Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 398: CCCXCVIII. The Crystal Of Fire

"Eheheh... you don't know anything about what you've done... don't imagine the mess you got yourself into..." 

"You only have a few more seconds to make yourself useful. Tell me why you Jotunns tried to steal the Giantbane!" 

"The Giantbane... it's a really nice name..." 

The man continued to babble nonsense, as his eyes began to get lost in the void and his blood continued to flow from the wound, slowly killing him.

"Dag, look!" Gridd said, interrupting their speech and resting her hand on his brother's arm, pointing to the back of the man's right shoulder, who as soon as he tried to grab his leg to check its conditions, leaned forward.

Behind the shoulder, there was another wound, which unlike the others was formed by several holes, deep and circular, too similar to the shape of the canines of those ferocious wolves.

"Fuck! He was bitten! Soon he could transform, it's only a matter of time!" he thought, reflecting without speaking and briefly removing the axe from his interlocutor's neck, to let him speak.

"The Jotunn who tried to steal your weapon... the one you brutally killed... he wasn't just a common warrior... he was the youngest son of Kranus, the leader of our Clan! Cough!" the man coughed, explaining to Dag the truth behind the mistake he had made in the past.

"Fuck!" Gridd exclaimed, unable to hold back her bad feeling and stepping back, turning the other way and thinking it was no good for them.

"It doesn't matter whose son he was. You dirty Jotunns killed innocent people, including children! My only wish was to exterminate you from the first to the last! You are nothing but scum!" Dag exclaimed, approaching the man's face and looking into his eyes, as his purple eye began to emit a slight glow as if anger had awakened his dormant dark powers.

"Commander Kranus has sworn to kill you with his own hands... by this time, he will already know of your arrival and will be preparing to welcome you properly! Hahah... ouch! Cough, cough!" the man replied, who could not finish a sentence without coughing, continuing to sweat and pale, having almost exhausted the blood necessary to stay alive.

"Dag, he can transform at any moment! I don't know if the blood he's losing will stop him from becoming a werewolf! You have to do something!" Gridd said, asking her brother to make a decision.

"What? What's that woman talking about?! A wolf?! I will never become one of those dirty beasts! Grrr... aargh!" 

After these words, the man moved his neck sideways, feeling great pain and in the meantime, a row of canines grew inside his mouth, widening his jaw and deforming it.

The man's eyes began to express the fear he was feeling at the time, while Dag stood in front of him, with the Giantbane ready to strike.

"No, not yet! You still have to tell me about this Crystal of Fire you've talked before! Why did you want to steal it?! How did you know about the powers of the Giantbane?! Answer me, damn it!" 

"Grrrr... grraagh!" 

The Giants Of Ymir warrior's breath changed dramatically, becoming stronger and deeper, and other teeth popped into his mouth, as his arms began to grow in volume, as did his legs and chest, despite his enormous wound.

"Dag! Dag!" Gridd shouted again, advising her brother to think quickly because fighting a werewolf in such a cramped space would not be easy and also because the noise might have alarmed other enemies nearby.

"Kranus... he... he's going to kill you, earthling! Grr... you're going to pay for the crimes you've committed against the great and powerful Ice Giants! Rrrr!" 

As the man's physique began to increase exponentially, Dag, without thinking again, moved the Giantbane quickly and with its glowing blade struck his neck, cutting off his head with surgical precision.

It rolled on the ground and the deformed body of that wolf-man being fell to the ground lifeless. 

"Fuck, Dag... what were you waiting for?!" 

"I was hoping to get more information! What the fuck does the 'Crystal of Fire' mean?! What's that? Weland never mentioned me a name for this stone embedded in my weapon, he just told me that it comes from the Soul Fusion of Brann's brother, Eirik!" 

"I have no idea what it is, but one thing is certain... now we are sure that two Krypstorm Clans want to kill you and as a result, they want to exterminate all our troops!" 

"What? What are you talking about? Hey, who's that headless guy? You said there were no enemies!" Karl exclaimed, who, following of Dag's orders to the letter, had led the rest of the Masters and the soldiers inside the cave, reaching their current position. 

"Ah! Uhm... you were quick! I didn't think you could get down that fast! Anyway... yes, we met a man who was about to turn into a wolf and we killed him before his metamorphosis was complete" Dag said, who did not expect his friend Karl to be so quick to walk down the circular path.

Kjell, Egill, Sander, Freydis, and Reidar made their way among the soldiers and stopped to talk to Dag and Gridd, asking him what they had discovered, after noticing the large wolf-shaped statue on the other side of the cave.

Dag, initially hesitant, trying not to give too much sensitive information to all allied soldiers, took the Masters and his closest companions aside and explained to them what had happened in that tunnel, telling them about the wounded man and the ongoing war between the Claws Of Fenrir and the Giants Of Ymir.

"Crystal of Fire? What the hell is that? The ruby embedded between the blades and the handle of your axe?" Egill asked, trying to understand what he had just heard.

"Exactly... Meeting the last survivor of a detachment of the Giants Of Ymir army was a mere coincidence, but he seemed to know many things about the Giantbane and its powers... as soon as he recognized it, he looked at me and called me 'earthling'..." Dag answered.