As Kaith and his party had left to face S'kaal alone, an argument broke out amongst the rest. The first one to speak out was one of the front-liners:

  "Let us escape while we have the chance. No need to help those greedy pricks!"

  Almost everyone nodded. Harwin, however, had a different plan:

  "Where would we even go? Abandon them, and you will be forever shunned by all of guilds and the settlements alike."

  He found support from only few, even if his reasoning was sound. Another spoke out:

  "We prefer to live than having to face that thing." The man pointed towards the pale monster.

  "We will die either way. All of us are adventurers and this is our bread and butter. How many of you can earn to feed yourselves without having to hunt, eh? If you go back now, then you will never be able to sell your goods in the guild or any marketplace for that matter." Harwin argued.

  "What do you suggest then? You were the one who told us to retreat in the first place." A voice claimed from the crowd.

  "Aye, retreat from the front-line is what I meant. You all knew the consequences of joining this expedition and still joined regardless. We have to fight that being, now more than ever, when we have forced ser Kaith and Lyam to to join in." The young mage replied.

  The crowd whispered amongst themselves. They were all part of individual parties which meant that they would never be united unless there was a great motive at hand. Under the leadership of The Mortis, the lot were able to stand together in the guise of being part of the greatest adventurer party of Yugsolvia — one which had never known defeat. With that image shattered, it was difficult to pull everyone on a single platform. So Harwin hammered in the final nail:

  "Many of you have already lost your comrades on this field today. More than half of our companions are dead. Will you waste their sacrifice now? We, adventurers, understand death better than anyone else. Then why? Why are you scared? I say: unsheath your weapons once more, and fight for those who have placed their hopes and dreams in you!" His words pierced right through the hearts of many.

  It was true that even his own party wanted to escape before, but they had let go of that thought now. The bunch were saved by Harwin multiple times already. They, once again, placed their bets on the man.

  During the entire conversation, Harwin's eyes were fixated on the battlefield. It was during the arguments that he noticed a flaw in the invincible creature that was S'kaal. This was when the young mage decided to end the discussion, once and for all:

  "Follow me if you are convinced, otherwise, you are free to do as you please."

  His eyes were filled with a rekindled resolve. Only few were left unsure after this statment, the rest decided to follow the man. Besides, they were already dead before Harwin had instructed them to back away. So, there was nothing to lose at this point. They would either meet their destined death, or live to see a path of glory.

  After the affirmation from everyone, the young mage rushed towards Lyam and his group. The bunch were all at their wit's end already, so Harwin was godsent at that moment. The head mage — Lyam — was slightly annoyed at his arrival, but the former did not care about that one bit.

  "I have a plan, if you wish to beat that thing." Harwin stated, his words were filled with confidence.

  "What plan can a lowly adventurer have that the veterns have overlooked, hmm?" One of the men in Lyam's group commented.

  "Shut it!" Lyam said to his fellow, then pointed towards the mage-sword. "How probable is success?" He inquired.

  "Much more than your current situation." Harwin replied.

  Lyam looked towards the battlefield, Kaith was scarcely defending himself against the cruel commander. It was only a matter of time before he fell as well. So, he nodded.

  Harwin explained the details to the inferno mage. He heard attentively without any bias. At the end of it, they were as amazed as anguished at him, for not being able to figure it out themselves.

  The sound of metal clinking roared in the distance as the great-sword and the kusarigama clashed with eachother. Neither of the wielders were giving in. S'kaal, however, appeared to be just playing with his prey.

  "Alright, but we will need men on the frontline for this to work." Lyam replied.

  "I will handle that. You just need to act according to my plan." Harwin reassured.

  The head-mage was slightly disgruntled, but he still agreed, having no other choice that is.

  Harwin alongside ten other adventurers began to charge right towards the enemy. Most were only reserve, as too many men fighting at the same time could have resulted in unnecessary complications. Kaith, although relieved, shouted:

  "What are you fools doing! Do not get in my way!"

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  "You best be ready to apologize once we are done!" Winston yelled back.

  Of course, this infuriated the burly swordsman, but he did not have time to bite back. S'kaal's blows were growing only stronger by the second. His chain had shortened, yes, but it was still deadly. Even a single blow was enough to rip off the limbs of the opponent.

  Kaith stepped back a few steps to catch a breath. Harwin and two others took his place. The chain rattled with bloodlust, searching for its next victim. But, the targets were not so keen on dying, either.

  The stygian blade of Harwin proved detrimental in the fight. As the monster snapped its mighty weapon towards the mage-sword, he deflected it. No matter how powerful S'kaal was, his speed was nothing compared to the men Harwin had trained under.

  Of course, it was not as if it was easy either, the force behind each strike required immense strength and precision to not be split in half in the process.

  Thankfully, there were two others who supported the shortcomings of the young mage. Now, the obsidian sword of Harwin could not only withstand the strikes from the heavy chain, but it very well could have cut right through it. However, the ones in support had ordinary weapons. These, in a single clash, broke almost immediately.

