Felicity's Beast World Apocalypse

Chapter 174: Pillow Fort

Victor moved first. Dimitri met him without hesitation, their clash cracking the ground as fire and ice encountered something more suffocating. Victor’s blades formed, heat and frost melding into sharp, controlled edges. Dimitri’s silence domain expanded just as fast, swallowing sound and dulling magic as nullification pressed in. Neither held back. Not anymore.

Victor drove forward again, faster, sharper, forcing Dimitri to shift instead of simply erase, and Dimitri responded in kind, his movements fluid but heavy with pressure, each counter carrying weight that demanded respect. They were smiling, not with humour but with recognition, the kind that came when someone finally found an equal worth testing against. Sweat built quickly, not from strain but from exertion that actually meant something, both of them pushing further, deeper, letting more of themselves surface than they had since the collapse began.

"Never seen him like this," one of Leaf Team muttered. Their eyes stayed fixed on Dimitri as he moved with a level of force rarely witnessed; his control was still present but stretched thinner than usual.

Meanwhile, Snow Team didn’t look any less focused; their attention was unwavering as the battle played out.

"Yeah," Sarge said quietly, watching Victor force through a partial nullification with brute intent alone, "same here."

The air around both groups tightened, not just from the fight, but from something else beginning to surface.

Richard stepped forward slightly, his voice cutting through just enough to be heard. "We need to talk."

Dimitri didn’t stop fighting, but his attention was split. "Say it," he said.

Richard didn’t hesitate. "There’s a group moving east. Taking women."

Leaf Team’s focus snapped. "Taking?" Dawn’s voice came low.

Richard’s gaze didn’t move. "Some forced. Some convinced. Doesn’t matter which."

Thane’s wings stilled overhead.

"And you’re sure," Dimitri said.

"Yes."

Then Richard added, "They tried with her."

That broke something, like glass shattering beneath the sudden, violent surge of anger, grief, and protectiveness. The air snapped with the crackle of unfinished rage, raw and pulsing, silent but screaming in the looks exchanged.

The reaction was immediate—a wave of silent fury and dread rolled through the group, tightening jaws, clenching fists, every breath pulled shallow with purpose.

Exile’s body tightened so fast the ground beneath him cracked, his tongue flicking rapidly, faster, sharper, the air around him shifting under pressure that wasn’t being controlled properly anymore.

Dawn took a half-step forward without meaning to.

Thane dropped lower.

Even Dimitri—something flickered in his eyes. A shadow of rage and shock edged his features, jaw locking, hands curling tighter, his domain pulsing colder for a moment.

"What do you mean, tried?" Dimitri asked, voice quieter now.

Voss answered this time, not looking away from the fight. "They didn’t ask." The silence that followed was heavier than anything Dimitri’s domain could produce.

"They tried to claim her," Damien added, tone flat, controlled, which made it worse.

Ivan’s jaw tightened. "Tried to force it."

Now it wasn’t just tension, it was direction. Leaf Team didn’t move closer; shoulders stiffened, jaws set. Silence hung as they all shifted. Exile’s coils tightened, constricted, breath hissing. Dawn’s presence pressed, almost smothering.

Thane’s gaze sharpened.

Even Dimitri, for the first time, missed a hit.

Victor’s strike landed harder because of it, forcing Dimitri back half a step. Dimitri’s jaw clenched, breath sharp as he recovered instantly. The fight snapped back into motion, but something had changed now. They weren’t just releasing pressure anymore. They were carrying it. Now they knew where it pointed.

Felicity stepped out of her space into that exact moment, completely unaware of the weight she was walking into. She wore a soft, fitted crop top and a light tennis skirt that moved easily with her steps, the fabric lifting just enough with each movement to draw attention in a way she clearly hadn’t considered, especially without anything layered underneath. She carried a small bundle of ice creams in her hands, smiling brightly as none of the tension around her existed.

The reaction was immediate.

Snow Team had already adjusted to her in pieces, but even they weren’t immune to moments like this.

Damien looked once and immediately dragged a hand down his face, muttering under his breath while forcing his gaze away, only for it to snap back again, the instinct to protect hitting harder than the initial reaction.

Ivan stepped in closer without thinking, settling just behind her with quiet intent, his presence anchoring there as it belonged.

Voss shifted as well, subtle but deliberate, placing himself at an angle that covered more space than before.

Leaf Team reacted differently.

Their attention was caught in ways they didn’t fully control. Not just because of how she looked, but because of how she acted, how easily she fit into a space that should have been tense, how naturally she handed things out as if this was normal.

