Interconnected: Spliced Souls

It happened in a flash—a moment shorter than the snap of someone’s finger, and I was no longer in the dull locker room. The starry sky looked down upon me as an improvised camp with four or five campfires roaring to life surrounding me. The leftover remains of some crude dinner stubbornly clung to the air, and a breeze scattered the odors to the dense forest a few hundred feet to my right.    

A dozen caged wagons encircled me—each filled with a handful of bounded and gagged men and women. At least thirty armed warriors had their sights on me.   

A few wielded staves, and one mage raised his jeweled scepter high. The tip pulsed with magic as a mystical circle appeared beneath me. A pillar of light shot up and surrounded me like a beast in a cage before becoming slightly transparent.   

I tapped on it, and yep.  

It was solid like a rock.   

I was trapped, but the archers amongst my enemies had deadly, poisoned-tipped arrows aimed at me.  

“You’re right, boss! The gas didn’t affect her!” The speaker was a black knight. He looked imposing, I suppose, and wielded a great club and a massive shield of rock. His features were hidden behind his armor. He walked to the side, and the manager—the one-eyed brute wearing a suit too stylish for a thug like him—approached.   

And Cassidy was with him.    

“I knew there was something special about you. That gas was expensive. Do you have an anti-poison skill?”  

“Yeah. You could say that. So… You’re really behind the missing fighters?”  

“Do you really need to ask that?”  

“No. I guess I don’t.”  

“Why do you sound so relaxed? Your friend sold you out.”  

“Is that what you think?” I looked at Cassidy.  

“You were right, Cassidy. This foolish girl harbors a heart that’s too pure. She can’t see the forest for the trees.”  

“Says the man who’s blind in one eye. Say, mind telling me what this is?” I tapped the transparent barrier again. It didn’t shock or hurt me, and I didn’t know if it was something I could break with raw force.   

But it was perceivable. Its shape was defined, and Itarr said she could absorb it whenever I wanted.  

“I’m surprised you don’t know. It's a barrier spell that’s perfect for entrapping mages. It seals their magic but doesn’t stop anything from entering from the outside. The one inside is caged like a meek little rat.”  

So, it’s a one-way gate? Guess that’s why the archers are still trained on me.  

Servi, let me try something. [Heart Clutch]!   

Itarr used the spell...and said it worked like normal because she targeted the manager’s heart, but why? Did the barrier not target her? Or did it only prevent magic from the [Warden Skill System] from being cast? The answer was probably the latter, but this was good to know.   

“And…you think I’m a mage? You believe that’s my strength when I surpassed your childish challenge with flying colors? If you’re going to sell me out, Cass, you can at least give him the right info.”  

“…” Cassidy didn’t reply. She merely grunted and ashed her cigarette.   

“It doesn’t matter what I think you are. People want you dead, Servi. Powerful people who have more control over the world than you think. People who grasp the shadows with influential might surpassing that of a duke. People who I owe much to, and it is a request I cannot turn down.”   

“Ah!” I clapped my hands and realized I should play along. “Are you with that wormy bastard? The Golden Reliquary? Or what about Myrokos? Sorry, but I killed him a while back.”  

The manager blinked twice—caught off guard by my questioning.   

“No? You’re not working for Virin or his shitty son? You don’t have any connection to Keywater or that slimy group working under them? That’s a damn shame. I wanted a rematch against that golden bastard. He’s dead the next time we meet. So, if you aren’t with my enemies… Then… Does the Kaisaku Syndicate ring a bell?”  

Suddenly…  

Cassidy laughed. I’d never heard her cackle as loud or as long as that—it was uncharacteristic. But did this mean she knew them?  

Might as well press the issue a little more... Should I scare them? Hmm... Yeah, okay. Let’s go that route.   

“I mean, you’ve seen me fight. Do you think these little arrows can hurt me? Or that this spell can keep me restrained? Tell you what. You there—the little coward that’s trying to be brave. Fire that arrow and aim for my head. I can’t move, so it should be an easy shot.” I pointed at a random archer and saw his trembling eyes and scarred face. I assumed he didn’t think I’d be so carefree about this. To be fair...  

