Two real days later I was grumpier. It felt like a week from hell that would never end. Even finals back in college didn’t amount to this level of stress. A narrow world where all that mattered was a degree couldn’t compare to the hassle of trying to track down Requiem in this mess.

Swamp gave way to twisted forests. The region looked familiar from my days as a [Red Imp]. Each tree had the same bend and weight. I kept an eye out for familiar monsters. Monkeys of the various rotting types were all around. Giant apes appeared, but most died quickly enough or were avoidable.

My own skill at fighting monsters had grown in leaps and bounds since being a [Red Imp]. Having excessive amounts of character points and skills helped. Still, it was repetitive, dull, and mind numbing. The only way this entire trudge felt bearable was a constant stream of chatter from the few players I interacted with regularly.

SweetPea: Hey, everyone…anything new…?

Shadow: We’ve recovered another forty people.

Awesome Jr.: Awesome! Any losses?

Shadow: Seven Locals and two players.

I watched their group messages with a vague interest. It served as a distraction from the dull repetition of this place. Without their chatter, I would have been alone wandering around.

Dusk hadn’t answered a summons. He sat inside my Atrium glaring at me every time I dare cross through the ARC’s interface. The [Messenger’s Pet] sulked on a long couch and during these two days I had been noticing an increase in demolished furniture and extra charges on my bank account. Enough to let me know the black scaled creature was upset.

Getting through the stupid swamp and this forest would have probably been easier with Dusk helping me, but I was upset too. We were in a crunch, racing against time, and fighting an endless mob of aggravated creatures wouldn’t help me catch up to anyone. Not that I was making progress. It felt like I had passed the same set of trees a dozen times now. What confounded me was how Requiem managed to stay so far ahead despite [Blink] and [Light Body] being highly ranked. I began to suspect he had made more progress than expected in rebuilding his character.

Shadow: Too bad we can’t just watch his feed. League members were using feeds to hunt down players going on rampages.

Awesome Jr.: We’ve tried. Most remaining players have shut down their video screens. I’m still not sure how Hermes managed to take down Nam.

Awesome Jr.: But that’s all over the news. Hermes’ viewership has tripled in the last two days, it’s only going to go up. Too bad the bonuses taper off.

SweetPea: …that’s so weird to see his character on the news... They can’t see us chatting…right?

Awesome Jr.: Nope. System notices are hidden. They’re just watching him trudge through the forest. You are still in those woods right, Hermes?

Hermes: Yes. I’ll be happy if I never see another tree in my life.

I could almost see SweetPea trying to pull down her hoodie and hide from potential viewers. Shadow and Awesome Jr. had turned theirs off right away. HotPants didn’t care and had a much smaller following. I suspected she wanted to rub the viewership in her ex-husband’s face at some point.

As a modern man raised in a city, forests like this one drove me crazy. I kept trying to reach a quest marker floating in the distance but never got any closer. Despite playing nearly five of the last eight game days, I was well behind and running into the same monsters over and over. As a side effect, my skills were going up, which helped out greatly. My stockpile of essences for the [Mechanical Hades Crown] had reached a high level.

HotPants: Hey. Idiots. Did anyone else notice Hermes is looping?

My head jerked up. Was I really going around in circles? I stared at the trees while squinting. Maybe that nagging feeling of everything looking the same hadn’t been solely in my head. My jaw went rigid at the idea that HotPants was the one to point it out. What annoyed me more was that she watched me during her logged off time. That struck me as awkward. Being watched by a random faceless crowd felt more bearable than knowing people near me were judging.

Awesome Jr.: Is he???

HotPants: Same trees six times. It’s like that, fuck, uhhh…

HotPants: Diamond’s Pyramid? Something?

Shadow: The Sol’s Lense

HotPants: Sure. Where we had that quest and kept going in circles. Same monsters every time. Same corner of the room.

Awesome Jr.: We broke that by using a line formation right? It went away once we got someone outside the edges?

HotPants: I dunno, I never pay attention to that stuff.

SweetPea: …we used yarn between us to stay connected.

