Alistair stared in disbelief at the monstrosity in front of him. He had thought that the cragjaw drake was huge. It had been five times the size of Sienna. When he heard the tremors shaking the town, he had expected to see another drake like that. An angry sibling or parent coming to avenge the cragjaw drake that they killed.

But that hadn't been the case. Instead, he was face to face with a giant… he didn't even know what to call it. The creature was twice the size of cragjaw drake, but the drake, while bulky, appeared slender when compared to this creature. This was all bulk and muscle mass.

Its face was by far the most unusual thing. It had two giant ears flopping on the sides of its head and a really, really long nose. It acted like an appendage, grabbing nearby trees and flinging them at the fighters.

"What do we do, Captain?" Barrett asked helplessly, watching as the beast flung another tree.

"We need to distract it away from the town," Alistair said, beating his shield in an attempt to attract the monster. But the racket it was making was far louder than whatever Alistair could do.

"Shock the damned thing!" The Guildmaster said. The woman had landed several powerful blows on the monster's leg.

Unfortunately, it had done exactly zero damage. Its skin was so thick that their swords and axes were no better than toothpicks.

"If I use my Legacy skill now, I won't be able to use it later," he objected.

"We're already fighting a losing battle here. We have to get it away from the town," she yelled.

Elowen used his magic to empower his blade and charged at the monster. But it swiped at him with its elongated nose, forcing the elf to abandon his attack to dodge out of the way. At least he was getting the monster's attention—everyone else it had treated like nothing more than bugs underneath its feet.

Alistair nodded and activated his legacy skill. He felt a strong surge of electricity within him, powering his limbs. With a few swift zips, he was right next to the monsters, his blade sparkling with electricity. Mercilessly, he stabbed it into the monster's flesh.

His sword actually managed to pierce into its skin, thanks to the boost provided by <Stormbringer's Legacy>, and the electricity surged inside. The beast released a loud, near-deafening cry and began stomping its feet and throwing its nose around viciously.

Alistair zipped away and yelled at the beast, "Over here! Come to me!"

The monster released another loud toot and charged at Alistair. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. While it wasn't particularly agile, its size made up for it.

The ground shook underneath its huge weight, making Alistair nearly lose his footing from the horrible tremors.

I got its attention, but what now? I can't defeat this thing. The attack I just inflicted upon it is the strongest I have, but to that thing, it probably felt no worse than being stabbed by a small needle.

"Archers, fire!" Alistair heard the familiar voice of his father call out the command.

Moments later, the giant beast was peppered with a barrage of fiery arrows. They weren't regular arrows, though. They were empowered by lightning, and the shooters were none other than the elite guards of House Sinclair. Although they weren't enough to truly injure the beast, the arrows did more damage than Alistair's measly poke with a sword.

Moments later, Duke Sinclair was standing by Alistair's side. "That was reckless."

"I couldn't have that thing destroy the town."

"I admire your determination, but stand back for now. I'll handle it," the Duke said, and his eyes lit up as he activated <Stormbringer's Legacy>.

Alistair could feel the electricity crackling from the man as he jumped up, slicing that creature's long nose. But turned sideways, and the Duke cut into the beast's side instead, leaving what could only be described as a scratch behind.

Meanwhile, the beast swung its nose at the Duke. Alistair feared that his father would get hit, but he zipped away in several flashes of lightning. He'd never seen his father look this serious in a fight. As a boy he'd often watch him spar, but the Duke rarely activated his legacy skill, saying it should only be used in emergencies.

If his powerful father could only leave a scratch on this monster, what chance did they even have? Would they be powerless and watch as it destroyed town?

Just when Alistair thought things couldn't get any worse, a drow dressed in what could only be described as an assassin's clothes appeared beside the monster. He put his hand on the creature, and it instantly calmed.

"We're leaving," he said curtly. "Archmage is too powerful. We'll need more help to deal with her."

Then the two of them walked away. Everyone looked in disbelief as the pair walked towards the passageway. Normally, the rule was to follow any retreating monsters, so they couldn't return later once they were stronger.

But now everyone looked helplessly at the Guildmaster and the Duke, waiting for orders.

"Do not pursue them!" The Duke said, sheathing his sword. Everyone watched as the pair disappeared into the portal.

