Reincarnated as a Duck

A few minutes earlier.

Above, in a heated mining shaft right below the old secrets, Bagus stared at approaching Razmund. Of course, he noticed his prey missing, yet he didn't even react.

Bagus found it odd; a mere flick of his tail was the best, as he figured out the best way to do this was with no more hesitation.

Razmund saw it and allowed it, for a new beast was before him, obscure and dreaming to stop him. He might as well deal with it first because there was no running away from him.

Not anymore. Kill and get on with the hunt.

Razmund poised his left palm forward, brandishing his Dice, which squeaked in singing impressions and terrible words that no longer felt coherent. It was a mess. One of the Old Ones was present before it, but it was no longer there. It disappeared somewhere, hidden under a burdened hideout. The Dice felt wrong; it should stop this regardless of any panic, yet it couldn't see how. It couldn't help it.

"Don't force me to do this, beast," Razmund told Bagus. "I have no patience for little tricks and dreams. So... don't try me."

Bagus snorted and spiked his feathers like an angry cat. "Try me, human. It's bitter."

Close to him, Lisa drifted in hesitant waves of her body and was close to going down as well. "Bagus," she whispered.

"Oh, please, don't feel wrong about this act of mine, or Itrosh," Bagus said to her. "Well, you can think of her however you wish. I don't pity anything or anyone in my path. It is mine, but I am also just another traveler. I felt this would mark our team. The harsh reality... I bet it would have come for Ultium first, but... perhaps I am yet to be wrong. I smell the blood of devils on this guy. Shame it doesn't answer anything important other than the obliteration of some Hunters. What about his partner, Ozeki? Are you worried he is around?"

"Who cares?" Lisa blinked, and her sona calmed. She forced her mind to focus and let Bagus do what he wanted. "Alright. I care, but I trust you. No matter what, you'd better stall than go and do something stupid. You get me, I hope."

"I am sorry about Itrosh," Bagus felt he had to tell it again for her sake. "Don't blame her. I don't. This human feels wrong, and the death and penalties that come with this step aren't fair. It was a wrong expectation."

Lisa did not change her face or act like a bitch. "I don't evaluate anyone like her. I never did. So, why don't you run?"

"Dreams are hard to quench, and running goes against that doctrine. To go... well, I don't want to run. That's it. No hard feelings." Bagus laughed and nodded to her while feeling right and no longer stalling her sona.

He kind of wished to flick his tail at her, too, but he knew it wouldn't do a thing. He saw her disappearing into flames that would crisp him to ashes in seconds.

Lisa smiled. "Then make sure to live and meet us once again. Not now, perhaps, but I will keep your bargain in mind. Your Gems are yours as ours, but this worth is considerable. So... Goodbye."

Bagus watched as Lisa sparked and flew to the small shaft like a gust of wind, leaving him alone without any further rhetoric. She was so quick that one would think it was just a spiritual aftereffect of the surrounding veins.

Lisa knew that the remedy was no longer in her hands. It was down below, and her force and reasons turned weird. She was broken, and that portal better be operational than this nonsensical task.

Broken portals would require something better and not someone like her or Murai. Hints were required, which wasn't feasible in the middle of this mess.

Whoever it was, breaking and fixing was not their contest. It was something worse, and Lisa swore to get to the bottom of it.

There was no way anyone would consider a freaking portal here. Not in the concepts of this land that she judged for literal lifetimes. However, it still tricked her, and her outrage did not scatter like this team.

***

Down below, Murai walked and discovered plenty of other rooms. He was oblivious to an upcoming duel that would soon shake that shaft.

There were a couple of intricate points about this single-level dwelling. Mining was still evident, seeming sporadic and mixed. Tunnels went for hundreds of meters or a few kilometers, or perhaps more, but Murai wasn't going that far because he knew the distance of his Token mattered.

Still... this freaking floor was a maze, and he despised it!

Here, shafts were straight and linked to veins. That was it. Overall, it resembled mines full of carved artworks for specific directional purposes.

He went around enough and realized the range of his Token, and hoped he knew where he was going.

His Token guided his steps, but with many dead ends, he actually trusted minor tremors in his beak, even if they made his head feel funny.

Involuntarily, he walked back to that hall with a room resembling living quarters and that nice-looking soup. Tremors were most notable around here, but there were multiple routes he could reach from here.

