Raen didn't recognize the smell at first.
Laughter had a scent in the Abyss. It wasn't light or warm like in life. Here, it was acrid—like burnt parchment and old wine left to rot.
They followed the scent through a corridor of hanging vines that bled ink. Hollowfang walked low to the ground. Despair Maw hovered behind Raen, silent as a breath that had stopped too long ago.
Then the laughter began.
Not a beast's roar.
A chuckle. Deep. Playful. Almost human.
"You brought friends? Oh, joy. A trio of the damned."
Raen froze.
A figure stepped out from behind a crooked tree. Slender, with a coat stitched from mouths and gloves made of shadow. His face shifted constantly—eyes blinking where his lips should be, a grin where no nose belonged.
[Entity Identified: ??? — Unstable Form]
[Classification: Chaotic Familiar. Alias: *Jester Wyrm*]
[Bond Requirement: Acceptance of Madness]
"You reek of pain, General," the figure said, tilting his swirling head. "Delicious. Shall we play a game?"
Raen didn't reach for a weapon. He didn't have one.
"What are the rules?" he asked instead.
The figure's mouth moved to his hand. "There are none. That's the only rule."
[Warning: Mental Resistance Threshold Approaching. Prolonged exposure may result in psychological fracture.]
Raen narrowed his eyes. "Why haven't you attacked?"
The Jester Wyrm giggled, spinning.
"Oh, but I have. I've been in your head since you smelled the laughter. You're bleeding sanity like a popped wineskin."
It was true. Raen felt… light.
Wrong.
Free.
And terrified.
He turned to Hollowfang, who snarled—but didn't advance.
Even the wolf was unsure.
Despair Maw tilted sideways, mimicking the Jester.
Raen stepped forward. "You want a bond? Then take it."
The Jester paused.
"Just like that?"
Raen nodded. "Madness is just another kind of wound. I've got plenty."
The air shattered like glass.
The Jester lunged—not with claws, but laughter. It filled Raen's skull, bouncing like coins in a hollow vault.
And still—he didn't look away.
He smiled.
And laughed.
It wasn't joy.
It was survival.
---
[Bond Formed: Jester Wyrm]
[Stability: 56% → 74%]
[System Alert: Chainmark of Insanity Engaged. Passive Skill Acquired: Chaotic Insight]
Raen collapsed to one knee, panting.
The Jester crouched beside him. "Lovely, lovely. Now we're bound, you and I. Let's rewrite some nightmares, shall we?"
Raen didn't answer.
But in his soul, something had changed.
He was no longer just a general reborn.
He was a man who had befriended grief, guilt—and now, madness.
Three beasts. Three scars.
And the Abyss still had more waiting.