Alistair looked at the drow, noticing how it was gripping onto his chest and wincing in pain. He was heavily injured.

"Who the hell was that drow?" The Guildmaster called in outrage.

"It's one from Sunglow is it?" The Duke asked suspiciously.

"Most certainly not! Etrian can't even fight, he's a tailor!" Remi protested.

"What did this guy mean by Archmage?" Barrett asked in confusion.

Alistair gasped in horror. The drow was talking about Melina. He whirled around and rushed back towards town.

"Alistair! Where are you going?!" The Duke called, but he didn't listen, instead using <Lightning Dash> to get there faster.

That giant monster was a diversion! They were after Melina from the get go! Dammit! Dammit! That means that the Monster Lord remembers what happened too.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

He could feel another vision flash before his eyes–of the ghostly man that had once appeared in his dreams. But there wasn't any time to relive memories, so he pushed it aside and ran to the bakery as quickly as he could.

When he arrived there, he saw Melina fallen to the ground next to Sienna, who was lying there unmoving.

"Oh, no…" He walked over to her, and she turned towards him, eyes filled with tears.

"Sienna was poisoned!" She whimpered.

He felt a strong hand grasp his shoulder, and nearly jumped when he saw Gilbert dressed in the Holy Knight armor. Many questions came to his mind, but he suppressed them all. Now wasn't the time. The crisis wasn't over yet.

"Find the elves! All of them! There might yet be a way to save Sienna," Gilbert said, then motioned towards his black horse. Although it didn't seem like a normal horse at that moment, its eyes were glowing bright red as it gazed mournfully at Sienna. "Take Knight! Do not be afraid of shadows."

Alistair didn't know what it meant, but he didn't hesitate. He jumped on the back of the black steed. It galloped away at such speed that he barely managed to hold on, and then Alistair felt a strong lurching.

The horse sank into the ground, along with Alistair. Only Gilbert's warning kept him seated and not screaming in shock. He forced his eyes shut when his head submerged under the ground. When he opened them, he found himself in what felt like a completely different world.

It was like he was inside the ground itself, unable to see anything except for certain bright spots which gave him glimpses of the world above. The horse ran into one of the spots, and they rose above ground again. It was a good thing they were running on the outskirts of the town without anybody around.

"You can run through shadows?" He asked the horse. It snorted in response.

"Alright, let's do this! We're bringing every elf in Sunglow to the bakery!"

Melina knew that a bond between a familiar and their tamer is strong. But she never expected this. Her whole being felt like it was being torn apart as she felt Sienna's life slowly fade away. She knew that if the wyrm were to die, she wouldn't be able to go on living.

"Melina, snap out of it!" Gilbert shook her shoulders.

"Master, Sienna is… She's…"

"I know it's painful! Your whole being feels like it's being torn apart, but you need to pull yourself together. Your boyfriend went to get the elves, but you have to keep Sienna alive until they arrive," the man said, shaking her gently.

"Alistair was here?" She asked in surprise. She had been in such a pained daze that she didn't even notice.

"Yes! Now get up and do what only you can! Use my mana," Gilbert said.

"Master, no! Giving mana to others is dangerous if you don't know how to control it properly!"

"Shut it, girl! Who do you think you're talking to? You think a Holy Knight wouldn't know how to control his mana?" Gilbert snarled.

Melina realized that he was right. Someone like him surely has gone through the necessary training.

"Now, take it and save Sienna! Without her you won't survive either!" Gilbert said, putting his hand on Melina's.

She felt incredible pain as more of Sienna's life drained away. She had to work fast. Melina allowed Gilbert's mana to flow into her. It was powerful, pure—incredibly so. Her body felt like it was breaking from just the little amount he had guided within her.

She took hold of the mana and guided it into Sienna. Thanks to their bond it was much easier for Melina to access the wyrm's body. She gasped in horror as she felt the poison ravaging her body like a wildfire. She began the healing process immediately.

Or she did what she could. Truth to be told, she couldn't just conveniently take somebody's mana, not even pure mana like Gilbert's, and then heal poisons however she pleased. She would need proper healing spells to do that, but Melina had been primarily a battle mage, not a healer. Her understanding of healing magic wasn't deep enough to perform it without the System.

