"I hate this..." Liliya muttered, eyes fixed on the Skeleton Fisherman.
"That thing was never in the novel." He whispered. But that wasn't what disturbed him the most.
"Why am I only realising now?" He asked helplessly.
To him, that was the true horror, his fate wasn't his own.
Someone, or something, was pulling the strings.
A fireball roared above Liliya's head, streaking towards the Skeleton Fisherman.
It's stomach was made of an old, tattered rag bag, patches, stained, and pulsing like it was barley holding something in.
It twitched violently, and from within, ghostly figures began to writhe and rise funneling out through the creature's gaping mouth.
The spectral hands caught the fireball mid-air and snuffed it out like a dying candle flame.
Then, a hunting sound filled the air, a violin's sorrowful melody, perfectly laced with distant, tortured screams.
"Dance in the symphony of misery." Grathe commanded, his voices cold and theatrical.
Then, the doll's body began to move. Not by Liliya's will, but by Grathe's command.
Bathed in Grathe's mana, the porcelain shell shimmered with an eerie glow utterly unbreakable.
With a sharp crack in the air, it launched towards the Skeleton at the speed of. Sound, a blue of enchanted glass of fury.
The fisherman boat began to move upward in a rapid speed, it jaws still opened, and thousands of pale ghosts began to come out of its mouth.
Liliya's limbs spiraled in a violent, elegant rhythm.
Twisting, launging, shattering the ghostly forms like glass under divine fury.
Boom. Crack. Bang.
Every punch and kick landed like thunder, each strick cracking the air like a warning drum.
Liliya smiled this time both externally and internally.
A small moment that made him feel alive.
"Tsk—Grathe." Aliza clicked hertongue and looked at Grathe.
"Sigh—yes I see it too." Grathe said, looking at the ghosts.
"None of them are civilians ghosts." He said.
"Formation Seven, Thornvale's Opening!" Aliza command.
At once, the squad snapped into position, forming a crescent shape.
Two rows of mages took the front, followed by three rows of archers, and finally, a small line of eight support mages at the rear.
The front-line mages raised a twin-layered flat barrier, solid and glowing. At the center, however, mage Ifa conjures a powerful, triple-layered round barrier that expanded outward, enclosing the battlefield and trapping the Skeleton Fisherman within.
Behind them, the second row of mages chanted in perfect unison. Glowing runes formed in the air around their mouth. It was a powerful construction spell, pulsing with magical intent.
The archer moved in a coordinated rhythm. While one row drew their bows, the second fired in precise volleys, and the third provided covering fire to support their comrades.
At the rear, the support mages unleashed strengthening spells. Enhancing the archers' stamina, speed, and accuracy, ensuring their barrage never faltered.
Ifa's barrier prevented the Skeleton from escaping.
While Liliya's body moved on its own, his mind was distracted by two things.
First was the formation. It was one of the battle strategies made by Boldwin Thronvish in the novel. A strategy that didn't need knights, but only archers and mages.
And second the monster flying above, he had never seen that in the novelm
The Skeleton Fisherman swinged it's fishing rod, a razor sharp mana coating the thin almost invisible line and teb hook.
It shot the line towards Ifa, but the mages shifted their flat barrier to intercept, moving in perfect precision and sequence to shield her.
It deflected the hook perfectly.
But the attack continued.
"Grant mercy to the suffering." Grathe shouted.
Two pale blue ones of light began circling around Liliya, casting a gentle glow over her form. Bathed in their radiance, thin azure thread came from the orbs, weaving around her limbs like puppet strings.
"Heaven calls." Grathe whispered.
The orbs spared upward, pulling Liliya in a surge of light, his body rising with fierce speed as though dragged by divine fury itself.
Below, as the mage finished their final chant, gravity betrayed the floating Skeleton Fisherman. With a silent groan, it plummeted from the sky.
Suddenly, ten crimson pillars erupted around it, encircling the Skeleton Fisherman. From each pillar, radiant golden chains lashes out, snaring the ancient boat, binding it in place.
"Heaven falls." Grathe declared.
Liliya kicked down from the sky, cloaked in blazing blue aura.
BOOM.
His strike landed with devastating force, crashing into the Skeleton Fisherman's body. The air split with the impact, shockwave rippling in a dazzling burst of light and thunder.
The battle only lasted for twenty-six seconds.
The monster along with its ghost army began to disappear.
"Grathe, what do you think of this situation?" Aliza mummerd, looking at the disappearing figure of the SkeletonFisherman and it's army.
