Dustille shot arrow after arrow at the monster, every single time aiming at its face. The cracks that, thanking the almighty Odin, Charlene's ray of light had done with her last attack, weakened its armor enough that her arrows could finally dig into it, doing a fair amount of damage.

Then real terror started.

Screams of terrifying agony perverted the air, shocking her as well as Charlene into immobility for a couple of seconds. The same could be said for the Armored Tyrant still staggering back.

The screams came from Gabriel.

Dustille started hyperventilating; her very soul shivered for a moment. Something was wrong with Gabriel.

As she reloaded another arrow, a quick-thinking made her use Scan, a stronger version of Analyze, on him.

What the hell?

Question marks were all she could see about all of his stats. But one thing was clear, his Life, it was at zero.

But he was a level 13; she had seen everything about him before, what the hell happened? And more importantly, why wasn't he dead?

Then the thing, Gabriel, got up. He took a weird stance. His screams stopped emitting the air of agony. Now they were just… weird, animalistic, it was like a roar, but weirder than that, was his stance, he looked like… like A lizard?

He turned to regard her, and Charlene doing all she could to gather light-tainted Mana from the Ambient to shoot her next ray of light at the monster. Not-Gabriel emitted a sound, then he jumped, his weird spear still gripped tight in his left hand. And he shot far, far in the distant air, toward the east, toward the Hole.

Dustille's gaze turned back to the Armored Tyrant. It looked weirded out as much as them. But, it was ready to follow Gabriel.

Something inside of Dustille said no. She would not allow it, not another death on her watch. She had failed greatly with Greencliff; she was the scout, after all. She should have noticed the monster's arrival. Yet she didn't. Everything that happened was her fault.

Yeah, Greenfield was talking a lot. But it was one of his peculiarities, and she had always been able to filter that out. It was well within her abilities. Hell… she had always done it. But today… today, she had failed.

And so she shot arrow after arrow, and when the monster teleported, she dashed toward it.

Following it with a crazed look.

The soundless Charlene extended a hand at her, probably wishing to stop her friend.

I'm sorry… Dustille thought. She would not stop.

***

Dikez and Terry had been fighting off a group of monkeys in hiding, the fuckers produced rocks out of thin air, and their throw was nothing to scoff at, but in the end, they were just a bunch of low-level shits, Dikez though. Without turtles to support them, they were easy to deal with.

Dikez and Terry were both speedsters. He could see that the Viking was using a Higher element, Crystal. The element was the result of Ice as Hard magic and Wind as Soft.

The young giant was a Wind user. His Stamina and Recovery bound Skills had blended into his Signature Skill. Effectively making him a Gale Barbarian.

Terry might be on the verge of Tier 4. Dikez thought, a little jealous, about his new companion and yet, uselessly so, given the fact that with his twenty-seven years of age and already a Tier 3, he was a promising youngster; while Terry was probably reaching his hundredth winter, and though not everyone could become a Tier 4 during their lives. Dikez knew that he would fare much better than him.

Or at least so he hoped, but right now, he was being outclassed by him.

Still, his jealousy was short-lived, as he killed the last monkey with a horizontal slash and raised his head to take a breath. Shooting in the sky like a comet, he saw something that looked like the hummie, the male one.

"That's one weird hummie you brought with you," Terry said, cleaning his Carolingian sword.

"He indeed is… He might be one of the weirdest hu-" Dikez was interrupted by a loud pop and an air displacement strong enough to make him squint his eyes.

An Armored Tyrant materialized for a second, stomping on the ground in a run once more, tramping trees and splintering the roots littering the forest's floor in his wake.

The monster was looking up at Gabriel, its facial armor a mess; the same could be said about the rest of its natural armor.

Two projectiles zipped past them, finally startling the two shocked giants in taking once again a fighting stance, but the projectiles were aimed at the Tyrant. They hit it at the back of the neck.

What the hell is going on here!?

The Tyrant staggered forward.

Dikez noticed that more than a few arrows were sticking out of its back armor. He hadn't seen them at first because the huge spikes jutting out of it were hiding them.

