The next day came quickly and Alis, his brother along with the other mercenaries continued their journey to the Daeg valley.

The journey had gone by rather smoothly and they eventually reached the Daeg valley.

“There it is,” Olif said while pointing at the dark valley.

“We’re all going to die, hehe.” One of the mercenaries said with a deranged chuckle.

“Speak for yourself friend, I’m walking out of there with the head of the beast.” Another mercenary said with a smile.

“Sounds like you’re in it to win it… friend.” The mercenary from before said.

“Umm… Mr. Olif. What happens if we fail but survive? So we still get a reward or something?” One of the mercenaries asked.

Everyone remained silent for a moment before breaking into loud laughter.

“Listen here little guy, if we fail we die.” One of the mercenaries said as he held his belly from all of his laughing.

“You heard them, if we fail we die. However, if we do fail to kill Dreegmus and you do survive. Returning to Kalnae empty-handed will surely end up in you losing your life.” Olif said as he descended into the valley.

Hundreds if not thousands of broken carts, carriages and corpses littered the landscape.

You see, travelling to northern Faacri via the Tsav mountains usually took about two or three days. However, if someone took the path within the Daeg valley, they’d reach northern Faacri in about a day.

This meant that many greedy merchants in search of a quick bag of coin and oblivious farmers found themselves within the feeding cage of the beast.

Alis raised his guard to its highest possible setting as they walked.

According to stories, Alis had heard, Dreegmus was once a knight of the second highest possible rank.

He and his men took part in the bloody conquests beyond Faacri’s borders. It is said that he was driven mad by the constant battling and war. He eventually let his bloodlust take him over and that’s when he began slaughtering everyone, regardless of their origin.

But those were just stories.

Alis partially hoped that’s all they were.

“Ooh!”

Everyone froze when they heard what sounded like a howl in the distance.

Everyone froze as they search the dry planes within the valley for clues of where Dreegmus might be.

“The…!”

Everyone heard a voice yell.

“The Axis! I need to find it!”

The voice said before a loud explosion went off right in front of them.

Dust and rubble flew high into the air, but no one in the group was harmed.

“What the-" One of the mercenaries exclaimed before they say something that towered over them almost twofold.

It had a dark cloak that hid rusted bits and pieces of armour.

Its eyes had a blueish glow and it held a twisted fosblade in its right hand.

“My goodness-" One of the mercenaries gasped as the towering being raised its sword-bearing hand.

“Everyone move!” Olif yelled and in that moment, all who heard dodged to either side of the giant.

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to act quickly enough.

Alis rolled over to the side before seeing one of the mercenaries being chopped perfectly in half.

The gigantic fosblade belonging to the giant being glowed a deep crimson as its white flame burnt ever so brightly.

“That’s not Dreegmus Scornly! That’s a freaking Gregnor!” One of the mercenaries yelled.

“Calm down! Attack one at a time, we’ll see what happens.” Olif ordered and as though they were part of an elite unit of soldiers, everyone split up and surrounded the giant.

“The Axis. We must find it.” Dreegmus said as he swung his giant sword slowly across the valley.

Everyone managed to dodge the attack safely, but then a large beam of light shot out of the sword, splitting the land in two.

“What in the name of all that’s good is that?” One of the mercenaries asked.

Alis then saw an opening and readied himself for an attack.

“Cover me, I’m going in!” Alis yelled as he charged towards Dreegmus.

His target was Dreegmus’s sword-wielding hand, so he dashed towards it with all of the speed his legs could give and swung his fosblade across Dreegmus’s wrist.

The force from Alis’s dash sent him flying forwards, but he used his heels to dig into the dry soil, bringing him to a stop.

“Did it work?” Alis asked, but the expression on everyone’s faces was not one of triumph.

“Nope!” Trevenor yelled as Dreegmus raised his hand, revealing a tiny cut on his dirty skin.

