High above hidden in the dense canopy of an ancient Banyan tree in , Shadow's body was locked in its place.

She tried to say something but her throat muscles refused to obey. The only thing she could feel was the cold, sharp point of a golden hairpin pressing against her jugular.

Behind her, a figure stood balanced on the branch, her presence barely more than a fly.

Shadow couldn't see the face. Through the corner of her eyes, she could only see the silhouette of an elegant, flowing dress that looked completely out of place in a monster-infested forest.

"Let me go," Shadow hissed through her teeth, forcing the words, "If anything happens to me, my Mistress will hunt you down."

But all she got in response was a soft laugh. It sounded pleasant like wind chimes, beautiful, melodic, but chilled.

"Your Mistress?" the woman whispered, her voice right at Shadow's ear, "I know, the famous Red Merchant!"

"But she is a child playing with copper coins while giants play with kingdoms. She did wrong to send you here, little birdie. She did wrong to eye things that don't belong to her."

The woman leaned in closer, the scent of her Jasmine scented perfume wafting from her.

"You will lose your life here tonight," the woman crooned, "And sooner or later, your Mistress will lose hers for poking her nose into the dark."

Shadow's eyes narrowed behind her veil. Fear was replaced by a surge of hot, loyal anger. Playing with her life was one thing, but insulting Ryana was a death sentence.

Not caring anymore about the hairpin on her neck, she spun, dropping her center of gravity instantly. Her dagger flashed in the moonlight, slashing backward in a lethal, disembowelling arc aimed at the woman's stomach.

For anyone else, it was a perfect strike. So fast that it couldn't be caught by a naked eye.

But it wasn't a problem for the Mystery Lady. She didn't even draw a weapon.

She simply flicked her wrist. Her hand, gloved in black silk, moved faster than Shadow's attack.

CRACK!

Shadow's eyes grew wide open as she stared at her dagger in absolute shock. The Lady had blocked her dagger with her hairpin, and she was looking at Shadow with a look of absolute amusement.

It was like a Cheetah playing with her prey.

"Don't be so restless, kitty!" The Lady smirked and in a flash she moved and grabbed Shadow by her arm, and twisted it.

"Ugghhh!!!" Shadow gasped as her arm bone snapped. Her dagger fell from her numb fingers, clattering into the darkness below.

Before Shadow could even process the pain, the Mystery Lady slapped Shadow at the back of her neck with the force that knocked the life out of Shadow in an instant.

The Lady grabbed Shadow by her neck and shoved her face into the trunk of the Banyan tree. The air left her lungs in a wheezing gasp. Shadow slid down the bark, slumped on the branch, broken and breathless.

The Mystery Lady didn't bother to finish her off. She turned her attention back to whatever was happening between Leo and Bane.

"Watch," she commanded, her voice filled with dark amusement. "The show is starting."

Down in the mud, Leo's hand closed around the skeletal finger-lock of the Black Sky.

Bane was mid-lunge. His rapier was a blur of purple light, the tip of her sword pointed at Leo's chest. His handsome face was twisted into a mask of desperate fury and panic.

"NO!" Bane screamed. But he was late.

Leo didn't hesitate. He twisted the bone in the lock.

CLICK.

The lock snapped open.

Leo kicked the heavy black lid.

It flew back on its hinges, slamming against the back of the palanquin.

Leo braced himself for an explosion. He expected fire. He expected demons. He expected a shockwave that would flatten the forest.

There was no explosion. No fire. No light.

There was only a sound.

Sksksksksksksk.

It was the sound of a billion insects whispering at once. It was the sound of dry leaves skittering over a grave.

And then, something poured out of the box.

It wasn't smoke. It wasn't liquid. It was a physical manifestation of the Void. Pure, absolute Darkness surged from the container. It didn't spread outward like a cloud; it moved with sentient purpose. It coiled like a striking snake.

It surged directly into Leo's face.

"Gah!"

Leo tried to scream, but the darkness forced its way into his mouth. It flooded his nose, his eyes, his ears. It filled his lungs instantly, choking him from the inside out.

His vision went black. His eyes rolled back into his skull. His body went rigid, his muscles locking up in a seizure.

Bane's rapier tip was about to reach Leo. He was a second away from piercing the heart.

And then... nothing.

