Raylon, Avawrath, Taya, Saraya and Delana finally arrived in Ithilin. Delana could only teleport to places that she's seen before and there was a limit to the range as well. That's why she could not teleport everyone to Ithilin.

As they got off of their ship they felt something draining their vitality. There were multiple totems in the area that drained the vitality of the inhabitants. 

“Something isn't right about this place. I'm going to destroy whatever is draining our vitality. The rest of you should try to acquire information from that tavern over there” said Saraya as she pointed to a tavern. 

As soon as she left, Raylon and his teammates entered but noticed that everyone in there looked like they were on the verge of death. Everyone except a group of giants that appeared to be extorting the owner of the tavern. 

Raylon didn't hesitate to blast the giant away using fire. Another giant punched him. Even though he blocked the attack, the impact sent him through the tavern’s walls and onto the road. The other two giants fought Taya and Avawrath while Delana ordered some alcohol for herself.

The giant tried to crush Avawrath with its club but he raised the ground underneath it to send it flying into the air. He then opened a crevice in the ground so that the giant landed in it. He then sealed the crevice and walked away with his hands in his pockets. Embarrassingly, the giant broke free and hit him with its club. The impact sent him flying into somebody's house.

“I'll have to teach this oaf a lesson for attacking me while I'm trying to look cool,” said Avawrath.

As the giant charged at him he momentarily summoned the Scoria dragon. It sent out a deafening roar that brought the giant to its knees. It then whacked the giant away with its tail. As the giant was sent flying back, Avawrath kicked its face and stomped it into the ground.  

“Tell me what you know! What is draining the people's vitality here!” exclaimed Avawrath.

“You're quite arrogant for someone so puny. The master placed totems to drain everyone's vitality to give him more power. This is not the only place that he's conquered. Almost all of Ithilin belongs to him” replied the giant.

“Who is your master!” yelled Avawrath. The giant was about to respond but his head exploded. Avawrath kicked him away in anger. He knew that his master must be dangerous if he would rather kill a giant instead of attempting to rescue it. No, this was a message intended for them.

Taya blasted the giant with fire. Due to the phoenix that she had a pact with being killed by Kael, her flames were much weaker and she lost many of her abilities. It kept her up at night knowing that she was weaker. How could she protect anybody when she was weaker? The answer that she chose was to do all that she could to get stronger.

She sent out a barrage of fire blasts at the giant. As it began swinging its axe wildly while it was on fire she climbed it using her dagger and inserted the dagger into the back of its neck. She then repeatedly stabbed its head while she was on top of it. As the giant fell to the ground she jumped off of it and hit it with another blast of fire as a precaution.

Raylon focused his energy into his fist to exchange a punch with the giant he was facing. The impact sent shockwaves throughout the area. The giant tried to tackle him but he moved and swivelled out of the way and pushed it back. The giant tried to grab his leg but Raylon jumped up and hit it's head with a crescent kick.

As the giant staggered from the impact he hit its face with his knee. He then climbed it and began repeatedly smashing his elbow into its head. The giant writhed in pain and instead of trying to throw Raylon off, it held on to him. It then ran through multiple buildings while not letting him go. Raylon blasted it with fire to break free and kicked it away. He then combined the affinity of fire and electricity to hit it with a plasma blast that killed it.

“Nice work Raylon! I can see why you were a finalist in the trials of Veridonia” said Delena as she watched him fight while drinking alcohol.

“Why didn't you try to help! All you did was drink beer!” exclaimed Raylon. Delena just laughed and went back to drinking.

While their fights ended, Saraya had destroyed two of the three totems in the area. The people were starting to feel more lively already. The denizens guarding the totems were no match for her. As she reached the location of the last totem she didn't waste time defeating those guarding it.

It was a group of armoured frost trolls. They were tall, muscular and had a thin layer of white fur. They surrounded her and used frost breath to freeze her. She easily broke out of the ice using brute strength. They all charged at her but in a few seconds she beat all of them by hitting their pressure points. She then punched the totem and it was destroyed. The people's vitality was no longer being drained. That's when a bolt of lightning almost struck her!

She dodged it but almost instantaneously someone tried to kick her. She caught his leg and slammed into the ground. Once she saw his face she knew who he was.

“The deity of lightning, Ashgarn. It's been a while” said Saraya. Ashgarn didn't respond. He blasted her away with lightning.

He then tried to hit her with a barrage of high speed punches but she blocked by keeping her guard up. She tried to kick him but he sent out a shockwave that paralysed her for a few milliseconds. This was enough for him to land an uppercut and then grab her while she was mid-air to deliver a powerbomb. 

He was going to continue punching her but she pulled him into a headbutt and rolled over his back. Before she could land on her feet he was ready to strike and hit her with a double palm strike that sent her into the market area. Saraya was distracted by thinking about how she can protect everyone while fighting Ashgarn and this allowed him to hit her with a bolt of lightning.

This temporarily paralysed her again, allowing him to punch her throat and land a devastating kick to her ribs. She gritted her teeth as the paralysis wore off to land a rising kick that sent him into the air. She then tackled him into a condemned building.

“Since there's nobody here I can go all out, but there's really no need for us to fight Ashgarn. Tell me what is going on. I know that you're not the one behind all of this” said Saraya. 

“While all the deities abandoned me the master saved me. He will usher in a new age. Once every part of Ithilin falls, Veridonia will be next” replied Ashgarn.

Saraya knew something was off about his response. She felt that he was being mind controlled by some dark magic, but who could possibly control the mind of a deity?