“Let’s try pushing him over. He’s big and slow, maybe that’ll help us deal more damage.” Trevenor suggested as Dreegmus swung his sword again.

“The Axis… it will save us all… it will save me…” Dreegmus said before letting out another beam of light across the land.

This time, it hit someone.

One of the mercenaries checked and saw that his entire arm and part of the ground beside him was missing.

“Arrg!” The mercenary screamed before collapsing.

“You heard the young lad, push the sucker over!” Olif said and everyone began taking turns hitting Dreegmus’s legs with blunt attacks.

Trevenor was the most impressive, he used his innate strength to punch and kill Dreegmus’s legs, but no matter how hard he tried, the giant didn’t fall over.

One of the mercenaries lost their patience and ran towards Dreegmus while raising his steel sword.

Dreegmus saw this and sent his foot flying towards the mercenaries chest, sending the merc flying backwards, but that was half of the matter.

Dreegmus then jumped into the air and landed right on top of the merc, squashing his body.

“What the hell is that thing?” One of the mercs asked.

That’s when Alis felt the sharpest pain in his chest.

Trevenor felt it too and they both collapsed on the battlefield.

“What’s going on?” Reeca asked created two fosblades in her hands.

“Is it using some sort of area magic?” Olif asked.

Alis felt as though a million spears were impaling him and he felt as though his skin was on fire as the battle wore on.

So far, two people had died, meaning that out of fifteen, thirteen remained.

But since Alis his brother were unable to fight, only eleven were capable of participating in the battle.

“It’s not magic!” Alis managed to squeeze out.

“Continue fighting. My brother and I just have a… condition.” Alis said as he bit his teeth in pain.

Dark markings began appearing all over Alis and Trevenor’s bodies as their bodies changed on the battlefield.

Olif and Reeca re-joined the battle and tried their best to topple the giant.

“The Axis!” Dreegmus said.

“What’s he talking about?” One of the mercenaries asked as he frantically dodged both Dreegmus’s lethal attacks, but the beams he shot out seemingly at random.

“The Axis is a myth. The order wanted its enemies to fear it even more than they already do, so the order decided to fabricate the existence of some super powerful weapon hidden somewhere in Faacri.” Reeca yelled as she viciously slashed away at Dreegmus’s ankles.

Normally, a human would have fallen over and bled profusely, but all of Reeca's attacks barely scratched Dreegmus’s skin.

“I see… hey! Maniac! You want an Axis? I have one back home, follow me!” The merc said as he backed away from Dreegmus.

“What… you’ve found it?” Dreegmus asked as he slowly stopped moving.

“Uh- Yeah! Follow me, oh great one!” The merc said as he visually signalled that the other's attack with his eyes.

Reeca read his message clearly and dashed towards Dreegmus, leapt in front of him and stabbed his eyes.

Olif rammed into Dreegmus’s right leg and dragged the giant down as Reeca pushed all of her weight forwards.

The other mercenaries all pitch in and began hacking at the fallen giant.

The hack and slashed away as the giant fell to the ground. This seemingly inspired them to attack with increased viciousness.

“The axis…” Dreegmus muttered as Reeca continually dug her fosblade daggers further into his eyes.

“You don’t have it… don’t you?” Dreegmus said before the valley was bathed in darkness.

“Arrg!” Dreegmus screamed, but it wasn’t because of the damage Reeca and the others had dealt.

“Lairs!” Dreegmus yelled as his body was covered in particles of light.

“Retreat!” Olif yelled and everyone hopped off the giant's body. They all backed away to a safe distance as they saw Dreegmus’s body was covered in a glorious set of gigantic silver armour.

“I must regain what was once lost. Only by digging at the dirt and tearing the flesh from my fingers shall it be uncovered. The Axis. It holds the key to giving me back what fate took away.” Dreegmus said as a divine aura cloaked his body.

“Have you come to stop my search?” Dreegmus asked as he raised his sword, which now had a more refined shape and colour.

