Glavas was never a man who would fear receiving a hit or two. When he was younger, he learned that the best way to withstand pain is to focus on the emotions that come along with it. In battle, he let it fuel him. Every bruise or cut became a source of anger for him, which he then cultivated in a proper warrior's way. He never let it blind him, but he used it to push him forward and motivate him to defeat whatever threat might stand before him. And once a few years passed with such a mentality, he was no longer afraid of getting hurt in combat. That day, however, he found a whole new level of fear in the form of an unstoppable fist.

Alma's chromosphere hissed and parts of it rolled around until the glass chamber finally opened. The magic had all dissipated and the child fell out. The problem was her current disposition. When she was shoved inside, the last thing she recalled was a bunch of guards tricking her into getting close and then shoving her in when she was distracted. Obviously, that had awoken her wrath, but it was too late. The magic filled the chamber, trapping her mind in stasis. For her, not even a single second passed. And so when the compartment opened, she continued with her original plan of jumping out and punching the guards that threw her in there.

Her fist connected with Glavas' face, but unlike that of a normal person, hers simply wouldn't stop once it hit its target. Under such a force, Glavas toppled backward and fell onto the cold ground with Alma quickly after him.

"What the... Glavas? What the hell, dude? Why are you here?!"

"Ow! Fuck that hurt..." he complained and rubbed his aching face. It was a similar feeling to getting bashed with a metal shield. "I came to save you. You guys were..."

"Kidnapped and about to become golem batteries. Yeah, I know. But... there were guards here."

"You got trapped in a chronosphere. These round things." Glavas pointed to the spherical containers behind her. "They suspend those inside out of time. Guess there is a limit to your unstoppability as well. If you can't perceive time, you can't..."

"Surdi!" she called out and rushed over to his prison, completely ignoring what Glavas was telling her.

"Yeah yeah, I'm working on it. Don't worry, we just need to disable the mechanism."

Alma was not willing to wait one extra second for the hunter to do something. She grabbed one of the metal rings on the outside of the sphere with both hands. It scrunched up like paper under her grasp. With little to no effort, she tore the sphere in half, freeing the dragon trapped inside.

"Wha... Alma? Glavas?" he mumbled, slightly unsure what happened. They were, however, quick to explain it to him.

[Bastards! So that's why they said they need to make adjustments for a dragon's soul! I will tear them to pieces!]

"Later. For now, Alma, please, can you try to free the other kids?"

She nodded and broke into a sprint across the room, punching and breaking each chronosphere she ran past. There were seven children trapped in the room, not taking Alma and Surdi into account. Of all the seven, none had been showing any signs of life.

[Are they dead?] Surdi asked when he saw Glavas kneeling over one of them and pushing their eyes closed after a while.

"Something in between. Their souls are leaving their bodies. They were not alive when imprisoned. Like canned food, they just waited here to be passed on to a golem." Glavas clenched his fist and stood up. "We need to get out of here. The monarch needs to know what is really going on in his city."

"No..." he heard Alma yelp from farther away.

"Alma?" Glavas turned to the side and saw her standing in front of the Golem that was slowly consuming Wix. Tears were forming at the edges of her marble eyes.

The elf walked over to her and pulled her closer. "I'm sorry. I was too late."

"He... he is dead, right?"

"Dying. We should get him out of the Golem. Without the flesh consuming the soul energy, it will soon dissipate and he will finally be allowed to rest." Glavas reached for his gun, ready to blast the artificial creature away, but Alma was faster. She reached into the flesh and pulled out Wix's body with such ease as if she had just picked up a flower. She then gently placed him on the ground and closed his eyes similar to what Glavas did with the other children.

She could no longer hold it in. Although she knew him for a few hours at best and wasn't too fond of his childish nature, she would never wish such a terrible fate upon him. Tears streamed out of her eyes and she turned her attention to the golem. With screams so powerful they could shake the entire city, she tore the creature apart, bending the metal plates, stomping the flesh to a puddle, and reducing it to something nobody would even recognize anymore. Then, when it was all done, she finally noticed unconscious Ismaya lying near the chronospheres.

"It's her!" she whispered and headed in her direction.

"ALMA STOP!" Glavas finally stepped in, shouting so loud that the sheer volume of his voice snapped her out of it. That was the only way. No matter of calm reasoning would change her mind at that moment. "We do not kill humans if it can be avoided. She is weak. And once we report her to the monarch, her fate will be sealed. Killing her now would be pointless."

"We do not kill humans," she repeated quietly.

"Yes. That is the rule. My own rule."

"Say, Glavas," she spoke and turned around. The hunter's heart nearly fell out of his chest when he saw her eyes. From the brilliant white that always shined in contrast to her dark skin, they turned completely pitch black. "do you see a human there, Glavas?" she asked calmly and pointed to the limp captain of the guards. "I see a monster. Don't we kill monsters?"

"Alma, please. There doesn't have to be any more blood spilled today. Come. Let's go to the palace and resolve this. Trust me, I wish for nothing else but to kill her, but it is not the right thing. For what she's done, she might be executed. Such crime would be punished severely almost everywhere on Ezma. She will not escape her fate." Finally, the girl's eyes returned back to normal and she shuffled back to Glavas' side.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I understand. Let's just get out of here, okay?"

He led them both out the same way he came in. When they finally reached the tunnel leading back into the royal cellar, she insisted on going first, claiming that she can punch them a way out should the exit be blocked. Surdi and Glavas, therefore, stayed a few steps behind her.

[Hey, you saw that, right?] Surdi nudged Glavas to get his attention and then signed.

[The eyes?]

[Yeah.]