Most wouldn’t.   

Most would be trembling in their boots.  

“Besides, if you’re going to kill me, then why waste time talking? If it was me, I’d kill my target as soon as they showed up since words are wasted on the dead. You’re kinda bad at this whole thing, aren’t you? I guess you’re nothing but a two-bit thug? You can dress a pig in makeup and a dress, but it’s still a pig. A dumbass like you will always be one.”  

The archer looked at the manager, who laughed. “So confident even in death's face, but brave words won’t let you survive. It won’t subvert your destiny.”  

“Destiny, huh? And is that to die before the night’s over with?”  

“That’s right. I planned to permit you a few last words, but I’m deciding against it.”  

“Aww... Did the weak little human girl hurt your feelings? Go cry me a river, okay? Better yet, wait until I get out of here, and I’ll do more than make you cry. I can make a bear confess to being a rabbit, so what—”  

“Your voice is irksome. Go ahead. Kill the girl.” The manager motioned with his arm, and the archers released their poison-tipped arrows. They flew fast, but…  

“Aww… What’s wrong?” I formed a fist and retrieved the projectiles Itarr had just absorbed. The manager kept his expression in check, but his eye twitched as I taunted him with his squad’s failed attack. “Didn’t expect it?”  

“I told you about her ring,” said Cassidy, exhaling black smoke from her nose. “It can store things from a distance. Arrows won’t work.”  

“She’s right. But let me ask the questions. What do you know about the Kaisaku Syndicate?”  

“Ready your arrows. Keep firing until you run dry.”  

“Come on, manager. Are you ignoring me?” His archers did as he asked and kept trying and failing to pierce my skin. “You can do this all night, but I won’t die to something so pathetic. This won’t go as you expect it. But I’ll make your death a little less painful if you answer my questions. Is Bunbun aware of this? Is she working for you?”  

Dozens of arrows kept coming my way, but none ever came within two feet. This barrier didn’t mean shit since anything within range outside it was targetable.   

But the manager refrained from speaking. The brute kept silent and stared with that unwavering eye, so I wondered what he was thinking.   

“All that muscle? And for what? You can’t even answer a girl while barraging her with arrows? What are you gonna do when you run out? Use magic? Try and poke me through the barrier? I mean, you can try…” I shrugged. The more lax I took this, the more it unnerved everyone. But Cassidy was the only one calm.   

I knew she didn’t betray me. She didn’t know the extent of my abilities, but I knew she trusted me enough to handle this—and that I would connect with her plan without her talking about it.   

“Was Bunbun’s friendliness a curtain to make me drop my guard? Because if it was… We’re about to have a dead rabbit on our hands. And what about the rest of Fortuna? Are they involved with the Kaisaku Syndicate? You still haven’t answered my question. Oh? Look at that? It seems your weak little fledglings are losing their nerves. Why don’t you have your mages enchant their arrows? Maybe that’ll speed things along? Who knows, maybe an arrow of dirt will find my heart? Or a wispy arrowhead of smoke and fog might pierce my head? But then again… I’m getting awfully tired of this…”  

The manager called for a sudden halt and stared me down, narrowing his gaze as a translucent bird arrived. It landed on his shoulder, but I didn’t know what it said.  “You didn’t come alone, didn’t you?”  

“…”  

“There’s a singi, isn’t there? And a witch, an ogre, and a Rhinokin. They’re with a Bicornkin.”  

“Threatening me with my friends’ lives? And here I thought someone with your muscle would do something like challenge me to a fistfight. I was even gonna grant it to you, but now? You’re fucked. I mean, you were from the beginning. I hadn’t planned to let anyone pointing a weapon or hostile intent my way survive the night.”   

