A life was lost but the rewards shouldn’t be ignored. The final fight brought his level up by another notch, elevating his level to twenty-six and the loot dropped from those two monsters were more than enough to paid his effort for the whole trip. Two scrolls from Trumbo and an ankle bracelet from the goblin giant. Quite weird considering the goblin giant dropped such an item. It didn’t even look pretty as it was worn out and made out of leather. But loot was still loot, he grabbed it all kept it inside his bag pack.

Meanwhile, his eyes couldn’t stop shifting around the weapons and clothing owned by these two. The club owned by the dead goblin giant seemed likes a good weapon for Hakeem and the scepter owned by Trumbo was rather eye-catching.

But glancing over at Pixie who was still mourning over Dan’s body made his intention of keeping it all turned dimmer by the second.

I think I’ll keep these things from Trumbo and the goblin giant for Pixie.

A thoughtful and caring man or rather him just feeling guilty not being able to save the dude who helped him out twice. Debt and guilt were two things that Jason didn’t like, it made his conscious itched like having a rash inside his brain. He couldn’t just let it go away.

Snap out of it Jason, this is a war. Losing a life is normal.

He tried to convince himself that he shouldn’t felt guilty but it only made it worse. His eyes couldn’t stop glancing around Pixie who was burying her head on Dan’s dead chest. Calling this current period of time, a time of war was not that far-fetch considering how they were right now being invaded by these creatures. Although, no one and not even the government had declared that the current state is in a state of war but deep down Jason and most of those in the military knew they were deep in war.

Jason walked away silently without making a sound as he made his way to the panic room. The whole room was in a mess with two huge holes on the walls made by that magical huge hammer. Bricks and pieces of the wall were on the floor with dust floating in the air.

Shit, I hope she’s still alive.

Jason forgot the well-being of the young woman. He just hoped that she wouldn’t get caught in the cross-fire during his previous fight. Then he found her among the rubble that laid nicely around her. He drew closer and knelt beside her unclothed body. Miraculously, nothing had hit her.

For once she’s really damn lucky.

Jason saw her chest heaving up and down as she breathed normally in this dusty place. He checked her pulse and it was strong, better than before.

Let’s get out of here.

Jason carried her in his arms as he left the panic room. He stopped as he saw Pixie standing not that far from him as she stared right into his eyes. He turned away after a few seconds as he said.

“You can take the goblin giant’s club and whatever that it has.”

Jason walked away heading to the only door before he stopped.

“How is she?” Pixie asked.

“She’s fine,” Jason said. “Let’s get out of here, there are still monsters running around here.”

Jason a few steps more before he stopped after hearing Pixie’s voice.

“Why aren’t you healing yourself?” she asked.

Jason stood still not answering her. The bleeding open wounds kept on sending out pain signals to his brain, it was painful but he endured it. He would rather felt the pain of his wounds rather than being solely bound by the guilt in his mind.

“It’s fine, I need to save up some energy point. We still have a return trip,” he said.

“I’ll be waiting downstairs,” Jason said as he left her alone.

Walking downstairs wasn’t a good time as the whole staircase reeked off goblin corpses. Even for Jason, he couldn’t bear the stench and started retching. The young woman who was still unconscious in his arms also couldn’t help but cough out of reflex.

Jason got out from the stairs and took a detour. He found another staircase as he descended through the darkness. The night vision skill did its job as day and night didn’t make a difference for him.

Soon, he reached the ground floor. The whole floor was dead silent and looking around there was not a soul in sight. The only thing present was the lingering bad odor. Ignoring the filth and whatever corpses laying around, he exited the building through the main entrance.

The sun was up and the makeshift fences made out of everything were left unattended. It was like a deserted fortress yet he knew he was the cause of it. He walked slowly taking in the air while looking around the vicinity.

Even the monsters wandering around near this building was no longer in sight as if they went into hiding. Stepping outside the fences, Jason stopped in his track hearing the gasping breath from behind.

He turned around and saw Pixie. His eyes twitched after seeing the thing on Pixie’s back. Those two dangling arms over Pixie’s shoulders was enough to tell him what it was. Rather than bringing along the goblin giant’s club, she chose to honor her comrade rather than taking merit.

There was only silence between them. Pixie didn’t say a word except looking straight into Jason’s eyes. Her gaze was enough to tell Jason.

“Let’s go,” Jason said.

Walking down the empty street, their pace was quicker than before. Before they even know it, they were about to reach the border of the city. They met a few monsters along the way but Jason took care of it. This time he didn’t spare anything at all as he killed everything in sight without hesitation.

There was no more intentional training as going back home was the only thing that went through his mind. Yet as soon as he stepped out from the city, something blocked his path. Unlike those weak ass monsters he decimated in mere seconds, the one that hindered him was a rather familiar-looking thing.

