That night I decided to use the sphere to fall asleep. Dreams came to me, but one was more memorable than the others. It was so vivid that I found it hard to differentiate it from reality and I recognized the scenery immediately.

I was in the city in the Hidden Jungle, and I watched its fate unfold. Just like the pillars there had depicted, a man appeared in the sky. He shouted for the rain and the wind and as the rain fell, people began to morph into the amphibious creatures that I’d fought.

This process didn’t take years, or months, or even days. It took mere moments as every person I could see morphed in real time. There wasn’t even time for the people to panic, it happened so fast. Rain continued to fall in place there for weeks without stop.

The figure in the sky disappeared, and no people would enter or exit the city. My dream showed me how the city became known as a cursed place. The entire area became a no-go zone, and the jungle slowly grew around the city until it disappeared.

All I could think was that this was the action of a divine being. This was divine punishment… but for what? I had witnessed people appearing in the city out of thin air. Was their curse related to that? Did this city—its people—have something to do with people from Earth coming to Yetera?

The dream didn’t progress past the growth of the jungle, and nothing else came to me that night. If I had to guess how long I’d slept for, it would be four or five hours, but the reality turned out to be very different from that.

A knock on my door woke me, “Joseph!” It was Briele. My mind was foggy as I raced to the door and opened it. “Get dressed and let’s go!” she urged.

“For what? What’s going on?”

“I thought you of all people wouldn’t want to miss the execution.”

“So soon?”

“It’s nearly sundown. If we don’t leave now you’ll miss it.” She was aware of the murder of my friends by members of Tyrant—was one of the few people who knew. I dressed as quickly as possible and didn’t bother with my appearance.

I followed her to the city center, just in front of the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters. The stage was there, and atop it was Dominik as well as five others from Tyrant. I had never seen an execution on Yetera and wasn’t sure how it was going to happen.

This was what I wanted, but somehow this didn’t feel good. It wouldn’t bring my friends back from the dead. Dominik was a snake though—a liability—and needed to be removed. Humanity was not safe with someone like him having so much influence and power.

The six of them were bound and resting on their knees facing the crowd. There was no fight left in them, and even the Tyrant members in the crowd showed no resistance or unruly attitudes. Instead, they looked crestfallen. This was the end of the era of their dominance.

The Adventurer’s Guild Master started to speak, “Dominik, due to crimes against humanity you are hereby sentenced to death.” He turned his eyes to those beside the Tyrant guild leader, “Those on the stage with you have been proven to have knowledge, and even assisted in your attempt to sabotage humanity.”

Dominik didn’t look up, but those that had been dragged down with him seemed to struggle with the announcement. Their faces contorted from anger and fear but it seemed that they were magically restrained from being able to speak, perhaps out of fear that they would incite a riot.

“To ensure that nothing untoward happens, I will be personally responsible for carrying out the executions.” The Adventurer’s Guild Master spoke before beckoning someone to come onstage. The man carried hoods and placed them over each person’s head.

The manner of execution wasn’t a special spell or ability. The Adventurer’s Guild Master simply did what I knew he could do: he forcefully stopped their hearts one at a time. I could feel each of their souls dissipate until there was nothing left.

What a waste…Now that was a scary thought to have crossed my mine. It wasn’t regret, but simply the fact that I could have progressed so much if I had been able to harvest their souls. The atmosphere was stifling and the crowd so silent a pin drop could be heard.

The Tyrant members in the crowd looked uneasy. A hydra just had two of its heads cut off and would never be the same. It was possible in this moment to completely destroy the Tyrant guild. No one would speak up for them, and they couldn’t defend themselves if it came to that.

The Adventurer’s Guild Master could read the atmosphere, and offered the cowering Tyrant guild a lifeline. “Mykael, can you come up here?” He was addressing an older gentleman, someone most likely from the Adventurer’s Guild Masters own generation. He was with the Tyrant guild, and one of the people arrested: the only one who had submitted willingly when Dominik was apprehended.

“It’s been a long time old friend.” Mykael said while taking the Adventurer’s Guild Masters hand.

“Two years now?” the Adventurer’s Guild Master said.

“Longer than that,” Mykael laughed. His demeanor didn’t have any of the ego and arrogance that other Tyrant members had.

“Everyone,” the Adventurer’s Guild Master announced, “this is the new leader of Tyrant guild.” He turned to Mykael, “Is this fine with you?”

“Do I have any alternative? If I do, you know I would rather take that option.”

“Unfortunately, the Tyrant guild needs a leader and only you can do it. If not I will be forced to disband the guild.”

Mykael looked around at the faces of the Tyrant guild members and I followed his gaze. They were filled with unease and confusion. Many of them were terribly arrogant and insufferable but a good chunk of the membership was at no fault. “Alright, I understand. I’ll do it.”

“We leave in two days for the portal, so everyone should be prepared. There is no turning back!” Having made the announcement, the Adventurer’s Guild Master left the stage.

Despite the Tyrant guild not being disbanded, I wasn’t disappointed. It was an undeniable fact that we needed every bit of power we could field. I met the Adventurer’s Guild Master as he was heading down the stage.

“Satisfied?” He looked at me. “Or do you think we should have disbanded them?”

I smiled for the first time in what felt like days, “Not at all. Can Mykael be trusted though?”

“No need to worry, he’s the farthest from a Tyrant member in demeanor than anyone.” I looked at him curiously, the look I gave when I wanted an explanation. “A long time ago he was someone I taught. Bright, kind, and a ton of potential.”

“Why did he join the Tyrant guild then?” I shot out before letting him finish.

“Wait, let me get to it,” the Adventurer’s Guild Master complained. “It was a debt—an unnecessary debt. The previous Tyrant guild leader saved his life and he joined the Tyrant guild to repay that. His strength eventually grew high enough to make him someone of renown in the guild. Unfortunately, he didn’t fit in, and wouldn’t go along with their plans. He’s been the ugly duckling of the Tyrant guild for over a decade now, maybe longer. He knows the ins and outs of the Tyrant guild but has none of the negative tendencies.”

I could accept that explanation well enough to move on. To have demanded the entire Tyrant guild disband would have been unrealistic. A precedent had never been set for such a thing before, even if the situation was currently where it was.

The key people involved had met justice as swiftly as possible. The Adventurer’s Guild Master made sure of identifying the right people by using mind link. There was the assistant as well, but as was had thought, he had been murdered to hide the information about where the egg was hidden.

The Assassins’ Guild was also involved, having been hired to kill Renald, the creator of their secret room. By some stroke of fate he had avoided two attempts on his life. This information was obviously secret, but the Adventurer’s Guild Master swore to uproot the Assassins’ Guild if they didn’t reveal all their contracts with Tyrant and they’d admitted to Renald being a target.

Since their clients had been executed, there was none of the usual need for secrecy. As for the female assassin, she was part of the bargaining chip in obtaining that information. She was a blood relative—the niece—of the assassins’ guild master.

I was not averse to her being released. The Adventurer’s Guild Master assured me there would be no third attempt by her on me, as she was thoroughly crippled. Her life would be far from pleasant, and to me that was good enough.

Back at my room, I found that there was nothing else to keep me here—no goal. My drive for revenge on the Tyrant guild had kept me motivated for so long, I really had to look deep inside myself for why I cared. And the answer was my family. I liked to think that my brother or even my parents were waiting on the Eastrath continent. It gave me a sense of purpose for the upcoming battle that I wasn’t just helping save humanity in general but people I loved in particular.