Listening to Dennis’ words, John nodded. He already knew something similar had happened in the past. How else would Invoker Hans understand what was happening when the ground started to shake?

“Okay, and what happened the first time?” he asked, wondering about the connection to what Dennis had said earlier.

Dennis looked melancholic, keeping his eyes on the red-hot dagger. “I wasn’t there when it happened… It was a portal in India that changed, and… my wife, Marlene, was part of the expedition.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Oh, thanks, but that’s just a small part of the story. I was just a breaker then, but I volunteered to join the rescue mission. But when we arrived… the planet was a mess, much like this one. A complete maze, literally.

The surface was ripped apart, creating kilometer-wide pathways in all directions. The expedition members could be anywhere. We didn’t know they would be sent to random locations at the time, so we spread out in groups to search.

And… Long story very short, my group found her together with some other members. We were on our way back…”

Dennis dismissed the dagger and touched his forehead, hiding most of his face. “Then the tyrant… Uhm… We barely even heard it before half the group was gone. Marlene pushed me out of the way, and then… she was gone.”

He started shaking silently, taking sharp, unsteady breaths, trying to keep his emotions in check. John stayed quiet, understanding some of the pain he must have felt.

Rain looked at Dennis with worry. She got up from the sand and walked over to him, gently embracing him from behind. Dennis turned his head to look at her, but then he turned back, not seeming to mind.

They all stayed like that for a while, silently grieving and supporting. Dennis eventually stopped his shaking, never letting a single sob out. But despite that, it seemed to have helped him.

Rain released her embrace and stood back up. “Dennis not stupid,” she said quietly before walking back to sit beside John again.

John thought he saw the shadows of a smile on Dennis’ face once he looked up from his hands, nodding his head lightly.

Dennis sighed again, but there was a clear look of relief on his face. “Thank you, Rain. I needed that… Uh, the daggers were lying on the ground, so I picked them up. Then they entered my core, just like that.”

John nodded, not entirely sure what to say. “Thank you for sharing that, Dennis. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

“Yeah, no… Thanks for listening… Uh, the reason I called it a mistake was that we lost four invokers on that expedition. Two of them were in my group, and they all died to the tyrant. We rescued nearly twenty people, but we lost over fifty. It was a major blow to Earth’s forces. For little gain.”

John breathed deeply, getting a bad premonition from his words. “So you think a rescue mission is unlikely to happen, right?”

“I wouldn’t count on it unless they send some of the weavers here. But I can’t imagine they’d spare them for our sake.”

“... Not even the Lady of Fate?” John asked, recalling the meeting with her. He had no idea how powerful she was in a fight, but as a weaver, she should be more than capable of defeating horrors.

Dennis shook his head. “She might even be the most important of the weavers, depending on who you ask. But perhaps she can help in other ways? You've been quite lucky, haven’t you?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, it’s been a good mix, I’d say. And she doesn’t have as much control as you might think, according to herself.”

“Hm, we’ll see. I have a feeling my chances of getting out of here increased greatly when I met you two,” Dennis said with a smile. His eyes were still blank from earlier tears, making him look even kinder than usual.

John chuckled, hoping he was right. “No guarantees there, but I’ll do my best. I should warn you, though; my primary goal isn’t the portal.”

“Oh?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Yeah… The girl I grew up with…”

“Oh.”

John was about to continue, but Dennis cut him off with a halting hand. “Who could understand you better than me, then? Don’t worry about it.”

John smiled again, feeling much closer to the aspecter before him. “Thanks.”

A sudden look of alarm crossed Dennis’ face, making him get up. “Kerchak has encountered a demon on its way here! Can you go help, John?”

The sudden turn of events surprised him, but John was still ready for a fight. “Of course! You two should get away from here; they’re probably smelling the meat from this stupid bird.”

Rain looked up at him with worry, asking without words.

“Yes, fight. Don’t worry!” John said to her as he jumped on top of Larang. He recalled the shield as well, getting completely ready for combat.