A wolf similar in size to a full-grown adult tiger, yet that lightning-shaped horn was a giveaway that indicated it as a monster, and Jason knew who it was.

Jason used scan and noticed the increase in its level.

“Level sixteen? In a single night? It seems you been pretty busy, you mangy mutt,” said Jason.

He recognized the wolf. A monster he failed to tame but who would have thought a monster would come back for revenge at someone who tried to subjugate it through sheer force.

His hand was itching for another go in trying to tame this monster but he lost his mood. Right now, all of his thoughts were about returning back.

“Huh,” he sighed.

“I’m being generous today, so if that dog brain of yours understand my words, go away before I kill you,” Jason said.

Pixie saw the spectacle of how Jason tried to communicate with the wolf. It baffled her and in her mind, she was cursing at Jason for suddenly being lenient at a monster of all things. She wanted to curse at him and mocked him but no words escape her lips as she bottled it inside of her. A small sigh escaped as Pixie knew even if she throws a tantrum, nothing would change. Her comrade won’t return back.

But the wolf won’t budge. It stared right at Jason with its fangs bare for Jason to see. A sign that the wolf was ready.

“Like I said, fuck off before…” he couldn’t finish his word as the wolf sprang for the attack.

It rushed on its four limbs with the sole intention of preying over Jason. Yet as it leaped in the air with its jaw open wide, something hit it right at the side. An intense powerful pressure smacked it in the air sending it crashing over the ground rolling around for a few meters before stopping.

Luckily for the wolf, it managed to stay alive but it went out cold from that single hook from Jason. Its rather short time of living flashed across its eyes after taking that sudden hook. In the end, it fainted with its mouth foaming.

Jason thought it was dead as he moved along without caring for that mutt. Even Pixie didn’t bother glancing at the wolf as she just followed Jason from her behind.

After a while, they reached the bridge and to their surprise, they are people making camp near the entrance of the bridge.

From afar, a person waved their hands at both of them.

The whole squad came running at the two but as the distance shortened, they stood still frozen in place after noticing something was wrong.

Bowie broke the silence.

“Why are you carrying Dan? He isn’t the type to sleep behind someone’s back,” Bowie said.

It sounds ridiculous but he knew something wasn’t right. A good joke was a way to being a conversation yet Pixie’s tears trailed by her cheeks as it took everyone by surprise. No one expected to see a tomboyish person like her to cry. In their mind, she was the last person for them to expect to break into a tear.

Before anyone could say a thing over the sudden tear-jerking moment. Pixie let Dan’s cold body down on the ground as she let the whole squad saw the ending for their leader.

“Dan’s dead,” Pixie said.

The whole squad rushed over to Dan and after a few people checked Dan’s body, reality suddenly hit them. Smacking them right at the head.

“But… how?” Hemlock opened her mouth and Pixie narrated a concise story of what had happened.

The whole squad listened and at the end of the story, Bowie went ballistic.

“You!” said Bowie as he stomped his feet right towards Jason while pointing his finger.

“It’s your fault!” Bowie shouted. As the enraged soldier tried to throw a punch at Jason, Twitch and Sugar Man were quick on their feet as they held Bowie back.

“Let me go! This fucking bastard is the one who killed Dan!” Bowie couldn’t stop shouting.

While a few understood that this was war but there also a few of them glaring at Jason. In their heart and mind, Dan was a comrade they look up to, even back when they were training in military school. Harboring something towards Jason couldn’t be helped considering they had to accept the death of their friend.

Bowie kept on throwing profanities but Jason kept his cool as he kept his lips tightly sealed. He didn’t say a word as he just looked at these people in the eyes.

After a while, the situation cooled down a bit. Pixie took control of the squad as she then proceeded for the evacuation process. The whole squad turned into a muted group as they traveled back to the shore where the inflatable boat was located. Dan’s body was brought along and as they departed towards Welcome Island, everyone had their own thoughts in mind.

After reaching the island, a helicopter was already on standby. They were lucky as their timing was right. Dan’s body was put in a body bag and loaded up inside the cargo helicopter. Jason handed the young woman over to the field medic that came along with the chopper.

The young woman was being taken care of and Jason sat at the back of the helicopter with the rest of them. Dead silence prevailed over the air and as the sounds of the helicopter blade turned louder, at least it consoled Jason that he was going back.

The helicopter took flight heading back towards Toronto.

Meanwhile, the lighting horn wolf woke up from its unconscious state. It sprang up on its four legs in alarmed but seeing nothing was around it, the wolf remembered the pain it felt and it remembered that split second of the image of that man punching it. It was still alive yet this shame and humiliation it felt couldn’t be wash away. The moon hung on the sky as it was already dark and as the wolf howled at the moon in frustration, a second horn emerged as revenge was the only path it sought.