"Gelemia! So you were here!" the man's voice rang out, his words ricocheting off the slick walls of lingering slime.
"Captain Hach? You came in here too?" Gelemia arched a brow in surprise, hopping down from the rooftop in an unhurried arc. Her boots kissed the dirt, throwing up a faint halo of dust behind her.
Even from where I stood, I could feel the air rolling off him, sharp, heavy, like standing too close to the edge of an unsheathed blade. The battle-axe strapped across his back was nearly the size of his entire frame, yet he wore it like a child carrying a wooden toy. The same monster that had just beaten us into the ground? He'd cleaved it in half with a single swing.
"Oho, of course! You just didn't realize I've been tailing you all this time," he said with a grin that belonged to a man who enjoyed keeping secrets.
"Eh?" I blinked.
"I started following you long before you even stepped into the Eastern Sector," he went on, voice maddeningly casual.
"Ah… that explains it," Gelemia murmured. "I did feel like… someone was watching."
"No need to lie just to fish for compliments," Captain Hach cut in smoothly, his eyes flicking toward me like an unspoken accusation.
Who the hell's lying here, damn it, I muttered inwardly.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he turned to me and said, "You must be the boyfriend Gelemia picked up after coming down from above."
Half in disbelief. Brushing the dust from my shirt and straightening the creases, I gave him a level look. "Name's Fionn. Pleasure, I guess."
I dipped my head slightly, though the black sphere wrapped around my ribs still clung tight, holding the fractured bones in place. The sharp sting had dulled to a steady throb, but every breath still felt like dragging a rusted blade between my lungs.
"Hey, what's with you?!" Gelemia cut in quickly. "He's the younger brother of Adonis and Ashsa."
"Ohhh, so that's who you are!" Hach barked out, slapping me hard on the back as if we'd been drinking buddies for decades. "I've heard plenty about you. Well? Impressed, aren't you?"
What the hell is this guy's deal… we literally just met.
He rolled on, voice lighthearted yet carrying the weight of a story beneath it. "Followed you all the way to the Eastern Sector, then saw my own sector torn apart like some vulture had picked it clean. Odd as hell. So I kept tailing you. Almost stepped in to strike down that monster there… but for some reason, they yanked me here too. Dropped me straight into this village."
"Tried to go looking for it," he added with a shrug, "but the folks here greeted me first."
My gaze wandered over the village. Life bruised and battered was slowly knitting itself back together. Locals gathered around the monster's corpse, some hauling its massive remains toward the outskirts, others repairing shattered walls and re-roofing homes from the piles of splintered wood.
"Ah, right," Captain Hach said, tilting his chin toward a broad-shouldered man in his middle years. "This here's Mister Herman, the village chief."
The man's thin moustache twitched faintly when he spoke, his deep voice rumbling into the open air. "Thank you," he said, bowing his head slightly. "Because of you and, of course, the mighty Captain Hach, the monster that plagued us is finally gone."
"No, no, Mister Herman," Hach replied, puffing his chest until it could've cast its own shadow. "We're just doing our duty, hahahaha!"
Then, with a flourish worthy of a stage, he declared, "Wherever, whenever. We, the Alteker, stand guard over those who cannot defend themselves!"
Mister Herman's lips quirked in a faint smile. "Well… I wouldn't say we're entirely helpless. But I take your meaning."
"Point is," Hach went on, hefting his battle-axe so it caught the burnished fire of the setting sun, "if you've got muscles like this… and an axe like this… your life's nothing but safe!"
His gaze suddenly swung back to me, sharp as a thrown blade. "And you surely you've met the 'pigs' by now?"
"Meet them?!" Gelemia cut in. "They actually… licked me."
"Bwahahah! And why not? Plenty of people want to lick you, Gelemia, no surprise there," Hach fired back without missing a beat.
This guy's disgusting, I thought, snorting under my breath.
As if plucking the thought straight from my skull, Gelemia shot him a glare. "What the hell is wrong with you? Gross."
I didn't have time to jump in before a man came sprinting toward us, chest heaving, sweat streaking down his temple.
"Chief! We found a pig goblin near the god remains!"
My head snapped up. Crokard. Why the hell hadn't he run?
Gelemia and I pushed through the throng, shouldering past villagers until the crowd opened into a rough circle.
And there he was.
Crokard, standing… or more like being held upright. Thick ropes bit into his arms. A few men had him pinned, but their eyes told a different story. They'd seen him fight at our side, that much was clear. Still, their instincts spoke louder than memory.
"Wait! Let him go!" My voice cracked across the crowd, loud enough to still a dozen conversations. Two strides forward, and I was close enough that the tension between us felt like a raised blade.
"He's with us," I said, my tone hard as hammered steel. "He fought beside us."
No one moved. The only sound was the ragged symphony of breath, mine, theirs, and Crokard's, blending in the heavy air.
Then, parting the wall of bodies, Mister Herman stepped forward. His gaze dimmed slightly, lids narrowing as though trying to sift truth from memory.
"Oho…" His lips curved at the edges, slow and deliberate. "Isn't this… the pig goblin chief's son?"