  Just as the cruel commander tried to repeat the scyth attack, that had slain Jaysm in the blink of an eye, Harwin did the unexpected. The two in the support leaped to save themselves while the young mage casted a blazing orb right as the chain spiraled his way. S'kaal, for the first time, had to retrace his steps.

  The henious smile of his was wiped right off, a fury followed. He ignored the rest and just made his way for Harwin. The latter was overwhelmed by the sheer ruthlessness of the opponent, but then came Kaith. He had already been filled in about their strategy, and now was ready to implement it at full length.

  "Front!" Harwin shouted.

  "I know, brat!" Kaith replied.

  Before the enemy could have launched his chain again, Harwin chanted a spell once again: "Frost Chain" — an intermediate ice spell which basically compromised the mobility of the enemy. The cruel commander could not move as expected. One of his feet was frozen.

  The burly swordsman launched forward and brought down his great-sword at the enemy. This time his attack connected, but at the hand of S'kaal that is. The latter had managed to grip the blade, although, he was injured in the process as well. Not caring for the pain, S'kaal kicked his opponent in the gut, throwing him a few meters away.

  However, the veil of invinciblity had been lifted and his opponents stared with satisfaction. The exchange of strikes continued. Kaith and Harwin were similar when it came down to battle prowess. One had great strength while the other was overall skilled and strategic. This lethal combination proved quite difficult for even the cruel commander to get rid off.

  This was when he began whirl his kusarigama around. Once again, the chain formed a barrier around the being. Most foolishly, the two in reserve tried to claim renown for themselves, having witnessing that Harwin and Kaith were able to hold themselves with ease in the fight.

  As expected, S'kaal lashed his great weapon at the naive swordsmen. He cleaved the two of them in a single moment. The mage-sword tried to defend them, only to be grabbed by Kaith, for he knew that they were a lost cause.

  Similar to past instances, the cruel commander tried to consume the flesh of his fallen enemies. That is when Harwin shouted:

  "Now!" His voice echoed through the lands.

  Both of them charged right at the beast in an instant. S'kaal had to stop midway, vexed by it all. However, this went according to the plan of the young mage. They kept him at bay while Lyam and his group began to chant.

  The very next moment, dozens of "Inferno Daggers" were shot right at the enemy who was too busy trying to just defend against the incoming strikes. Kaith, being the experienced one, grabbed Harwin by the collar and threw him in a distance. He himself rolled to the side.

  The monster only realized at the moment of impact of what had happened. He still managed to block most of the damage by his chain, which was completely and utterly obliterated in the process. However, this time he sustained some injuries to his being as well. The creature was still standing thanks to his tough skin, but it was burned at several spots.

  Harwin had figured out, or at least theorized that S'kaal consumed his enemies to harvest magika from them. The ability of his — manipulation of the ashen sand — required tremendous amount to be utilized. This was the reason that the mage-sword had instructed the others to strike when he tried munch on his next victim.

  Kaith gave a nod of approval to the young mage who had managed to balance himself, after being thrown without warning. The former's attention had only drifted for the slightest of moment when his arm was sliced right off.

  Harwin looked in horror while Kaith brushed it off as if it was normal. Of course, the perpetrator was none other than S'kaal. The stygain ash was levitating around the monster, he was able to manipulate its shape at his will.

  The mutilation of arm was just the beginning, the cruel commander launched the blackened sand towards the two of them. It was a horizontal slash which was incredibly fast as well. With no time to spare, Harwin decided to leap above it to dodge. Kaith tried imitate the action of his comrade as well, but in his case, the sand followed right behind.

  In a split second, the man was cut in half. No one would have expected for the great Ser Kaith to fall, but he laid dead in front of their eyes. Panic erupted amongst the rest, with many abandoning their positions.

  S'kaal tried to make use of this chaos, and charged towards the corpose of the dead swordsman. That was when the young mage lunged forward to meet him head on.

  Upon seeing the bravery of this fellow, Lyam shouted at the others:

  "HAVE YOU NO SHAME! WILL YOU ABANDON THE MAN WHO SAVED YOUR LIVES!"

  It was, however, wasted on these men who were frightened to the core. Only Winston and Stein remained, though. They rushed to help Harwin who was striking left and right.

  Yes, the monster had tough skin and great endurance, but nothing could matched the sharpness of the stygian blade. S'kaal no longer had a weapon, so he relied on using his mystical ability while trying to maintain some distance.

  Surprisingly, the young mage was able to dodge even the sand slashes which had lost its precision now. Well, it was mainly due to the caster being surrounded from all angles. Winston and the hound striked where the young mage felt short on.

  Their strikes connected as well, and the beast of the land was left with a great many scratches. Hope returned once again. Lyam and his mage division did not cast anything yet, they were awaiting the signal of the young mage.

  Harwin was able to push back S'kaal now. It was only then that the monster stepped back a considerable distance. As the bunch tried to follow, the ground shook once again. This was followed by a short storm which greatly effected the sight of everyone. As the dust cleared, the trio froze in terror.

  They witnessed a giant sand-worm. Upon closer observation, they noticed it was made up entirely of the stygian sand. Harwin relaxed as he thought it was an illusion, until this artificial creature began to burrow right towards them.....