Dennis looked focused, looking down at the ground. “It’s a tough bastard, but it’s not very fast. Kerchak is wounded, though, so please hurry!”

John took off without responding, merely waving back at Rain as she lifted her hand nervously.

‘Ah, a good fight after a heart-to-heart! The perfect palette cleanser!’

----------------------------------------

Kerchak was in the middle of the fight when John spotted him, flying about fifty meters from the fight. The bone saber had broken, leaving only a sharp stump in his hand. The helmet was still intact, and no other wounds could be seen on him.

‘Okay, made it before anything decisive happened. But what is that demon?’

A black, lizard-like creature protected by a thick layer of red rocks stood on its hind legs, swiping at Kerchak with its claws. It had a long, gator-like mouth filled with sharp teeth that looked like it could easily bite through flesh.

‘How do I attack that thing? I assume it's protecting itself by using its aspect to pack rocks onto itself, but unless they’re enhanced by essence, I should be able to get through them.’

For the first time in a long time, John prepared an attack spell. Liquid essence gathered in his hands, forming a spear of fire in front of his hands. He couldn’t make it spin like Serah, but it should be fine either way.

Hopefully, the extra power behind the liquid essence would compensate for his relatively low skill. The speed and the power should increase significantly, more than doubling compared to using gaseous essence.

Kerchak struggled to hold the creature's jaws away from his weak spots, so John had to act soon.

‘Let’s see how well that rock protects you from piercing attacks!’

The spear of fire flew forward, crossing the distance in barely a second. It cast a fiery light on the ground as it traveled, but barely made a sound.

The spell hit the demon in the chest, sending pieces of rocks bursting from the impact. The lizard fell backward from the force, but spun to land on its feet, looking relatively unhurt.

‘Damn, okay… I can understand why the saber broke now. I’ll just have to get close, then.’

Larang carried him to the fight as John reduced his weight, preparing to make swift maneuvers if necessary. Air bursts were charging in both his hands, giving him plenty of ways to escape danger.

Kerchak nearly lost his balance as the lizard swiped its tail at his feet, but the monkey managed to grab the tail and climbed on the ground to hold the beast in place. It was dangerous, risking getting bitten by the jaws, but he barely dodged the fangs safely each time.

‘Oh! Maybe I can…’

John summoned the shield and tried to aim for the exact spot he had in mind. In the next instant, the shield was gone from his hand and was instead lodged between the lizard's jaws. It could not bite down, effectively stopping its most dangerous weapon completely.

It could only flail in Kerchak’s grip, held tightly between his arms and legs. Its claws were still dangerous, but they were unable to scratch him.

‘Hah, let me give that armor of yours a proper test, then!’

John was right next to the two giants, about to jump down to prepare for an attack. But the lizard had one more trick up its sleeve. The rocky armor came loose from its skin, falling to the ground like harmless rubble. Kerchak’s grip was lost, and it managed to slither out of his hold, starting to dig into the ground to escape.

“No you don’t!” John yelled, using both his bursts to push himself toward the back of the lizard. The speed was higher than he expected, making it hard to see throught the wind, but he knew where he was. He quickly resummoned Larang into his hands above his head and infused it with essence, preparing for his attack.

‘Let’s hope this attack still works!’

Right before reaching the lizard's back, he increased his weight to normal, making Larang swing forward. Aided by his strength and the tripled gravity pointing straight down, It sank into the flesh and buried deep, carrying the force of John’s air blasts to make an extended cut along its back.

A six-meter-long laceration remained in his path, braking John’s momentum and forcing him to a stop.

He stood right next to the head of the lizard, holding Larang’s shaft, looking into its eyes as the light started fading. In a fluid motion, he summoned the shortsword and tried to stab it in its eye to get the final blow.

‘Will I make it?’

It pierced quickly, reaching the brain and ending whatever remained of its life.