Awesome Jr.: Hermes, if you’re stuck, try to use a reveal or sensory technique. You’ve got one right? Most high-end players get something.

Hecate: Babe, use it with your crown, just be careful.

Hermes: Okay. Thanks for the tip.

I tried to carefully tip toe around the awkwardness of HotPants watching me. My wife, Hecate in-game, would probably be upset anyway. If we had been together the problem might have been noticed sooner and solved by now. Once again stubbornness made life difficult.

Chanting [Lithium] made me feel like a teenage girl reciting terrible cartoon lines while swooning. Real poetry was great, this stuff which triggered spells felt like garbage. I opened my mouth to utter the key phrase for [Mechanical Hades Crown] anyway.

“Mechanical God of the Underworld, lend me your ear!” [Lithium] spells I understood sounded perfectly normal. Foreign ones were gibberish and chants. I vaguely remembered the note from M. Shell about how the game rewrote text at high speeds. Mother’s system could probably do audio too, after all, this was all in our heads. “Gathered are these forgotten souls, grant me leave to release them to a final task before crossing the veil! Empower Sight of Mercari!”

Every time I uttered an ability out loud I gave away one of my secrets. Soon there would be nothing left to hide from anyone who came knocking. Requiem would be one of the few people who would never notice me until we ran into each other. He spent a majority of time focused on his own skills and gear.

The world pulsed and it felt like my eyesight went everywhere at once. Sensory overload sent me straight to my knees and I started to wretch onto a nearby splintered tree trunk. Stomach contents unloaded while it felt like I was getting a good look from every angle imaginable. The overload sent everything into an old fashioned static haze which jerked my senses around further.

In one moment, I saw the dead forest with defeated monkey parts lying around. Half-rotting moles were in pieces from where they had poked above ground and I promptly ended them. Scorch marks sat on some trees outlining more signs of combat. A billion tiny little dots flickered around creating a sea of colors out of the wildlife nearby.

Then that tore down the middle and I felt my orientation change. Instead of kneeling down cradling my head, I was looking up. The change in gravity made my belly try to heave again. Through watery eyes, I saw James’ feet nearby. Xin’s black robe with white runes sat on my other side.

“Be careful!” said my wife’s voice from a million miles away.

Everything hit static again and the scene changed. Woods around me were overlapping each other with endless words labeling each item. The word ‘Castle’ hung in giant bold text as the outline of a real fortification came into sight, where before there had only been looping forest. The building’s ruins were familiar enough to wash away some of the disorientation.

Once again the scene broke and I heard Dusk’s giant wide mouthed yawn. My eyes directed toward the sound and found a white broken pillar with Continue Online’s book sitting closed atop it. The same one I signed so many months ago, starting this. Dusk, the size of a cat again, sat next to the column and his yawn finished. The jaws closed and that other place turned to blackness. My forehead wrinkled together. Then the vision vanished and my heartbeat stuttered.

The castle sat far away. Closer to me was a small fireplace with a young teen in blue and black leathers. He poked a stick at the pit and stirred around embers. I tried to shake off the brief confusing trip. That had to be the ARC simply overloading. [Sight of Mercari] felt rough to use normally, and I had broken well past normal by beefing it up.

Wraith looked impressive in real life. The demon had to be at least ten feet tall with huge bull-like horns. A heavy metal ring hung in both ears while his chest remained bare. The red skinned elder brother of Spite could easily compete against Vlad in terms of expansive displays. Only his nose and eyes were grotesque. Yellow eyes with twisted pools of darkness stared at me while large nostrils flared. Steam poured out of his mouth and large teeth were revealed as the monster grinned.

Requiem’s demon stared at me for a moment while I struggled to get upright. I understood the young man’s nature and needed to be ready. [Morrigu’s Gift] sat in one hand and the circlet about my head had enough essence for an ultimate move or three.

“Someone broke through? You need the spell for this place,” Requiem spoke clearly enough. [Sight of Mercari] typed out every word like they were text or a closed caption. The sensation made my head quake with confusion.

