"That can't be it!" Naboris shook her head as she glared at the Toxic Gilamesh. "This form doesn't match at all the description in the tales that old fart used to tell me!"

"B-But...This is a Toxic Gilamesh, r-right?!" you stammered, eyeing the warrior from the side. "There is red powder coming from it!"

The gila monster's heavy footsteps echoed all around the room as it walked closer to you. The dark and intimidating eyes of the beasts stared at you and you quickly adverted your own from doing the same with it. You felt that if you gazed into those empty orbs, your soul would be snatched by them. Its attention was now all on you two. Naboris charged at the beast with a war shout, making the first move before Gilamesh could. The gila monster roared in turn and lifted one limb in her direction, swatting her like she was a mere fly.

This created a storm of dust that pushed you backward and a few levels down, on a lonely platform among the lake. You landed on the hard surface with a grunt of pain, rubbing the tender spot behind your head. As you used your hands as leverage to stand up, they hit a broken bottle that rolled closer to you.

"What...is this?" you murmured in confusion, taking a closer look at the bottle.

The insignia on it wasn't readable, and impossible to know what it contained before it was broken. You looked back at the sand amazonian who was battling against Gilamesh, her moves looking more like a dance than actual fighting. She easily dodged the fast attacks of the gila monster, but every time it managed to hit her at the last second when her mind began to be preoccupied by random thoughts.

You blinked when you heard a faint sound to your right, and you stared in this direction to see the Sanctuary Tortoise who was staring at you directly. Her head lolled a bit, before mentioning downward. Doing as told, you thought you saw something glowing in the water close to the shore next to her. A round form with a shape similar to-

"An egg?!" you exclaimed out loud.

You plunged inside the lake and swam to the shore to examine the egg closer. It was definitely a Tortoasis's, with the size and all, and the soft look the Sanctuary Tortoise was giving to it was enough to tell you it was hers. You couldn't help but let your hands caress the shell, surprised at the warmth escaping from it. You felt something moving inside, and you smiled, forgetting totally about the Toxic Gilamesh.

"You were waiting for this day... weren't you?" you asked, gazing at the Sanctuary Tortoise. "Ever since you arrived here"

The egg cracked under your fingertips, the head of a baby tortoise poking out and releasing a small chirp. Your heart throbbed at the sight of this new life being born, but under those circumstances? You helped the child out of the egg as it dragged itself on the shore, cooing and sighing. The Sanctuary Tortoise brought her head close to the baby, even though she was deeply injured by the Toxic Gilamesh. They nuzzled their noses together as the blue eyes of Asfiya closed for the final time. The baby seemed confused, not understanding why its mother wasn't moving any more.

"Poor you...At least you shared one moment together" you gazed sadly at the baby tortoise.

Naboris's scream brought you back in the present as you saw her being flung around by the Toxic Gilamesh. The sand amazonian's limp form fell on the ground, just a few feet away from you. About to go to her aid, you froze when Gilamesh landed just in front of the warrior, snarling and gritting its teeth at you. It was gazing at the baby tortoise, finding a bit of drool at the corner of its mouth.

You enveloped the tortoise in your embrace, glaring darkly at Gilamesh:

"I won't let you eat this baby, you monster!" you cried.

You closed your eyes as you shielded the child from Gilamesh's next attack. However, it never came as you were lifted in someone's arms along with the small beast. You lifted your head up and opened your eyes to see the smiling face of Coco, relief filling you.

"I thought I told you to not be reckless?" he raised a single brow, earning a chuckle from you.

"Sorry, Coco-san. The Sanctuary Tortoise's child needed my help" you said, motioning to the tortoise gathered in your arms.

The Heavenly King laid you down back on your feet at a safe distance from the Toxic Gilamesh. However, when Coco took a second look to see if you were injured somewhere, his eyes widened at the dark shadow looming above you. The shadow of death. You were confused at the way he was looking at you, as if he was seeing a ghost. His mouth parted, about to form words, but nothing came out. You saw his eyes darken, body flinching as his brown orbs had a red hue in them.

