A chilling sensation rattled Kevin. His eyes stared at the colossal being that parted the forest. He didn’t even see the trail of destruction laid by this giant with broken trees riddled on the ground. Even the name itself told its reason for existing.

Then he felt something. He gazed down and saw his hand being grasped tightly by Queen Qirien. He didn’t realize it, but after bumping into her, both of their hands were locked together.

He turned and saw her quaking eyes. Her hand was trembling as Kevin could feel it over his skin. 

Shit, this doesn’t look good. If even the queen is this anxious, I…

His mind was left to a blank as he stared at this humanoid golem taller than the stone troll that he had once encountered. It was no doubt a golem, a creation of GingerStar. It stood tall with four bulging huge arms. Yet the most surprising thing about the Devastator was its head. 

Why the fuck does it have two faces?

The Devastator’s head was rotating, revealing its two different faces. One had a raging expression while another had an upside-down smile. Their expression was fixed and unchanging. Yet only the glows of their eyes were shining even under the bright sunlight. One was radiating a glaring red while the other exudes a chilling blue.

“We cannot stay here any longer,” said Queen Qirien.

Kevin nodded as he definitely agreed to that. 

“It can see us through our invisibility,” said Queen Qirien.

“What?” he looked back at her with wide eyes.

Qirien gestured at him to lowered down his voice. But he couldn’t help it. If their invisibility was useless, then they were open target to these golems.

“Its blue eyes, that can see through illusions and the unseen,” said Queen Qirien.

Kevin felt restless as he heard the abilities of the Devastator. 

“Then why are we still standing here? We should go, like right now,” said Kevin.

Queen Qirien’s gaze fell upon Kevin. Her fearful eyes were replaced by the disinterested look. 

“Why did you come back?” she asked.

Kevin was anxious as he didn’t understand why she would be asking it now in this kind of situation.

“I can’t let you go alone,” said Kevin.

“But why? You are weak, and I am stronger than you. There is no need for you to be here,” said Queen Qirien.

Her blunt words kind of hit him at a sore spot, but now wasn’t the time to sulk.

“I know it’s ridiculous, but I can’t run away if I run…” he looked down as he remembered a piece of memory. He shook his head as he gazed back at Queen Qirien.

“I don’t want to be someone that I hate, not anymore, and not in the future,” said Kevin.

Their gazed stayed for a while as Queen Qirien decided. 

“We will be heading north. I cannot let the Devastator near Edelstein. Its eyes are far too dangerous. I will buff your speed, so try to adapt quickly,” said Queen Qirien. “And do not trip.”

While the scout golems scattered in the air at random directions, the Devastator was scanning through the tall ferns, searching for the target. Its rotating head kept on spinning as it then stopped. 

Its blue eyes saw a glimpse of something running at the edge of its vision. The Devastator saw two silhouettes fleeing towards the north. A loud alarm rang as the scout golems flew in the same direction. Then out of nowhere, the red eyes of the angered face blasted a beam of hot sizzling energy.

“It’s shooting something,” said Kevin as he ran with his feet becoming lighter.

Queen Qirien didn’t look back as her subtle voice sang a melody enhancing their speed by the second. She could have sprinted further, but she kept her pace along with Kevin.

“Shit,” he said. The reddish beam missed them by a slight margin, leaving a straight line of burnt mark on the ground. The residual heat started to burn the nearby swaying ferns. The red eyes could only assume the direction and location after what the blue eyes saw. But the slight margin of error of the golem allowed Kevin to lived for a bit longer.

If he was a second too late, then he would have been burnt into cinders. Kevin turned to Queen Qirien, who was still singing a requiem, a requiem that was familiar to his ears.

Requiem of the Vredens Dag.

A requiem that buffed the user along with its allies in terms of speed and dexterity. Yet there was a tip, or perhaps a bug only known to few hardcore players of Dunia Online, and Kevin was one of them.

“Sing the requiem from the beginning at the thirty-second mark,” said Kevin.

Queen Qirien, who was still singing, glanced at Kevin in confusion. She couldn’t say a word as she couldn’t let the song die away. 

The requiem was approaching the thirty-second mark and Kevin’s eyes didn’t budge away.

“Trust me,” he said.

Queen Qirien didn’t want to do it since as a vocalist, cutting a song short was taboo and was frowned upon. It was a sacred act to finish a song without pausing or stopping, even to the mildest of disturbance. But now this man was asking her to break that law. A law that she had adhered since the time she received this elusive class.

Yet seeing those unrelenting eyes of Kevin, she had no choice but to believe in him. As she approached the thirty-second mark, she sang it flawlessly, starting from the beginning. It flowed naturally as if it was meant to be.

Then a surge of energy welled up within both of them. Queen Qirien felt it. She knew she was becoming faster. She turned to Kevin with her eyes wide open. 

“Do it again at the thirty-second mark.”