The attachments did not make much difference to the weight of Magnum’s gunblade. It was already too heavy but it made it look different. He changed the handle. Now, it has a lock which if released will change its angle to 45 degrees making it easier to shoot. It looked like a rifle with a lens and extra barrels added for ammo. When he first saw it, he thought the attachments would be added on the blades itself making it clunky. It looked awkward in his mind but it was a good thing he was wrong, it was added in the middle near the hilt and now he can use the scope and fire the rifle on his shoulders or from his hips if he doesn't want to use the lens.

He went outside of the town to test his weapon. There was another forest in the south. It was quite a good place to practice shooting. There were only trees and farms. He put up some wooden targets and started shooting them.

“Are you even trying?” Tanna said after watching him miss his targets. She carried a sniper rifle on her back and two pistols on her hips. She looked combat-ready, wearing a complete light armor, oriental style like the Guild Master.

“I don’t have to be precise, my targets are large demons.”

“What if you face a human?” she said with a hand on her hips.

“Human?” he stopped shooting.

“I can deal with it. I fought mercs before,” he stood up and carried his weapon. He went back inside the town and walked up to the inn and to its back. He climbed his wagon and wore his new armor.

“Looks good! You're like a grey knight!” Tanna said.

"hmm... Don't call me knight." he jumped to the ground and picked up his gunblade.

"Okay! Let's go!"

He started walking to the south gate.

“Hey!” she said.

“Don’t follow me!”

“I’m not following you!” she said.

Magnum started to walk faster.

“Hey! Where you two going? Your friends now?” A smiling merc said.

“No, I’ll kick his ass in the sands!”

“Dragons are much more aggressive at night! Are you stupid?” the merc said.

“Just him!” she said.

At the south gate, Magnum opened a hatch door. it revealed a dark hallway that zigzagged its way downwards.

Tanna was already waiting for him on the sand, smiling, when Magnum opened the door.

“How did she? Did she jumped? Anyway, can I just walk there?” Magnum started walking.

Tanna went to the left, to the stable with the huge beetles.

Magnum felt his amulet vibrate. He instantly looked around. It was the beetles that Tanna was riding on. Its eyes were also red but Tanna was peacefully riding its back. There was even a saddle for two people. She rode it and ran pass Magnum.

“Hey! Wait!” Magnum said.

“Don’t follow me!” she said.

“Why are you coming with me?” he said.

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“Because you’re dumb!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! You’re gonna walk up to the ruins? Yeah? See those little blue lights? You’re dead once you cross that!”

“I’m not walking!” Magnum jumped up to the back beetle. He sat behind her on its hard stone-like wings.

"This is demon skin!"

“Good to know you're not dumb!” she said. She stood up and walked to the back of the beetle and opened a compartment. She then jumped inside.

Magnum followed and opened another compartment on the other side. It was a small sitting room that could fit three people. It had glass on the side so one could see what was happening around.

“Who made these beetles?” he asked.

“Us of course!”

They were at two different compartments one for each wing and there was a hole that connected the two. “We’re not just playing around with those dragons that you saw in the lab.”

“Dragon huh?”

“Yes, Dragons. Mercs always called them Dragons. You know that right?”

I heard about it. So you carve out this room on the dragon's body and use the wings as a cover.

"Right" she said.

"Then they use the core as bait to make it walk. So they are using the demons for their benefit."

You’ve been to the ruins?” he said.

“Plenty of times”

“Is the demon really there?” he said.

“A demon, who knows? Maybe it's true? Maybe it's not a fake legend.”

“What’s this legend you’re saying?”

“I guess, you won’t know about it but this story was passed down from generations and there was always at least one person at any time period who fully believes it.”

“That old lady who sells the charms,” he said,

“Yes. Her.”

“Do you believe it?” he said.

“No, I never heard that demon but you said you heard it, right?”

“hmm… Okay. Wait why is the south always cloudy?” Magnum was looking at the horizon where it looked like dark clouds were forming.

Tanna grinned. “That’s where your target is. The Grand Demon.”

Magnum tried to look closer. A storm was forming, as dust and clouds were slowly swirling up to the sky. He couldn’t see anything. the south had been this way since he arrived.

“You mean the Grand Demon is there? Hiding in the storm?”

“Yes, in the storm that never stops.”

“It's so close!” Magnum took out his lens to take a better look but he only saw sand.

“Yes, it's just a week of travel if we use these beetles. But if that dragon flew it could come at us in a day. If it weren’t sleeping were probably dead already”

“It's sleeping… For how long?” he said.

“ I don't know, As long as I live. I never saw it move, even when we got so close to it when I was a kid. You think you can kill a giant dragon like that?”

“I’ll do anything just to kill it."

He started to see infected animals. They were still, not moving. Their red eyes glow but they never approach the beetle.

“What are these blue lights for? “

“Just a marker, demon’s starts to show up to this point.”

“These beetles are useful,” he said looking at all the demons they passed.

“I’ll take a nap. So be quiet. We have two hours more before we arrive,” she said.

“Two hours? Are we really safe here?”

"Yes…"

Magnum felt drowsy as well and they both slept.

“Human, you’re getting near.”

Magnum opened his eyes the moment he heard the demon’s voice. He started to see some huge stones in the sand. They don’t look natural. They looked like a part of something bigger. The stones were smooth and had perfect angles.

“This is it,” Tanna said.

Magnum looked around. It was the first time he saw something like it. He now understood what the Inn Attendant was saying and why scholars came here.

The beetles walked for fifteen minutes more. They went deeper into the ruins. They were now surrounded by huge walls made up of huge and smooth stone blocks. Some of them have drawings that Magnum couldn't understand. It was also the first time he saw something like that.

Tanna opened her compartment and jumped down. He looked around before moving. Magnum also did what she did.

“Where’s the entrance? he said.

“There!” She pointed to a square stone in the sand behind a huge stone and some machinery. It looked more like a well than an entrance.

Magnum looked at the entrance and saw ropes. He held onto one rope and jumped down. It was a long drop in the dark hole. It took fifteen seconds but Magnum finally touched down to the flat stone floor. It was a cave and it's the only way forward.

“Welcome human!” the demon voice said.