"What... what just happened? Where did they go?!" one of the paladins yelled, spinning in circles, visibly overcome by panic. Other soldiers looked around, trying to understand what had just happened.
In the hall, the customers seemed just as disoriented. Some just looked around, without reacting, others knelt and murmured shaky prayers while the most hopeful gave thanks for the disappearance of the threats.
Trudy, for her part, stared at her hands with a strangely frightened expression.
"Why did everything get so dark...?" she whispered "The bar feels... weird."
The world around them had changed. The colors had disappeared, as if drained by something invisible. The flickering light of the lamps now seemed weak, sickly. The air had become thick, almost suffocating, and sounds seemed muffled, as if they were underwater.
The young woman's eyes widened as she realized that no one in the bar was reacting to their presence.
"They can't see us..." Her voice wavered as panic began to set in.
She paled even more.
"Oh my God... we're dead!" She whimpered, tears streaming down her face as she ran to Bella and grabbed the demon's robes as if she wanted to disappear right there.
Kant let out a long sigh, running his hand over his face.
"No one died" he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
Trudy sniffed, peering through her disheveled hair with teary, uncertain eyes.
"So... what's going on?" she asked, his voice low, his fingers still clutching the fabric of Bella's pants.
"In short? Welcome to the Umbral Realm." he replied, making a broad gesture with his hand, his voice drawling, almost disinterested. "Or the void... the nothingness... call it whatever you prefer."
"Or the Realm of Death..." Bella murmured, filling the pause with a more serious tone.
He turned his face just enough to look at her from the corner of his eye, and nodded slowly—a restrained gesture, but loaded with meaning.
The silence that followed fell heavy as a stone.
Trudy blinked, once, twice.
"W-what?! So we did die! Bella!" she squeaked, bursting into tears again, still holding on to her friend as if the ground was about to disappear.
Bella, however, smiled slightly, her attention focused on the distorted environment around her.
"You called this place empty... I thought it was a being, not a place."
"It is" he replied bluntly. "It's a state of mind... and also an entity." sighed, as if had already dealt with that thing too much.
He took a few steps, making a broad gesture with his hand, as if he were showing us a ruined landscape.
"It's not exactly the best tourist destination."
He paused for a moment, assessing what was around him, before continuing, this time in a more explanatory tone:
"But while we're here, we're completely intangible, invisible and inaudible to those on the other side." And before you ask that question again, little girl..." he turned his face towards her briefly "we are NOT dead."
He shrugged and continued:
"I can bring at most two or three souls here, depending on the weight of each one."
As she listened, Bella reached out her hand to the face of one of the soldiers. Her fingers passed through it without resistance — as if she were nothing more than a ghost.
The boy then continued, scanning the surroundings, as if he felt time was running out. His expression hardened.
"Anyway, we need to get out of here. We can't stay on this plane for long…"
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the two out of the bar, leaving behind the silent chaos they had caused.
As soon as they stepped outside, a guttural roar cut through the air, making the three of them stiffen at the same time.
"What was that...?" Trudy whispered, trembling, grabbing a small teddy bear attached to her belt.
"Exactly why we can't stay." Kant replied, quickening his pace and guiding the two towards the exit of the city.
The sounds of screams and shattering glass still hung in the air, but soon became distant echoes as the trio moved away from the city.
"Sir!" the bowl-cut paladin advanced towards Aleric, firmly. "We need orders. What should we do now?"
Aleric gave the soldier a brief glance, then turned to the bar's destroyed entrance.
"Send patrols to search the city and the forest. Let's see how long it takes him to come back this time." he replied dryly, keeping his focus on the darkness ahead.
"Thank God they left! If not... a little longer and we would have become sieve!" whimpered one of the customers, clinging to his friend as if they were escaping death by a thread.
"Look at the state of my bar..." the bartender muttered, his expression crushed by frustration, staring at the wreckage.
"At least I didn't deliver the guy's reward... it might cover part of the damage." he grumbled, walking to the back cabinet. But, when he opened the door, it suddenly froze.
"What...?!"
Now at a safe distance, enveloped by the thick silence of the forest, the group walked under the light filtered through the treetops.
With a mischievous glint on her face, Bella let her tail curl in her pocket and pulled out a small leather package. She tossed it into the air with a light gesture. The coins glinted and jingled softly as they fell into her palm.
"Yeah. It's good enough here." Kant assumed, stopping his steps.
"Kant!?"
A voice rise from the trees... and, before anyone could react, a coin hit the boy in the back of the head.
"Hey! Who was it?"
"It's a skeleton!" Trudy stuttered, taking a step back.
Ducare emerged from the woods, marching toward the group with his hood swinging to the rhythm of his steps.
"Man! I told you to avoid the void for a while! What part did you not understand when I said everyone is hunting you! And who are those two?"
"Sorry, partner." Kant replied with a half smile, already twirling his hand in the air, redoing the inverted movement he had made at the bar. "I don't have time to talk. I'll explain later. But it was great seeing you again... once again."
In an instant, the world around them changed. The trees lost their pale, ghostly hue. They were back in the real world.
"My God... what the hell was that?" the little girl said, still pale.
"An old friend." he replied. "Don't worry, he just looks grumpy... or grumpy bones, I don't know. I never really knew how to refer to him."
He stopped, looking around for a moment. The wind rustled the leaves above their heads, and the sound of the city had already disappeared.
"Well..." he said as he rubbed one hand against the other, as if preparing for something, "I think we're far enough away."
He positioned himself in front of the two, his expression more serious now that they were safe. The trees around them cast long, dense shadows, creating a heavy atmosphere.
