Chapter 531 [531] Giants.

With bodies thrice the size of an average human, they were towering figures that cast menacing silhouettes over in the distance. They were a group of 10, one particular "giant" among them wielded a bow, and it was evident that it was the one that shot Alan.

They had four eyes, two the same where humans had them, one in their forehead and one, strangely, in the middle of their chests. There was a small opening in their clothing there, which allowed them to see through it. The eyes were large, and have three pupils, each glowing a different color. Their visual senses...surely they had to be much superior. Or perhaps flawed.

The feet of this bizarre giants was shockingly normal, they wore thick leather boots, but it was clear they were not refined. A human would be disgusted to wear such a thing unless the situation absolutely called for it. They looked like they had skinned a random animal and didn"t even bother to use thread or fabric to sew the leather.

Instead, used the animal"s own blood and saliva, perhaps even their own, to make it a suitable shape. The durability was laughable.

They had two arms but four hands. Each with seven fingers the same length as the other except for the thumb and index fingers. They were smaller than the rest.

The hands were strange, they seemed to be joined together but separate, how they managed to work with them was a miracle.

They were muscular, and dirty, But they possessed the qualities of a "human" or an intelligent life, they had pride on their faces as they scurried forward to meet the prey they had caught. Two of them stayed behind, and held chains made of roots laced with the strange dandelion like flower. They held the chains tightly, unwilling to show even a moment of ease.

The giant in the lead, the one that wielded a spear of bone sprang forth and looked at the beast of darkness with a cold glint in it"s...four eyes.

It took out a pendant made from emerald from its crudely made...bag. It appeared to be part of the intestines of a large creature, and one end was burnt shut.

The pendant glowed a strange, yellow hue as the beast of darkness hissed and fled. The giant smirked with its ugly face. The nose of the thing didn"t exist, but it appeared it could still smell. The mouth of this...anomaly was surprisingly normal.

It smiled, and the surprisingly normal mouth revealed the odd things about it. The teeth surged out from the lips, and although they were strange, it couldn"t compare to the mix of the strange teeth that were back.

The teeth of a herbivore, and a carnivore...but in a strange fashion. Unlike the ordinary omnivore, they were crudely put together. The molars were in front, some in their normal place, and the others in a similar mismatched fashion.

Their feet produced a thunderous sound as they ran over to Alan, who was now unconscious, and truly on the verge of death. A death his bloodline, his lineage and even his own will, no matter how hard it struggled could not save him.

But they could...but did they want too.

"We need...alive."

One of them, struggled to form a sentence with the help of it"s spiked tongue. The life of these creatures must be h.e.l.l, it was...nearly impossible to think they were giants.

Clearly, the one that spoke was dumber than the rest, or as dumber than the one who fired the bow and the one that wielded the spear.

The one with the bow approached the prey he had caught, and with a snicker on it"s face, kicked Alan"s unconscious body in the face. His kick was so powerful that the force made even the thick snow beneath Alan fall away. But Alan"s unconscious body did not move.

The one with the spear, reprimanded him.

"What are you doing?!"

The one with the bow coolly snickered, and backed down.

"Enjoying some fun...with the catalyst."

The one with the spear, sighed and approached Alan, he laughed and spat on Alan, then he took out another pendant from his bag, and after he inputted his mana into it the pendant began to glow a white hue.

And Alan"s body recovered, but only a bit. Only to the point where he would not die, but just cling onto life, the best he could.

The giant felt the urge to kill the prey in front of him, but he didn"t. He simply ordered.

"Bring him... We will be perfect with him."

There was a hatred bound deep in his blood, concealed but awakened when he saw Alan, A dragon. Did he not hear stories from his elders how they were the cause of his deformities, of his imperfection?

The rage within him was vast, but he was wise. He was able to control. Even the one with the bow seethed with rage, itching to slit the dragon"s throat but a harrumph from the one with the spear stopped him.

He regained his senses and began to calm down his brothers, who were resisting the desire to slice and dice Alan to pieces by inflicting themselves with pain.

The one with the bow managed to calm them down, and he ordered the two that stayed behind.

"WE BRING THIS HOME."

They regarded him as an object, the earth quaked as his voice travelled through the air. Yet, he was weak. Even though he could produce such power that the environment trembled...the power was dormant within him. Not even a sliver of what it was originally, a few millennia back.

The two that held the chains, dragged Alan crudely through the snow, the one with a spear laughed coolly and said.

"Don"t kill it."

He followed along, with his brothers as they carried Alan"s body through the mountains, his body collided with rocks and their sharp edges, but they simply did not care.

They only made sure he was alive, not how he was dealt. And if Alan were unconscious, he would lament at his durability. Before the last wisps of his bloodline energy disappeared, his bloodline acted to heal his body. But it worked in a cruel way. His flesh had merged with the arrow still in his chest.

Surprisingly...if the arrow was looked at from his back, one would see there was a spherical hole within it, one covered with his flesh. The hole was half the size of a human palm. The giants weren"t so stupid to create such a bad arrow...surely something else must have caused it.

But they paid it no heed, and continued forth, his body was dragged up the mountain cliffs and even played with, as the giants played the game of "catch" with it. They threw the rope to the others, and his body suffered against the harsh winds and sharp rocks.

They finally made it to their home, after a day, to the city that touched the stars.

***********

Sabrina gasped for breath as she slammed the door to Richard"s office open. She caught sight of Richard and her Grandfather, clearly looking like they hadn"t slept for days, their eyes were bloodshot and various papers were strewn about.

They were both surprised, just now they were filled with endless worry from losing Alan and Sabrina, and wracked their brains to find them. They had the power of their contracts to sense their location within the planet, but they did not have sufficient power. They needed more! They hurriedly sent word to their hunters, who were equally skilled to the expedition squad but were away on certain matters.

They issued an emergency order, to get them both back...but one of the two who had disappeared was in front of them, panting for breath and clearly not in a good state. Logan, rushed over to Sabrina and hugged her tightly. He searched her body for wounds and asked in a haggard voice.

"Are you okay?!"

As he held her face, with worry struck on his face. Richard was too surprised to move. Logan hugged her again, ignoring the blood, vomit, and dirt on her clothes.

"I thought I lost you..."

Richard snapped out of his daze, and asked her.

"Alan...where is he?!"

He found it suspicious that he hadn"t returned with her, and his mind was jumping to conclusions he did not dare voice out.

He feared the worst, and Sabrina"s state, that ruined her beauty made him pray that it was not what he thought.

The girl shed slight tears, as her voice crumbled, but she managed to say...something...

"We...need to go."

Hiccups appeared, making it harder to complete her sentence.

"Alan...he"s going to die."

And that was it, Richard"s worst fear came to life, and he urged Logan to go to that accursed planet.

Sabrina also encouraged him, and it was only because of her he went. He was the strongest one here, even above Richard, his help was needed.