Marvin has realized that there hadn’t been a decent introduction, so he jutted out his right hand towards the elf.

“By the way, I am Marvin and my friend here is Marco.”

The elf gave him a weird look at first.

”Fabel,” he replied. “This little guy is Lekko, and Sachi is the other one.”

Awkwardness rose as nobody knew the other culture’s way of greeting. Out of nowhere, a flash of light blinked in front Marvin and an old man popped up less than a meter away.

“Shit, you scared the hell out of me!” Marvin said.

“And this is Enju,” the elf gave the old man what looked like their version of a handshake.

“Based on the robe,” Marvin thought, “The old man is some kind of a wizard, the only thing missing is a-”

A pointy hat appeared in the elder’s hands and he cleared the dust off of it. The pointy end rolled into a snail shape when he put it on his head.

“Yes… that.”

Seven helicopters were approaching fast and Marvin saw one of them being a bit more ahead. Armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, this flying fort cruised forth when a dragon swept into it from the side. As the claws burrowed into the helicopter, the two waltzed in the sky while the soldier handling the side machine gun tried shooting at the dragon. They detached from each other after a while and gained some distance. The chopper got back its balance and blasted a hail of rockets at the dragon, which effortlessly evaded and was right back on the prey. This time it took a mouthful of the cabin, ripping it off, followed by the aircraft aimlessly circling as it fell and crashed into the buildings below. It seemed like the dragon had no issues dealing with the choppers, as the rest of them were unable to harm it other way than hitting a few rounds from the automatic cannons. Especially when the other two dragons joined, the Laar’s air force was struggling.

“Amateurs,” Marco said.

Marvin laughed, “You think you would do better?”

“Put me into one of those and the dragons will fall like flies!”

Marvin got an idea while looking at Enju and proposed to proceed closer to the battle. While the group continued fighting through, he noticed the Laar military wasn’t progressing into Nataran, but instead it was fighting someone on the outside. Tank shells being fired were heard along with gunfire, and only the last two helicopters were left in the air. One of them flew their way, trying to shake off a dragon.

“Enju, I saw you used some teleporting magic,” said Marvin, “Can you possibly get us two inside that flying piece of metal?”

Marco was concerned, “What?!”

“You wanted to fly, didn’t you?”

“Well,” Enju replied, “Considering the insignificant margin of error, I can.”

“As soon as it gets close enough, do so,” Marvin said.

“It’s possible right away.”

“Then, what do you need us to do?”

Enju went behind them and put his hands on their backs.

“Just hold on tight...”

“Hold onto wh-”

They instantly blinked inside the chopper’s passenger cabin to find themselves looking at the soldier gripping the side machine gun. He was looking back at them and immediately reached for his gun, but Marvin’s bullets reached him first. Marco went straight into the front cabin, cut the pilot’s throat before moving the body away and taking a seat.

“I am quite familiar with this model, let’s see…”

“It’s flying right at us, so hurry up and do something!”

The dragon almost got to them at high speed when Marco finally figured out the controls. He made a sharp turn and it flew by.

“Oh easy, easy on my old knees, please!”

“You’re here as well, Enju?” Marvin just noticed.

Enju pointed at the dragon, “Our winged friend is coming again!”

Marco launched missiles at it and as expected, it evaded.

“Take this!”

As soon as the dragon lost speed from changing directions, every single rocket that followed blasted its body until it could no longer fly.

“Wohooo!” Marco shouted excitedly while the dead dragon headed down.

Marvin observed the battlefield outside of Nataran. The Laar military was fighting the Cryth and it was having a hard time.“They must be super confused about what the hell they are facing. Hopefully they will at least weaken the otherworlders…”

Spells kept obliterating the soldiers, who had no way of defending against them. Guns and other technological weapons were countered by magic, which bended physics and one’s understanding of it. Who still stood after that, was finished by blades or arrows. Flames, ice bolts, earth-shifting, shockwaves and other unidentifiable forms of magic were happening at the same time. It looked like ground fireworks. The same was going on at the front where the silver warriors fought the Cryth as well, which was at that point basically getting sandwiched by the two armies.

