kain turned his attention to Aura's trembling body. The black patches had spread further, dark veins pulsing beneath her golden fur. He had to act fast.

Taking a deep breath, Kain activated the Cryostasis Nexus. The swirling energy inside the sphere flared to life, and a thin, frost-like mist spread outward, wrapping around Aura's prone form. The temperature dropped even further as faint lines of glowing sigils appeared along the surface of the orb.

"Alright, let's hope this works," Kain muttered, placing his palm against the orb's surface.

A complex array of symbols illuminated beneath his hand, and in the next moment, the mist surged forward, enveloping Aura completely. The black corruption visibly slowed, the spread freezing in place as if time had been momentarily halted around her.

A soft, pulsing glow settled over Aura's body, and then, with a final pulse of icy light, she vanished—her form completely absorbed into the Cryostasis Nexus.

The orb, now containing Aura's suspended state, hovered slightly before settling back into Kain's palm. The temperature around them slowly returned to normal, though the air still felt unnaturally crisp.

Kain exhaled, letting go of tension he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Well… that should keep her alive for now."

After the spread of the Abyssal corruption was halted and Aura was absorbed into the Cryostasis Nexus, Benji's condition noticeably improved. After only a couple more minutes he even regained consciousness and was able to sit up with some assistance from Nadia.

Benji, still visibly shaken but slightly steadier than before, looked at the orb with a complicated expression. "Thank you, Kain. I promise that I'll pay you back once we leave here."

At the promise from Benji, Kain's expression noticeably brightened. Thankfully Benji still has a conscience. To avoid having to use his own credits to purchase items that he felt would be useful, he'd essentially scammed Kain to carry the costs of these items alone, while he used his credits to buy a rare item his sixth contract needed to evolve.

With the promise from Benji, Kain released much of the discontent he felt. "There's no rush. Once we get back you should focus on getting treatment for Aura."

With Aura and Benji momentarily stabilized the mood of the group noticeably improved. Clara nudged Kain with a smirk. "Guess that means we need to finish this mission quickly so we can get our credits and get you reimbursed before you cry."

"Too late. I'm already crying. On the inside." Kain sighed, putting the Cryostasis Nexus back into System Laboratory but pretending as though it was put into his space ring. Since the Nexus now contained a living creature, only special, far more expensive, space rings would be able to contain it. However, with the System, Kain had never felt the need to buy one and instead just pretended as though he possessed one of those high-end space rings.

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The urgency of the situation didn't allow them to linger. After all, they did technically just steal the relic core. They had only remained in their current location due to the suddenly bad states of Benji and Aura.

But Aura's condition was stabilized for now, and they still had to deal with the ever-present danger of being pursued by Abyssal creatures.

They had stayed in the ruins longer than they should have, and it was only a matter of time before the creatures started tracking them to here.

Nadia wasted no time giving the order. "We're moving out. Now."

With swift coordination, they departed, heading back toward the city at their fastest possible pace.

As expected, they encountered resistance. Several Abyssal creatures, equivalent to blue-grade spiritual creatures blocked their path several times throughout the journey.

But this time, they weren't the ones at a disadvantage.

Nadia, as a 7-star beast tamer, had several spiritual creatures either equal in strength or stronger than them.

Meanwhile, as elites of the empire Benji, Claudia, Clara, and even Kain, were all capable of taking down a blue-grade spiritual creature alone, much less when in a group with others of similar strength.

Therefore, the encounters on the way back to the city couldn't really be called "a battle." It was an execution.

Thankfully, it seemed like high-level abyssal creatures like the one who had attacked Aura or the one inside of that crystal coffin, did not seem to be that common. Otherwise with the powerful corruptive abilities they had shown, even as a group they would struggle to defeat it without devastating casualties

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By the time they finally reached the city, exhaustion weighed on all of them. But before they could even begin to breathe a sigh of relief, an urgent message reached Nadia.

A scout had reported something unsettling.

Several Abyssal creatures had been spotted just outside the city walls—watching. Not attacking, not moving, just… observing.

The implications sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"They're gathering intelligence," Nadia murmured darkly. "Or worse… waiting for reinforcements to take down the city."

If the Abyssal creatures were planning an attack, the city needed to prepare. Immediately, Nadia began organizing defences. Patrols were doubled, anti-siege weapons moved to the walls, and the entire city was placed on lockdown. In addition, now civilians could only consume a set number of rations, after all, there was no telling when the attack of the Abyssal creatures would end and they couldn't have the soldiers crumbling from hunger before the city walls did.

In addition, in the event of a worse-case scenario, emergency evacuation procedures were reviewed for civilians. Maybe a handful of them could escape and survive if the Abyssal creatures broke through the city walls.

As the preparations were in full swing, tension hung thick in the air. The city's defenders, while experienced, were all too aware of how devastating an Abyssal siege could be. After all, several far more powerful city-states have gone extinct under their raids in the past. The creatures didn't just conquer—they corrupted, turning allies into enemies, leaving nothing but twisted husks in their wake.

Then, just as final defences were being put into place, the first tremors shook the ground.

A distant, guttural roar echoed through the night air, followed by the heavy thud of countless feet running enthusiastically toward the city. The horizon darkened, shifting like a writhing mass of shadows. Then, as the first Abyssal creatures crested the distant hills—the army came into view.

Thousands of grotesque figures, their twisted forms illuminated by the dim glow of the city's outer lanterns, advanced at a horrifying pace, their scarlet eyes gleaming hungrily as they gazed fixedly at the city.

The city wasn't ready. They weren't ready.

Kain felt the blood drain from his face.

"...We might be screwed."