Elemental Cats

Toz thought about what Stitches had told him about Starry Sky Whales. Although the whales' appearances weren't described in detail, they generally seemed to match the beast heading the horde of void beasts. A colossal body with a dark blue underside that gradually fades to a deep shade of midnight blue on the back. Large fins on either side that push the whale forward with incredible momentum.

The closer the massive beast got to the island, the more Toz found it reasonable to call it a Starry Sky Whale. Toz wouldn't have had any reason to doubt it if only the beast's back was dotted with starlight crystals. And nothing Stitches had said explained why the void beasts were chasing it or where the feeling of distress was coming from.

The beast steadily approached the island, and the details that Toz and the others could discern grew clearer. Although they couldn't see the whale's facial expression, they could sense that the void beasts were chasing the whale, not following its lead.

And that the tsunami of void beasts was more massive than they had initially thought. It was a lot further away than the whale, so it had been difficult to tell how many void beasts there were. But as the whale got close enough, they could see how significant the distance between the whale and the void beasts was. And the trail of blood that the whale left in a trail behind.

Stitches' assumption that the starlight crystals had been correct. The Starry Sky Whale's back was covered in deep pits and groves where the starlight crystals had been. The harvesting process had been incredibly brutal and left the Starry Sky Whale's back looking like a minefield. Toz almost doubted his eyes as he saw how the whale could even survive and flee with such vigor, with its back covered in grievous wounds that spewed fountains of blood behind it.

Toz quickly realized that the leaking blood and the mana were what kept the void beasts chasing after the whale.

Shortly after the whale was close enough for the people on the island to see the horrendous injuries on its back, Toz also saw the source of the feeling he received from his inclination.

Toz identified a small blue cat on top of the whale's head. The cat was looking in the direction of the mass of void beasts and was launching magic at it. Toz was too far away to sense what kind of magic it was, but it left scars in the Void that bisected, devoured, or tore apart the void beasts that came into contact with them.

It was unlike anything he had seen, and he wanted to see more, but when Toz saw the cat, the cat turned around and looked right at him. After looking down at the whale and speaking a few words, the blue cat dashed ahead of the whale.

Toz lost track of the cat as it seemed to disappear short distances before reappearing further ahead at an incredible speed. It didn't take long for the cat to arrive in front of Toz on the others. And while the others were stunned to see a cat appear in the middle of the air right in front of them, from seemingly out of nowhere, and gaped at its arrival, the cat only had eyes for Toz.

The cat floating in mid-air right outside the island's barrier locked eyes with Toz for a few short moments, and when Toz blinked, it spoke.

"Please help us."

"Sure."

Toz didn't have a reason to refuse since the void beasts were already headed in their direction. Not to mention, it was a cat asking for help. There was no way Toz wouldn't accept the cry for help. There was also the risk that the whale would drag the island down with it if they didn't help.

The blue cat sighed in relief before turning to look at the whale. But before it could go back and continue helping the whale, Toz stopped it.

"What do you need us to do?"

The cat had been so caught up in the moment, and all it could think about was getting help before returning to the whale, so it didn't respond immediately.

"...Um. What can you do?"

Toz turned to look at Stitches. The void beasts were chasing the whale due to the blood and mana leaking from the wounds on its back. In order to stop the void beasts from following the whale, they would need to get rid of the reason they were following it, to begin with.

"Can you heal the wounds on its back?"

Stitches scratched his chin before answering.

"Not before the void beasts run us down. The wounds are too large and too many for me to stop the bleeding. Maybe if I had a few shiploads of bandage and a dozen helpers."

Stitches naturally didn't have access to any of those things, so he was basically telling them that he couldn't heal the whale before it was too late.

The cat looked despondent at that, but it turned back to Toz with a hopeful gaze. However, the next one to speak was Mindle.

"Then we only need to get rid of the void beasts until the whale recovers, right? We can do that."

Toz nodded his head.

"That's the only thing we can do for now." Toz looked at the blue cat. "Do you think your friend can push us along in their current state?"

"If you help us get rid of the void beasts, it's no trouble."

The blue cat flickered through the Void back to the whale. Presumably, to tell the whale what it had agreed to and about the help, it had gotten.

The whale was already swimming in the island's direction, so it didn't need to change course. However, if it didn't slow down, it would crash into the island and shatter it to pieces. Since it hadn't stopped while the blue cat visited the island, it only took a few minutes for the whale to reach the island, where it slowed down and gently put the tip of its mouth against the island before it began pushing to regain the speed it lost.

The whale's massive size was even more impressive up close, but Toz and the others didn't have time to waste being impressed.

Toz, the cats, and Hods joined the blue cat in launching attacks on the horde of void beasts that had begun catching up while Stitches began healing the whale's back.