Dustille, the objectively beautiful giantess, got out from the thick at his left. She stopped just for a second to aim and fire once again.

Her shot was powerful, not remotely enough to pierce a Tyrant's natural armor, but reduced in that condition; it was more than enough.

The projectiles were imbued in ice, helping in slowing down the creature. However, it was so damn focused on following Gabriel that it defied logic. The creature was dying, that was clear, but it did not care at all. It just wanted to catch Gabriel.

"That behavior…" Terry whispered, uncertain.

"Kill it!" Dustille shouted at them.

Imbuing himself in wind, Dikez was the first to react. He knew there wasn't much he could really do, if not distract the creature, but maybe it would be enough.

Terry followed suit.

They both crashed against the Tyrant, watching out for his dangerous tail, but otherwise hammering it with blows.

Dikez axes descended with ferocity as he danced around it. He was carefully maneuvering away from the creatures flailing limbs.

It was one of the Elite; he was sure of it. The Guardian types were much smaller in size, usually smaller than them. This one was as tall as Sigmund, if not more.

Focused on the poor amount of damage he was doing at it, Dikez was surprised when it popped away once more. What he was most surprised about, though, was something else. He was baffled by Dustille's decision to keep following it.

Really now?

***

Dustille kept running toward the creature. She had seen Gabriel's Skill failing, maybe it had no Mana left, and he started falling down, toward the forest's floor.

Take that damn potion and run, idiot! She thought when she saw a weirdly wide-eyed Gabriel roll on the floor multiple times and spring up once again, running in the weird way he had been doing before, like a lizard.

But the Tyrant was upon him.

It appeared with a crack of splintering trees as it manifested in the middle of one, its stuck tail eradicating the tree with a swift movement.

"No!" She shouted.

And yet, the Tyrant stopped.

Its body quickly suffusing into a gentle light.

The monster was covering him entirely, so she would have to use Far Sight, a Perk that allowed her vision to reach far in the distance and bend around objects to gauge what was going on, but she didn't do it in time.

And then she saw him, Gabriel running away as if nothing had happened.

It turned toward the other side, the Tyrant, its armor slowly reknitting. Slowly but unfathomably fast for something with that level of Resilience.

What has- no… he healed him! She realized.

There was only one explanation.

As much as Helping Hand was a Basic Skill, it was inherently powerful. It could multiply Recovery by twice, thrice, or even more at high tiers; it worked wonders on a high-level being, especially on something with an Elite level Attributes. And Gabriel had just used it on the monster.

"Why!?" She screamed as the Tyrant popped closer to her.

"What happened?" Came Terry's answer.

"Run!" She said

And so they were forced to run away once more, the Tyrant definitely taking them into consideration now.

***

The escape took them into the heart of the forest, near its center, and exactly where Sigmund was coming from.

"Guys! The Tyrants are on war foot!" Sigmund screamed at them.

"Sigmund!" came Dikez's voice, "It's after us."

Dustille stopped at that moment.

With the Vairstrazz boy, we can kill it! She realized.

Her Extended Perception drove forward, piercing the thick of the forest, the image of a disheveled Charlene slowly built itself on her mind, thanks to her Echolocation Perk, she was heading toward them, she had probably heard the fracas.

Yes! They could do it with her.

"Sigmund! We need to bring that thing down. There's no escaping from it!"

"There's one behind me!" he screamed in response.

Fuck!

Dustille's view folded on itself with Far Sight.

There he saw it, the small Tyrants popping in existence, dust particles exploding forth and lights, normally not perceptible even from Enhanced Senses, flickering only to disappear just as fast, around the monster, exactly where space had bent its rules to allow it passage.

It's a Guardian! She said, judging by its size.

"Terry! Distract the Tyrant following Sigmund. Sigmund, prepare your O.H.K.O. strike! Bar-boy, you need to distract the one coming from behind us. Go, go, go!" She ordered. Then she drew her bow.

She could feel Dikez whispering, "Bar-boy?" Before he turned around to face the monster.

She knew the Guardian one would not be able to teleport if not once every, roughly, twenty seconds. That was a battle they could win. A battle they had to win, and fast too. What was coming behind them was something entirely on another level.