“So be it. A quick death is all I can offer you.” Dreegmus said before charging towards Reeca as his eyes bled.

Behind him, he left a firestorm of light that scorched the earth he stood on.

Reeca crossed her arms, aligning her daggers.

“You’re not the only one who can manifest their light in that form.” She said before a cloud of pure white light particles covered her.

[Eexel Reecanar!]

Reeca yelled as her body was covered in pure white armour that was adorned with wings in various places.

“What the-" Olif exclaimed.

“The boss said nothing about this!” One of the mercs said before sprinting away from the battlefield.

“Fleeing from battle? Then you truly are a pitiful being.” Dreegmus said as what looked like lightning struck the fleeing mercenary.

Reeca's body flickered as she tried attacking Dreegmus while his attention was still on the merc.

In that instant, the sound of a thousand thunders echoed out throughout the valley.

Olif covered his eyes with his hands to shield them from the sheer amount of force Reeca’s attack generated.

Olif lowered his hands to find Dreegmus standing exactly where he was before, except his armour now had several cracks.

“You… do you know where it is?” Dreegmus asked as he pointed his sword at Reeca.

“No? Then it truly is a shame. Such a fine warrior like you shouldn’t have to fight against her own.” Dreegmus said as he swung his sword in Reeca’s general direction.

The swing itself wasn’t a problem, but Olif and Reeca knew that the deadly beam of light would follow soon after.

Reeca watched as the sky turned white. A thin line then ran down to the earth at an unimaginable speed.

Reeca knew that she wasn’t going to be able to dodge it, so she crossed her arms and braced for impact.

But then a shadow appeared above her.

It looked like a man with horns and dark skin.

The man took the attack head-on and was blown away into the distance.

Reeca was then shocked by the sudden appearance of a man who looked like the one from before.

“Hey!” The man said.

“Trevenor?” Reeca asked, perplexed by the situation.

“Yep,” Trevenor replied excitedly.

Reeca then noticed that the two things protruding from his upper forehead weren’t horns, they were long stick-like antennae.

His skin had a grey appearance and was covered in various tattoo-like markings.

His body was also surrounded by a large amount of darkness that just hung around him.

As though the aspect of darkness itself was drawn towards him.

“Mmm? What’s a Velzen doing up here?” Dreegmus asked as he slowly raised his sword.

“What’s a Velzen?” Olif asked.

“It’s a dark being. You know, the ones from Nar' Agrun.” Reeca said as she rustled Trevenor’s hair.

“Hey! Focus!” They all heard a familiar voice yell from behind them.

Reeca saw Alis who approached them as steam rose from his body.

“Idiots! Above you!” Alis yelled.

Reeca and the others noticed that Dreegmus’s sword was already dangerously close to the ground.

Trevenor then braced his legs and caught the sword by its blade.

A large shockwave shook the earth, but Trevenor’s grip on Dreegmus’s sword remained strong.

“Incoming!” Olif yelled as another lighting strike descended from above.

Alis sighed before leaping into the air with crossed arms. He then took the lightning strike head-on and was once again sent flying.

“That boy's a maniac!” Olif exclaimed.

Reeca took full advantage of the situation. Trevenor held Dreegmus in place so she had a clear shot. She dashed towards Dreegmus, leapt into the air and hit him square in the face with her knee.

This sent the giant tumbling backwards.

Olif ran to Reeca’s side, jumped as high as he could go before digging his blades into Dreegmus’s already hollowed eye sockets.

Alis accumulated as much darkness as his body could allow in his hand and threw it at Dreegmus’s face, shattering Dreegmus’s helmet and cleaving away a segment of his face.

Reeca didn’t hesitate as she swung her Eexel across Dreegmus’s neck.

This did create a cut in his skin but it still wasn’t enough to kill him.

