Hargod had ruled at the Crooked Horn for a long time. He wasn’t the most pragmatic or fair leader, but he possessed the strength that was so essential to keeping this Node afloat.
Still, life was an unpredictable series of events.
Two Hunters who happened to wander into his domain became the cause of his downfall. Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that one of them did.
"Gha..." Kreyn let out a deep sigh, full of relief and the joy of victory.
He didn’t fight for the slaves in the mines, nor to give the Crooked Horn a bright future, nor for some reward offered by a third party.
He did it for himself.
Hargod essentially forced him to fight to the death just for a good laugh and a show. Kreyn decided to put on a special one for him in return.
[You have defeated the enemy with a remarkable soul and willpower!]
[Since this is a special soul, the owner’s will has no bearing on whether you receive the soul or not.]
[You received - the Grand Soul.]
Several system messages flashed before Kreyn. But at that moment, he wasn’t thinking about them, even though he could see the purple soul hovering high above. It was visible only to him.
’How curious...’ Kreyn muttered to himself. ’If I remember correctly, even though I killed Leora and Nario, I didn’t get the Soul Fragments, right?’
He fell into thought.
’Hmm. It seems that, unlike genes, certain conditions must be met for this. It’s good that I can store Souls for much longer. I’m sure I’ll find some use for his one.’
Suddenly, a worried cry rang out from the side:
"K-Kreyn!" Groza exclaimed, crawling toward him on her knees with great effort. She was still too weak to stand, but she could no longer stay on the sidelines.
He turned, meeting her with a satisfied but weary smile.
"I won. I’m sure it was quite a sight, wasn’t it?"
Groza glanced at Hargod, at his torn throat, and nodded cautiously.
"Yes... That was something. You... Are you okay now? I mean..." She faltered, trying to find the right words. "Are you feeling well?"
In response, Kreyn stood up and walked toward her.
His mutated arms cupped her face, his claws digging into her cheeks as their eyes met.
"My heart’s about to leap out of my chest. Of course I’m fine."
Groza was speechless. She didn’t know what to expect.
Blink.
Kreyn blinked as something in his gaze changed. It became gentler and more human.
"Alright, let me help you up."
He draped her arm over his shoulder as the two of them headed toward Kalysa and Garius.
"What do you say, new boss? Ready to take the vacant seat?" Kreyn nodded toward the stone throne.
Before they could answer, Garius and Kalysa rose, supporting each other.
"That... Arstar wasn’t lying about the eye. Damn, I’ve been here so long and didn’t know about it. I didn’t even have a clue!"
Kalysa nodded.
"Yes. If it weren’t for Kreyn... we would have lost. He gained such power while we could barely move. No one at the Crooked Horn could have defeated Hargod."
Then, Garius looked at Kreyn as his expression grew more serious.
"Are you sure about that? I won’t hide it - you’d be a good leader, probably better than me. I... I could never do what you did."
"You’re wrong," Kreyn replied without a second thought.
"Agh?"
Kreyn looked around, toward the gate leading to the town.
"Sure, you probably wouldn’t beat Hargod. You wouldn’t go for the same plan, but we’re not talking about combat - we’re talking about how to run a Node. There’s one important difference between us that can’t be ignored."
Tap.
Kreyn poked Garius in the chest.
"Unlike me, you care about the people of this city. You know, it’s not often you come across subordinates who praise their boss. I think everyone knows that."
Despite his menacing appearance, Garius looked flustered, awkwardly scratching the back of his head and looking away.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yeah. Also, Kalysa’s pretty smart, so you’ll be fine."
"Hey! What the hell does that mean?!" Garius exclaimed, shaking his fist.
Groza narrowed her eyes. "It means you’re a fool."
"RGH!?" Garius snorted, but he had no response, since they were right.
Then, Kreyn looked at Hargod as a mixture of disappointment and curiosity appeared on his face.
’His eye... It’s different from mine, but it must be a mutation. Maybe another type? I need to find out more about this.’
"Hey, Kalysa."
"Yes?" She looked at him over her eyebrow.
"Give me your dagger. I need to do something."
She was puzzled, but didn’t refuse.
"S-Sure."
...
More than eight hours had passed since Hargod’s fall, as the dawn that greeted them at first gave way to a sunset enveloping the Crooked Horn in the red rays of the sun.
Gusts of wind swept across the stone plateau, with a few of them heading downhill, ruffling Kreyn’s hair as he sat on one of the many slopes near the arching bridges.
"What do we do next?" Groza asked, sitting next to him.
Kreyn folded his hands, gazing into the distance.
"We’ll head back to Dust Star. It wasn’t the kind of journey we’d expected, but we handled it pretty well."
"Huh..." Groza smiled bitterly. "You remember that I’m the captain of our team, right? But you’re right. You’ve grown so much during this mission... I can hardly believe it myself."
"You too."
"Ah...?" She turned to him.
"Back on the bridge, I’m sure you had to make a tough decision."
"This..." Groza bit her lip with a complicated expression. "That’s true. The others were right about me. Until I ended up here, I didn’t understand how other people live. Hell, even compared to you, who came from Sector 18, I’m just a rich kid and nothing more."
Kreyn shrugged with a slight smile.
"It’s not your fault that you were born rich into a good family. But you might be to blame if you think that’s because of your own merit and not just blind luck."
Groza nodded, her gaze deep.
"I know. I hope the people here will be okay. After all, they lost two captains and their leader."
"Don’t worry about it. Gukard ran the mines. He’s still here. Leora was nothing more than a warden. Arstar... Well, finding a good instructor won’t be hard, and as for Hargod, it only took us a few days here to realize he only got involved when the town needed his strength."
Then, Kreyn fell silent for a moment as sadness crept into his gaze.
"The only real loss for this place is Nario. He’s a smart guy, and trade depended on him. Well, he made his choice."
"Agh..." Groza sighed. "The miners recently found pure Orazit, and we forced all the Rahta Beasts to leave. They shouldn’t have any financial problems now. This Node has new opportunities, that’s for sure."
Kreyn smirked.
"It’s good to know we played a part in that."
Groza smiled back, and after a few moments, she finally decided to ask the question she’d been dying for:
"But, Kreyn, what do you need that thing for?" She pointed to the object next to him.
Kreyn looked at the jar. A red eye with an amber pupil was floating in the solution inside.
"Oh, I’ll find out soon. I hope."
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