“Is this another foolish Traveler after your worthless hide, Requiem?” the giant creature asked with a deep voice that made me shiver.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Get him,” Requiem’s words slowly registered as the text portion started to fade. The empowerment was already drifting away. The tone of his words reminded me of our numerous moments together, where he ordered me to act.

Wraith shot in my direction, he faded further from sight with each step. My head still reeled from the overloaded version of [Sight of Mercari]. The dot for Wraith vanished and reappeared a few feet to the left. A crimson tainted claw curled toward my stomach. A single heartbeat thumped as the world distorted under [Awareness Heightening]’s eighth rank. Without Xin here to drain some of the effect, it felt like moving through a placid world.

[Morrigu’s Gift] twirled into position then clanked into the outstretched hand. Sparks flew off as I stepped back into a [Blink]. The distortion caused by changing locations drug at my head. I dipped out of the [Blink] and turned around to the edge of a barely visible face. The demon smiled as a curl of steam hung in the air. He closed both eyes then vanished again and the dot moved. Wraith lived up to his name and shifted like a ghost of vengeance or doom.

“Neat.” I felt startled for a moment. Slow motion of [Awareness Heightening] gave me a long glorious four second to think. Wraith could [Blink] too. This would be a scary fight.

I [Blink]ed a second time trying to get ahead. Wraith turned with far more speed than expected and deflected [Morrigu’s Gift] with freakish ease. We moved rapidly twice more. I kept trying to dodge past the large demon but he would vanish then appear in front of me.

Voices, damn it, what was with all these creatures lately? I had happily breezed through a month or two of game time with Xin and hardly been challenged like this. First, Nam Redrum, then the endless horde of evil lizards, now I faced off with a demon that moved as fast as I did and seemed to know my moves before I made them.

My foot faded back and twisted. [Morrigu’s Gift] sheared a pile of dirt into the air as a screen. [Camouflage] went off and my body faded. Eyes closed to ping Wraith, his body veered directly for me despite the attempt at hiding. I ducked down then propelled myself forward along the ground, holding my breath and trying not to crash into an object.

A mass of dark winged muscle flew overhead. [Blink] went off once more before the cloven foot caught my head. My body hovered above Requiem and I readied the blade with more intent to kill than expected.

The moment moved in slow motion. Wraith’s body [Blink]ed in between the shorter male and I. The arm first, blocking me. Requiem’s body was twisting around with wide eyes. Then the view was blocked by Wraith’s smiling face and large horns. I gasped as the demon’s head twisted to the side. One large horn aimed for my body, [Power Armor] automatically flickered into existence and mitigated the damage but couldn’t stop such an insane force from sending me sprawling.

My body slammed into the ground and bounced. Pain jarred my skull as I [Blink]ed again before the second tumble. Dirt ground between molars and tasted dry.

“You move like a demon!” he boomed. I could feel his happiness in my head. It wasn’t an impression or visual cue, the demon’s emotions were actually inside my skull dancing around. The sensation made my skin crawl and disturbed the hell out of me.

“Voices.” I realized what the problem was. [Awareness Heightening] and [Blink] both came from my time as Spite. Both were skills picked up from a reported glitch being straightened out.

Behind the demon’s widespread arms sat a young teen who looked downright panicked. Requiem was quickly equipping items. Shoulder pads were switched out. The sword in his hand changed. Shoes flickered and were replaced with larger items. While he put on good gear, I frowned and tried to figure out what would get me past Wraith and to Requiem. I really, really wanted to punch Requiem square in his damn face.

If it weren’t for that overwhelming desire I might have tried to talk it out. My mind raced and I felt the demon watching me with a wide smile. This had to be Spite’s bigger brother. That meant he was much stronger than the [Red Imp] had been. Maybe stronger than Hermes as a character. I didn’t have time to inspect him and needed, or wanted, to force Requiem to a standstill, if not outright stomp the teen’s face.

Fine, if the standby skills were obvious, then I had other tricks. After a moment of study, I noticed a thin blue aura appearing from behind the demon. Wraith faded from view again and there stood Requiem, clad in that stupid battle aura.