It started with Terry shattering in crystal fragments, only to reform right behind the Guardian Tyrant, his sword descended in an arc on its head, embedding into its neck.

The Tyrant felt the blow, staggering and swiftly turning to launch a powerful joint-claws strike at the attacker. If Terry took that on with his shield, he would lose it, as well as his arm, so he evaded to the side, but it was not enough.

Having failed the first attack, the creature continued its rotation, aiming to slam the giant with its tail. Terry was grazed by it on the leg, the powerful strike did not hit him full-on, not enough to break his bone, but the sharp edges of its tail spikes were enough to shave at part of Terry's shin meat and bones. Terry Enhanced Pain Resistance was enough to stop him from losing focus.

Then it came, the booming sound of Sigmund's cannonball assault.

The Guardian Tyrant's back armor exploded, fragments of it shooting in the air and on Sigmund's face, causing it to be enveloped in smoke. The power of the Vairstrazz's kid Skill killed the monster in one huge flashing move, but for a great sacrifice.

The only good weapon they had to deal with the Tyrant at their backs just got destroyed. It crumbled, leaving only the hilt in Sigmund's hands.

As he rose up and turned, Dustille swore. Sigmund had been blinded, his face a mash of armor shards and burns.

And yet he turned toward her, dropping the hilt to the ground, his hands still shaking for the aftermath of the attack. He opened the satchel at his belt and took out what was half a greatsword.

Dustille couldn't help but smile at his unwavering decision. Your uncle would be proud of you. She thought.

But she had no time to relax. Her Sixth Sense was piqued by something about to happen behind her. Just as she turned, Dikez screamed, his Enhanced Pain Resistance not enough to deal with what the creature was doing to him.

The monster had managed to grip hip, sinking its long claw-like digits into the young giant's right shoulder blade. Moving him like a rag doll, he slowly inserted the other claw inside of his left shoulder blade, and with a wicked grin, black as the void, it started pulling, and Dikez started screaming his lungs out.

"Stop!" She uselessly screamed, her arrow at the ready.

It's now or never.

She had been holding it back, but there was no better time to it than now. Her Signature Skil, she could only use it once; after all, it used her entire reserve of Mana.

Arctic Eagle!

The arrow left the bow, and as it did, it turned. Wings appeared first around it, then its head turned into a sharp beak, and the wood took the shape of an eagle's body. It was an eagle made entirely of ice.

Everywhere around its trajectory froze in a radius of three feet, the air itself, turning into blocks of ice that quickly fell to the floor, and it reached the creature's eyes, it would hit, she was confident, it would turn the monster into a block of ice, at least until Sigmund, even with his half of a greatsword, would cannonball to it and shutter it.

She was confident, but only until she was proved wrong in her expectation.

The Tyrant raised his eyes to the incoming projectile, then it moved away. Dikez together with him.

As if it was just a joke for him, it had teleported slightly forward, where the arrow had already passed. His re-apparition shattered the blocks of ice into fuming fragments.

I've failed again…

Dikez kept on screaming.

Once again, Terry sprang forward, turning into crystal only to reappear behind the creature, assaulting it with all he had.

Sigmund shouted, "What is going on!? Dikez!"

But the creature was unfazed. It didn't care about Sigmund, it didn't care about Terry's ineffective attacks, and it didn't care about Dikez screams. It was enjoying it, until something which it cared for, happened.

An intense ray of light washed over the monster, hitting it from its left side, it was much, much stronger than before, and it sent it staggering, its left claw leaving the poor giant barbarian be, but the right one refusing to let go as it squeezed him tighter instead.

The enormous ray of light kept hitting it for five seconds straight..

Recovering from her shock, Dustille used Analysis. The attack had managed to do almost three thousand damage to the monster's Life. She thanked the heavens for Charlene's existence. Her Light-based Skills and magic might have saved the day.

The creature was classified as a Dark - 3 element, Light dealing it 200% of the normal damage. But a quick glance at Charlene dropping on her knees for exertion told her that she would not be able to make any more contribution to the battle.

