The sight in the mist was an unspeakable horror. Monsters were scary but most of the time, they lacked the intelligence to seem truly horrific. People, on the other hand, were far worse in this regard. Nobody dared to make a move. They knew that the moment the hunter would see any signs of aggression, he would jump at their throats and they wouldn't survive. The unease was boiling inside everyone's stomachs, making them feel sick. The music that served as the hunter's entourage wasn't helping the situation either. It spread undesired feelings among the ranks of Ruun's followers. Feelings which they themselves were unable to fully identify. It was as if they had been holding onto a candle burning bright with the fire of hope, only for the elf to come and snuff the light out. The magic coming from the instrument sowed despair deep inside their hearts.

Glavas halted only a couple of metres past the city gate. The song stopped playing, but that only made its effects far worse. The sudden return of silence plunged the present people into the deepest depths of discomfort. All their plans, preparations, and ideas suddenly left their minds. It was as if they subconsciously knew that none of them would work anyway.

"I know what you feel," Glavas raised his head and spoke, his mouth covered by the same dark magic mask he used for his interrogations. "You are scared. Terrified. You know far too well what is going on." His voice was calm and reserved and yet that was precisely what unnerved everyone. Legends said that when the reaper would finally come for a person, they would come dressed in black, sounds would disappear from the world, and they would usher the dying into the afterlife with the softest of voices. "I have many reasons to kill you. My own heart desires your demise much more than you realise. But, during the past few hours, I have been thinking. Your boss showed me mercy. Albeit a very twisted kind. He knew how dangerous I could be, yet he chose to spare me. I only wish he would've done the same for my friends." Glavas clenched his fists for a moment, rethinking his choices, but soon relaxed again. "Nevertheless, I have killed some of your friends too. I think that makes us relatively even. And so I will try my best to repay Ruun's act of mercy. I have come for my children, and I will get them one way or another. You can leave now and live out the rest of your lives elsewhere, or try to stop me and die here, fighting for a lost cause. Those who will leave, I will not pursue. You will cease to exist for me, and I will no longer have any interest in your affairs as long as you won't take interest in mine."

When the silence returned after his little speech ended, none of the people could force themselves to react. They stood there, watching the hunter while fighting their own inner battles.

"Well, I will be going now. Make your choices," Glavas said and began walking down the central road again. For a while, his footsteps were the only thing that could be heard, before someone finally moved.

"You killed him, didn't you?!" Ilen shouted from one of the rooftops.

"Killed who? You need to be specific," Glavas said without stopping or even looking aside.

"Tanim! You killed Tanim!"

"Funny. He's the only one I didn't kill."

"I don't believe you! Where is he?!"

"Probably rotting somewhere in a cell by now. Which is honestly what he deserved."

A scream of wrath came from behind Glavas. The hunter turned around just in time for dark magic to wrap around his arm and for his hand to catch an incoming weapon.

"Oh, I was hoping this would happen," he smirked. "Screw Clive's philosophy. Now you brought this upon yourself!" he yelled and threw the weapon back with an even greater force. "Hmm... was that a chakram? Not many people use those. Are you a skilled fighter?" Glavas mumbled mostly to himself and watched as Ilen failed to catch his own weapon, receiving a nasty cut on his arm. "Oh, you're not," the elf added with disappointment.

Suddenly, the space around Glavas turned a few shades more purple and he began feeling himself being pushed to the ground by an invisible force.

"Now! Kill him!" a man called out from further down the street. His hands were raised, palms facing forward at the elven hunter.

"Your gravity magic sucks, old man," Glavas spoke before shooting the wizard square in the face, painting the street with his brain. "I could still move just fine."

"Sirm! No! Goddamn it!" Marion yelled when he saw the corpse of his ally hit the ground.

Ilen didn't wait long to use this temporary distraction to his advantage. He jumped down from the roof right towards the hunter. When Glavas turned the barrel of his gun around, a thrown knife managed to hit it just in time to push it slightly to the left. The bust of fire that shot out of the firearm splashed against the wall behind Ilen just as he finally landed on the ground.

"Chudavez!" he yelled and his magic made the wind pick up. His light dagger was now striking even faster as the spell pushed it along the attacks' trajectories.