He stopped right in front of Crokard and didn't say another word. The silence spread, thick and weighty. His stare was locked, unblinking, grinding the air itself into something sharp. And beneath the scrutiny, there was… something else. Not quite suspicion, not quite warmth, but a strange, reluctant longing.
"Hello, Crokard," Herman said at last, his voice low enough that it felt like it resonated in my bones.
Crokard met his gaze without flinching. No easy smile, no disarming charm, just the thin, level line of his mouth, heavy with intent.
"Good to see you again… Herman."
And for the smallest flicker of a moment, right at the corner of Mister Herman's mouth… I could swear I saw the ghost of nostalgia.
Herman lifted a hand, a simple gesture carrying the weight of command.
The ropes binding Crokard loosened at once, tumbling to the ground with a dull thud. The tight ring of bodies around him slackened, wary eyes still fixed but no longer closed like a vice.
"You two… know each other?" I asked, still trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
"Ah, of course," Herman replied without hesitation. "In the end, we owe our survival to him."
He turned to address the crowd, pitching his voice so every villager could hear.
"Whether you've realized it or not, the reason why the pig goblins never take our men… and why they cast aside our women alive instead of killing them—" He jabbed a finger in Crokard's direction. "—is because of this pig goblin."
A ripple of shock shook through the onlookers, but Herman pressed on.
"He swayed those thick-headed beasts into listening to him. And because of that… We can build this village."
I turned to Crokard. "You never told me that."
Before he could speak, Gelemia's voice sliced through the air, hot with anger. "So what, you deliberately brought me here… just to hand me over to your so-called god for—?"
She didn't finish the word, but the venom in her tone painted it clear.
Crokard shifted a foot back, as if her rage had physical weight. "If I didn't, my village would fall… and I'd be dead. What choice did I have?"
I stayed silent. He's not wrong. If I'd been in his place… I didn't know what choice I'd have clung to either.
Before the thought could settle, a man hurried up, both hands cradling something carefully. "Captain Hach! We found the crystal… the one you asked for. Inside the belly of that god.
"Ahhh… many thanks," Hach said. The sphere was flawless, clay-red shot through with delicate marbling, like veins fused into the stone by the heat of living flesh.
"With this…" his voice took on a quiet certainty, "…we should be able to go back."
"You can return, Captain Hach. As we agreed before," said Herman. His tone shifted, subtle, but enough to lace the air with a taut, invisible thread.
"I can do it right now," Hach replied flatly. "The sooner… the better."
"Eh? And just what are you planning to do?" Gelemia asked, narrowing her eyes.
"…Wipe the pig goblin village off the map."
Her gaze cut to me instantly.
But before she could open his mouth, I cut in.
"Uh… maybe… let's not."
Confusion spread across their faces, palpable, rippling through the crowd like the wake of a stone tossed into still water.
"The village… is already gone," Gelemia admitted awkwardly. "We destroyed it."
"Hahahah! See that, Mister Herman?" Hach let out a triumphant bark, jabbing a thumb toward the treeline beyond the village. "Told you, I could bring that place down from here if I wanted. Just worked out the trick, and… pop—done."
"Well played, Gelemia. Well played, Ferlon," he added with a broad, toothy grin.
I sighed. Fionn.
"With this… we can go back, right?" The captain wasted no time snatching the crystal from one of Herman's men. The red sphere glimmered faintly, like a coal still smouldering under black ash.
"You're sure you don't want to come with us?" Captain Hach asked.
Herman shook his head. "We settled that yesterday. We've lived here far too long. Moving now means restarting from scratch and moving this many people in a single trip would be a burden for everyone."
Hach narrowed his eyes. "You do realize they'll follow you, don't you? You could always leave alone, spare yourself."
"That," Herman said firmly, "is exactly why I won't go." Not a shred of hesitation in his voice.
Hach stared at the crystal for a long beat, as if weighing something he had no intention of saying. At last, he exhaled through his nose. "Fine. If that's your choice… it's been good seeing you, Herman."
I arched a brow. …Wait. We're leaving now?
"Isn't this a bit sudden? We're just—going?" Gelemia protested.
"Yeah. If not now, when?" Hach shot back.
"Maybe rest first? And… don't let you carry it. You're careless. I'll take it," Gelemia said, reaching for the crystal.
"What's that supposed to mean? The longer we hang around, the greater the risk! We have no idea what's happening outside. The Alteker base could be under attack right now and without me, they—"
"Don't be ridiculous! You think the base is full of pushovers or what?" Gelemia snarled, snatching at the sphere.
Their bickering spiraled into a tug-of-war. Then—
A small shove between them, and Captain Hach stumbled. The crystal slipped from his grip, hanging in the air for one long, cruel heartbeat, as though time itself had caught its breath.
THUD!
It struck the ground between us. Tiny fractures crawled like spiderwebs across its surface… then it split.
A burst of searing white light detonated outward. It felt as if invisible hands had seized my skull from the inside, wringing it until my thoughts warped and my body came apart at the seams. My senses scattered, sight, sound, breath, flung into an endless void.
When the world finally swam back into focus…
The air filling my lungs was unmistakable. Familiar enough to hurt.
"…I'm back," I whispered, to the sight I'd been aching to see for what felt like a lifetime.