But she was wrong. With great effort, Charlene removed her bag and launched it at her. She was mimicking something with her mouth.

Potions… Potions!

Dustille ran forward, intercepting the bag just as the monster recovered from the heavy assault. Its teleport cooldown of ten seconds hadn't suffered from the blow, and it quickly was able to act again.

His gaze was vicious.

Probably remembering who was the one responsible for giving him the most problem, and at the same time realizing that once again, that giantess had hit him, almost killing him on the spot once again. It teleported in front of her.

As Dustille drew Terry's attention to get the bag and give a potion to Sigmund, she had already started drinking a couple of Mana potions, she would have to drink three to entirely refill her Mana, but she did not have the time.

Gurgling them down, she even choked a little while looking at what was happening in front of her.

She could do nothing to impede it, and she couldn't look away. She had to witness it. To witness her long best friend die at the hands of the Tyrant.

All it took was for the giant to make a pirouette and slam the girl, who knelt powerless on the forest's floor, on the neck with its tail. Her neck shattered, and her head detached from her neck.

It flew in the distance, propelled by the attack, disappearing in the forest.

Dustille's arms fell to the side. The only reason she did not drop her bow was thanks to her fingers too trained in never letting go of it.

Finally, the tears she was trying to restrain since Greencliff's death came out like water off a perforated dam.

***

"No!" Was the first thing Sigmund heard as soon as his eyes partially regenerated.

He could still partially see, probably thanks to the splinters in his eyes, yet it was clear that the one who had passed him the potions was Terry. He had been the one screaming and now crying for the spectacle that was taking place in front of him.

Sigmund saw a headless body fall on the floor with a 'thud' behind the Tyrant's back. It wasn't one of his party members. On top of it, it was a female and had no shields, so it couldn't be Carla, and Dustille was at his right, so it could only be…

Charlene.

Then he saw it, raising his view to better see it, his heart skipped a beat. The one being held in the monster's claws were Dikez. And Dikez was screaming, screaming as his shoulder weirdly grew wider and wider until…

Until he screamed no more.

Sigmund witnessed as his best friend was torn apart from the inside. Arms and ribs, hanging from the creature's claws. Dikez's now almost formless body dropped on the floor, and the creature crashed its head with a stomp.

Without being able to utter a sound, something broke into Sigmund.

Fire took over his body. He became one with it. In those few seconds of immolation, he dove into his core, house of the Soul, the place where he could feel his tethers to the Anchor.

He visualized his Skills. The two he managed to fuse into his Signature Skill were shining brighter, much brighter than the others; they were: Berserker, bound to his Power, and Fervency bound to his Affinity. He metaphysically took hold of them and reached with his mind for his Alacrity Skill, a Rare Skill, but one he had started to count on since he had reached Tier 3, the very reason why his cannonball attack worked. The Skill was called Propell, and its name defined it.

He had yet to even raise it to Very Rare. It shone much fainter than the other two Skills, but he took hold of it and started forcing it together with them. His passion and rage-fueled him in the grievous and much pain rewarding act.

Then he threw down his broken sword and summoned his one-day cooldown Arcane Sword Perk, materializing a greatsword in his hands. It looked exactly like the ones he normally used.

What resulted was clear as he exploded with a wave of Fire, propelling at the creature.

The echo of the explosion shook the very trees and immersed that portion of the forest in a sea of flames.

By the time the fire and the smoke settled, the corpse of the Tyrant was lying all around them.

Sigmund wheezed burning heat from his breath, and of his arcane sword, nothing had remained. The same could be said of its arms, destroyed up to his elbows. The sword, much too weak for his strength, had disintegrated right away.

Then the Anchor contacted him, and he visualized its messages in the usual scrolls, not that he wanted it to, but they forced themselves upon him.

Congratulations, Sigmund Vairstrazz.

Given your amazing feat, you have received the grace of the Gods and joined the ranks of the challengers for the title of Champion of your Race.

Current position in the ranking: 322nd.

As a challenger for the title of Champion of the Giants, you have been bestowed with the Perk: Journey to Valhalla.