A hunter wandered across the hinterlands, he was in his fifties but despite his age, he was far older looking due to the scars across his face with a notable claw mark on his face. He has sandy blond hair and cold green eyes or rather just one green eye as the other one is replaced with a silver mechanical one. He was dressed in a set of worn-down old clothes but what made him stand out is the hooded cloak that resembled that of foliage that he uses to hide all the while he is carrying a Hunting rifle.

He let out a tired sigh as he knelt on the ground as spotted a series of footprints that lead towards a Settlement. The Old Hunter let out a look of horror as he realized that the trail that he had been on grows closer towards the Settlement he had seen.

"No not this again." The Old Hunter said in a low voice as he saw that the Settlement is a small but growing one. From afar he spotted a little boy atop a tree watching him, he had short auburn hair and green eyes that reminded him of his daughter.

The Old Hunter once had a Family of his own, he was a loving and kind family man. But after a tragedy that led to the death of his wife and his daughter leaving him in disgust, all the old hunter has left is the Hunt as this is his only way of absolution.

"I have to save them," He said loading ammunition into his hunting rifle with an audible Click! With a sigh, he eventually marched his way towards the Settlement. He was a man on a mission, he needed to hunt this beast down or else this settlement will be no different than the ones that have been destroyed like the rest.

But as he started to make his way towards the Settlement, a series of Multi-Purpose Military Trucks drove by him. All of which carry the emblem of the Archiman Family.

The Archimans? The Old Hunter thought as he watched them drive by. If they're coming then this means they've also caught wind of what's happening.

[The Second Advent]

Days passed, and Mark and Gray proceeded to leave their home and continued to play by the lakeside under the supervision of a Militia as before. Just as Mark had figured out, Daryl and his trio of friends have been ostracized by all of the children causing them to spend their days inside their own homes only to come out attending Classes in the Settlement School.

Well, they more or less deserved it anyways, Mark thought as he spotted the three of them just sitting idly by as the children ran past them, one of the children who was also a previous victim of their bullying bumped Daryl but ignored him with a happy look on his face.

"You think we'll be able to leave the settlement and explore?" Gray asked as they were busy walking along the Lakeside while he grabbed a stone and proceeded to throw it into the lake causing a satisfying Plunk! As it sank to the bottom of the lake.

"Don't you think it's dangerous to go outside?" Mark asked as he imitated the act by grabbing a larger rock and threw towards the lake but he managed to do it so well that the rock skipped the water a few times until it sank to the ground. Earning the applause of Gray who was visibly impressed by the gesture.

"Maybe I can ask someone to accompany us," Gray said as he ran towards the tree while gesturing at Mark to follow him. Mark shrugged as he followed after him as Gray proceeded to start climbing the Ash tree with Mark behind him. Upon reaching the top the two managed to get a beautiful view of the entire hinterland where Dahlia is placed.

This place is way too beautiful in the daytime. Mark thought as outside the settlement and the fields where they'd plan their crops lies miles and miles of grassy plains that went up and down like waves of an ocean all the while the archways, a series of ruins that appear to resemble a destroyed bridge, gracefully dot the landscape. He had already been outside the walls of the settlement due to the fact he would sneak out at night to explore and learn more about the wildlife around him with the farthest he had reached being the scaling of the archways.

"Don't you ever wonder outside the walls?" Gray said turning towards Mark the moment that he had managed to catch up with him.

"A lot," Mark commented in a low voice, but as he was about to contribute to the conversation his eyes landed on a lone figure wandering outside the Settlement. Mark's eyes squinted to further find that he appears to be holding the same staff that some of the Militia refers to as a firearm.

Mark wanted to investigate himself but he chose not to get involved for the time being and just watched Gray continue to stare off into the distance admiring the scenery from afar. He couldn't help but find the sight of him being enamoured by the majesty of it all.

When was the last time I had seen something like this so beautiful in my life? Mark thought to himself as he sat down on the branch while Gray just stood there as though he is trying to look cool but the look of awe that he has on his face and the way he was balancing himself on a branch made him more adorable than cool at most.

That's right. Mark concluded to himself. I never did. I had been so focused on trying to stay alive and become powerful that I—He felt a warm finger poke his cheek and he turned to find Gray with a cheeky smile on his face as he sat next to him. Mark couldn't resist laughing at the small prank Gray had given him.

"I couldn't resist you had a cute look on your face," Gray said with a chuckle as he hung himself upside down earning a worried look from Mark only to swing back up as though nothing had happened.