"Where have I gone wrong, again? I can miss some spots, or do they miss me? What if... it is further down? I see no stairs, so am I missing a key? Don't tell me it's a shitty puzzle! I hate those! No... I have no patience for that. No maps either. In fact, maps are useless. I knew it was suspicious how it all ended! I am below the maximum limit... I swear." Murai grunted and glanced left and right.

For a time, he looked for notable clues, and there were plenty of them. Those artistic Gems were incredible, and most of the Ultra Materium was magnificent in many spots, with the overall forms being simpler and closer to an ancient temple.

There were even runes around those living quarters, looking wrong and important, yet no matter what he did ot them, they didn't activate jack shit.

Nothing was worth linking to a portal, but runes could be pretty much anything, depending on how they were constructed or assembled. They depicted ancient power systems of languages and symbols, so they held countless matters, messages, and symbolic architectures.

And here, the architecture had numerous consequences. It almost seemed to be about everything! From Gems and runes, Murai bet his shot and walked until one wall trembled his Token like crazy, yet there was no door. He noticed distinct symbols resembling no runes, but who would dare to know them all? He did not.

Surrounded by them was a peculiar emblem illustrating artistic ideas of carved rocks and waves that resembled people. They swirled to a core, showing fear and hoping to reach the center.

The wall was smooth, not soft, as it resembled marble, but mines were mines. Most should be crude, and someone was taking damn time to push art to another level with these symbols. Murai could tell their skill and almost guessed their meaning.

"How old is this? Isn't this a depiction of something in the Endless Skies? Which bastard?"

A circle with three dots within the lines of one peculiar circle shocked him more. It was aside from this carved vortex, almost missing from the rest.

This triangular formation was about emptiness and numbers, which often came with crude computation or reasons for life and death. A single rune and the glowing subjects of a primary rune should be in the middle.

It was empty.

Murai didn't guess what the rest was about.

A couple of them were almost similar to the emblem on his hoodie, which Amelius created as Murai watched, but he wasn't as interested in that process. Amelius was more up to his taste. He considered it wrong, as a mild similarity held no exact sentiments.

Murai found that uncommon, so he paced around the wall and tried to look for answers.

He looked into the corners and noticed a tight section of destroyed walls. Old or newer mines, he reckoned, and they weren't close or far from those living quarters. The Token was intensifying.

They appeared to be fresh, and from the dust and settled Materium, they seemed deliberate.

There were even claw marks under the dust and on the walls that Murai quickly uncovered. Strikes of fists full of anger. Resentment of sword strikes.

Many small veins extended from cracks around them, which Murai found strange, as they were bright yet appeared to be moving as if alive. They disappeared into the wall and the ceiling.

"Puzzle... Oh fuck! It is hiding!"

It was almost as peculiar as his Token that shook and tumbled from his beak.

Murai glanced at it as if it hurt his pride and stomped it with his feet as it danced madly. He picked it up and pointed forward with his beak. It became wild like crazy around those veins. Even though Murai snatched it tight, it jumped from his beak and smacked into the wall, where it stuck like a fly to the light.

"Oh well. No time to waste. Fuck you!" Just as Murai was about to smack this rocky wall with intense Layered Peak and upped his mana that wanted to rush out of his mana space, a single thud echoed further than close. It was from less than a few meters beside him, and this single echo shocked him more than any wall or call.

Murai halted his neck and glowing Peak, cocking his head sideways and looking at... something bizarre. He considered his Soul Read to be unconventional and incredible if everything was proper. When it wasn't, it pointed to mistakes or burdensome reality.

This time, he met something complicated, and Ceila came to his mind.

This wasn't her, obviously. It was worse.

A person was digging right beside him, touching the wall, standing, and hunching in a corner. Considering the normal distance and Murai's presence and eyes, this person was still a few meters away. He was also there, alive and not hiding, yet he didn't fucking see him beforehand.

Murai saw him, noticed him, yet felt no one, but his eyes caught him in this moment, and so did his ears. He never felt this disturbed.

Chilling to the bone, the person turned out to be an old-looking devil with a hunched back and thin, long horns on his bald head. He wore exceptionally well-maintained robes for someone mining, and a sack on his back was the size of an Orcun, even though he was quite small because of the brazen age limits that messed up his physique.

He had no tools or weapons in his hand. His bare and thin fingers went straight through the rocks as if they were tofu, and he picked them up, tossed them away, and exposed more exquisite Ultra Materium in the wall.