[I don't know what it was. Best we resolve that some other time though. We need to get out of here first. One problem after another.]

"Hey Glavas, you should see this," Alma told him the moment she made it out of the corridor. The two quickly followed after her. A truly strange sight appeared before them. The cellar was filled with city guards, but they were all either lying on the ground or crying in the corners curled up, mumbling about eyes, beaks, and chicken.

"Hahaha! I cannot believe that. Holy shit, that is brilliant!" Glavas started laughing, so much so that it slightly scared the two children.

[What the hell happened here?]

"It's the trap for Humis! I bet these guys were supposed to guard the exit and wait for us here, but they sprung the trap. Now they are having a magic-induced nightmare. Haha! Oh man, serves them right. I love magic," he grinned and carefully started stepping over the whimpering bodies on his way out. While Alma did the same, Surdi didn't bother. He walked over them as if they were a new carpet he wanted to test out.

The citizens in the streets didn't seem to question their presence one bit. They truly had no idea what had been transpiring right under their noses. The trio circled around the palace until they came to the wide staircase leading to the ornate main doors.

"Alright, I will go have a chat with the monarch. You wait for me here. The place will probably be full of guards. I don't want to see one of them nabbing you all of a sudden. If you run into any trouble here, don't hesitate to fight back and shout for me. I will be here the moment I hear from you, don't worry." The kids saw Glavas' ears grow in length and size and his magic wrapped around them and dyed them black.

[You be careful too. Maybe you're a wanted criminal.]

"Don't worry. I will be fine. All I have to do is just report it to the monarch and then we can get out of here and eat some Softies on the way out, okay?" Such an offer sounded quite acceptable.

The palace was not as big as it appeared from the streets. It had several smaller rooms at the back, but most of it was just the massive main throne room. The living quarters and such were then situated on the upper floors, away from the eye of the public.

"Halt!" the guards spoke the moment Glavas entered the main hallway. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak to the monarch. There has been a serious crime."

"You should report that to the guards, not to the royalty."

"It involves the guards."

"I'm sorry sir, we cannot let you through."

Glavas sighed. "Take a good look at me, young man. Even if you wanted to stop me, I would make my way forward. If I meant any harm to your king, I would've done so already and you wouldn't even be here to witness it. So please, just allow me an audience."

The guards exchanged expressions and a few shrugs. "Alright, but keep in mind that the place is guarded like no other in Rotler. Should you do anything hostile..."

"Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't stand a chance, I know," Glavas brushed their comments and raised spears aside.

The throne room was indeed quite impressive. In the middle, there was a massive elaborate wooden table filled with plates and leftovers, most likely after a feast. People were running around, dressed in funny clothes that resembled costumes for a comedic play rather than official uniforms. All they were missing would be a hat with bells. Four pairs of guards stood at each side of the room, accompanied by two golems in total. They surely weren't joking when they said that the king was protected. At the far end of the room, there was the throne. Wooden and beautifully carved, but a lot more simple than what Glavas had seen during his past travels.

"A visitor? Surprising. Why have you come here, traveler?" the monarch asked and his intonation sounded almost as if each syllable he said floated through the air long after it left his mouth.

"I have to report something that's been happening in your city."

The king smiled. "You have seen a golem's construction, haven't you?" upon hearing that, the guards in the room began laughing.

"You know?" the hunter gasped.

"Of course I do. Everyone does!"

"Who is everyone?"

"Everyone. Quite literally everyone. Ah, I get it. Look, people like you come here all the time. They learn the truth, come to report it, and then we tell them the actual truth. After that, the decision is up to them."

"Truth? Decision? What are you talking about?"

"Listen well, what you have witnessed is the very basis of Rotler. The secret to why our golems are so durable and powerful is because of the children's souls that fuel them. It is... a local custom, so to speak. The founder came up with it. There are simply too many orphans in this world. Wars and such produce even more. They rarely find homes. Quite a percentage of them turn to crime. So, our grand founder created a solution to this. A way to make the orphans... useful and to give their lives meaning."

"Just because they might not turn out well, you shove them into those monstrosities?!"

"Partially. It started for this reason, but now Rotler is depending on the income from the orphanage. Because of their sacrifice, we get to offer peace, quiet, and security to all our citizens for years to come. Not to mention that one such golem can protect an entire village. Just its presence makes most raiders and bandits stay away. The life of a single child, who would not be missed by anyone, traded for peace and prosperity for many. Do you not think that adds up?"

"No, I do not. How would your dear subjects react if they'd learn the truth? I bet you wouldn't last a day!"

"Hahahaha! Just like everyone else. Fascinating. You see, everyone eventually gets to this point. There is no subject of mine that wouldn't know of this. To become a citizen of Rotler, you need to accept this."

"No... Not everyone. I don't believe that." A drop of cold sweat slid down the hunter's face.

"Really? Then tell me, why do you think everyone was so friendly to you and the children? After all, the ones who sacrifice themselves for the greater good should be treated nicely, don't you think?"

"B-But... how can everyone agree to this?"

"Simple. Those who wish to stay or simply find out about it are given a choice. Same as the one I am now going to give you."

The hair stood up on the back of Glavas' neck. "What choice?"

"You can stay here and live in peace and quiet. We have established a standard basic income for every local citizen. You wouldn't even have to work. And if you want more money, there are plenty of jobs available. Or, if it is really so terrible for you to accept the death of someone you don't even know, you may leave. We will alter your memories before you do so though. What you will remember is leaving your children in our good care and then heading off. Nothing you've seen would bother you anymore."

Glavas clenched his fist. "And if I chose neither?" he growled.

"Look around. All these guards, all these golems, plus our wizards? Your corpse would get buried just outside the city gates."