"Yes... Something's off. No civilian spirits...and the bells never rang. Not even once." Grathe said.
Meanwhile, Liliya was beaming inside, his joy bubbling like a fireworks behind his porcelain cage.
But then, his gaze focused toward Grathe and Aliza.
Their faces were stone. Unsmiling.
The warmth in him began to flicker. Then faded away completely.
Like light slipping into the Hollow stillness of porcelain.
"Is something wrong?" Liliya asked softly, a tremor hidden behind the question.
"It was a bait." Grathe said, his voice flat and emotionaless.
He gestured for Liliya to come closer.
Liliya's delicate feet tapped against the cobblestone road. Pat. Pat. Pat. A rhythm too human for something not.
As he moved, head turned toward him.
Some stared, captivated. Other looked away, pretending not to see, staying still and on guard.
A few watched with reverence in their eyes.
But Ifa... Ifa's gaze held only disgust, and something closer beneath it.
Fear.
As Liliya drew closer, he caught fragments of conversation between Grathe and Aliza.
"What should we do?" Grathe asked, unlocking the briefcase with a soft click.
"I suppose we'll have to patrol every night." Aliza replied, her voice weary but resolved, with a hint of sadness and doubt hidden behind it.
Grathe didn't answer, insted, he gently lifted Liliya and began placing her into the box.
Liliya wanted to hear more. But before he could, the lid shut.
Darkness, silence.
Within that stillness, his thoughts spiraled, some questions lingering, other pretending to be answered.
The first truth: the novel had already unraveled, it's fate distorted by the presence of other reincarnated soul.
The second: foreign characters, foreign monster... being not meant to exist in this world had blend into it.
The third: something was influencing him, tugging at his string, and whatever it was...it terrified him.
And the fourth: he didn't remember who he was, not really, not fully.
Only one thing echoed with certainty.
He was losing control, and he had no idea to whom.
"Am I even...me?"
The question lingered in his mind, voiceless and dying, trapped in a porcelain shell, rotting in silence.
Bip. Bip.
A sudden jolt, sharp, merciless stabbed through his soul.
At the exact moment, that sound echoed again.
Bip.
It wasn't mechanical, it was internal. A cruel rhythm pulsing deep inside him.
The pain felt like being electrocuted and burned alived at one.
"Ahh...! Help...!"
The cry escaped him from instinct.
A human instinct.
One he already knew was useless.
No one would hear it.
No one ever does.
Then the sound vanished, taking the grotesque pain with it.
"What the hell was that?" He whispered, though there was no one to answer. No one to listen.
No one but himself.
"Why am I the one suffering?" It wasn't a new question, it was the one he asked every day.
"Why me...?" The silence replied, as it always did.
Meanwhile, Grathe spoke quietly to Aliza
"I have a bad feeling about this." Grathe muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah...you're right." Aliza replied, chewing on her thumbnail, something Grathe has never seen her do.
That worried him more than he'd like to admit.
The tension wasn't just the Skeleton Fisherman.
Chloe was missing to.
"I... don't worry, I—"
"Captain, Grandmaster." A sharp voice cut through Grathe's words.
It was Ifa.
Grathe exhaled. "What is it, Ifa?"
"I... I, it's just that—"
"Grandmaster, Grandmaster!" Another voice interrupted, louder and more urgent.
Ifa flinched, her irritation bubbling. "Ugh, what is it, Kael Dhorvman?" She snapped, glaring over her shoulder.
Kael scoffed. "Why do you care, Ifa Leafguard?"
Off to the side, Aliza leaned towards Grathe and whispered. "Are they always like this?"
Grathe sighed and gave a small nod, pinching the bridge of his nose again.
Ifa threw her hands up. "Seriously? Do you not have any manners? Cutting me off while I'm taking?"
Grathe cast her a sidelong glance.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
"Time out, you two." Aliza ordered, resting a firm hand on each of their shoulders.
She leaned in with a cool smile. "Now... What did you want to say?
"Grandmaster." They both said in unison, then immediately glared at each other with mutual disdain.
"One at a time." Aliza Singhed. "You first, ifa."
Ifa huffed and straightend. "I noticed something. Even if that was an Archdemon... it was too weak. It didn't even manga to break through my barrier, or the others."
Aliza turned to Kael. "And you?"
"The ghost." Kael replied, voice tight. "They were all knights and warriors. Not a single civilians among them."
Aliza's smile returned, but this time it didn't reach her eyes.
