"Reasonable enough. You had to survive. But trust me… this castle never plays about its legends."

That's what Fade said after Halo recounted everything that had happened from the moment they reached the castle.

Halo had expected him to be awfully rude or someone who hated people, but he wasn't all that bad. He had limits that didn't have to be crossed.

"How old are you, really?"

Fade gave him a lazy look.

"Wasn't it drilled into you by your parents? A lady's age is never to be asked."

"But you aren't a lady."

Fade let out a sigh and a sneer, then fell silent. He looked up at the sky, his dark eyes drifting across the expanse.

Halo didn't fully understand what had happened. Though he'd briefed Fade on the castle events, he'd inexplicably left out everything involving himself and the Crawlers. Yet that information was crucial.

"So tell me, why were you killed?"

Fade turned to him with a lazy look. Nothing about him showed any interest in answering the question, but after a moment, he spoke:

"Kysa killed me. I already told you."

"Why?"

Fade said nothing, the silence stretching as though he were judging whether Halo was worthy of a response.

"Two rules run this castle. Take down the master, or make them bow. That's it."

He gave his words a beat.

"In this castle, a bow isn't just respect, it's surrender. And surrendering is a way of selling yourself short when you have the potential to rise."

"You didn't bow, and she killed you?"

"No. Not quite."

"She had been master before me, and when the gods brought me here, she bowed out of leniency. Yet she left shortly after."

He sighed.

"I had no idea that a former master could defy the current one, even after bowing. But Kysa was nothing if not surprising. Her return meant only one thing… she wanted me dead and the castle for herself."

Suspicion flickered across Halo's face. He'd heard the stories about Kysa but never witnessed her power firsthand. But Fade had eliminated a Crawler created specifically to counter Kysa, and he hadn't even looked like he was trying. It couldn't mean…

"Looking back, I was fortunate she bowed the first time. I may have been a martial arts prodigy before, but that girl… she's a monster."

Halo frowned. She could have won the first time?

"In my world, being a martial arts prodigy meant something. So you're telling me Kysa still managed to kill you? Then how come you're not dead?"

Fade gave him his usual stare once again before responding:

"Don't lean too much on the rumors, boy. Kysa doesn't reveal much about herself. She was an honored knight at sixteen in her past life, calm and collected… yet utterly unreadable."

Kysa had supposedly stagnated at Knight rank, incapable of leveling up no matter how powerful she became. Learning she'd been a knight in her former life helped Halo understand why to some extent.

"Why didn't you die?"

"Relax, kid… I was about to answer that."

He exhaled.

"I'm not that easy to kill. She pinned me down with that weird sword of hers, sure, but now that I'm back on my feet, I bet she's already gotten it back."

"The Crawlers?"

Face sneered.

"You ask so many questions…"

"Because I want to know."

He wasn't anxious about anything this time, but he needed to know everything there was to learn about their initial predicament. Were they truly free now?

"It's been sixty years since I last ate. I'm going to need a feast once I've answered everything."

Halo looked up at the night sky. Midnight had come, and unless Fade had an appetite for live bugs, he'd need to wait until dawn for Seraph to cook a proper meal.

"Do you want snakes?"

"I will wait till morning…"

The rejection came instantly, as if Fade had somehow intuited that Halo was hopeless in the kitchen just by looking at him.

Halo shrugged.

"Once grilled, they're a delicacy all by themselves. You really don't want any?"

Fade cackled.

"That darkness in your eyes… you had a harsh, menacing childhood, didn't you? Your eyes reveal everything. I won't be tricked by your poison."

Halo's hand moved unconsciously toward his eyes. What was everyone seeing there? First Seraph had claimed his eyes told her everything about him, and now Fade. Did his eyes betray something visible to everyone except himself?

"Crawlers weren't created by anything special. My gift, Last Breath, did it. It mutates Sinners into Crawlers and drives them toward my body, feeding them the idea that eating me will give them power… it's an energy they absorb to feed on."

This sounded nearly the same as Seraph's gift, the Ancient One. The force was supposed to show up and save her once she was at the brink of death. But did this mean this had nothing to do with the red energy? Or they absorbed the Last Breath in red because they were on Inferno Moist?

He could have resented them for having gifts that literally saved them from death, but he valued his Magnus Blade. More importantly, some people like Liam didn't have any gifts to begin with.

"Why the name Crawlers? Is it because being near your corpse makes them harder to kill?"

Fade nodded.

"I didn't call them Crawlers, Milton did."

If Mill coined the term, Halo could grasp the logic. The name 'Crawlers' came from their persistence near Fade's body, their refusal to die.

Halo had seen their frightening speed and instant healing. Nothing about them actually crawled. The name must describe their tenacity, how difficult they were to put down permanently.

He couldn't dwell on that thought. Next to him was a legend supposedly as powerful as a Forgotten Sinner, creatures whose strength transcended comprehension.

The distance between their capabilities was staggering, and right now, strength was what Halo desperately needed. His assassin background from his previous world provided a foundation, but it wouldn't be enough here. He needed guidance.

"I want you to train me…"

His words were rough and dry.

Fade turned to him with a confused look.

"What do you need my help for? You already are strong."

Halo's expression twisted into a sneer. This was the same man who'd humiliated him by choosing an injured fighter as their strongest, and now he offered these words?

"I'm not. Can you train me?"

Fade chuckled.

"I'm not here to teach. If you want lessons, try the martial arts and cultivation programs in the safe zones. Your Purpose ends soon anyway."

Halo knelt before him and bowed his head.

"You were a martial arts prodigy, weren't you? You will do just fine."

"Being a prodigy doesn't mean I can teach you!"

Halo met him with silence.

It turned out to be his best move for the situation. Fade turned to him with a smile.

"Well, well. Maybe I can teach you after all. But nothing comes free… not from me."

Halo rose to his feet, his eagerness evident in his eyes.

"What's it?"

"I'm not sure yet. But perhaps, in the future, you'll prove useful to me in ways you can't imagine."

He'd already made death promises to two people: Noah and Dark Saint. Adding Fade to that list was the last thing he wanted, particularly since killing a legend of Fade's caliber would be nearly impossible.

"You'll learn six things from me. After that, your fate is yours to carve."

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