Reunion

Tip: All the characters appearing in this chapter have been mentioned before. If you don't remember them, you can flip back and check.

"Linde..." Frisk's expression was a tangled mix of emotions.

They had been locked up for an entire day in the little room Asgore had made beside the Barrier. Linde had been making spell cards, and by now, he had made more than twenty.

Now Linde kept muttering about something called innate... something or other.

She watched Linde speechlessly. It's a miracle this guy hasn't blown us both up...

"So you're in here?" Undyne came looking for them just then.

Frisk looked as though she had found her savior. "Undyne! You're finally here! Let me out, quick! I want to get away from this guy!"

Undyne seemed distracted. "Since these are Asgore's orders, I'm definitely not letting you out..."

"Undyne? What's wrong?" Seeing that something was off about Undyne, Frisk couldn't help worrying.

Undyne shook her head, set aside the matter of the monster child, and looked at Linde, who was engrossed in researching spell cards.

As though sensing Undyne's gaze, Linde abruptly looked up. "Aha! Undyne, perfect timing. Quick, change into your Determination Form, then use every means you can to pour magic into this."

"What are you trying to do?" Although puzzled, Undyne did as he asked.

"How does that sword feel to use?" Rather than answering, Linde asked her a question instead.

Undyne found it strange. "It feels really natural. Honestly, it's a weird feeling, especially since I normally use a spear..."

"As long as it feels natural. I'll give you four more cards in a bit." As he spoke, Linde took the spell card infused with Undyne's magic.

"Four?" Undyne was a little bewildered.

"Hmm..." After Linde worked on it for a while, a strange red spell card appeared in his hand.

"It worked!" Linde cheered. "Undyne, I made this especially for you. It can create three copies of you! They'll last ten minutes."

Monsters were creatures made purely of magic, while Undyne had also achieved a balance with determination on top of that.

Linde had figured out the principles behind a monster's makeup, allowing him to create monster copies that had power but no consciousness.

The spell card he had just prepared for Undyne would let her connect her consciousness to the three copies and give them simple commands.

"This was tailor-made for you-[Forbidden: Quadruple Existence]."

Two figures flashed down the deserted street.

"North Star... I understand your determination to protect them... but..."

"It's all right, Ceroba. You should understand that even if I don't go stop him, he'll find us sooner or later."

"Then... all right... it doesn't matter anymore... Let me take you to see an old friend."

With that, Ceroba led North Star through turn after turn in the alleys.

"We're almost there," Ceroba said, frowning despite herself. For some reason, she had a bad feeling.

In the end, Ye Yu found Martlet, and he struck her with a slash of his blade with little effort.

"No..." Martlet seemed to realize something. "You... you're actually a human... aren't you... There's no mistaking it... You really are..."

Even Ye Yu, whose mind was filled with slaughter, couldn't help freezing for a moment.

"Martlet!" Ceroba's startled cry came from nearby.

Martlet froze too. "Huh... you're still... alive... Then Clover, he..."

But she had arrived too late. Martlet was already on the verge of turning to dust and scattering.

In desperation, Ceroba hurled the Boss Serum her husband had once researched, driving it precisely into Martlet's shoulder.

"Huh? This is..." Martlet paused, then remembered the research Ceroba had once done.

"This is the complete serum, without any flaws. I've already tested it on myself." With that, Ceroba transformed. The serum, which combined boss-monster power with human determination, instantly awakened her ancestral form, turning her into an enormous nine-tailed fox.

Martlet smiled as well, transforming into a blue bird of determination and soaring into the air as countless feathers filled the sky.

North Star shook his head. Unlike Martlet or Ceroba, he had no boss monsters among his ancestors and lacked the compatibility that came with a boss-monster bloodline, so he hadn't injected the serum. He simply took out a weapon in silence-a Gatling gun.

The three monsters who had once come together because of Clover, the yellow soul, reunited here. But the one they had met last time was a child with justice in his heart, while the one they now faced was a demon king with an immense amount of LOVE.