I stared at the figure standing before me, something about him felt… off.Moments ago, I'd passed out at that grotesque banquet — the one where I half-expected to be forced to eat with him. Now, in just a blink, the entire table and dishes were gone.
My chest was tight, breathing uneven, heart hammering. My head felt foggy, like I'd just woken from a century-long nap.
Everything seems… fine? How long was I out?
I blinked a few times before glancing at him again."I… I'm fine. Did something happen while I was out?" I asked, scanning the surroundings for anything different.
"...Nothing much," he replied after a pause, his tone oddly casual. "You merely caught a glimpse of the Dark Heaven."
He hesitated, then added with a faint smile, "You almost devoured it, actually. Now all that's left is to merge it with your core."
He extended a hand toward me, watching with an amused glint in his eye — like I was a curious experiment he was eager to see unfold.
"...Dark Heaven? Did I see it?" I asked, suspicious. But he simply raised both hands, shrugging with mock innocence.
"Right. So I just… fuse it into my core, huh?" I muttered. "That's great and all, but maybe you could explain how I'm supposed to do that — or even what it looks like?"
He just stood there, wearing that same infuriatingly calm, half-smiling expression.Honestly, the way he spoke — always half-truths, sentences ending right before the useful part — screamed villain energy.
"Don't look at me like that," the wraith-guard said, tone teasing. "You still don't trust me?"
He chuckled. "Hah, haven't you heard the saying? 'The dead never lie.' Look at me — prime example."
I exhaled through my nose. "It's actually 'The dead can't speak.' And for someone who's dead, you talk way too much."
He gave a mock huff, then waved lazily toward the ceiling — or maybe the floor, depending on how you looked at it."So, what now? You still want that little trinket you came for?"
"Oh right," I murmured, recalling my original goal. "Moon-Boned Wraith. You were supposed to take me there, weren't you?"
"Ah, yes, yes! That's right!" he said, snapping his fingers as if he'd just remembered something obvious. "You mentioned it's in the Royal District, didn't you? There's only one Royal District here, after all."
I gave him a blank stare.Then why didn't he take me there in the first place?!
That one was on me. I really should stop expecting him to act like a normal person.
"Fine. Lead the way," I sighed, stretching my stiff limbs. My body felt heavy — breaths shallow, vision hazy, a dull ache pressing against my chest.
Residual backlash from the Dark Heaven, I guessed.
"You sure you don't wanna rest a bit?" the wraith asked, lifting his lantern. "You look like you could use a nap."
"I'll manage," I said. "Time's not exactly on my side. My real body still needs to eat, and… well, let's just say decomposition doesn't wait."
He gave a sympathetic shrug. "Alright, alright. But keep up — we'll be moving fast."
We both took a few steps forward… and then he suddenly threw his arms up and shouted,
"WELCOME TO THE ROYAL DISTRICT!"
The sound nearly ruptured my eardrums. I covered my ears, wincing."...You mean to tell me this has been the Royal District all along?"
He puffed out his chest proudly. "Of course! This is the place everyone comes searching for. And look — I brought you here, just like you asked."
I stared at him, then glanced around.Truth be told, I couldn't even tell where "here" was anymore.
Note to self: The original novel's information may be accurate, but it's far from complete.
In the book, the protagonists had to go through several expeditions to even locate the Royal District — the wraith guards helped, sure, but they never actually knew where it was.
"The Royal District," the guard said, his voice dipping into something melodic, almost reverent, "is a special place. It isn't bound by land, nor fixed in time. It shifts freely, at random intervals… like death itself."
His grin glimmered faintly in the ghostlight, eerie yet mesmerizing.
"...Fascinating," I muttered flatly. "Now, can you help me find what I came here for?"
He blinked, disappointed. "You're not even gonna let me finish my speech? I had a whole thing planned."
"No. Take me there. Now."Patience may have been one of my virtues, but even that was wearing thin.
He sighed dramatically. "Hmph… fine. Follow me."
He lifted the lantern and stepped into a long, narrow corridor. I followed behind.
…
The hallway was cloaked in black, the only light coming from that trembling flame inside his lantern. Skeletal remains littered the ground — brittle bones, ash, even half-melted candles dusted in white.
We walked in silence until we reached the edge of a bottomless chasm.
"Do you still remember how to reshape your soul?" he asked.
In response, I transformed my arm into a blade-like pair of shears.
"Good. You'll need that," he said. "There are two ways to cross this place. For the living — absorb death mana and form a barrier around your core. Prevent contamination. Otherwise, your mana will rot."
He paused, voice lowering.
"The second method is for the dead… or the half-dead, like you and me. We change our form — reshape the soul itself."
And then his body collapsed inward, folding into a small black orb engulfed in blue fire.
"Like this," he said, voice echoing faintly.
I followed suit — transforming into a small, flickering flame, half-black, half-blue.
Together, we drifted through the abyss, navigating unseen horrors that whispered from the dark.
…
Two faint lights sliced through the suffocating black, weaving between colossal traps and shadowed ruins. Ahead, a vast hall emerged, lit by torches burning with crimson fire.
"We're here," he announced.
We descended into the grand chamber, its floor polished obsidian, air heavy and silent.
Landing, we returned to our forms. The wraith retrieved his lantern from his cloak, though its glow barely reached the walls.
"So this is the place?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
He nodded, tapping the lantern. Sparks flew out, dancing in one direction.
"There," he said, pointing. "That skull you're after. Don't worry — it's perfectly safe."
I gave him a long look, then smiled — not kindly, but pleasantly enough to unsettle him.
"Funny, isn't it? We're strangers, yet bound by the same goal."
He tilted his head. "What do you mean?" His tone was smooth, disarming as always.
"I'm a wraith-guard," he said easily. "It's my duty to guide the living. Nothing more."
I slipped a hand into my pocket and pulled out a coin, letting it glint in the torchlight."Funny thing about that," I said softly. "We doubt each other. We fear each other. Yet we can't harm one another… So tell me—"
I flipped the coin into the air, its spin echoing in the silence.
"—what exactly did you see inside me?"
My smile widened, sharp and gentle all at once.