“Who came up with this stupid strategy? The dark army is being pushed out of Nataran and if this goes on, we will eventually beat them!”

Only the Laar’s tanks were somewhat effective against the magical shields and were probably inflicting the majority of casualties. However, they were soon targeted by the enchanted stone golems. A tank shot down two with ease, but the pieces of them gathered together right after and created a bigger golem, around five meters high. The giant walked towards the tank, of which shells were no longer able to stop it, so the tank attempted to back off. Though the golem grabbed it from below and effectively flipped it on the back.

“How big can they get?” Marvin asked.

“They feed on the Pura released in the battle, as well as dead souls touched by it.”

“So… infinitely.”

“Technically yes,” Enju scratched his beard, “But there’s no place with such a high concentration of this essence anyway.”

Another dragon glided through Marvin’s view. Black scales enveloped the body, which was followed by a long spiked tail. The head topped with four horns conjured terror, together with the bright orange eyes that stared back as the winged creature flew towards the chopper. Marvin grabbed the side machine gun and began shooting at it, but the bullets couldn’t penetrate the scales at all. That just made the dragon angrier and it roared at the chopper as it approached. Marco turned the helicopter in order to attack, but the dragon was gone. It charged from below and the claws almost hit Marvin when they drilled through. The dragon somewhat knew that using fire was futile, so instead it tried biting off parts of the helicopter. The rocket launchers were its next snack and the taste would have been rather explosive.

“Use some magic and get rid of it!” Marvin shouted.

“Sorry,“ said Enju, “But all I can do is go from point A… to point B.”

Marvin sighed and took his rifle to get a better angle and tried to shoot in the dragon’s face. Eventually, he hit one of the eyes and the dragon let go of the chopper. When it happened, it became an easy target and Marco took the opportunity to send missiles its way.

Only one dragon was left, but nowhere to be found in the sky. The Cryth were slowly being driven out of Nataran while wiping out the Laar military. There were fewer golems, but bigger, just like the five meter tall one from before. Marvin looked through the battlefield and noticed them being approximately the same size, as if they reached the limit. The last dragon was there too, sitting on a building. It was the same who attacked them in the headquarters and one of its wings was injured, probably because of the blast from back then.

“Two rockets left!” Marco said as he flew closer to it. Luckily, the dragon wasn’t moving much and just watched the helicopter.

“This is for that coffee, bitch!” he said and shot the missiles at it.

The dragon answered with flames which consumed the missiles, making them detonate early. The explosion damaged the chopper, shutting some of its systems down. Marco partially lost control, but he still dodged the dragon’s leap at them, after which it flew for a while before settling on another building.

“Enju, get us out!” Marvin shouted.

“No, wait!” said Marco, “Let’s finish it.”

He flew the chopper towards the dragon, which was preparing for another attack.

“It will take us down, are you insane?!”

The dragon leaped directly at them, when Marco pulled the chopper’s nose down and rushed into the back. Enju grasped them both and in that moment, they safely teleported to the ground. Painful roar came from above as the helicopter’s rotor blades chopped the dragon’s insides. Blood rained on their faces with each shred, endlessly spilling while the creature got ripped apart, and fell along the machine.

“Yeah, you are insane...”

“I am getting a hang of this hunting,” Marco said.

Fabel and his buddies showed up. They were in awe from what just happened.

“Goodness gracious,” he said, “True dragonslayers! We are honored to fight alongside warriors like you.”

That overwhelming praise felt a tiny bit uncomfortable and weird to Marvin, but the title could give them some perks in their world, perhaps.

“Wasn’t that ha-” Marco attempted to speak, but Marvin shut his mouth.

“Yes, thank you, we are grateful for you as well! Let’s continue our majestic crusade and destroy the enemy of darkness!”

Marvin couldn’t get himself more embarrassed, as everyone just gazed at him in silence. He has probably overdone it. “Huh, isn’t this how you guys speak?”

“Speaking of the Cryth,” said Fabel, ”They are fleeing back through the void rift.”

“Did we win?” Marco asked.

“Aye, thanks to the reinforcements that came in the midst of the battle. Prayers for their sacrifice.”