It was quite pretty, like stars in the sky, without any blackness of the Void. So much so that the old devil seemed enthralled by its concepts and hadn't spotted Murai at all. Or he did, but chose to follow his desire and continue practicing, being deliberate, slow, and precise.

Murai watched his acts in bewilderment. The way his hands moved was nice and firm to the bone. Almost literally, obvious by those thin fingers full of mastery.

In a few strokes, the devil exposed a sizable chunk of glittering treasures. Then he prayed, put his palms together, and still hunched as he stood. He calmly put the tip of his palm into the Ultra Materium and began carving and harvesting.

No explosions occurred. No spark or destruction trashed the vein or him, though Murai winced on the spot as he observed and thought it would explode. He had seen Bagus doing classic mining, so he knew how it worked.

Wrong. This wasn't it. This devil simply went in and guided his palm around the Ultra Materium until he had a round sphere on top of his palm. He scooped it, feeling happy as he chuckled at the splendid Carved Gem worthy of his name.

It was at that point that the devil turned and wanted to move somewhere else. Then, he noticed an Anatidae glancing at him, midway through a magical technique as its beak glistened in mana. He shook in so many steps, he almost fell, and his mouth quivered in dryness. His eyes bulged, and his face opened and contorted, yet no voice went out of his open mouth.

Murai kept holding onto his Layered Peak, waiting, or hesitating. Why? He should get on with his task and hit that wall where his Token remained. It wasn't close to this devil, but he had no time to look for a simple door to his portal. A beak was his key for now.

A couple of awkward moments later, the old devil blinked thrice and moved after overcoming that awkward shock. He piqued his sense of duty and calmed his face, thinking this ridiculous shock and situation was a mere fabrication or a prank of his Lady.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He was halfway right. Who in their right mind would see an Anatidae in this place? Not him; he barely met a soul strolling through his home once in dozens of years. Usually, a visit was nothing simple, and especially not this sudden, and handful.

Glancing at his right palm, the Carved Gem was around the size of a head. He almost stored it away, but the situation before him did not stop, or turn to dust, so he hesitated again and realized this must be different.

It was still there, perking that beak and feathers and wearing quite a feast of a uniform. It was more impressive than his Carved Gem, which he found humiliating until he adjusted to defeat.

It was such an abnormal situation, his quivering laugh and curving eyes found sudden enjoyment. And also problems and who knew what else.

He noticed many things about Murai that most would not dare to see. It came with age and meaning, and Murai judged him back as their gazes clashed for the past few seconds.

"Hur hur. Who goes visiting at this hour, may I ask?" the old devil said, speaking in a rather old and frail voice that was almost pleasant. He articulated with serious notation, which made him sound archaic or exactly as he looked: old and broken. But it was a farce, Murai guessed, obvious by a brief idea of who might be before him.

He was still shocked. Both of them were.

Once again, Murai accepted that his Soul Read had failed on all fronts. He felt absolutely nothing about this devil whatsoever, so what did it mean? He was there, however, standing, and wasn't a ghost.

Murai didn't answer his question or find the right wonders. It was crystal clear that this devil was creepy, and his Soul Read was unable to get him because of a very special veil, boundary, or other factors. Was he like Ceila?

The old devil glared at Murai, and his eyes went through many matters. From his hoodie, eyes, beak, feet, wings, and lastly, that Token on the wall.

It wasn't a normal wall, and the devil recognized quite a terrific situation in front of him. He read between the lines and uncovered everything he wanted to know without a single Murai's quack.

"Oh," he hummed, "I suppose this old fool is getting an idea who this might be, but with that said, it is another thing to consider it and allow it to stay. I say it is weirder than it sounds and looks. Levandis promised no disturbances in my work, you see. This Child should not go there. For everyone's sake. I suggested putting up warning signs, but no, they said. Silly devil, she said. Bad Looky, he said. I consider this my private property! Ay, this invasion..."

The old devil shrieked and smacked the closest wall with his left palm, leaving a tight imprint but no tremors or cracks.

Murai still had no clue how to approach this situation, but his Peak was tense. He swayed and decided to move. His Peak came to that wall and relieved its burdens.

The old devil disagreed. He caught his Peak in a blink, clutching it between two fingers as if he had stopped a pebble trying to hit the water. "What do you think you are doing, Child? I demanded something, so how could you be silent?!"