“Trevenor, follow me!” Alis yelled as he made another dark ball. He then ran towards Dreegmus with a large ball of darkness in his hand. Trevenor followed closely behind as they charge towards the falling giant

“Reeca, make a light spear! We’re going to blow his neck open.” Alis said, prompting Reeca to join them in their sprint.

Reeca then formed a spear of light and stuck it between the cut she’d created earlier.

This didn’t do much on its own, but then Alis and his brother shoved their balls of darkness down Reeca’s tiny hole.

This forced all of their magic to force itself through Dreegmus’s flesh, blowing a hole in his neck.

Reeca, Alis and Trevenor landed near where Olif stood as Dreegmus’s body finally fell with a loud thud.

Then, almost as though the world was celebrating the death of a monster, sunlight pierced the darkness of the Daeg valley.

The group of monster slayers then walked up to Dreegmus’s head where he gurgled his last words.

“Ah… stand proud men… for it was I who failed you…” Dreegmus said as his eyes closed for the last time.

“Who is he talking to?” Trevenor asked.

“No clue,” Reeca said as her armour disappeared.

Trevenor and Alis had also returned to their human forms, however, their tattoos remained.

“That… was weird,” Olif said, his eyes tired. He then walked over to Dreegmus’s hand and chopped off one of his fingers.

Well, he tried.

Reeca and the other helped him before noticing that not all of the mercenaries had died.

Within one of the huge holes created by Dreegmus’s beams hid one of the mercenaries.

“You ok?” Olif asked.

“Am I ok? Are you ok? You were the one standing in between all of that.” The merc yelped.

“Hehe, I’m ok. Relatively speaking.” Olif said and for the first time since taking their job, everyone got to see Olif smile.

“Come on, let’s go!” Olif said as he walked up and out of the Daeg valley.

The others followed and Reeca eyed the Aventor brothers the entire time.

“You’re making me feel uncomfortable,” Alis said to Reeca who’s eyes sparkled a little.

“Sorry, it’s just… I’ve fought and killed so many of your kind, but this is the first time I’ve seen a dark being that wasn’t trying to eat my flesh while I was still alive,” Reeca said excitedly.

“Yeah well, I’m sure you’ve also noticed that we’re not normal,” Alis said.

“Oooohhh! So that’s why your fosblade was so bad.” Her voice had nary a trace of mockery or teasing. She genuinely thought his use of light magic was bad.

“Hehe, you don’t have to tell us. We’ve been told that many a time.” Trevenor said with a pained laugh.

The group then made it to a safe hill somewhere comfortably far from the Daeg Valley.

“So let me get this straight. You were once the second strongest knight over fifty years ago and you two are dark beings who also used to be knights?” Olif asked as he took a generous sip from his waterskin.

“Yep. Pretty much.” Trevenor said blankly.

“My goodness…” The last remaining mercenary gasped.

“So… how much are we getting paid for what we did?” Alis asked.

“Well, we did kill Dreegmus Scornly, so I imagine it’s quite a lot,” Reeca said.

“You imagine correctly. The boss will pay you accordingly, but if I can be entirely honest with you, I would love to work with you again.” Olif said sincerely.

“Speak for yourself. After this, I’m retiring. I’m heading far south, building a little house and living out the rest of my days in peaceful solitude.” The mercenary said.

“Hehe, sounds like a good time,” Trevenor commented before noticing that Reeca had her eyes glued on him.

“What is it?” Trevenor asked as he turned his body away from her shaking eyes.

“Oh, it’s just… you’re a literal Velzen.” She said.

“It’s amazing,” Reeca said.

“Yeah, but we’re also part human,” Alis said as the morning breeze blew gently by the hill.

“How does that work?” The mercenary asked.

“We’re not quite sure. One of our parents was a dark being and the other was a human. However, we were abandoned practically right after birth so we may never know.” Alis said.

“Damn… that’s dark.” The mercenary said.

Silence followed for a bit before Olif got up with a stretch.

“Ah well, enough chit chat. Let’s go.” Olif said and the group began its return journey to Ianndor.