Exile went completely still.

Dawn’s presence deepened without him moving.

Thane hovered lower, gaze locked in a way that didn’t shift.

Even Dimitri’s domain faltered slightly, not breaking, but flickering just enough to notice if you were watching closely.

Felicity tilted her head, looking between them and then back toward Victor and Dimitri. "Are they okay?" she asked, concern softening her voice as she glanced at the fight.

Voss reached out and took one of the ice creams from her hand, grounding the moment before it stretched too far. "They’re fine," he said calmly. "Men need to burn things out sometimes."

She nodded, accepting that easily, her attention already moving on.

Tommy’s voice cut through from the building behind them. "Hey."

She turned instantly, bright again. "What?"

"I made you something."

"What?"

"A pillow fort."

Her entire face lit up without hesitation. "You did not."

"I did."

She turned to go immediately, already moving toward him with that same unguarded excitement.

Lucan caught her around the waist before she could get far, pulling her back against him with controlled ease. "Not so fast, bunny", he said, voice low but steady.

"I’m not going anywhere right now," she replied, looking back at him.

"Right now isn’t enough."

She blinked at that, processing it for a second but not pushing back, her attention already half pulled toward the building again.

Ivan’s voice came quietly from just behind her. "You’re staring again."

"I don’t like looking away."

Voss shifted slightly closer. "You’re hovering."

"Positioning."

"That’s the same thing."

"It isn’t."

Felicity didn’t fully register the tension in the exchange, her attention already drifting back toward the building as Tommy waved her over again, clearly impatient for her to see whatever he had built. Lucan still had a hand at her waist, not restraining, but not letting her slip out of range either, and the moment stretched just long enough to feel intentional before he finally released her with a quiet exhale.

She didn’t hesitate. She moved, and like gravity—they followed.

Exile was the first from Leaf Team to shift, his massive form uncoiling with a subtle urgency that he didn’t bother hiding anymore. Legend exchanged a quick glance with Marx before both of them moved as well, casual on the surface, but far too quick for it to actually be casual. Dawn followed a second later, slower, heavier, like he was choosing to move rather than being pulled, and Thane dropped from above to join them, his gaze still fixed ahead.

"What is a pillow fort?" Dawn muttered.

"Dawn? You had NO childhood," Marx replied, already grinning slightly. "She’s excited, and I’m excited."

"That’s not how importance in childhood works," Dawn said flatly.

"It is now," Legend added, tone dry.

They followed anyway.

Back near the clearing, Victor and Dimitri had not slowed.

If anything, they had pushed further.

Victor’s fire flared sharper now, heat bending the air as he forced through Dimitri’s suppression, ice following immediately after to reinforce each strike, layering pressure in a way that demanded response. Dimitri answered with precision, his nullification tightening, not wide, not wasteful, but focused, forcing Victor to adapt mid-motion, to change angles, to reapply force instead of relying on repetition. The ground beneath them had already fractured in multiple places, the air itself feeling heavier where their power overlapped.

Neither of them had stopped smiling.

"You’re enjoying this," Victor said, not slowing as he drove forward again.

Dimitri shifted, catching the edge of the strike and redirecting it just enough to avoid taking it clean. "It’s been a while."

"That’s an understatement."

They moved again.

Snow Team watched without interfering.

Leaf Team did the same.

Voss stepped forward slightly, his attention still partly on the fight, but his voice directed toward Dimitri’s team. "You needed to know something."

Dimitri didn’t look at him.

"Say it," he said.

Voss didn’t waste time. "The one pulling people east. The one taking women."

"The leader met her, the Supreme."

That shifted things.

"He didn’t just meet her," Damien added, tone flat. "She went in as bait."

Leaf Team’s attention sharpened immediately. "She trapped him," Voss continued. "Played along. Got close."

"That part worked," Ivan said quietly.

Voss’s expression didn’t change. "The problem is he didn’t come out of it right."

Dawn frowned slightly. "Explain."

"He thinks she’s his," Voss said simply.

That landed.

"He thinks anything she says now is because of us," Damien added. "That she’s being controlled."

Silence Heavy.

"That’s not a misunderstanding," Thane said.

"No," Voss agreed. "It’s not."

Exile’s body tightened again, slower this time, but deeper.

"That’s delusion," Dawn said.

"And dangerous," Ivan finished.

Voss nodded once. "So keep an eye on it." There was more to say.

No one needed it, said.

Across from them, the fight didn’t stop.

But something in Dimitri’s movement changed again.