“Those are brave words—”  

“Brave?” The barrier surrounding me vanished, and I was over this. Itarr was already texting Albert to tell them they were being watched. The black knight stepped forward to guard the manager. They raised their massive shield so effortlessly. The armor covered his entire body, but he looked human or koena. “I wouldn’t say that. But I’d consider them truthful.” I sprang into action and took advantage of their surprise by cleaving the two closest with my scythe. Itarr told me a spell was coming from behind, so I ducked and let the icy, electric bolt slam into the twinblade-wielding rogue trying to approach from the front.   

Recovering, I twirled and avoided more magic and cut the rogue, then summoned my acid pistol and fired four shots, hitting the four armored knights that had crossed into my absorption's range. The deadly goop impacted naked skin, becoming a chorus of pained cries as futile hands tried and failed to wipe away the annoying acidosis liquid.   

“Is this the best you have? Come on… Approach… You said I’d die, but I don’t see you trying all that hard to butcher me for whatever pitiful master you owe loyalty to.”  

The fighting… The chaos…  

I felt…  

Nothing.  

It didn’t disturb me.  

The screaming didn’t send shivers through my spine, but I wasn’t disgusted or excited.  

Just…  

Indifferent to it, I guess.   

I wasn’t smiling, frowning, crying, or laughing.   

It almost felt like I was someone else—but it was still me in the driver’s seat, dodging, shooting, and killing until the soldiers broke rank. They threw down their weapons and ran away, screaming like babies.   

But I wouldn’t let them get away!  

“[Heart Clutch]!” I used my strongest spell and targeted the farthest one. I quickly opened my hand and formed a fist, crushing his phantom heart while shooting that weird transparent bird on Itarr’s order.   

“AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!! Aaahhhhh! My—my hea—” The cowardly archer suddenly vomited dark crimson and dropped to his knees, dying immediately. But I didn’t stop.   

No.  

I used it and crushed a dozen more hearts until the manager, that knight in the black armor, and Cassidy were left.    

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” I said, holding my hand toward him. “I’m glad you didn’t run, but it wouldn’t have mattered if you did. You cannot stop my magic.”  

“You’ll die here, monster!”  

“How tragically cliché. Especially when it comes from a stereotypical black knight. This isn't a story. You won't come across some untold power to strike me down, and that armor isn’t doing much for you. [Heart Clutch]!”  

“Guuhhh…”  

“Boss?!”   

I had targeted the manager and squeezed enough to make him drop to one knee. “It hurts, doesn't it? Your heart’s big. But just stay there and enjoy the pain, okay? I’ll be with you in a moment. Hey, knight boy! You might want to turn your attention to me. It’s rude to turn your attention away from your opponent.”  

“…”  

“What’s wrong? Did you let fear paralyze your tongue? No matter.” Itarr stripped the knight naked the moment I stepped within range, revealing a horribly disfigured man with harsh burns and raw scars across his toned chest.   

But I didn’t care.   

Itarr stole his club and shield, and I cleaved his head with my scythe, adding one more soul to my collection. His corpse wouldn’t be useful, so I left it alone and sighed. “And then there were two,” I said, looking at Cassidy and the kneeling manager. My grasp on his heart was probably like nothing he had ever felt. It took all the bastard had to breathe and remain conscious, so I slightly loosened it.  

A dead man couldn’t answer my questions, and I wasn’t wasting a precious revenant slot on his ass.    

 “You know… I think we work well as a team.”   

“Is that what you say to a woman who tried to sell you out?”  

“Are you going to act like that even when the show’s over? I know what you’re doing, Cass.”  

“Really? You do? I find it hard to believe.”  

“Well, I know how much you want your medicine to help,” I said, recanting her plan. “It’s effective. People love it. But it costs money to prepare—and you need capital. The dupla you have coming in can’t sustain your business, so I imagine you started advertising phrine. Fortuna probably heard about it since it works so damn good as a shot of pure adrenaline. They approached you with an offer to fund your shop if you signed a contract or something. But you discovered their sins—how they worked for this Kaisaku Syndicate and how they’re kidnapping fighters for their gruesome experiments. But you were in too deep.” Cassidy’s eyes widened, and her cigarette dropped from her agape mouth.   