"I'll get you for that," Mark said with the same smile he had on his face. Eventually, his eyes landed on the horizon once more and then let out a sigh.

"When I grow up I think I'll go see the world." Mark continued, deciding to use this opportunity to share his thoughts with Gray who was more busy dangling on a branch but the moment. "Maybe I'll be leaving the Settlement once I'm old enough."

"What?!" Gray asked in a bit of surprise. "You're not gonna stay?"

"I mean I'll stay once I've finally seen the world," Mark explained with a shrug. "I mean who knows what other cool stuff we can see outside our settlement? I want to see it all and learn it all."

"Ugh I want to come with you but Mother told me that one day I'll be following in her footsteps," Gray said with a pout. "That's not fair I want to come with you!"

Mark chuckled and was about to comment but his eyes landed on a convoy of vehicles closing in on their settlement and each one of these vehicles contained the emblem of the Archiman Family. This was the first time he had seen such a thing so he turned to Gray and pointed at the incoming convoy.

"What's going on?" Gray asked as he began to climb down the tree with Mark following suit.

"Have you seen this before?" Mark asked as the two of them hurried towards the front of the Settlement where Joshua and the rest of the Militia went to meet up with. As soon as the two arrived two of them quickly hid behind the bushes so they can observe what was happening.

"Mom always said that my family has relatives outside the settlement," Gray whispered as he saw a handful of men and women wearing dark green clothes under a set of black armour all of which bore the emblem of the Archiman Family.

As expected from a family that owns a large chunk of land here. Mark observed as he noticed one of them walk towards Joshua, unlike the rest who wore their helmets. This one chose to not wear his helmet and incidentally, he looked like an older male counterpart with the same pinkish-white hair and light green eyes that Aina has. He must be a relative of theirs. He continued as he walked towards Joshua. The two smiled and briefly shook hands.

"Glad to see you and Aina are doing your best to keep the settlement in top condition." The Man said causing the two to share a collective chuckle.

"We're doing our best, Ein," Aina said while Joshua just smiled.

"Before we begin--"

"You made him the Captain of this Militia?" One of the soldiers taunted as he began to walk towards them and proceeded to take off his helmet. Joshua's smile changed as he went from shock to visible anger. The man had dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes that had a mischievous glint on his face as he gave Joshua a smirk.

"You made him the Commander of your Armed Forces?" Joshua said giving the man a hard look causing everyone to tense up as this was the first time they have seen Joshua make such a face.

The two eventually walk towards one another as though they were about to fight but Ein stood between them with a worried look.

"Gentlemen please," Ein said looking at Joshua and then at the Soldier. This caused both Joshua and the Soldier to share a laugh as the two walked past Ein and hugged each other.

"Relax Boss," The Soldier said as he wrapped his arm around Joshua and have them a reassuring wink. "Joshua and I are brothers, we're just messing with you."

"Yeah Owen and I are just playing around," Joshua said causing everyone to let out a sigh of relief though interestingly Aina had a conflicted look on her face as though she wasn't sure to be relieved to be seeing his face.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"You didn't tell me you started working with the Archimans too much less become their new commander," Joshua said with a wide smile as he clasped his shoulders. "Aina and I would have thrown a Party to celebrate."

"And miss the chance to pull a prank like this?" Owen said with a grin causing Joshua to chuckle. Meanwhile, Aina and Ein both cleared their throats interrupting the happy reunion between the brothers.

"As much as I'd love to see a happy reunion between brothers, I'm here for a far more concerning situation," Ein said causing the smile on Owen's face to disappear and be replaced with a grave look on his face as he pulled away from Joshua.

"He's right," Owen said as he looked around and noticed the people getting on edge. "Let's go somewhere private so we can talk this out."

"Your Uncle looks pretty cool," Gray whispered to Mark as they watched the four of them leave and enter Aina's home to talk privately.

"Wanna eavesdrop on them?" Mark turned to Gray who grinned widely as he nodded.

[The Second Advent]

Joshua and Owen, the two of them aren't related by blood but they view each other as one. This is due to the fact both of them grew up in the same orphanage and their later years would proceed to join a Mercenary Company so they can save money and live their life. Eventually, the two of them went on separate paths, with Joshua choosing to settle down and work for the Archimans while Owen went to see the explore the continent. It was only recently that the two had briefly lost contact and it was only recently that the two finally made contact with one another.