Murai crashed his mana and Peak against those fingers, but in mere moments, he found all sense of force and mana in shambles. His Peak lost its luster, and backlash thundered and shook his insides.

From his head, skull, and spine, he felt his Peak failing, yet his Brightlife did not. He felt this occurrence several times, yet not after that Resonance.

Brightlife changed everything, yet how or where? It empowered something intense, and the inverse effect of failure didn't wreck him too much. Now, he couldn't use his Peak for a few minutes, which was better than growling in pain and discomfort.

The old devil chuckled after watching his beak and annoyance.

"That is quite an intensity you've got there. For a Child, it is nothing short of foolishly impressive. It must come from quite deep ends and roots, yes? For this mana... For this to come."

He let Murai go. His wings flipped, and he landed on the ground, eyeing the devil who stood against him and that wall. His Token was still trembling, and those leaks and bright lines hid something.

"Who are you?" Murai quacked, angry but still cautious against this devil.

"I am not the guardian of this place, eh, Challenger? Well, not. I am not. Seriously. Or I am all but that," the old devil taunted him, still hunching and not because of his big sack over his shoulder. Many Carved Gems were there, while the fresh one was still in his palm, glistering and showing many waves within.

At that point, Murai didn't judge those Gems in his sack, all glistering and gleaming at him with numerous ideas. Something within him stirred, but he did not move. They were round or flat, while others were square, and some were as flat as a piece of paper. They were tools or something special.

"You get my tongue, don't you?" Murai quacked, adjusting his head high, and appeared as tough as possible. That was quite hard on him, considering his physical and mental state, or the entire package.

The old devil laughed as if he had heard a joke, shivering in turn and looking insane.

"Good. Good. That is right. I do get this tongue. I mean, it's just tones and noises. My Lady forced that upon me, frankly. It is irritable. Imagine a devil learning a new language. Animal one, even. Well, you get me or not, which is important to nothing. Not me. Manner and intent are important, and you don't wield them. They wield you. So, it is time for this fool to get you in turn. Who are you? What... are you?"

He asked sensible questions, and Murai swore a spark flashed in his eyes. This old devil appeared serious and stood in his way, albeit hunched and clearly very threatening and intense.

Murai stepped forward and flipped his wing to that wall. "I don't know you, but you see that Token. If you do, get out of my way."

"That, I do see. Curious stuff, that is."

"Move. I depend on it." Murai didn't even know how he understood him, but if Lorry and Manager Kil could, why not the others?

"That I could do, but not before you answer my questions. This is my place. My home. My ground. My rules. No one will come and go into the place beyond. It isn't wrong, but it is. No one is supposed to get in, yet you a Challenger. The oddest of them all. Forgotten. Forced. Smaller than most. I.... am confused."

"You old, cracked fool!" Murai snapped, and his beak glowed again. "I don't have time for this," Murai shouted and went with his Peak layered almost five times.

It took more than just a second, as each layer shook his core and surged his mana around his muscles, spine, and overall skull before turning one with his beak. Murai did not feel one bit comfortable when doing this.

At some point, he thought he would scream in terror and make weird noises, but the warmth of his core helped, and no wild backlashes happened.

Brightlife was full of sensitive points, making his mana space bathed in new light. It was calmer than ever before, and this warmth of Brightness surprised him.

He wasn't sure if it redefined his overall mana or if it evolved him without anything, but it was a definitive improvement and work of that Resonance. The wilderness became mixed, and his Beast Core sated like an unkempt, heated cauldron.

In a moment, Murai struck the old devil's palm, and this time, a strange failure occurred, and his mana scattered like a lie. He took it head-on, yet Murai didn't flinch. He just hit something unmoving. Heavy. Impossible.

Backing away, Murai squinted, and his Peak failed at another attempt as if he couldn't believe his eyes. It was unfamiliar and unable to do anything against this old yet frail-looking freak.

"You a God?" Murai said and smacked his feet against the ground. It had been a while since he was this convinced about his annoyance and failure.

He must know it; that portal location should be special and complicated. Bagus and Lisa mentioned how portals around the Hellscape functioned.

For example, the way the Hellscape Runs worked depended on the location, and Challenger had to be either clever or forceful to obtain information about their portal and gain entry.

Plenty of portals were owned or managed by gangs, beasts, or even families of devils, or suited to the military. There were unchangeable factors about them, but not every single one of them was clear.

