The recovery room was filled with incubators, all wired to a single bed. Through the transparent glass windows of the incubators were life-sized specimens in greenish liquid. Each incubator stored a different animal, their blood all being transfused out into huge cleansing machines before being pumped into the lone patient on the bed.

The chief shaman beside the bed checked his vitals. The patient resting on the bed took in shallow breaths. Transfused blood entered his body through an intravenous drip. Instead of medicinal fluids, the drip was red and viscous.

“Mystic Wryr, how’s the treatment going?” asked a cardinal assigned to protect the weakened Overlord.

“We increased his dosage of Homo Sapien’s blood for now. His body needs to absorb the human element to strengthen his body, for him to keep his human form,” the shaman replied, “after his vitals stabilise, we will then increase the dosage of Vampyrum Spectrum’s blood into him.”

The patient hissed uncomfortably as he slept. The room gave a violent jerk.

“Lucky the treatment was immediate, and we still had one of those left,” the shaman commented, glancing at one of the incubators, “Spectral bats, deadly carnivorous creatures…”

It was as if the jerk was to be expected.

Mystic Wryr took one last look at his vitals before exiting the room.

Luckily he came back alive… Or I would have to use it, Mystic Wryr thought. His right hand reached into his lab coat pocket, making sure his treasured drug was still kept close and safe.

“Let’s see what effects this new combination of blood will have on our Overlord…” he chuckled, glad that The Necromancer authorised him to carry out experiments on Overlord Jee’angzsh to further their research, “I’ll be the one who surpasses you, Scientist.”

He smirked and walked down the narrow corridor. The corridor gave another violent jerk.

The battle commenced at noon, when it was hottest on the coast. Wang Xin led the fight along with Footes.

“Radiance discharged, Morning Glory,” came the command. Her soldiers started to glow merigold orange. The intense sunlight blinded the enemies’ vision. WAR charged in with Phantasm unprepared and vulnerable. Fernando Footes’ army of rangers swept through the battlefield with ease. Under the scorching sun, the temperature at the coast increased drastically, rivaling that of a dessert.

Footes’ receiver crackled. He recognised Urbs’ voice over the transceiver. “End this quickly, Footes!”

“You don’t say…” the beefed soldier grumbled. He grudgingly switched to his minigun slung behind him. He, too, glowed. A walnut-brown aura enveloped him and spread throughout the coastline. The Rangers were coated in brown as well.

Feranando Footes was a simple man and a down-to-earth soldier. To him, strength lay in its simplicity. He did not require theatrics.  Power was defined by raw capabilities of the body. Pure strength would muscle out the most well-developed tactics. Combined with a resilient mind, he bred a colony of undefeatable soldiers. That was how his grandfather did it since his generation. So far, it had worked out well enough for him to follow in his ancestor’s footsteps.

“When all things fail, you can always rely on the good, old power,” Footes muttered his family motto.

The Rangers underwent radical change. They became sturdier, developed beefier muscles. Their legs could carry them further without tiring out. They swarmed the battlefield with endless stamina, muscling out their competitors.

Back at the support lines, Husker was observing the fight live with Urbs, Nyx and their comrades from the Kingdom. “I love natural selection,” Husker, former physicist, commented.

The commanders watched the battle intently, all with different agendas in mind. Wang Xia was looking out for the safety of his elder sister. Urbs was overseeing the operation, making sure that the vital structures of the coast port were not damaged. Husker was assessing the radiance abilities from a scientific perspective, collecting data for future references.

For Ezra Nyx, who was silently observing the entire engagement, was searching out where the Overlord’s base of operations were, and where the weakened vampire was hidden. It was a peculiar habit he developed. Ezra developed a blood lust for tracking his prey to the very end. A stalker who ended the chase only after getting hands on his target.

“He’s not there anymore. They fled,” Ezra commented.

“How do you know?” Husker asked.

“Their forces are weak. There is no order in their attack formation. No one is giving them orders.”

Like a hive of bees without the queen bee, the Phantasm soldiers were disoriented. Ezra’s observations were spot on.

“We’ve searched the entire building which seemed to be their base of operations. It seems like they have abandoned the building, sir,” Footes’ soldier reported into the transceiver.

The commanders glanced at each other.

“Proceed on to secure the perimeter,” Urbs ordered.

“Sir, we found a hangar nearby. But…”

“But what, solider?”

The radio cackled once more.

“Footes here. It’s too big to be a hangar. Whatever they stored there is humongous.”

“We’ll get a Science Team down ASAP.”

The commanders would never in their brilliant minds have guessed that the Overlord escaped in a flying aircraft carrier, sent back to Lower Gaia, where they originated from.

In the flying aircraft carrier, the room gave another violent jerk. Blood continued to flow through the huge machinery and tubes into Overlord Jee’angzsh. It was going to be a turbulent flight home.