I continued. “Fortuna blackmailed you into working for them. I don’t know if that happened before we met in Canary’s slums, so the timeline isn’t clear. But things changed when I showed up. You know how good I am at fighting. You know I can handle myself in a brawl better than anyone else. And… This type of work…” I gestured to the death around me. “It’s what I’m good at.”  

“Amazing…”  

“I got it all right?”  

“Nothing you said was even close to the truth… Not even a little bit… How goddamn naive can someone like you be?! It’s so astonishing that I don’t know whether to be horrified or amazed at how wrong you are!”   

“It’s okay. You don’t have to lie anymore. I’m not mad. Your plan was sound as hell. And it worked out. The guys the manager has watching my friends? Yeah, that’s been handled.” During the earlier fight—when I killed that transparent bird? That was a type of messenger spirit. Albert looked around for someone with a sudden, jeering reaction and quickly found a group of men sitting away from them.    

Albert wouldn’t kill them, but he wouldn’t let them out of his sight. Although with their boss dead… I doubt they’d act unless they had orders to attack if the communication abruptly ended. But Albert had my trust. He was so strong even as a child, and Sissy and the others weren’t bad fighters, either. And Momo was worth her salt.   

Really, they’d be alright.   

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Mind doing me a favor?” I asked. “Can you free the others and get them headed towards the city? I have questions to ask Fortuna’s supervisor, so…” I motioned towards the forest. Cassidy nodded and took the key ring I found in the manager’s pockets.   

As for him?  

I grabbed his neck and dragged him like luggage, ignoring his feeble threats and worthless complaints he forced through a raspy voice. The darkened abyss within the forest would be the perfect location for a terrifying spider to frighten the manager. 

But how far was I from Arcton? I couldn’t see the city on the horizon. The mountain range seemed far as well. 

Eh, I can always find out from this bastard.    

---

Two minutes later, we were far enough away to have some fun. The pitiful moonlight couldn’t brace through the thickened leaves. I couldn't see the wagon circle behind me, either.    

I tossed the piece of shit and watched him slide across the dew-covered grass. He still clutched his chest. His eyes probably wanted to pop out from the insane pressure constricting his heart.  

“Now,” I told him, retrieving a cigarette Itarr had lit for me. “I won’t even give you a choice since I’m not that kind of girl. So, I’ll jump into the deep end and choose the hard way. Hey, is the spider ready?”  

Yes, but they have a request.   

“And that is…?”  

They wish to be called Vanessa. And be thought of as a woman.   

“Well, it fits her personality. Okay, Vanessa! Come to me!” I raised my hand, and my ring flashed a deep, dark green as the arachnecrosis weaver manifested from my soul.   

The frightening monster joyfully laughed with all the haughtiness of a pampered noblewoman who wanted to marry her honey.   

“Ohohohoho!” Vanessa's feminine voice didn’t match her grotesque appearance. But the dichotomy was what made her absolutely terrifying.   

The manager never expected anything like this—not in a million years. Regret poured across his face as a wet stain darkened his crotch. All that massive brawn accounted for nothing in the end.  

“Vanessa, can you string this piece of shit up?”  

“Oh, at once, my creator! Hmmm… Aww, you’re not a cutie… You’re definitely not the type I desire my honey to be!” Vanessa’s sharp legs barely burrowed into the ground as she approached. She fired a load of glowing webs across the trees and quickly made a gorgeous nest seconds after using [Spectral Arachnomancy]. The minion spiders did the work incredibly hasty, leaving Vanessa with the ‘hard’ work. Soon, she had him dangling upside down like a pendulum. Her face was inches away from his thigh. I was sure he felt her fangs slide up and down his leg.   

But he couldn’t scream. The hold I had on his heart was too much. Even breathing was a gigantic effort.    

“You can die a painful death,” I said. “Or it can be painless. You’re dying. That’s a fact. And nothing you ever do will change it. So, I’ll let you decide your fate. I’m going to ask you questions, and you will answer them. Do not lie to me, Mr. Manager. Do not think Vanessa is the only creature under my control.”  