Their attachment and work with Chaos Space were difficult to conceal. Because of that, either in older or remote portals, Guardians were formed, and they could be anything. Constructs, beasts, or even the military, Murai accepted he wouldn't get inside that easily.

"God no," the old devil smacked his palms after tossing his Gem up, ending its place in a pile of others of its kind. "You want to go on, eh? That wall hides nasty things. Old. Forgotten. Unforgivable, even. But again, what is it that I am forgetting? Oh, I think I got it... It must be Mindarch's ploy! That old fool would do anything to cause a crazy fray, yet for me?! YOU! YOU..."

The old devil glared everywhere as if looking for something or someone. Coupled with crazy eyes and hums, he seemed irritated and out of his skin.

He found nothing.

The old devil shouted again and again. For a whole minute, he went on and on until a thin layer of gray fog swayed under a stone and came into his vision. Regardless, his senses and mind found this voice like primeval devils.

"You are here, you filthy fool!"

[That, I am. Always. It's my duty.] A familiar voice spread around the room, feeling sorry and awkward, yet still hiding its mist. [Don't make this difficult more than it already is. It's not my fault. I was forced to do this, and you know how it goes. It isn't against anything. Just accept it as part of the consequences that don't concern you and let it proceed. You aren't even a Guardian. A part of it is all you are, and you shouldn't be upset.]

"Don't give me that crap! This is my place of work, and she made me do it. Now, Lady Levandis said it as is... You, Mindarch, are the shameless one. I am not," the old devil cursed and pointed at the walls, which made him look more insane in Murai's eyes because he couldn't notice Mindarch either.

No matter how he looked at him, he was frustrated and kept silent. Nothing about this devil gave him any reassurance. He felt like nothing, so could there be an answer to why his Soul Read didn't work in certain instances or beings?

These facts pissed him much more than they should, so in the sight of this devil's anger, he attacked the wall again, cracking it with his raw strength and no Peak.

The old devil was busy shouting against the wall, so Murai attacked numerous times until creating a small hole. The area beyond was almost visible, and there were surprisingly few problems with this, even when that devil was close by.

Strikes drove in, pain mixed with strength, and Murai forgot what he was remembering. Very soon, he felt the wind moving from the hole big enough for his body, giving him strength despite not feeling right.

Murai assumed Bagus was giving him too much of a favor. It was difficult to argue about it. He felt terrible and weak. Like an ant, when he saw Razmund after a long time, he couldn't do a thing.

That frustrated him until Bagus made him flee and rely on him, but was it fair or fine with how he lived? What of his past selves, judging him and living inside of him? What use did his living have if he couldn't even deal with this puny little life?

Whatever power he held within, or what held him together and tight, it made him mad.

Or he was nothing but that for a long time.

With beatings, heat, and light in his eyes, Murai saw problems and genuine fury in his bones. The wall wasn't a fine outlet. The devil aside was even worse.

Besides the old devil, who jolted his hands far too late and overcame his fury, even Mindarch was unable to do a thing. At least before Murai created a hole big enough for himself, the old devil caught Murai by his neck and stopped his advancing beak.

He didn't have to shatter the whole entrance towards the portal. It was a pain in the ass to repair, and the old devil knew it far too well.

"Now, now, this is beyond crazy!"

Forcing him closer to his old and red face, Murai felt a tingle to kick his chin and call him weird names.

"Release me, you old sight. Go to some minor dungeon, you moron! You would fit right there, or go crave some stones and eat crickets, you lunatic!" Murai began to curse him in all sorts of imaginative ways, giving this old devil a surprising number of jokes, given his tone and quacks sounded intense, cursing, and almost flattering.

At many nice examples, the old devil opened his mouth and attempted to argue, but he was more impressed by hearing his exemplary curses in Anatidae's tongue. His eyes and mouth twitched, and he found it immensely amusing how he handled this intensity, his instincts, and the weird, childlike endeavor.

Chuckling after hearing a couple of dozen weird curses, the old devil handled Murai with ease and kept him squeezed.

"No," the old devil said, refuting Murai in every way, and aimed at that wall once more. "Mindarch, explain this time to me in a single word, or I will toss this duck into the oven. I heard they are good baked with a bunch of vegetables and herbs."

Murai didn't fall for his front and still kept cursing this fool.

[A chance. That's what it is, and you're way too old for this shit. Also, not that alone. They lack fat. It needs either added sauce or butter, or you should make supplementary sauce. Wait, why am I explaining that?!]