"C-Chef (y/n)! The spores of Gilamesh!" stuttered weakly Naboris from where she lying down. "Coco'assir isn't wearing the mask and is exposed to it!"

At her words, your mind went blank as your body filled with dread. That's when you remember what the empress told about the victims that fell under the spell of the Toxic Gilamesh.

He allows his targets to succumb to their darkest desires if exposed to him.

You were about to call Coco's name, but sweated at the expression he was making. A sadistic smirk plastered on his face as he removed the green bands around his wrists, the skin turning a purple color. You released the baby tortoise as you sensed the danger from your partner, and for the first time in forever, you didn't feel safe at all around him. You shook your head wildly, taking a few steps back as you brought your hands up in a stopping motion.

"C-C-Coco-san! P-Please..." you stammered, bullets of sweat rolling down from your forehead.

The Toxic Gilamesh didn't intervene between you and the Heavenly King, and instead turned its attention on the baby tortoise. This made you panic since you couldn't reach the child without passing by the hypnotized Coco. You cried out in surprise when his hand filled with poison shot forward, aiming at any part of your body to paralyze you. You dodged the attack and fell on the ground as the male caged you there by pinning you down with his weight.

You closed your eyes tightly, feeling his breath fanning over your collarbone, poisoned fingertips dragging all over your cheeks. Your scream was silent when Coco suddenly bit your neck, digging his pelvis deeply into yours, his back arching. It wasn't painful, strangely, but it left you with a weird feeling. Your hand clutched the hair that wasn't covered by his turban:

"L-Let go! T-The b-baby!-" you tried to shout as Gilamesh got closer to it.

The Heavenly King was suddenly removed from you by Naboris, who used the back of her blades to push him off. The fortune teller narrowed his eyes at the warrior, passing one finger on his lips to remove the bit of poison that was still there. You clutched the bite, seeing blood leaking out of the wound he inflicted on you.

"He needs the antidote and the mask!" breathed harshly Naboris, taking a defensive stance. "I have them on me, so let me take care of this!"

"O-Okay, Naboris-san! Please, be careful!" you said shakily.

"Gilamesh's weak spot is on its stomach, where it isn't covered by the scales or the plates...If we can find a way to turn it upside-down, we might have a chance in beating that monster!"

The sand amazonian nodded at you, before she began to fight against Coco. She knew that she needed to keep her distances because of his poison. However, she quickly realized that his attention wasn't fixed on her, but right at you, leaving the woman puzzled. Shaking her head, she took this moment of distraction to strike. You, on the other hand, ran after Gilamesh and pulled out your hammer. Said beast was now standing in front of the baby tortoise, revealing the several rows of sharp teeth.

With a snarl, you slammed your weapon on top of its head. The gila monster growled at the sudden hit, its snake eyes turning to glare at you furiously. Wasting no time, you swung the hammer once more to hit the side of its head, flinging the wild beast away from the baby tortoise.

"I told you I wouldn't let you eat Asfiya's baby!" you yelled, threatening the gila monster with your hammer.

Your face paled when it suddenly stood on its two back legs, and released a booming roar that would make Zebra proud. Giggling nervously, you quickly retreated back as the Toxic Gilamesh began to chase you down. Your screams echoed as you ran back and forth in the room with the giant reptile behind you. On the other side, Naboris jumped back as Coco's body engulfed in a poison armor. Her sabers clashed with his own sword, and the warrior became overwhelmed by the man's strength.

"Y-You...don't you think it's time to wake up?!" the sand amazonian spat, tilting her head in your direction. "Your partner needs your help!"

"..."

Coco's eyes wandered from Naboris's form to you, darkening even more and lowered his guard. His attention elsewhere for the moment and the poisonous armor down, the commander ran ahead and pulled out from her pockets the blue vial. The Heavenly King grunted when Naboris elbowed him and used her height advantage to pin down the man. Wasting no time, she forced the liquid containing the tears of a Royal Coyote into his mouth, and put on last the mask.