"Exactly, because we fell for a bait." At her words, both Kael and Ifa began to sweat.
"I've heard of The fisherman's bait." Ifa mummerd, her voice trembling. "But I never imagined it could look like that..."
"No..." Grathe spoke up quietly, shaking his head. "That wasn't the Skeleton Fisherman's doing."
He glanced at them, jaw clenched. "It was a mage. A powerful one."
"A mage?" Kael echoed, eyes narrowing. "That's impossible. Not one alive can create a replica of an Archdemon..."
Grathe's lips twitched.
He knew. But he didn't have strength—or the will to say who it was.
"It was Chloe Windtalker." Aliza said quietly, placing a hand on Grathe's shoulder.
The group fell silent.
A thick miamesa of dread clung to the air. Horrifying in its stillness.
"...I'm sorry." Aliza whispered, her gaze fixed on the ground, hiding the tremble in her lips. "I had to say it."
"We can't be sure it was Miss Chloe... Right?" Kael offered gently, trying to ease the rising tension. "There isn't enough evidence."
"Not until we find her." Grathe muttered. "Until then, it's all just speculation."
He took a step forward m, fists clinched at his sides.
"But I swear on my life. I'll find her." His voice cracked, fury shimmering beneath the surface. "And I'll find that goddamned monster, too."
The , quiter... almost reverently.
"I'll bring back your favourite student, teacher." Grathe's voice had never sounded calmer. Or more broken.
"I.. I'll help too." Kael said. Bowing with perfect ninety-degree precious.
"Same here." Ifa added, her voice softer. She bowed too, in elegant, graceful, and almost ceremonial.
Grathe couldn't help but grin.
"Alright then... Let's give it our all." Kael said with conviction, thrusting his fist into the air. Expecting the others to follow suit.
...
No one did.
His arm lingered for a moment.
Then, painfully, slowly, he lowered it back down.
Ifa giggled looking at Kael.
"Thank you, all of you." Aliza said with a smile. This time it was genuine.
Meanwhile, at the outskirts of town.
Six guards stood watch at the gates.
Two stationed at each checkpoint, spread across the town's outer gates. Most were chatting idly, their posture relaxed, their duty a mere suggestion.
One leaned against the stone wall, a cigarette burning lazily between his fingers.
"Uahh..."
A faint cry drifted in form the forest beyond. Too soft for the others to notice. But the smoking guard stiffened.
"Did...did you hear that?" He asked, glancing at his comrades.
No one responded. Their laughter carried on, unbothered.
He exhaled a plume of smoke, shaking his head. "Probably just the wind."
The again.
"Waahhh..."
It came again, the same cry. But clearer now. A child's sob, whispering from the trees.
He straightened, eyes narrowing towards the forest's edges. "Hey...did you hear that?" He repeated, quiter this time. Nervous. Unsure.
Still, no one paid him any mind
He hesitated, then cursed under his breath. "Tch—get it together."
Drawing a breath to steady himself, he stepped away from the gate. The Skeleton Fisherman's still fighting in the inner district, he thought.
"Whatever this is, it's not that."
"Maybe someone's in trouble...or just a wild animal." He muttered to himself, as if login could outmatch fear.
Leaves cracked beneath his boots as he crept forward, each step heavier than the last.
His heartbeat thundered louder in hsi ears the deeper he walked.
Then.
"Waahhh...mama...mama...!"
A young girl's voice, crying.
His breath hitched. Instinct took over. He ran.
Straight into the darkness.
"Mama...mama..."
The girl's voice rang out again. Louder now. Closer. Too close.
"I'm here!" The guard shouted, breaking into a run towards the sound.
And then, he saw her.
A small girl, curled into a fetal position on the floor, her body trembling with each sob.
"Are you okay?" He asked, breathless. He crouched slowly, cautiously extending his has towards her.
"Mama...mama..." she whimpered again, her voice unchanged, repeating. Unnatural.
A chill crept up his spine. His gut screamed at him to stop.
He hesitated. But only for heartbeat.
Then, ignoring his instincts, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
Ting. Ting.
A faint bell rang softly above his head, though he never heard it.
The girl latched onto his arm like a lifeline.
And hugged him.
Then, in an instant she vanished.
Replaced by a rusted, jagged steel hook.
It pierced through his chest like a harpoon and yanked him skyward with brutal speed. So fast, he couldn't even get chance to scream.
By the time the other guard noticed he was missing.
It was already too late.