Glavas observed for a moment. Although the rhythm of Ilen's attack was hard to read, it showed certain signs of repetitiveness, which were quite common for people who weren't all that skilled with a knife. Eventually, Glavas noticed this weakness. After only blocking his blows for a few seconds, it was time for a counterattack. With one swift movement, he knocked the knife out of the man's hand, grabbed it in the air, and was ready to sink it into Ilen's skull. If it wasn't for Marion who pulled him backwards, he would've died right there and then.

Glavas flipped the dagger, grabbing it by its tip. He reached back to throw it at the dwarf but was suddenly forced to dodge when a black potion flew his way. The vial broke against the street, setting fire to it.

"Firebombs. Nasty stuff, you little terrorist," Glavas muttered towards Millie, who was getting ready to throw another.

Glavas dodged out of the way as more and more burning liquid filled the street.

"Don't waste them!" Marion yelled at her. "And aim better! We really need just one hit with those."

"Hey, where did he go?!" Ilen asked, seeing that Glavas could no longer be seen through the fires.

"Stay together and search for him!" Miora yelled from her rooftop. "Millie, can you see him from up there? Nothing here."

The girl grabbed another bottle from her bag and peeked over the edge of the roof to see the street below. A dark silhouette moved in the corner of her eye. She immediately raised her arm, ready to toss the bomb. Blood splashed out from Glavas' tattoos, staining the wall in front of him. From the top of both of his palms emerged two blades with handles attached to long chains, which quickly wrapped around the hunter's forearms. Pain shot through Millie's wrist. She let out a loud scream, forcing everyone else to look up at the roof where she was stationed. Ilen's heart rate picked up as a severed hand landed only a few steps next to him. The glass vial it was holding shattered, splashing some of the flaming liquid onto the man. For a brief moment, everyone's attention turned to him, as his screams of pain drowned out Millie's and completely overshadowed the faint roaring that could be heard in the background.

"Extinguish him somehow! Quickly! Marion yelled and turned his attention back to the rooftop. "Millie, are–" His words stopped when his eyes met with the lifeless gaze of the young woman. Her head was hanging down over the edge of the roof with her neck twisted at a sickening right angle. Above her stood a monster.

"Have fun!" Glavas spoke to the rest of Ruun's people and threw the entire contents of Millie's back down onto the street.

"RUN!" Marion screamed at the top of his lungs at his fresh wife, who was trying her best to put out the fires scorching Ilen.

It was too late. The vials shattered and the flaming liquid quickly began coating every surface it could. Glavas didn't stay to watch the explosion happen. As soon as the supplies were tossed out, he dropped the bag and headed forward once again. Just when he was about to drop from the rooftop though, a wave of water washed over the street, quickly putting out the fires before they could cause any greater damage.

Glavas looked to the street ahead and saw a tall blue dragon standing in his way. Water gathered around his scales like a layer of armour, making him look even bigger and more muscular than he already was.

The hunter sprung into action at a moment's notice. A dragon in Ruun's ranks was not something he expected. It posed a serious threat to his plan of attack.

The chain blade wrapped around a nearby chimney and dug into the bricks. A tiny hand of dark magic coated the metal and upon Glavas' command, it pulled, propelling the hunter forward and allowing him to swing on the blade. The sudden force put on his body briefly arched his back in a significantly uncomfortable manner. Glavas couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for Veloc. Using such weapons actively must've been worse than riding on a galloping horse without a saddle.

Vainam saw the quickly approaching elf. His hands raised almost instinctively, sending a burst of water his way.

Even more blood flew out of Glavas' arm as the spear sealed in his tattoos shot out, piercing the dragon's palm and forcing him to lose focus on his magic. Vainam wanted to scream, but before he could bring himself to react, Glavas was already at his side, digging the hard sole of his boot deeply into the dragon's stomach. Vainam fell backwards to the ground, unable to collect his senses. As he raised his head, he saw the dark figure standing above him, the chain blades hanging loose from his arms, almost touching the ground.

Vainam tried his best to move, dodge, or counterattack, but his lack of combat experience made him freeze when faced with death. The blades flew through the air, being swung around at incredible speeds by the hunter, while also being manipulated by at least four additional dark arms sprouting from Glavas' shoulders.

The dragon chef didn't fully realise how many cuts he had received before his consciousness faded. His brain was telling him that it must've been at least twenty, while the pain suggested that there have been hundreds. Both were quite far from the actual number of thirty-seven. The beautiful blue scales of the dragon were now stained crimson red and not even the closest of his friends would be able to identify his face anymore.