The world stopped.

Bane froze mid-air. His front foot was off the ground, his coat tails suspended in a gust of wind that no longer blew. His expression of rage was locked in a grotesque, motionless statue. The purple glow of his rapier solidified, looking like a piece of coloured glass.

Under the cart, Grendel was frozen with a snot bubble popping from his nose, his hands covering his head.

Hilda the mule was frozen mid-stomp, her mane floating in the air.

A single leaf, falling from the tree above, hung suspended in the space between them, spinning but never dropping.

Colour drained from the world. The green of the forest, the red of the blood, the blue of Bane's suit, it all faded into a dull, monochrome grey.

The forest went silent.

Only Leo moved.

Or rather, Leo's consciousness was ripped away.

And when he opened his eyes, Leo gasped, sucking in a lungful of air that wasn't there.

He blinked with pain searing through his eyes.

The forest was gone. Bane was gone. The cart was gone. Everything was gone.

He was standing on a floor of black glass that stretched out into infinity in every direction. It was perfectly smooth, reflecting nothing but the void above.

The sky, if one could call it that, was a swirling mass of heavy, oppressive shadows. The only light came from a pulsating, ominous Red Lightning that crackled in the far distance, silent and terrifying. It cast long, bloody shadows over the nothingness.

The air felt heavy. Thick. Like breathing mercury.

Leo looked at his hands. They were translucent, fading in and out of existence like a bad hologram.

"Oh, come on," Leo groaned, his voice echoing endlessly into the void. "Not again."

He looked around frantically, spinning in a circle.

"Aiva?" he shouted, "Where the hell are we? Am I dead again?"

But there was no usual pleasant sound that he had gotten used to hearing for all these days. No blue screen appeared in front of him.

"Aiva!"

Nothing. The System was gone.

Panic began to set in. Real panic.

"Lysara?" Leo yelled at the red sky, "Hey! Goddess of Mistake! I need a respawn! Your hero is glitching out!"

Silence.

"Anyone?"

The red lightning flashed, illuminating the emptiness.

Leo dropped to his knees on the black glass. He clutched his head. He was heartbroken. Not because he failed the mission. Not because he was dead.

But because he felt like an idiot.

"Why?" Leo thought, cursing himself, "Why did I open the box? Why was I so stingy? I had thousands of gold coins! I have a spatial inventory full of loot!"

He slammed his fist against the glass floor.

"I should have just paid that Bane douchebag whatever he wanted! I could have bought him a castle! I could have hired him! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"Greed killed the cat. Greed killed me."

"Damn that Ryana for sending an imbecile bodyguard who can't even interrupt a monologue! Damn that veiled bitch for being useless!"

"If I get another chance, I won't be this stingy!" Leo regretted. And when regret began to set in, it got only more depressing.

"I didn't get to finish," Leo whispered, clutching his hair.

Tears of frustration pricked his eyes. He thought of Seraphine.

"I promised her a third round," he lamented, "I promised myself to make her scream until the guards called the Lord."

Then he thought of Ryana.

"I never got to see her face under that veil and that sexy body beneath that robe," Leo groaned, "I never got to motorboat the Red Queen. I died without claiming the Merchant. I never got to hear her beg."

"And I take it back, Ryana is not to be blamed for my death."

"But that flat-chested bitch... Ughh!!"

Thinking of flat-chested, he couldn't help but think of Mara at the guild. The regret was only getting bigger with every second.

"I missed the chance with that thick receptionist! She was already willing to spread her legs for me."

"I died a Level 4 virgin!" Leo screamed at the void, "Well, technically not a virgin, but close enough! I only had one woman! I was supposed to have a harem! This is bullshit! I demand a refund!"

He was in the middle of screaming his frustrations at the red lightning, his voice cracking with the injustice of it all.

Suddenly, the red lightning stopped.

The hum of the void went silent. The oppressive weight in the air grew heavier, pressing down on Leo's shoulders like a physical hand.

"So... it is you?" A voice spoke.

Leo's chain of thoughts snapped. The rant died in his throat.

It wasn't human.

It felt ancient. Heavy. Like standing next to a black hole that had existed before time began.

Leo froze. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold ran down his translucent spine.

He slowly, terrified, turned around to face the owner of the voice.

** ** ** ** **

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