"Time for questions. First: what's a little girl doing walking next to a demon? Second — and no less important — where did that enormous creature that was with you go?"
Bella let out a low chuckle, her eyes sparkling with that enigmatic glow that irritated and intrigued at the same time. She crossed her arms, a smile curving her lips.
"It's right here, Horseman."
Trudy stepped forward, her expression full of pride. From her belt, she pulled a stitched and patched plush toy — the same one Kant vaguely remembered.
The creature, now reduced to a rough and small shape, looked like a corrupted and weakened version of that colossal monster he had seen before.
The boy narrowed his eyes and approached slowly, analyzing the plush toy with suspicion. The tension on his face made it clear that he was trying to fit that vision with what he had seen before.
"No…" murmured, frowning. "He was much bigger. There's no way he's the same one. I would remember if he were that size."
"What do you mean? Of course it's him!" Trudy replied, still calm, holding the little animal firmly. "And, for starters, he has a name. Grimmuff. And yes, he's small now. What part of that is so hard to understand?"
He slowly turned his attention to her, as if pondering whether he was facing magic or madness.
"You say that as if it were the most normal thing in the world..." he mumbled, still confused, but already taking a step back.
She shrugged, hugging Grimmuff as if he were the most natural mascot on the planet.
"But anyway." he continued, looking back at Bella. "And the other question? The main one, actually…"
Bella nodded slightly at Trudy.
"What now?" the boy asked, arching an eyebrow, not understanding.
"She" Bella replied, as if the answer was obvious, a mischievous smile forming on her lips.
"She what?"
"She's the bearer of an artifact" she added.
He looked at the little girl more carefully.
"Really? Her? Are you sure about that?" he asked, crossing his arms. "A twelve-year-old girl with an artifact? These things require a strong bond, tests, resistance… it's not something you just give in to."
Trudy frowned and walked towards him with an irritated look, her steps determined. The mischievous smile on her face did not hide her discomfort — but Bella raised her arm and held her lightly, preventing her from advancing any further.
"Don't you feel anything coming from her? Any different energy?" she asked in a provocative tone.
He remained silent for a few seconds, observing the two of them. Then he fixed his gaze on Trudy.
"Show me."
She let out an impatient sigh and rolled her eyes as she fastened the teddy bear back to her belt. Unhurriedly, she slid her fingers down her left arm, following the outline of a light tattoo that snaked from her shoulder to her hand.
As soon as she reached the end of the drawing, the ink began to dissolve in front of Kant — as if it were melting into thin air. And, in its place, a black blade formed in her palm.
With a fluid movement, she pulled the thread that seemed to be sewn into her own skin. The thread fell apart like tearing silk, revealing an unusual kyoketsu-shoge:
The blade resembled a sewing needle, forged from a dark metal, covered in ancient runes that pulsed in the moonlight.
The string, as thin as sewing thread, was the color of freshly fallen snow. Despite its delicate appearance, there was a quiet presence to it.
She held the gun firmly and stretched the line toward the boy — her gaze sharp, as if testing how close he would dare to get.
He didn't back away. On the contrary, he took a step forward, staring at the gun.
He felt... something. It wasn't just any gun. The energy emanating from it was confusing.
"You... ripped that thing out of a tattoo." his voice somewhere between surprise and caution. "Come to think of it... I don't even remember seeing a tattoo on you. That was... sinister."
Continued to follow every detail of the weapon, trying to understand.
"Well... your kyoketsu is quite different. The blade looks like a needle... and that line, it seems more made for sewing than for killing. But there's something beyond that."
"The line carries an energy... divine. Almost serene. As for the blade..." paused, frowning. "That's another story. There's something dark there. As if it were cursed. Evil, even."
He raised her eyes and met Trudy's.
"What kind of artifact is this?"
Bella took a step forward. Her smile was subtle, but there was something enigmatic in her gaze.
"This artifact, Horseman... is the Weaving Edge." Her voice was low, almost as if she were telling an ancient secret. "The needle and thread were used by the sky itself to sew the division between the worlds."
She paused briefly, letting the weight of the sentence fill the silence.
"From the first heaven, where men walk and birds fly... to the second, the stellar veil that envelops the world... and to the third heaven, the home of God and his angels. But when it was time to sew the border between the first heaven and the abyss..." her eyes fell on the blade, her voice lowering even further. "the blade could not resist. It began to corrupt."
And so was born one of the rarest artifacts ever known.
Kant frowned and looked at the weapon again. He was silent for a moment, then said hesitantly:
"Yes... of course. I've heard of it."
They both stared at him as if they could see through his excuse. Their silence spoke volumes.
Kant snorted, surrendered.
"Okay, okay. I've never heard of it. But then... why have I never heard of such a device?"
Bella shrugged naturally.
"If everyone knew, it wouldn't be unusual."
He nodded slowly, not just with his head, but with his shoulders as well—as if, despite his confusion, it was all starting to make some sense.
"Right… but why her? Why is this artifact with a girl?"
Trudy lifted her chin lightly. With a calm movement, she made the needle and thread disappear from her palm, dissolving into fragments that reattached themselves under her skin, resuming the shape of the tattoo that snaked down her arm.
Without saying anything, she subtly pulled the collar of her dress, revealing a deep scar just above her heart. From it sprang the clear trail of the tattoo, as if each thread had been sewn directly into her soul.
"My name is Gertrude Fadewind." Her voice now carried a weight that didn't match her age. "And this artifact is with me because there's no one else left."
She paused, looking Kant in the eye.
"I am the last of my tribe. The only remaining protector. The new Weaver of the Firmament."