“My darling lord is right!” Vanessa’s cheery voice added. “I have soooo many potential honeys! And they all are dying to protect the honor of a refined and esteemed lady like me! Would you like to be devoured alive? Carved by a butcher? Recycled into biofuel? Or perhaps you’d like to be my dinner? I will need my strength to find my one and only honey!” Vanessa excitedly tapped her grotesque legs.   

She was probably a sadist.   

“Ah, but my lord? May your sweet Vanessa offer a suggestion?”  

“Go for it,” I replied, listening to her tell me about a mid-tier undead called a corpsemixer. It wasn’t the strongest fighter, but its strength was in the potions, poisons, and serums it could make with its skills.  

And that included a truth injection.  

So, it was an alchemist? Or an apothecary? An undead who relied on wit rather than brawn to fight their battles.  

“Okay.” I summoned my scythe and readied the spell. “[Create Mid-Tier Undead – Corpsemixer]!” My scythe illuminated with the green power of [Necromancy] as I cut into the earth. From the gaping slit and mist-shrouded depths of a forbidden skill came a…  

Person?  

The undead wore a sinister, gnarled gas mask that veiled its face. Its figure was obscured by a tattered lab coat that billowed ominously. It made the corpsemixer seem like the idealization of a certified mad scientist. Yet the most unsettling detail was the alchemical backpack grotesquely nailed into its back. Tubes and conduits snaked across its body like serpents that had their fangs embedded deep into their prey. But a few branched off to a dispenser on its chest, which held about a dozen empty vials. Suddenly, a low humming noise erupted from the backpack as liquids of all colors circulated like chunky blood.    

The corpsemixer’s arm jerked. Then a leg twitched. Finally, it moved its head and stared at me before kneeling. “My name… It is Victor… What do you require?”   

 A male name, so I guess this one is a guy? The body could go either way, but a man it is. 

“Wow. I didn’t expect a low voice. You almost sound like the roar of distant thunder. But you can stand. You don’t need to kneel. I need you to eat this before we do anything else.” I showed him a crimson wafer. Victor obliged, but he didn’t take off his mask. He removed an empty tube connected to the dispenser on his chest and dropped it in. “Is that how you eat?”  

“Yes. The feeding tube is rarely used, but it exists. Why? I do not know. Undead do not require food or substance after being created, but I am not aware of the circumstances of where we corpsemixers originate from.”  

“Aww… Don’t say that, Victor!” said Vanessa. “If you ever wish to find your honey, you gotta appreciate a good meal! Corpsemixers are all serious and no fun… I bet you’re a handsome cutie under that mask!”  

“One of us must be the word of reason, Vanessa.”  

“Ooohhhh… Say my name again...” The spider somehow sat on her knees—did spiders even have them—and rubbed her fangs. Was she…blushing? “I just love that deep voice of yours… Hehehehehe!”  

“Vanessa said you can make truth serums. Is that true?” As much as I enjoyed it, I changed the topic. It was time to get serious.    

“Yes, it is. Give me a moment.” Victor rapidly pressed a few dials and turned a dozen knobs on the dispenser. The backpack growled louder as black smoke erupted from the vents. Finally, he grabbed a vial and turned the dispenser knob, filling it with a pale blue, almost silver liquid that seemed denser than oil.   

“You must use this.” The corpsemixer retrieved a syringe and handed it and the thin tube to me. “Anywhere on the body. But a warning, my lord. It cannot differentiate lies from truths that the target doesn’t know. Abstract queries will not work.”  

“That makes sense. I can’t ask about my past since he wouldn't know. And it won’t work on me?” I asked. Victor confirmed my thoughts. I figured that was the case. And I was happy it was. I…didn’t feel like confronting my memories…  

Not now…  

At least not at this specific moment.    

But it was time to start. I filled the syringe and jabbed it in the manager's throat. Pale blue lines spread like a ravenous disease until his face was covered.   

“What is the name of your establishment?” I asked, releasing the grip I held on his heart.   