The best thing that Melina could do with her mana was minimize the spread of poison. She shielded Sienna's organs, preventing them from ravaging the wyrm's body any further. But the poison was incredibly powerful. If it had hit Melina, then she would have long since been dead. It was Sienna's natural resilience that still kept her alive.

You can do it, Sienna! Fight it!

She felt a very weak response from Sienna. A gentle mental nudge to confirm that she was still fighting.

Melina redoubled her efforts, she tried to strike at the poison head on, using the mana to force it out. But had already spread everywhere, she couldn't possibly check every single cell and purge it. It would take an incredible amount of mana and time, and even then there wasn't any guarantee that she'd get it all.

She didn't know how long she fought for Sienna's life, keeping the poison at bay, keeping it away from Sienna's vital organs.

"Melina, your nose is bleeding—" Gilbert said.

"It's alright! I can do it!" Melina said. She knew that channeling Gilbert's mana through her body was very dangerous for her if she continued it for a long time.

She could feel that it couldn't withstand it. When she had sacrificed her magic, it appeared that she had sacrificed her body's ability to store mana. Nonetheless, she wouldn't give up. She'd do everything she could for Sienna.

Melina lost all perception of her surroundings, snapping out of her state only once she felt the mana flow from Gilbert stop.

"Master!" She looked up frantically, but instead saw Alistair's worried face.

"It's alright, Melina. Let go," he said gently.

She vaguely saw Heilia, Elowen, Etrian and Illitran as well as a few other elves standing around her.

"Sienna will be fine," he said, and she released her hold on magic, collapsing in his arms.

When Melina woke up, she found herself in her bed. Her body ached all over, as if she had been hit by Quake Mammoth.

"SIENNA!" She shot up, looking around frantically, only to whimper in pain.

"Calm down! She's here," Alistair said, motioning to the wyrm sleeping in his lap. He gently picked her up and gave her to Melina.

With trembling hands, she took the wyrm, who weakly lifted her head and chittered at her.

"You're alright?" Melina said in relief.

Although it was clear to them both that alright is a relative term in this case. Sienna was very weak. Melina could feel that through their link. She herself had channeled more mana than her body should be handling. Master Gilbert had some strong and pure mana. As expected of a Holy Knight to be honest.

"What happened? When did you even come? What about the monster that attacked the town?" Melina asked. Alistair propped her pillow up and motioned her to lay down which she did.

Alistair then retold the events from his side. How a giant monster that sounded a lot like Quake Mammoth attacked the town, and how they fought back but couldn't do much about it. How the injured drow appeared and took the mammoth back to the Monster Realm. How he found Sienna on death's door and Melina next to her.

"After that, Gilbert allowed me to take Knight and find every elf in town," he said.

"Master Gilbert allowed you to take Knight?" Melina blinked in surprise. "And Knight allowed you to mount him?"

"Yes, but I have to admit I never expected to be suddenly dragged into the shadows…"

"Knight dragged you into the shadows? How does that feel?" Melina asked, her curiosity piqued. Dark magic was one field of magic she didn't dabble into. Mostly because the Church had forbidden it. Although she was sure that dark magic wasn't as evil as they made it out to be.

Magic in itself wasn't either bad or good. It was all about how one used it. Although she could understand apprehension towards necromancy. Melina was never eager to create zombies or reanimate corpses.

"Weird… But it's very fast. I quickly gathered everyone who could know something about wyrms or healing and brought them back to you."

"H-How did they heal Sienna?" Melina asked.

"Elowen and Heilia had a spell for removing ailments. They worked together to remove the poison from Sienna. But…" Alistair paused, looking worriedly at Melina.

"But?" Melina cocked her head. She could feel trouble.

"They realized you were using magic to keep Sienna alive," Alistair said.

Melina sighed and sunk into pillows. Sienna chirped weakly at her, sensing her unease.

"It's alright. It just appears I am utterly incapable of hiding secrets," Melina said.

"I don't think Sunglow elves and Etrian will be a problem. Master Gilbert talked to them. I'm more worried about Elowen. He insisted on talking to you the moment you woke up!"

Okay, that is more terrifying than facing all of Sunglow.

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