As I sprinted in the direction Sylvia had pointed, my foot caught on a log, and I crashed to the ground—for the seventeenth time. I barely managed to shield the others from harm as I fell.
"…" I silently accepted my fate, brushing snow and splinters from my coat as I picked myself up once again.
The misfortune couldn't harm me directly while my ability was active, so it resorted to subtler sabotage—like increasing the probability of me tripping over the most innocuous objects imaginable. It was trying to delay me, to slow me down inch by inch… and that knowledge gave me all the more reason to keep going. If it was working this hard to stop me, I had to be getting close.
"I'm going to burn that cursed object in ghost fire before I ever think about putting it to use," I muttered under my breath.
"Although I never expected you to be mad at an inanimate object," Ryuk said dryly, "I suppose in this case… it's justified."
Even if I had slowed down, the outcome wouldn't have changed. The path ahead darkened with every step I took, as though the forest itself sought to swallow the light.
I activated my Nether Vision.
Ghostly fire flickered to life across my eyes, illuminating the unseen. All around us, I saw the vibrant life energy of the trees, dancing like green wisps in the dark. And ahead—looming, expanding—I saw the unmistakable aura of Grunthar. But it wasn't just death energy.
It was something else.
Then... something changed.
My vision began to blur. My eyes stung. And then—without warning—they liquefied in their sockets. I couldn't see. My eyes had melted.
What did I just see?
Panic seized me. I scrambled to shut off my Nether Vision—and in my flurry, I accidentally deactivated Timeless as well.
Sylvia and Reinhardt collapsed to the ground the moment my grip slipped from their collars. I clutched my face, desperately trying to regenerate my vision, raw nerves screaming under my fingertips.
They didn't know what had happened… not at first.
But then they looked ahead. Just a glance. And they knew I had found Grunthar.
They also knew—without words, without explanation—that something was terribly wrong.
Their instincts howled at them...
Do not move forward.
Though it stood in plain sight, neither Sylvia nor Reinhardt could see it. It was just me and Grunthar who had the Nether Vision... The only ones who are able to look at the monstrosity that held onto a cursed object for thirty years. Is it even right to call it a human anymore?
How can a human have such desire? That thing... It's no longer anything humanoid... No, it has long turned away from it... It's cursed energy has turned into that of death.
It's form... I can almost pity it...
"Get off!" It was then when a shout struck in my ears as I lost control of the vessel and Moriaty took it from my grasp. "If you can't handle death energy, why would you even try to do something this stupid all the time."
The vessel regenerated it's eyes in the next instant as the memory of the being we saw was deleted from our Mind Realm by Moriaty.
"Don't... use Nether Vision," I warned, my voice echoing in the Mind Realm. "I know you can control it better than I can—but that thing... While it isn't as terrifying as Charles, its energy alone places it at the level of a country-scale threat—or at least A-rank."
I paused, my thoughts swirling. "But when I looked at it... I didn't want to attack. Why? Why would I hesitate?"
"Is it messing with your mind?" Moriarty asked, the vessel still motionless, his tone cautious.
"Unlikely..." I muttered, sifting through my memories. "Just looking at Charles's avatar made us want to kill ourselves. That was because his level was way higher than us. But this? This felt different. I don't think it's due to a realm gap. Maybe that cursed object transformed its holder into something like a being touched by death—some being whose presence only affects those with Nether Vision."
"But we can't even see it," Moriarty growled. "And even though it's classified as B-rank, with energy like that, we can't contend with it—not directly. Worse yet... we can only feel its presence."
Time was slipping through our fingers. We knew that if we didn't act soon, it would.
And when it did, one of us would die.
Grunthar was already down—technically speaking. His Nether Vision had failed completely. Only Moriarty, Sylvia, and Reinhardt remained—and even they could barely sense it.
"New Law: Energy output shall be limited to half," Sylvia declared, her voice sharp and resolute.
Instantly, the pressure around us diminished. But so did our strength. The atmosphere lightened, yes—but it was a double-edged sword. The Law weakened everything, including us.
"Reinhardt, secure Grunthar!" Moriarty barked as he burst past the unconscious warrior, pushing forward with single-minded resolve.
Without hesitation, Reinhardt conjured a rope of ink, fluid and whip-fast. With a flick, he yanked Grunthar's body toward him and bound him tightly in a protective knot.
Sylvia's Law had done its job—Moriarty couldn't unleash his full power, but neither could it. Whatever that thing was, its blinding speed had been curbed.
Taking advantage of the slowed battlefield, Moriarty let Wally shift into saber form, the transformation smooth as breath. He lunged, slashing toward the presence he could feel but not see—guiding the blade on instinct.
But the blade passed through air.
No resistance. No impact. No blood.
Nothing.
His eyes widened. "He wasn't invisible?!" Moriarty gasped.
A split-second later, an unseen force tore through the space beside him—a missed strike, close enough to kill. He twisted away just in time.
"Sylvia, can you add another Law?!" Moriarty shouted, panic laced in his voice as he darted between the trees. The creature was on him—its presence sharp, suffocating, and fast. "I can't hit him!"
"I can't make a B-rank tangible for you! Just distract it!" Sylvia called back, her voice strained as she sprinted behind the entity now locked onto Moriarty's trail like a predator.
Meanwhile, Reinhardt remained where he was, standing protectively over Grunthar's unconscious body. He didn't move—but with a sharp, practiced flick of his hand, he made a signal: trap.
Moriarty caught it immediately. No words were needed.
He shifted tactics, slowing his pace slightly, weaving more defensively now. Not to strike—but to lure.
"Looks like the little play-fight with Wuxin knocked some sense into him," Ryuk mused, rubbing his wing under his beak as he observed Moriarty weaving through the woods like a shadow under pursuit.
"New Law: The Enforcer is permitted to strike intangible entities of choice," Sylvia declared.
Mana surged around her fist like a comet-tail as she pivoted sharply and slammed it into the creature's side. A deep thud echoed through the clearing—then, impossibly, the thing was flung into a tree… and passed straight through it like smoke pierced by a blade.
"What even was that?" Sylvia muttered in disbelief. But before the question could hang for long, we felt it—its presence snapped back into motion.
A gust of frigid air whispered past our ears.
It was behind us again.
It was as if two long, slender hands were slicing through the wind, groping for our backs like the jaws of a trap. We ran.
"It won't stay down unless we get that cursed object!" I shouted, wresting control of the vessel once more. "Don't try to see it—just steal the rabbit's foot!"
"You make that sound way too easy!" Sylvia snapped back as we dove beneath a low-hanging branch, narrowly avoiding another strike.
There weren't many options left on the table.
But if I could just figure out what it wants… maybe—just maybe—I could make it reject the temptation of the cursed object, if only for a fleeting second.
A creature that evolved to hide, to escape, to vanish without a trace…
What does something like that desire?
What drives it?
I slowed my breath, eyes narrowing into thought as I whispered beneath it all—
"What do you want?"