Joshua crossed his arms as he sat on the sofa in Aina's home and looked at Ein and Owen who had presented him with a handful of photos. Photos that contain a beast that had been wandering around the countryside, it is a massive canine-like creature with a pair of horns that were the size of an actual human as he had dark gray fur and blood-red eyes.

There was no doubt about it, it's a behemoth. Joshua thought as he and Aina looked at the photos. In their time as Mercenaries, the two of them have fought similar beasts in the past. The behemoth in particular appears to be far larger than those that they have fought in the past.

"And it's heading this way?" Joshua asked as he glanced out of the window. For a brief moment, he spotted something moving along the bushes as he turned his attention back to Ein and Owen.

"That's right, a handful of other settlements have been destroyed in the process of stopping it," Owen said as he pulled out a handful of other photos of demolished settlements. Joshua recognised all of these settlements, they were the settlements of Mona, Duscae and Iris all three are noted to be far larger and should have been better defended compared to Dahlia.

If that Behemoth managed to turn these settlements into that who knows what it will do to Dahlia? Joshua thought as he turned to Aina who was more fixated on the reports rather than looking at them. Joshua couldn't fault her for that given their history.

In the past, Aina served as the third member in their little adventure group during their mercenary days at the time Aina was going through a rebellious phase and thus decided to see the continent alongside them. The two eventually got close and ended up falling in love with one another, needless to say, the two became a couple causing Joshua to be a little bit out of place for the most part.

However that all changed with the death of Her Father many years ago forcing Aina to make a choice; continue her path as a Mercenary or leave that life behind and help out in the managing of the family land. Sadly Aina had chosen the latter leaving their little trio and essentially breaking Owen's heart in the process.

It wasn't until after their time as Mercenaries after the end of the First Bifenixian War that they would reunite again and all three of them have changed.

Come to think of it, Joshua thought as he watched Aina and Ein discuss the events with Owen occasionally joining in and providing his input. Does he know about--

"--which is why we're going to evacuate this settlement," Owen said throwing Joshua off guard but he calmed himself. It made sense, this was far smaller compared to the previous settlements that have decided to try and stand against the Behemoth not to mention the financial loss that they have no doubt suffered in the last few days after losing those three settlements.

Joshua was about to ask further but a Militiawoman entered the room with a somewhat confused look on her face.

"What is it?" Joshua asked wondering what caused her to make such a face.

"We caught a suspicious man outside loading a rifle claiming that he's waiting for the Behemoth to arrive." She said causing all four of them to exchange confused looks.

"Did you leak the information about this?" Joshua asked the two who simultaneously shook their heads in the process.

"Also," The Militia woman said turning towards Joshua. "He appears to know your wife since they appear to be arguing right now."

"What?"

[The Second Advent]

"I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with you!" Mary said in an angry tone as Mark, Gray and Miram watched in confusion as she was arguing with an Old Man who happened to stumble upon their settlement.

"I know that but you have to listen to me!" The Old Man said, who upon seeing them immediately started yelling to move and leave the settlement. The Militia was just confused for the most part while the ones that came with Ein looked uncomfortable, this prompted Mary to check what was going on but the moment she saw the old man she immediately started yelling at him to leave the settlement.

"This is honestly the first time I've seen your mother look so angry before," Gray commented in a low voice as the Militia started getting in between them as they were worried the generally sweet and kind Mary was very much angry at the Old Man that had made its way here.

"You and me both," Mark responded as he turned to find his father and the others walking towards the scene with a confused look on his face. He must be related towards her given the fact that he looks like a male equivalent of her. Thought Mark as his father arrived and stood between him and the Old Man.

"What's going on?" Joshua asked as he looked at Mary and then at the Old Man, his eyes furrowed as he realized that the Old Man and Mary resembled one another but shook his head and retained his focus on the current situation on hand.

"This man needs to leave," Mary said taking a deep breath and started backing away. "He's been scaring people saying that some kind of monster is coming."

"That's 'cause it's true!" The Old Man spoke up but Joshua and the others look at him as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a handful of photographs containing the photos of a beast that Mark knew all too well that it made his blood run cold.

There's a behemoth on the loose? Mark said picking up one of the photographs. Mark or rather Marchosias is very much familiar with such creatures as he has hunted these for the sport not for their meat or pelt but rather due to their intellect, Behemoths despite their size are known to be highly intelligent and those who hunt these are required to be just as intelligent as they are. If such a beast is roaming the countryside then there's no doubt that this is the reason why they are here. Mark concluded, meanwhile Joshua immediately grab it from his hands and look at the old man one more time.

