Theda raised her head with a frown. She muttered to herself, “Duloc? He came here too?” She glanced around at the destruction surrounding her, making sure there were no live witnesses. There weren’t any, but there were lots of dead ones: Spirits. Ghosts. Phantoms. Whatever one wanted to call them. They surrounded Theda, their illusionary bodies kneeling atop their corpses which had been alive moments ago. Her gaze swept over them once more before she raised her arm. The black mist hovering above the city descended, engulfing the spirits. They didn’t make a sound as they disappeared into wisps of white smoke, but their faces contorted in agony.

Theda clawed at the space in front of herself, tearing open a black fissure. She reached in with her hands and grabbed the portal. After stretching it wide enough to accommodate her figure, she sauntered inside, disappearing from view. The portal closed behind her, taking the black mist with it. A deathly silent city was all that was left behind.

Theda emerged from the other end of the portal. What greeted her was the adorable fellow roaring and clawing at a cloud floating above his head. He was floating in the air, hovering below the cloud. His arms passed through the white vapor uselessly as it rained down on him, darkening and pressing his onesie onto his skin. He looked like a soaked cat.

“You stupid cloud,” Khrx said, his eyes glinting with a fierce light. His chest expanded as he inhaled. As he exhaled, a stream of golden fire ascended and struck the cloud head on. It evaporated. Khrx snorted twice as placed his hands on his hips, oblivious or purposely ignoring Theda’s presence. His tail perked up and swished behind himself as he tilted his chin towards the sky. “That’s what you get.”

A second later, the vapor from the evaporated cloud condensed and reformed into an even bigger, darker cloud. Little bits of lightning thundered around it as rain poured down, each drop the size of a small mouse. Khrx’s eyes widened as his tail lowered, tucking itself between his legs. He bared his tiny teeth at the cloud. “You still dare?”

Theda held her mouth in front of her hand and giggled as Khrx valiantly fought against the cloud. But it was like a hydra, coming back even larger every time it was destroyed. Finally, when it was releasing rain the size of a human child, Khrx gave up and retreated back into Anaheim’s apartment. The cloud dissipated the instant Khrx went inside, causing his ears to press flat against his head at the sight. He took a step onto the balcony, and the cloud reformed without a sound. Khrx retrieved his foot, and the cloud disappeared. He frowned while narrowing his eyes.

Theda laughed and pulled Khrx outside. “Come here,” she said. The cloud formed above them, but Theda simply waved one arm. A shadowy squirrel shot out of Khrx’s shadow and lunged at the cloud. Its mouth stretched open and swallowed the cloud in a single bite. Like a hamster with fully stuffed cheeks, it sat on the balcony’s railing while chewing before finally swallowing. The cloud didn’t reappear once the squirrel was finished.

[The curse of Duloc has been destroyed!]

[You’ve been blessed by Theda! As a co-owner of the underworld, Theda has assigned a protector to you. You’ve become companions with Waffle, the shadow squirrel. Wherever your shadow exists, she’ll exist as well.]

[Duloc is enraged. The alliance of the self-proclaimed righteous gods have turned their backs on you. The self-proclaimed righteous god alliance includes any and all gods whose domains belong above the earth, excluding the Sun God. City-states, guilds, and empires following any of these gods have declared war on I Can Pick.]

[God Jax has forsaken your guild. The temple of Jax within Paradise has been shattered. Guild members will still respawn inside the temple’s altar room, but a new god or goddess must take residence within a week.]

[Lukroix Adveign Desrigard has been stripped of his champion status. Paradise now has two champions of the gods, a third can still appear.]

[The guild Amireca has declared war on I Can Pick.]

[The guild Rancef has declared war on I Can Pick.]

…

[The guild Nacada has declared war on I Can Pick.]

[The guild South Rokea has declared war on I Can Pick.]

…

[The guild Nippon has declared war on I Can Pick.]

[The guild Hinac has declared war on I Can Pick.]

…

[The guild Arustalia has declared war on I Can Pick.]

[The guild Gonmolia has declared war on I Can Pick.]

Theda peeked at the screens appearing around Khrx, which were coming out of his watch. She smirked at the one that said Duloc was enraged. “How’d you attract the curse of Duloc?” she asked after Khrx finished reading and dismissed the screens.

“I ate one of his thingies,” Khrx said. He took another step onto the balcony and raised his head. The cloud didn’t reform. He glanced at the black squirrel on the balcony. It waved at him before leaping into his shadow, disappearing from view.

A wrinkled appeared on Theda’s forehead. “His thingies?” Duloc had thingies? What was Khrx…, he couldn’t mean one of Duloc’s family jewels, right…? That would certainly bring about Duloc’s wrath. But how did he—

“A cloud pusher,” Khrx said. He smacked his lips as his eyes slightly narrowed, his ears twitching. “It was delicious.”

“Oh. Cloud pusher. Right.” Theda nodded. She shook her head. Just what was she thinking about earlier? “Well, I can’t let a junior god bully my co-owner.”

Ring, ring.

Before Khrx could respond, a call interface with Luke appeared. He wasn’t given the option to decline the call, and Luke’s face was projected into the air in front of him.

“Khrx.”

“Hey, Luke. What’s up?”

Luke’s voice was unnaturally calm. “Was that you?”

“Was what me?” Khrx asked, tilting his head.

“Where are you right now?” Luke’s head swiveled around, inspecting Khrx’s surroundings. Theda waved at the floating head.

“I’m at Anaheim’s apartment,” Khrx said. “I died.”

Luke’s head snapped towards Khrx. “You died? Again?” He sighed. “Whatever. I see you’re cheating on Fufu with this woman over here. I guess you don’t care whether I release her or not, huh?”

Khrx scratched his nose. “Did something happen? You sound bitter.”

“No, it’s nothing. Stop dying so often, you noob. Hurry up and get back in game.”

Khrx exhaled as Luke ended the call. He yelped as Theda flicked his forehead. Tears formed in his eyes as he glanced up at her while pouting. “What was that for?”

“Lying’s not right,” Theda said.

“But I didn’t lie about anything,” Khrx said, shaking his head. “When did I lie?”

Theda blinked. It was true. Khrx hadn’t told Luke a single lie. She flicked Khrx’s forehead again anyway. “Lying by omission is wrong.” If Khrx was willing to lie to Luke, wouldn’t he be willing to lie to her as well? But Khrx’s dishonest nature wasn’t what bothered her. “And who’s Fufu?”

The sliding door of the balcony slid open. A wingless angel stepped outside, freezing at the sight of Theda. “Khrx, who’s this?”

Khrx glanced at Lorin’s slightly murderous smile. Then he met the cold gleam in Theda’s eyes. He did what any reasonable person would do and leapt off the balcony.