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And then, of course, there was the Beast itself. That one, at least, was much easier to tell apart from all the others--and not just because of its size.

It wasn't engaging in the fight. It was letting its offspring do all the work--for now, at least.

Pauline was the most mindful of that creature. If it looked in her direction, she wanted to know immediately. She needed confirmation regarding whether or not it could even see her.

Thus far, it seemed like her invisibility was holding up, but she was wary of growing too comfortable.

As for the Beast, its form was currently that of an enormous horse. Mostly. Instead, it had two heads and eight legs, and all four of its eyes smoldered with red fire. Its hulking, muscular body was also wreathed in black-and-orange flames.

Pauline noticed, however, that those flames were not emitting any light upon their environment, which suggesting that at least part of the creature was an illusion. Not exactly surprising, but that did speak a little to how it was conducting its "shapeshifting."

She tried to penetrate the illusion with her mind, to see its true form, but that wasn't as easy as perhaps it should've been. Maybe it was the Beast's aura protecting it, or maybe the creature just had some kind of natural psychic defense. She could've pressed harder, but a more forceful or invasive approach ran the risk of exposing her own presence.

She wanted to bide her time. The humans were having difficulty bringing down the little monsters, but they were at least holding their ground and protecting the Lorentians. And with the Beast itself hanging back, Pauline had a feeling that the true fight had not yet begun.

The tide of battle soon started to change when metal boxes began clapping around all the little monsters.