"That is a lot of words," the old devil seemed hurt, and his frown deepened. "But thank you. It is most likely something Lady wants to do, eh? Is she... well, she should've summoned me if she dared to do this sort of thing. Does she know how it is? With me and my job and everything? This shouldn't be right, no matter how it goes."

[Of course, she knows. No such thing would go unnoticed by her vast interest. You can ask her yourself how this goes. After it is done and over with, by the way.]

"Will do, " the devil said and smiled, "after baking this foolish thing invading my home."

[Wait. Waaaait,] Mindarch said slowly. [This needs no such thing. Just treat it as a brief fun. Your Lady would appreciate it if you kept it down.]

"Not me. I don't appreciate it!"

[Oh. Disappointing. But even then, she wouldn't mind giving up some... touch. Perhaps new resources that someone unnamed would love?]

The old devil sparked his eyes and smiled as if he had heard a compliment. It made his face weird, and he chuckled, dropped Murai in a heartbeat, and scratched his bald head.

"Oh, if you say it like this, I wouldn't mind a couple of things being done. She is very difficult to deal with, and arguing with her is like hitting a brick wall. Sometimes, it isn't listening, you see."

[Senile greedy bastard...]

Murai heard that brief echo and swore Mindarch was way too naive. This old fool must've heard it, yet he kept smiling and mumbling as if he couldn't wait for his dreams to come true.

It was at this point that the last remaining component arrived, coming to this place like a spark that might set everything ablaze. Lisa flew and jolted to a halt in her flight, glaring at a ridiculous situation that she hadn't expected even one bit.

She imagined a lot of things to come out of this place, as she already had a few ideas the moment she glanced around these living quarters that were on no maps.

This place was fascinating, hidden, and protected like the finest of realms that she couldn't see well. Nothing about it was here when she was alive, and there was no way this was that recent.

Stopping a few meters before a weird duo of beings, she barely caught Mindarch's voice and presence.

"Oy!" She shouted and pointed her finger at the devil. "Leave us be."

Old devil jolted his stare and stopped his scratching. "Now, there is a Fairy ahead? Call me old, but...eh?" He was shocked again, and even his lower jaw dropped. He witnessed many things, but never anything as beautiful, bewitching, and... bizarre.

[There we go again... please, flee and let this fool go. For your sake... do it before it is too late.] Mindarch pled.

Murai thought the same thing, standing on the ground before the opening and that devil. He was free, but he glanced at Lisa first.

"Do you know this place?"

"Of course not," Lisa said firmly, "but we know of him." She pointed at the devil. "Older than worn shoes, I suppose you are really Lookish, aren't you? How nice and all; is what I wish to say, but I suppose I expected something less when it comes to this broken, fucked up portal."

Murai showed no shadow of a surprise on his face. He felt irritated to think of that devil as well, recalled the name, and had no time to think about the rest.

There were sketches of Lookish in texts Foolisch gave them, yet they didn't resemble this old fool at all. Devils were weird, and Lookish before them was older. Much older than anything said and described, and the worst thing wasn't even his appearance.

He should be dead. Gone. Done for.

Lookish laughed at Lisa as she frowned and watched her face. It was fine to find another compliment.

"Now, now, don't go in that direction. My name is mine. To be known after the supposed End, it is a very nice thing, and there is no need for flattery, Miss Ghost. Still, I suppose this is a weird meeting. A devil, duck, and ghost went to a bar..."

[Shut up!] Mindarch had had enough. [Just leave them be. Both!]

"You can't stop me now," Lookish stomped forward and glanced at Lisa with unknown intentions and less space between them than foreseen. "Leaving that Child be is adequate. I heard that Mother, but this is much more interesting than that, is it not? Wraiths are such weird creatures, you see... Not native. Not fine. Definitely not alive either. Their reality is as flattering as fascinating, but you aren't about that on these little levels. Maybe that Fairy is, but..."

"Mother?" Murai cocked his head but didn't dwell on it further.

Lisa put her hands over herself, feeling defensive and kind of repulsed by this devil, who glanced at her with deep and old eyes. "You don't need to do this. Do as you are told. Forget it."

"Oh," Lookish cracked his fingers and hummed as he weighed his choices like stuff on his back and shoulders. "I do love some fun. Be it with ghosts, or... having a fine dinner. I should preheat the oven. I am sure you will—"

Behind his back, Murai jumped and gnawed at his bald head and tasted those horns.