“F….Fortuna!” he spat, groaning. “You won’t…get away… AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”  

Clench!  

“Don’t be a jackass. Shut up and answer my question. Or I’m sure Victor can concoct a little potion that’ll burn you from the inside.”  

“Indeed, I can. It will be child’s play, my creator.” Victor laughed like a lawnmower cranking to life. It was horrifyingly unsettling. So, he was probably a sadist as well.    

“Get on it. Now, Bunbun. I asked you before, but does she know what you’re doing? Is she involved? Or is she a regular employee?”  

“She’s…unaware…of what we do…”  

“Let me rephrase it. Did Bunbun assist you in kidnapping any fighters? Is she responsible for anyone going missing?" 

“She…did…not… Grraaaa…” The veins from Victor’s little serum kept flashing like a beacon in the dark night.    

I was about to ask why she worked at Fortuna, but it would be overstepping my boundaries. If she wasn’t involved… She wouldn’t die.   

“Now, where do you get Monotonia?”  

“Scheduled deliveries from the Kaisaku Syndicate. They arrive in abandoned warehouses for us to collect.”  

“Do they manufacture it?”  

“They do. I am not aware of the process.”  

“Are they the ones requesting these fighters?” The manager forced a nod and said he didn’t know why--that they were known as sacrifices…  

Immediately, I thought about the bullshit I saw in the necromancer cave. Something giant was summoned there, but the manager said he didn’t take the sacrifices there.  He also didn’t know anything about the missing cauldron. 

“There’s a spot in the distant mountains. A cave located in the plain between the tallest peaks. That is where we deliver them.”   

“Are you aware of any necromantic dealings happening around you?”  

“I harbor knowledge of necromancers. But I do not know if they’re around,” replied the manager. His voice was much more direct and less pressurized. Victor said that was the truth serum working. It held a small mind control side effect that required a minute or two to kick in.   

Just using it sickened me because I thought about Lucy and much it fucked up her mental health... But I wasn’t naïve enough to call myself a righteous warrior of justice or anything remotely asinine. I’d use it if it meant saving someone who needed saving.   

I have these powers… I want to do good. But I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve made mistakes… I need to do better.  

“Have you knowingly worked with one?”  

“No, I haven’t.”  

“But you’re aware of the [Forbidden Skill System].”  

“I am.”  

Okay… Now we’re getting somewhere. Time to go for the big reveal.   

“Who leads the Kaisaku Syndicate?”  

“A kobold named Sakdu.” The manager wasn’t aware of any other pressing detail, but he, again, confirmed their base was most likely within the Arcton Mountain Range. But he hadn’t been inside. Warriors were always standing out front with dupla and additional pills when he delivered the sacrifices.    

I asked how the relationship started, and he said a geomancer affiliated with the crime group hollowed out what was now home to Fortuna. The manager was an accomplished fighter within the professional circuit when Sakdu approached him. According to him, the manager received the offer of a lifetime—the chance to fight with his being truly on the line.   

Fast forward a year or two, and Fortuna was born. Sakdu used his overwhelming influence and wealth to attract wealthy investors and debaucherous nobles while spreading rumors amongst the underworld to make others curious.   

The manager was chosen to lead it, but he fought for that right in the ring he loved very much. If anyone wanted his position?  

They’d have to kill him in the ring in a pure, unadulterated fistfight to the death.    

Can forbidden skills do something like that? Seems like [Elemental Manipulation] is only limited by your imagination… No, it’s probably more intricate. I can’t assume anything. That’s how you make mistakes and screw up.    

“Clearly, this Sakdu has status… Is he famous? Would others know about him?”  

“Yes.”  

I facepalmed and realized that was a stupid question.   

“I haven’t met him in person many times. He speaks often through his subordinates or sapphire communication crystals.”  

“And do you know these subordinates?”  

“Yes. Cassidy is one of them. She’s Sakdu’s closest ally and the mother of monotonia.”  

“… What the hell did you say?!”  

The manager repeated it, and my heart dropped all the same.   

“Victor, I thought you said it was a truth serum!”  