“Oh,” Marvin waved his hand, “I assure you they were no allies of ours, so needn’t to worry about them.”

Aleric brought Ken to safety with Emilia’s help. Under the massive magical dome, there were hundreds of otherworlders and citizens of Nataran. They were told to stay inside until the chaos is over, as it prevents anything unwanted getting inside. People were rumoring about the situation with different opinions. Some were in shock and terrified, while others were trying to embrace the fantasy, despite the massacre.

“I need to find Shira and get the device,” said Aleric, “Otherwise all of this was for nothing.”

An amber-winged man descended from the sky with his swords and armor covered in blood.

“I am glad you’re doing well, master.

“Drop the politeness, Troy…”

“I am here to report that the Cryth are retreating through the void rift, meaning we have achieved victory.”

“We aren’t done yet. I-” Aleric froze in place, focusing on something. “I sense… It can’t...”

He turned around and there was a blue aurora filling the air in the distance.

“What’s that light?” Troy asked.

“Take care of my friends until I get back.”

Aleric ran as fast as possible in order to find out the source of the blue light. If he had the right knowledge, it might have been that someone was releasing a huge amount of Pura. He fought through the scattered Cryth warriors with his Light magic, essentially blowing them up with explosive blasts that he was specialized in. As he came closer to the light, he confirmed the suspicion with his own eyes. Shira has been mass hoarding Pura in the atmosphere. But, the only thing she could achieve by interacting with such an enormous amount was destruction of her own body and soul. It certainly took effect already, as a black horn grew on the side of her forehead. Nevertheless, the device was there on her belt.

Suddenly, Aleric felt the earth shaking and something sturdy like a massive boulder rammed into him and propelled him away. While he was lying in the dirt, he saw what was actually happening. All of the golems were gathering in an attempt to create a bigger giant. A cluster of blue essence appeared high above, around which parts of the golems assembled. The one that punched him charged at him. Aleric summoned his light bow and blew the golem up before it got too close.

“If the core is so high up, how big will whole thing be? I can either target the core and try destroying it,” he thought, “Or go after her and stop the summoning.”

A lot of golems were coming from Shira’s direction, so he fought through them as he got closer to her. Every time he tried to take aim at her, the golems were in the way. He couldn’t get a clean shot without getting closer, but the colossal golem was about to come alive soon.

“This is my chance to put an end her rebellion, she will pay for everything she has done and give our home back!”

With each punch received and golem taken out, he was getting weary. Finally, there seemed to be space for him to take aim and finish this misery, as the waves of golems thinned out. On the spot where Shira was before, she was no longer.

“Rise, my child! Take my soul and destroy those who have wronged me!” she shouted from the top of a building.

The massive core, now hidden under layers of stone, gave life to a fifty meters tall giant as its blue eyes opened.

“Was it really worth it?”

“I would sacrifice my very existence to quench yours. And this scar,” she showed her horn, “Will be a heartwarming reminder of my victory. Now, perish!”

Shira hurled magic energy at Aleric, but he dodged. While the smoke from the blast cleared out, he picked up an ordinary bow and arrow from the ground, left by the dead soldiers. As he aimed at her, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“You don’t trust in your beloved magic anymore?”

Aleric shot, before starting to run past by the building she was on.

“So you missed and now you are going to get the arrow to use it again? Are you playing fetch with yourself?

Hopefully it would be too late for her to realize the device missing from her belt, as Aleric had precisely shot it off and seen it fall behind the building. Since she won’t be giving it power, the rift will slowly begin to shrink and close in less than an hour. He found it on the ground and continued fleeing away.

“Just run. Enjoy your remaining time... May the gods be as generous as they were at your birth!”

The monstrous golem moved slowly, but each step crumbled everything around while it walked towards the protective dome.

“Even that won’t be able to hold this much. It must be stopped at all costs!”

