Chapter 1301 - The Trigger The Cursed group that were at the Temple were expecting to face an enemy at some point. They believed that the enemy would come searching after those that had caused them so much trouble, however, at least for now, they could still hear someone, or something, battling with the Dragon. Most likely the six spike they had seen that had hit the Dragon out of the air. This was why they hadn't expected that each of them would have to be put into action so soon. Raten was seen coming towards the south gate, he wasn't out of breath or worried but he seemed more annoyed than anything. "There's too many of them! At first it was fun since they're weak little craps, but their sheer number is proving to be a pain in the arse!" Raten complained loudly as he stood in front of the entrance ready for a fight. As instructed, Layla readied her bow and Nate jumped down so he could help fight Raten on the ground. "Hey, so you do realise that since they were all following you that you're technically the one who has led them to this place, right?" Nate glanced at the humanoid beast. In his beast-like form, Raten had seemed a lot more menacing to the vampire, but now that he had taken on a more human-like appearance, he found it easier to talk to him. . Still, that apparently didn't stop Raten from giving Nate a glance that sent shivers down the other's spine. "How was I meant to know that you guys were still here? What would I have done, if you all had gone in and some of them had managed to discover the teleporter and destroyed it? I was told just to keep the others off your back until you got here. The way I see it, I did my job and now I'm doing even more than usual!" As the two were arguing, the turret that Logan had placed on top of the Temple roof suddenly moved and fired an energy blast into the jungle. A moan was heard from the forest as it successfully hit someone. 'That turret is impressive, it caught the person, even before I would have been able to.' Layla thought. Now knowing that the Cursed faction were here, the Masked started to come out in groups. Immediately Layla started to fire her arrows and Raten charged forward with his blades swirling around. He had also left a little surprise for anyone who tried to get past him. A trail of mud by the entrance. Those that tried to ignore the two frontliners and stepped on the mud remained stuck in place, making them easy pickings for both the turret and Layla. Seeing the enemy, Layla immediately decided to communicate with the rest that they were under attack. The anti jammer devices were doing their jobs in that small area, so she had no problem conveying that to the rest of the Cursed group already present. However, it seemed like there was no need for Layla's warning, as the turrets on all sides of the walls had already set off blasting the intruders that were coming their way. The others had also gone into action, apart from two individuals, who remained in the room where the teleporter was currently placed. "Sam, we have to be careful." Logan warned. "I have hidden those anti jammers in multiple places, but I didn't realise how many people would come to attack us. If we remain here for too long, it's possible that they could find and destroy them. I don't have the means to make another one, which means in the worst case scenario we might end up stuck here on this island." "I set up five in total and I can tell you when one of them has been destroyed, but my guess is after they discover the first one, they will quickly realise there are more. You will have to make a decision at that point." It was tough to make, but this was the risk the team was taking by staying behind, Sam just hadn't realised it until faced with the actual situation. His instinctive reaction would have been to call all the Cursed members back now and go through the teleporter, but unfortunately they were still waiting for the Cursed faction leader and right and left hand men, Peter and Vorden… "I will give the order when the time comes, for now, let's just focus on defending this place and pray they won't find them anytime soon!" Sam suggested as the two of them quickly left the room. Fex was with Agent 11, who was still being used as a puppet, but at times the two of them also decided to split up. Even then, Agent 11 made sure to not slow down with his attacks. Although he still didn't like having to fight for his captor, he at least understood that the Cursed faction would at least guarantee his life, so he fought just as desperately as the others were. On the other side, Dennis was holding off strong, and was fighting alongside the beast gorilla that Mona had left with snakey on his neck firing off acid, it seemed like the two of them were faring quite well covering each other's backs. They mostly fought with their fists but they were a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Lastly, there was Borden who was covering their back side. It was the are that seemed to have the least amount of people, but Borden also still had syringes left to heal himself with. Layla, rather than just staying at one side of the Temple, made use of their communication channel and would reinforce any side that needed the extra firepower. Since Raten and Nate seemed to be plenty strong on their own, they didn't mind her course of action. 'This is going well, but I can tell that just like last time, eventually the group will tire out. We can hold them off at the beginning but their sheer numbers will overwhelm us. Vorden, Peter, where are you two!' Layla thought. That was when Layla noticed something else as well. Up till this point, she could hear and feel fighting going off in the distance. It was at the location where the Dragon had fallen, but now it had stopped. She was worried that now the fighting over there had stopped, it would perhaps mean that more forces were now coming towards where they were. Distracting for only a moment, she soon heard a loud crash and the very building she was on shook. Looking towards the centre, she could see that the Temple walls had been destroyed and there was a certain person who was now lying on the floor. "Nate!" Layla jumped down and while in the air she started to transform into her third form. Once her bottom half became a snake the first thing she did was use the green fireball to start healing Nate as quickly as possible. "What happened to you, how did you get hurt this badly?" She asked, seeing that the new armour he wore on his chest had been cracked, she could also sense strong Qi from his body still active, but he was still badly hurt with blood coming out of his mouth. Nate then pointed towards where he had come from, with the fire doing its job Nate had healed a little allowing him to breathe easier and speak, uttering the words. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 "Five spikes." Turning around, she could see that Raten was now face to face with a five spiked Dalki and because of that, all of the Masked were starting to bypass him and storm the inside. "They're in the building!" Layla relayed. The first one to appear was surprisingly Logan. He was wearing a suit that Layla hadn't seen before, one that had four spider legs coming from his back. Logan himself was armed with a blaster in each of his hands, yet his extra pairs of hands on his back also had blasters with which he started to fire energy blasts towards the intruders. At the same time, Logan ordered the turrets on the roof to no longer concentrate on the Masked on the outside, but the ones on the inside. "Leave all the Masked on the inside to me. I haven't been able to pick my own weight while fighting. The others on the outside are doing a good job, but it looks like that stubborn one might need some of your help." Logan said. Layla couldn't believe what Logan was saying, how could Raten, a Demon tier beast need her help? If she was to go against a five spike surely she would just get in his way. "You won't." Nate said, with the flames still on his body. "Layla, we practised remember, we practiced so much. You can do it. just think of the trigger." 'Trigger.' Hearing this word, images started to appear in Layla's mind, images of her mother, images of Pure and the words resounding in her head of what she had done to her, but this still wasn't enough negative emotions for her to transform. She had somewhat come to terms with what her mother had done. This wasn't the real trigger, the trigger was… 'Cia…I couldn't protect you… you died right in front of me, saving my life! I was always just thinking about myself, you came with me to Pure, and still I was using you. If only… if only I could have saved you.' The negative emotions had reached their maximum, and consuming them all in, Layla's body started to transform. Her form started to shrink down to the size she once was, the horns on her head grew larger, while her fangs stayed strong with her eyes glowing red. She had successfully transformed into a true Hannya. Grabbing her sword, she ran forward and struck the five spike Dalki's hand with strength pushing it back. Raten, seeing this, also went to strike with his two blades thrusting forward. "You again? You're on my side this time, right?!" Raten questioned her. "Of course!" Layla answered. "Let's take down a five spike!"