"Va–" Miora wanted to yell as she saw her friend being murdered right there and then, but Marion quickly covered her mouth.

"Quiet! We can't do anything right now. Leave him to the mercenaries. If they're worth even half the money we hired them for, they will at least create an opening for us."

Glavas let out a sigh, but air refused to enter his lungs again as a translucent, floating, blue hand grabbed him by the throat. Its grip was tremendous and it was strong enough to even lift him up, forcing him to stand on his tiptoes.

Darkness sprung into action, flowing out of his hair in the form of countless extra appendages, which have only managed to get near the blue hand before a blast of light consumed Glavas' vision and forced his magic to retreat.

"Keep more flashes ready!" Glavas heard someone yell from up ahead. "Restrain the fucker, now!"

The hunter felt as if something began wrapping around his body. He managed to summon his sword and sickle from the tattoos, which cut through the rope designed to capture him, but the blue hand was still not letting him go. Blinded and desperate, he threw his chain blades forward. The scream that followed indicated that he had managed to hit someone.

"Stop the bleeding! Rita, fog!" the unknown man shouted once again.

Glavas's vision slowly returned. With another painful eruption, the sealing scroll jumped out of his arm. He quickly grasped it and aimed its text at the hand, which soon got sucked inside, setting him free.

As Glavas' feet were once again stable on the ground, he felt a pungent smell suddenly hit his nose. Pink fog was filling the place, making it almost impossible to see anything. Somewhere from the right side, Glavas also heard a faint roar, but he quickly dismissed it as only some animal wandering the nearby woods. For now, he had bigger problems. Attacks soon started coming through the smoke. Crossbow bolts were flying at him from all directions. He quickly summoned his staff, while the dark hands gripped his other weapons. Although he did manage to block and dodge most of the shots, some still found their marks, managing to graze him or even hit his shoulders. If it wasn't for the darkness moving to protect him, the wounds would've been far more serious.

There was no time to play it safe. He had to attack back, otherwise, he wouldn't last long. From the trajectories of the incoming bolts, he managed to deduce where some of his enemies were hiding. Without further ado, he swung his chain blade, using it to propel himself forward just as before. However, if it wasn't for his dark hands, which quickly managed to slow him down, he would've flown right into a wall of fire. Clearly, his enemies were skilled and well-equipped. The fog was most likely used to feel his precise position, given the attackers' accuracy. The fire was then a prison. A way to keep him away.

Glavas reached for his holster. A blast of water magic would set him free in no time, but reloading while under fire was more than difficult. Then, he heard someone yell from the outside.

"INCOM–" His yelling was quickly interrupted by the sound of something massive crashing nearby. Glavas only managed to turn to the right before an enormous collection of bones grabbed him and dragged him through the fog while shielding him from flames.

For a moment, the hunter thought that this was just another attempt at killing him. His hand reached for the trigger on his gun. It didn't matter that he still had a fire crystal in there. The explosion would surely hurt him as well, but at least it would set him free. He knew that he would be able to withstand it somehow. However, when a familiar voice reached his ears, he quickly changed his plans.

"Relax! It's me!"

Glavas could not believe it. The voice was... Sizzy? Both concern and confusion filled his mind. Then finally, the fog around him parted and he bothered to turn around and look at what exactly had captured him.

The hunter's jaw fell open as he saw a massive skeletal dragon towering above him. A few strands of muscles here and there were helping it move, but without an enormous amount of necrotic magic, it would surely crumble apart.

"What the fuck am I looking it?!" he yelled at the dragon.

"You like it?" the creature spoke with Sizzy's voice and put the elf down. "Remember my little secret project?"

"Is that... the fucking dragon skeleton?!"

"Hell yeah! Freshly reanimated!"

"That's crazy!"

"Yeah, it's burning through my magic. Literally decades of mana gone just coming this far."

"Why are you here?!"

"To save your ass!"

"I didn't ask for help!"

"But you looked like you needed it. Besides, I like those kids! So don't think for one second that will hesitate about going to save them."

Glavas shook his head. There were so many emotions mixing up inside him that he couldn't find the right words to express himself. Therefore, in the end, he went with the simplest words of all. "Thank you."

"Heh, not a problem. Besides, flying like a dragon is fun! Now, for old time's sake, what do you say we go hunting together one last time?"