“And the target speaks the truth. I cannot detect any wards or defenses.”  

“Neither can I, my precious creator,” added the spider. Her words…weren’t what I needed.  

“But…” My hands trembled as if I was freezing. I had to tightly grip them hard enough to shatter my wrists to calm down.    

“Then… Cassidy’s… Did she really intend to sell me…out…? It wasn’t just…a…”  

Servi? Hey, listen to me…  

“She came to me with a proposition. She said you were too close to discovering the truth and asked me to handle you. Sakdu believes you to be a stain to be erased. I do not know what he had in mind had the delivery gone off without a hitch.”  

“Cassidy… Then… The blackmail about phrine? What about it?!”  

“She was not being threatened by myself or anyone affiliated with Fortuna. Her progress on phrine was her choice. She decided to create a lab and launder it to us to pay for her clinic’s reputable and cheap services.”  

Servi! Please! Listen to—”  

“CASSIDY!!!!” I screamed her name and rushed like the devil toward the wagon…  

And she wasn’t there. I merely saw a bunch of dazed and confused fighters who were trying to get their shit together. I asked if they had seen where she went, and some young girl said she vanished in a whiff of smoke and skill energy. “She wore a mask around her mouth. And she told us to stay away from Arcton. Umm… Thank you—”  

“Stay away? What the—”  

And then I felt it. The rage that inflamed my veins couldn’t compare to how ferocious the ground violently shook. Fissures and thick splits cracked the plains and knocked over the trees. The spooked horses panicked and ran away, dragging behind empty cages.   

But the intense shaking made me angrier!  

How…  

How could that old bitch have done this?!  

If she was behind monotonia…then why…  

I had far too many pressing questions and not enough answers.   

“Momo! Shit!” I turned on my heels and rushed to the forest. Victor and Vanessa awaited instructions, but I absorbed them into my ring and cut down the manager, grabbing him by the legs like a piece of luggage.    

“I need to get to Arcton… Shit… An undead… A flying one!” I retrieved my phone and began searching, but my ring suddenly flashed a bright green.   

It’s called an ebonwing carrier! Itarr said. She had faster access and created one for me.   

I tossed the manager on the large raven’s back and gripped the obsidian feathers before pulling myself up. Its eerie green eyes flashed as it ran, the mighty wings flapping strong enough to knock over a grown man. It emitted a gust of icy, cold wind that enshrouded the grass and trees in a thin layer of colored frost.    

“Fly higher!” I commanded. “I can’t see Arcton from—”  

BEHIND YOU!!!  

I turned around and saw…it…  

A pillar of gross, green mist erupted high into the sky. It almost acted like a waypoint that sent shivers through my heart... 

Because I knew it originated from the cauldron we had found…  

The color was a dead ringer…  

“There! I see the city! Come on! Fly!” I told my bird to go as fast as it could. I jabbed a hand into its skin and held onto bone while keeping my other hand securely around the manager. He had more questions to answer. He wouldn’t die just yet.    

“Please… Don’t… Don’t…” I pleaded with someone—anyone who would listen… It couldn’t go towards Arcton. It just couldn’t! Something like… It could wipe out the city! And Cassidy… She told the jailed victims to avoid Arcton, but she surely didn’t know this was going to happen, right?  

But then…  

The gathered haze condensed into a dense mass… 

And it started moving… incredibly fast…towards the one place I didn’t want it to go… It instantly stopped over Arcton before my bird had even flown two minutes! Even from here, I saw the green rain swallow the city alive, but simultaneously, it seemingly evaporated into a gas or haze as quickly as the rainstorm began and stopped.    

And it dissolved…  

It had to have been a freak accident.   

I’m texting Albert and Momo, but they’re not replying!   

“Keep trying! But start calling them! Don’t let up!”  

Please… Pick up…  

Even worse…  

A few seconds later… Itarr gasped and cried…and then I heard a voice that haunted my mind. It foreshadowed…the worst possible way this night could’ve ended.    

It’s Albert, Servi… I died.