Warriors and mages tried to attack it, but the armor got barely damaged and built itself back anyway. Not even Aleric’s light bolts could pierce it, though he managed to reveal a bit of the core a few times. The golem was smart and hardened the area around its chest, which made it completely impossible to harm it at all. The silver army didn’t know they stand no chance, so they kept attacking… and dying under the feet and fists of the giant. It was about to crush a dozen of mages who were casting a spell and Aleric couldn’t do anything but watch. Gratefully, Troy arrived and partially cut off the giant’s leg as he swept through, which was enough to make it lose balance and miss the mages. He then flew around the golem upwards, continuously attacking it while giving it hard time catching him. When he reached the top, he made a powerful double slash that destroyed the head. Before the pieces even separated properly, they were pulled back and the head formed again. The previous slices fixed themselves and the leg as well.

Troy descended near Aleric.

“As I thought, only by destroying the core we can stop it,” Troy said.

“You sound like you have a plan…”

“Fear not, we saw it from afar and are in the process of making a trap. Once the giant is caught, we will focus all our firepower to get through the core.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“It will, after all it’s just enchanted stone, not a behemoth’s carapace.”

The earth shook as Ken and Charlotte watched the colossal golem coming closer to the dome with nothing in its way, other than the buildings that it crushed like a pile of leaves. As much of the silver army and the Nataran’s military has been assembled at one place as it was physically possible. All kinds of warriors, mages, soldiers with rifles and rocket launchers, basically everything and everyone that could add into the firepower. When the giant was about two hundred meters away from the dome, four mages launched energy chains at its limbs, successfully wrapping around them and halting its advance. In spite of its strength, it could not break free from the magic. As long as the mages held the chains, the golem could not move and that was the perfect time.

“Unleash everything you’ve got!” Troy shouted.

Ears could have gone numb from all the blasts and explosions. From ordinary arrows and bullets, to rockets and powerful fireballs, all focusing the giant’s chest. Merely seconds after the hell was unleashed at the helpless golem, its stone armor began to weaken and fall off. It was a race of being able to destroy it faster than it can regenerate. Emilia and Aleric kept firing as well. One tiny bullet per second wouldn’t have made any difference on that thing, but she tried.

It didn’t take long for bits of the core to be revealed, which were then targeted. The giant constantly tested the durability of the chains, but it began to give up as its core had been almost completely revealed and getting damaged. It no longer resisted.

“I bet Marvin is watching this with a better view, pff,” Ken thought.

People around began to cheer while the golem succumbed to defeat. The core was wide open and the massive hands crumbled. Crumbled, meaning there was nothing for the chains to hold on to, while the hands reassembled back and crushed the mage holding the right leg, freeing it as well. The second mage on the right side got taken out and the golem turned away from the crowd to protect its core. After a while, it turned back to show its stone armor fully rebuilt, as if unscathed at all. There was nothing to stop the colossus. It marched forward and slammed its fists into the crowd, instantly wiping out those unfortunate in the middle.

“Give me the crystal,” Aleric stuck out his hand to Emilia.

“Huh? Oh yes, here…”

Troy was concerned.

“What are you doing?!”

The colossal golem neared the dome, leaned backwards and punched it, creating a few cracks. Screams of fear echoed around.

“I should have resorted to this earlier, hundreds of people wouldn’t have to die… I need your help, Troy. As soon as the armor is gone, destroy the core. You will have only one chance.”

“Master, the strain it will put on you…”

The dome got smashed the second time, almost shattered.

Aleric crushed the crystal in his hand, releasing blue essence that got absorbed inside him. He struggled to hold back the pain, which was clearly visible on the face. His veins gained a purple glow when he summoned the light bow and aimed at the golem. The longer he charged the bolt, the more intensive light it emitted as it increased in power. The golem was preparing for its final strike.

Aleric released the massive energy bolt and everyone stood silent and watched it fly towards the giant. When it hit, the blast made morning into day and Ken covered his eyes from the blinding light.

“Did it work?”

As the light slowly faded, the vulnerable core showed itself. Troy ascended into the sky and with his wings, thrusted himself towards it. Dodging the massive hands that tried to catch him, he gouged his blades into the core and after substantial effort, tore it apart. The colossal golem stopped moving, when its eyes dissolved as it finally collapsed onto the ground. People cheered in relief and happiness.

Not everyone was delighted though, as many rushed to help the wounded. So did Ken in spite of his injured leg, seeing Emilia kneeling above Aleric, who was just fine other than occasionally coughing blood, but… something was off. His right hand looked cursed, rather demonic.