You took refuge in a complex rock formation behind pillars, which stopped the Toxic Gilamesh in its chase. This didn't mean though the gila monster didn't try to catch you with its long and forked tongue. You pressed yourself into the wall, sweating each time the appendage aimed to sweep you off in its mouth. Suddenly, Gilamesh's attention was caught by Tibal, who was standing on a platform above the place you were hiding in.

The reptile started to climb the rock formation while you crawled out of your hole. Hammer growing in sizes, you swung it one last time to hit it on the tail. Gilamesh growled as its back arched, sending it falling on the ground. It revealed its soft stomach, with a red spot that looked sensitive right in the middle. You deadpanned when you heard a ferocious cry behind you, before watching as Naboris charged at Gilamesh with her sabers above her head.

The sand amazonian leaped in the air, and brought down her weapons directly on the red spot. The gila monster froze up, its snake eyes widening and a shrill scream escaping from its mouth. Naboris kept stabbing Gilamesh, leaving her breathless at the end of the fight when you stopped her, stating that it was dead.

"M'edre...That piss of-...!" cursed Naboris, throwing her sabers aside. She sat down on the ground, removing the blood she got on herself.

"....I'm sorry for the Sanctuary Tortoise.." you spoke sadly.

"...Asfiya deserved better. Not this...this...Not this end!" the warrior brought a hand over her forehead. "What are we going to say to the empress?! To my people?! Gilamesh has polluted those waters, and I'm sure more cases just like that little girl will happen to the rest of the city!"

You knew she was stopping herself from crying, with her pride as a warrior to show no tears. But, she was still human, sand amazonian or not. There was a nudge against your leg, and you looked down to see the baby tortoise. Its blue eyes blinked up at you, looking lost.

"No...It's not the end for your people!" you said, kneeling down next to the baby tortoise. "This is Asfiya's child! Her legacy that she left for Bilal, knowing that her days were counted! That Toxic Gilamesh wasn't the one who killed her!"

"Even if it's the case, the baby won't survive" Naboris shook her head. "He didn't receive any milk from his mother, and the Sanctuary Tortoise ate only special ingredients that are even unknown to us and the empress..."

"...And I say it won't end like this!" you retorted, shocking the warrior. "I will find a way! I won't let this baby die! I just...I just need a hint! A small piece of information about Asfiya even if it seems useless!..."

You heard Coco's grunt as his consciousness returned, and you quickly knelt down by his side while you helped him sat up. The Heavenly King blinked a few times, before his eyes widened in panic as he grabbed your shoulders:

"(y/n)-chan! Did I-?!" the fortune teller stumbled in his words.

"It's fine, Coco-san" you reassured with a smile. "You didn't hurt me in-!!!!!!!!!"

You couldn't finish your sentence that your whole body became numb, and you coughed out blood. Your partner quickly laid you down on the ground as he hovered your form, his expression beyond horrified while Naboris and Tibal stood aside, not knowing what to do.

"I poisoned her..." Coco growled, seeing the bite mark next to your neck. "I let my guard down and..."

"Now it's not the time, Van'assir!" Naboris slapped the back of his head. "She needs to be treated immediately!"

"It's a fatal poison. Even if I try to remove it, it entered too far in her systems..." the Heavenly King closed his eyes tightly, feeling powerless in this situation.

"Oi, o'yu baka! Stop mopping around like a weakling and help me to get her out of here! Inas can do something! Seriously, being her partner I thought you would turn the whole world upside-down for her!" Naboris snapped, hitting his head once more. "Us Nav'assam and Van'assam really need to do everything around here!"

Coco stared at you one last time as your consciousness faded away. You blinked once, and you found yourself floating in an endless ocean. The head of the Sanctuary Tortoise appeared above you, her blue eyes glowing brightly. She lowered it until the tip of her nose touched yours.

Thank you.

You thought that's what you heard from her before your vision went dark, the sound of wings fluttering all around you.