"I have been hunting this beast for nearly ten years now." The Old man said raising one of the photographs. "And each time I have failed a Settlement would be wiped out as a result."

"What can you tell me about this?" Joshua said earning a surprised look from Mary as though she is questioning his sanity, she wanted to speak up but instead kept quiet given the rather serious look he had in his eyes.

"I can tell you that this Behemoth is by far the most intelligent behemoth that I have encountered." The Old man said as he grabbed a pouch dangling from his belt and tossed it towards Joshua who caught it with ease. Opening the bag, Mark's brows furrowed as he saw him immediately pour the content of the bag which alone made Mark's jaw drop.

There were dozens if not hundreds of Behemoth horns that fell to the ground. Another thing that Mark knows about Behemoths aside from their intellect is the fact that owning their horns was considered a badge of pride.

"I have been hunting many beasts in my life, it's part of my creed growing up." The Old Man said gripping the rifle that hung over his shoulder which caused Mark to get curious about the old man. "And I can assure you that is the smartest Behemoth you'll meet."

"Wait a minute," Owen spoke walking towards the Old Man as he proceeded to pull out his sword and aimed it at the neck of the older man. "I recognize you, you're the man who's been interfering with our attempts to bring down the Behemoth."

"That's because you and your men have been doing a piss poor job at killing it." The Old Man backed away and immediately pulled out the rifle but only held it by the hip causing the Militia of Dahlia and the Soldiers under Owen's command to raise their weapons.

"What happened in Mona was entirely your fault old man," Owen said narrowing his eyes on him, Joshua dropped both the bag of Behemoth horns and photographs of it and proceeded to get between the two men from fighting.

"I get it, what happened in the previous settlement was a miscalculation," Joshua said looking at Owen and then at the Old Man trying to diffuse the tension between them.

But as Mark watched the three of them talk and try to dissuade them from fighting. Mark glanced to the side and instantly felt the blood drain from his face as he watched a massive shadow approaching from the horizon.

It was the Behemoth. And it's thundering towards them as they speak.

"Behemoth!" Mark shouted in a panic causing all eyes to turn to him as he pointed towards the Behemoth approaching them. Joshua, Owen, and Ein went pale as they saw it causing both of them to run towards Mark, Gray and Miriam and pick them up as the Old Man whipped out his rifle and aimed at the Beast that was coming causing a loud Bang! As it did so causing them to instantly recoil.

The forehead of the Behemoth exploded causing it to let out a pained roar as it rammed its head towards one of the Trucks that was transporting the soldiers causing it to tumble and crush a handful of soldiers in the process.

"The only way to kill it is from the inside!" That's massive. Mark said but he immediately covered his mouth while he was still in the grip of Joshua in one hand while Miriam in the other. Meanwhile, Owen was already holding Gray and Aina had started pulling Mary away from the fighting alongside the other settlers while the other soldiers and militiamen stared in confusion and shock. Unfortunately, everyone heard what Mark said earning confused looks from everyone but eventually the Old Man cocked his rifle and proceeded to open fire towards the Behemoth.

"This is for my wife!" The Old Man shouted as he emptied the rifle's contents onto the Behemoth who shouted in pain.

The soldiers that were accompanied by Owen and Ein, swapped their melee weapons and instead favoured rifles that were similar to the one used by the old man albeit lacking a few features and proceeded to open fire towards the Behemoth as well, each one of them started aiming at the belly of the Behemoth which was also a viable target but not as effective as the location that Mark suggested.

Joshua and Owen sprinted to the inside of the Settlement to where Aina and Mary were guiding the settlers and placed them down all the while Ein and the rest of the soldiers stayed behind to hold the line.

"Evacuate the settlement!" Joshua said as Owen pulled out a similar rifle and handed it to him as he loaded it with ammo causing an audible click! As it did. "We'll buy you all some time, follow the route that was planned a while back."

"Don't it's too dangerous!" Mark turned to find Mary with a terrified look on her face, indicating that this isn't the first time Mary had seen it. "My father had been hunting that monster for years, and he hunts those things daily."

"I'll be fine I promise." He reassured her with a smile.

"Please." She pleaded with who was on the verge of a panic attack, but Aina held her hand and gave her a reassuring look and then nodded at the two men who grabbed the rifles and sprinted off.

Even with the Old Man, I doubt they can make a difference. Mark thought as he and the other children started making their way towards the evacuation site.