“What’s that?” Ken asked, ”Your hand...”

Nataran was in a grim condition, debris and dead bodies everywhere, and citizens trying to put out the fires. Many of them lost their homes and the ones they held dear. That day would be remembered forever, as it may have very well changed the fate of humanity. When the chaos has settled, only then people began to realize what’s around them and what they have just witnessed. Dragons and magic? That sure was already a lot to explain. Not to mention all the people who have come from the other world and have secretly lived in Nataran, disguised as ordinary humans. It all made sense then. There was another world, a world worth living in. A spark of hope presented itself for Charlotte to have a brighter future, and for mankind to be saved from the dystopia. Even if that was the case, an enemy was waiting on the other side. Retaking what could be called home was a goal to be shared between humans and the otherworlders.

Amidst the ash that wavered in the air, a group of six was approaching. One of them was the elder mage Ken met before, also Marco and thankfully, Marvin. Seeing his childhood friend after this disaster filled Ken with happiness, and almost made him tear up. He tried to get closer, but the wound was too painful. Instead, Marvin walked faster towards him with a wide smile, as if he just came from an exciting adventure. Perhaps his fantasies have become real or something. Ken had the same big smile. After all, there was simply a lot to talk about. The things he had seen and experienced were nothing to sneeze at.

Ken’s cheerfulness suddenly faded, when he looked at the building behind Marvin. On top of it was Shira, about to release a blizzard of ice spears at them.

“Marvin! Look out!”

Ken attempted to run but his leg failed him, when he lost balance and fell face down. Right after, he heard a series of sharp gushes and forced himself to look up.

“There! On the building!” soldiers shouted.

Gunfire and spell casts followed, which stopped soon, meaning their target got away.

“Marvin!” Emilia screamed while she and others ran past Ken.

Tears ran down his cheeks, as the sight pierced his heart like the ice spear in Marvin’s abdomen.

“No!” Ken crawled towards him while in pain himself. “Not like this…”

Emilia looked around. There wasn't anybody else hit by the spears.

“Somebody help! A doctor, or anyone! Please!”

She helped Marvin to carefully lie down into her lap.

“It hurts… a lot…”

“You’ll be fine, I believe none of your vital organs got damaged. Just hold on until help comes.”

Many injured were being treated, but no one came for Marvin. Only Ken, who dragged himself all the way.

“Hey, mate… What’s up with that face? I’ll be okay…” Marvin frowned, ”It just insanely hurts.”

Ken wasn’t reassured at all. He took off Marvin’s vest and uncovered the abdomen. From the center of the wound, blackness was spreading throughout the body.

“What… is that?” Emilia asked.

Marvin looked at his abdomen and laughed.

“It’s just like…” His eyes watered, “Ah, I see now… so it was her after all.”

The curse continued to expand towards his chest.

“I can’t feel my lower body.”

Ken panicked and reached for the ice spear in order to pull it out.

“Touch it and you die,” Aleric said, standing above him.

“What am I supposed to do then?! Sit there and watch?! Tell me what to do and I will do it! Anything!”

“There’s nothing we can do…”

“I refuse to believe that! Surely you guys have some healing magic…” Ken looked at Aleric, who was visibly devastated as well, “Right?…”

“Don’t cry,” Marvin said while struggling to breathe, as the curse reached his chest. “You have a whole new world to explore.”

“And you are going with me. Remember what you said? We will explore it together, I promise I will take you there!”

Groaning in pain, Marvin grabbed his blackened chest.

“I can’t feel… my heartbeat.”

Ken immediately hugged him.

“Stay with me, I beg you…”

“Thank you,“ Marvin said on his last breath and hugged him back. “I fought well, it’s time to go.”

The scourge crawled on Marvin’s face, touching the shed tears, while his calm eyes slowly closed. Ken released him back into Emilia’s lap, who was crying. He looked up into the sky and let out a loud scream filled with sorrow and deep anger that resonated within his pained soul. As if he was asking for help, but no answer. Just a cold breeze that was freezing his face covered in tears.