This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The instant all contracts were summoned on both sides, the battlefield erupted into chaos.

Prismarin struck first. Or rather, its illusions did. Two dozen phantasmal copies lit up the arena, each launching shimmering beams of condensed light toward two primary targets: the Mnemonic Lure and the Dreamgazer Cat.

The cat didn’t flinch. Or perhaps it did—its real body, like Prismarin’s was buried among countless identical projections, making it impossible to track with the naked eye. Most of the beams passed harmlessly through the illusions. One connected with the Mnemonic Lure—only to bend oddly, its energy dispersing as though absorbed by liquid fog.

Meanwhile, the Brandshade Fox zipped across the battlefield. Its paws didn’t make contact with the ground. Instead, it flickered between sigils—teleporting through a hidden network it had inscribed discreetly during training hours.

It reappeared directly behind the Elemental Guardian.

A new sigil flared beneath its claws, weaving tendrils of light toward the Guardian’s core. Just before contact, Serena gestured. The mist around the Guardian exploded outward, its body vanishing into vapour. The sigil detonated harmlessly against empty space.

Then, the air twisted.

The Reflection Wraith moved. Its mirror-like head pivoted toward the Starweaver.

And suddenly—Serena’s voice echoed in the Starweaver’s mind.

“Back. Now.”

Same tone. Same cadence. And just convincing enough to cause hesitation. The Starweaver faltered, wings flickering as it began to withdraw.

Serena’s eyes sharpened. She clenched her fist and sent a jolt of spiritual power through her bond.

“Ignore any commands not paired with my surge. Direct link only,” she called aloud.

The Starweaver stopped its retreat and returned to position, eyes glowing.

Theo, watching from the sideline, gave a quiet nod. “She adapted to the Wraith’s audio projection faster than most. Usually throws people off.”

Kain, not far off, smirked proudly before catching himself. Why would he feel proud of a compliment for her? He thought while scrunching his brows together.

The Mnemonic Lure pulsed next. Its jellyfish-like body expanded, releasing a faint ripple. No flash, no noise—but Prismarin’s clones wavered. Four of them glitched and blinked out.

“Starweaver, reinforce Prismarin,” Serena ordered.

Starweaver climbed upward and activated a new constellation. Four jagged spirals lit up across its wings—the Corona constellation.

Kain’s brow lifted. Corona was a high-risk constellation, bolstering reflex speed and mental clarity for a short time, at the cost of leaving the recipient slowed and vulnerable afterward.

It worked. Prismarin’s illusions snapped into formation, sharper than before. Their beams fired in staggered bursts, each forcing evasive maneuvers from Cressida’s side.

The Dreamgazer Cat’s tail-eyes twitched erratically, struggling to track all targets and dodge the attacks.

Above, the Mnemonic Lure ascended further, pulsing again. But this time the pulses weren’t impacting the Prismarin only, they affected the senses of everyone in range.

The Elemental Guardian heard a phantom roar behind it. Starweaver saw a flicker of Prismarin being hit.

No damage. But the accumulated confusion chipped away at coordination.

“Corona to all. Guardian, sweep right,” Serena said.

The same constellation lit up on the Starweaver again, and flames erupted from the Guardian, scorching the air near the Mnemonic Lure. The fire didn’t land, but the heat destabilized the mental field it was projecting, stifling its pulse rhythm

Suddenly, the Brandshade Fox reappeared—this time beneath Starweaver, a sigil mid-etch.

“Above. Scatter!” Serena called.

Starweaver launched upward, narrowly avoiding the trap. The sigil exploded in a magnetic pulse, aiming to drag it down—but missed.

Cressida still hadn’t spoken, but her Whispercoil Serpent acted anyway.

It slithered through the field, narrowly avoiding errant attacks from friends and foes, weaving directly toward Serena.

Bea’s voice snapped into Kain’s mind. “It’s going for her.”

“She knows,” Kain replied calmly.

Serena didn’t turn. She sent a silent, focused jolt into Balens.

The scale tilted.

The Serpent froze mid-lunge. Its body convulsed. Bad luck bloomed around it. The Guardian—mid-swing—deflected a beam sent out by the Dreamgazer Cat that clipped the Serpent’s flank. Friendly fire.

The Serpent hissed and retreated, glitching more with each step.

The Mnemonic Lure pulsed again, aiming for Prismarin.

But this time Prismarin was ready.

Corona-boosted, it dodged effortlessly, returned fire—and scored a direct hit to one of the Lure’s tendrils.

The conjured aura flickered. More importantly, the sigil array maintained by the Brandshade Fox sputtered. It would appear that the field emitted continuously by the Mnemonic Lure was playing a role in maintaining the stability of the many sigils on the field.

But now half of the sigils on the right side of the field failed.

Kain leaned forward. “She’s collapsing the control network.”

Serena didn’t pause. “Guardian, mist left. Prismarin, deploy splits. Herd them right.”

The left side of the battlefield was blanketed in damp, pressurized fog. Prismarin’s illusions darted within, confusing Cressida’s contracts and forcing them to cluster in a certain portion of the field.

Noticeably, once all of the opponents were in this section of the field, their auras appeared weaker.

Theo observed aloud. “She’s corralled them into the sigil gap.” Indeed, the portion of the stage that Serena noticed had failed sigils, was where she wanted to move the battlefield to.

The Reflection Wraith tried again—echoing Serena’s voice: “All units, regroup at Point Zeta!”

None of her creatures moved. Now the Reflection Wraith was practically a harmless presence on the field, and its attempts to distract them seemed more pathetic and desperate than strategic.

But it couldn’t be blamed for its persistent attempts, it had likely never faced someone able to deal with it so effectively before.

Serena calmly lifted one finger.

A pulse flared from Balens.

This time, it wasn’t targeted at a specific contract.

The battlefield tilted, not physically, but probabilistically.

The next four sigils the Brandshade Fox tried to draw… didn’t finish. Small mistakes happened. Its claws slipped. It blinked at the wrong moment. One time, one of its allies, the Dreamgazer Cat’s clone, stepped on the forming glyph and ruined the pattern.

Not once.

Four times.

Kain smirked. “Balens truly is annoying to have against you. But boy, are his effects entertaining to watch when I am not the victim.”

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