With another shriek, he watched in horror as the big orb of water descended upon him. There was no way he''d survive such a powerful attack. He''d be dead lizard meat!


    Fwoooosh!


    Grglrgrlgrglrglrgrlgr~! The Smander inhaled water and choked and gagged on it until ultimately, it fainted with its mes all extinguished.


    As his eyes slowly closed he caught a glimpse of Satoshi, who had been floating in mid-air with the use of his Nailgun familiar. For a moment, he remembered the time when he was captured by a summoner just like Satoshi, and he was told to do his bidding in attacking this world in this dimension. Even though it was against his will, the Alpha Red Smander was forced to do the summoner''s bidding. After all, he lost in the contest of might against the summoner and he was even captured. There was nothing he could do but obey.


    But now!


    With the help of Satoshi and his desire to get out of that bind, the summoner''s attachment to him had been cut offpletely— right when Satoshi beat him fair and square in a contest of might. As his consciousness dwindled, he felt more at peace than usual. ''If I died here, then I''d have died peacefully. At the very least, I could finally put a stop to wreaking havoc... I''ve killed so many under the influence of that summoner... do I deserve to die peacefully?'' The Alpha Red Smander said to itself.


    "All right! Now we summon the blue mes. This should work." Satoshi said to himself.


    After he floated down to the ground, he began doing his weird ritual dance once again, summoning the Blue mes that would enable him to capture the Alpha Red Smander and make it stronger under his wing. "Uoooh~! Ah! Whoo!" He grunted, the Blue mes gettingrger andrger.


    Not enough!


    Not yet!


    Satoshi knew that his superpower had its own inconsistency and there was a good chance that the Blue mes won''t be enough to capture the Alpha Red Smander. If by any chance the mes weren''t strong enough, it will touch a nearby creature and make it his familiar instead. Satoshi couldn''t afford that. Judging by the sheer size of the Alpha Red Smander, he needed more willpower on that Blue me to bring it into submission.


    A good minute passed and the Blue me dancing around the palms of Satoshi''s hand grew to a size of a yoga ball, ever burning but its mes were as tranquil as ever, and the heat emanating from it was warm, not the usual heat of mes that could burn. "Whoo!" Satoshi voiced out, forcing the Blue mes to touch the unconscious smander.


    Fwooom!!!


    A sudden surge of energy emerged from the Alpha Red Smander as its eyes flipped open. It let out a thunderous shriek, and the mes it released was more intensepared to before. With a thud, the Alpha Red Smander got to his feet and walked toward Satoshi.


    Satoshi put up his hands, not knowing what to do. Did the Blue mes work? Did it not work? It was toote for him to ask those questions since the Alpha Red Smander caught him off guard. By the time he realized what was happening, the Alpha Red Smander''s face was already pressed against him.


    "Ouch! I''m going to burn to dea— eh?" Satoshi let out such an embarrassing scream but nothing happened. Emma chuckled at him, much to his embarrassment.


    With a calm gaze and a gentle shove, the Alpha Red Smander pressed his forehead on Satoshi. ''''Thank you... for setting me free. I-I don''t think I deserve a second chance... after all those murders, and those wrongdoings I was forced to do... thank you, new master.''


    Somehow, the Alpha Red Smander transmitted a signal towards Satoshi''s head, allowing them to converse with one another.


    "I uh... I see! Hehe, wee to the team! From now on you''ll be known as Pyromander! How do you like that name?" Satoshi said, patting the Alpha Red Smander.


    The Alpha Red Smander didn''t transmit any signal, instead, it began cooing, almost like a purring out from a cat. Satoshi could tell that the new member of the team was satisfied with his new identity.


    "Satoshi, are you all right?" Emma asked. She seemed more beat up than Satoshi even though she was just on the sidelines.


    "Yes, I''m all right. Let''s go, can you make another portal for us?"


    Emma nodded. "Thanks to your familiar Sera, I can create another portal going back."


    "Nice," Satoshi heaved a sigh of relief. At the very least, the n worked and he snagged another powerful familiar for his team While its powers were somewhat simr to his other fiery familiar, Lighter, Satoshi was confident that the two of them won''t disappoint... and that they''d have unique traits and uses in the battlefield.


    .....


    "All right, it''s time for us to go," Emma called out to Satoshi who had been patting the head of the Alpha Red Smander all this time. She couldn''t believe that in such a short span of time, the two who once faced each other on the battlefield were already that close.


    "All right!"


    Once again, Satoshi hesitated to step foot inside the portal but he mustered all his courage to do so. It was as sinister as ever, and he could tell that Emma''s portals had gotten strongerpared to before, probably due to the buffs that Sera gave her.


    [Have her send us to the Dungeon Spire, Satoshi] Dex informed him in his brain.


    With a nod, Satoshi ryed the instructions. "Dex told us to go near Dungeon Spire. Can you do it?"


    "On it!" Emma gritted her teeth, controlling her portals even more. It hasn''t been that long since she got back to her world and now she had to leave again. While she hasn''t been able to locate her family, she could feel it in her bones that they are still alive. ''Mother, Father, I''ll be back again soon,'' She thought to herself as she stepped foot inside the portal with Satoshi.


    Fwoooosh!


    One moment, they were in the dimension where Emma came from, the next moment, they were back on Earth, specifically on the Sea of Japan where the Dungeon Spire spawned.


    But that wasn''t the only thing in the Sea of Japan.


    Right behind the Dungeon Spire stood a huge gate, bigger and more threatening than the previous gates that showed up a couple of weeks ago.