Requiem had his full powers back and somehow I missed it. His character had simply looked the same as always. The sword looked exactly like his old one. No, I should have expected something to go wrong when dealing with the younger man. He always had an ace or three up his sleeve.

Too bad for him we had spent a long time together. His playstyle, if nothing else, was already known to me. He charged toward me while pulling out a second sword which trailed ash. His body crawled with a stronger blue aura as he chanted [Lithium] quietly. Their attack reminded me that I needed to do this at my pace, not theirs. It was time to stack skills.

My mouth opened wide and a stream of fireballs, courtesy of Dusk’s [Blessing], shot out. Requiem threw out two of his own and dodged the others. [Morrigu’s Echo] was unsheathed and I turned both my weapons into large two-handed blades. [Blade Dancer] worked just as well with two partners. [Battle Hum]’s effect kicked in sending a rush of excitement through me. I took each step in conjunction with the tempo of unheard music.

Months of playing had passed since our last true encounter, in total almost a year of game time had passed. I was no longer the beaten little [Red Imp] with low health. I had fought [World Eater] giants, stood against an army of monsters, and fought against one of the strongest NPCs to walk the surface of [Arcadia]. There was no way I would let a greedy teenager and his demon pet defeat me. No god damned way.

[Morrigu’s Gift] was deflected off the smaller blades. [Morrigu’s Echo] blocked flying claws. The demon’s wings cut across above me and I ducked under the blow and came up stabbing. Both enemies moved backward and I stepped off to the side. Requiem snarled then pressure slapped my wrist. His slow motion fingers were grasping at [Morrigu’s Echo] and starting to twist its hilt against my fingers.

I let the blade fall away and kept turning to punch Wraith in the face. His large nose flattened as I finally connected and unleashed over four hundred points of [Brawn]. Yellow demonic eyes crossed and I brought [Morrigu’s Gift] up to block a thrusting blade from Requiem. Ash clouded my vision as the blue aura clad sword jabbed across knuckles. [Power Armor] struggled to activate and deflect the blow but my grip suffered.

“Hold him!” Requiem shouted while moving backward.

The words stirred up months of lingering frustration. This little punk had abused me for weeks. He had been my first real chance at bringing back Xin and I failed. My hum turned into an outright cry of protest. To one side Wraith stomped down a foot then righted himself. Our dance started again.

“None of that!” I shouted while attacking Requiem directly. His swings were blocked by a combination of blade and armor. My own were dodged or blocked. A rumbling growl came behind me. [Blink] went off again and I ducked underneath of Requiem’s legs. His body fell over mine as Wraith came out of his own [Blink] to attack me.

The man cried out as his demon’s attack hit the wrong target. Wraith’s smile went wider at the sound of Requiem’s pain. The world faltered as [Awareness Heightening] stuttered briefly. Requisite Ass flew further away than I had ever seen him. His arm grabbed onto a tree then righted himself quickly. I would have clapped if we were on better terms.

Still, I had an idea to bait Requiem in. [Blink] bought me distance while Wraith shook his head. The blow I had given him must still be aching. Both weapons were tucked away to easily reachable spots. I put my hands up as if striking a pose then started chanting [Lithium].

“Mechanical God of the Underworld, lend me your ear!” I cried. Requiem might not understand this one, but he should believe it to be a special move of some sort. It was, but I wasn’t frozen in one place like Requiem would be. “Gathered are these forgotten souls, grant me leave to release them to a final task before crossing the veil! Empower Gait of Bowman!”

“Beware!” Wraith shouted.

“Hold him!” Requiem backed up and started his own chant. The ash coated blade was tucked away as he adopted a similar pose, holding the black and blue sword in front of him.

“Ghost of a dead sun! Shadow of a singularity!” Requiem shouted. “Draw all into your grasp!” He started performing the same hand gestures. This only confirmed what I already knew; Requiem somehow had all of his original powers back despite my reset of his character. His aura started to condense.

“Idiot.” I smiled, slammed my foot down to activate [Power Armor], then [Blink]ed forward.

The armor didn’t clink into place but instead flickered into being in in motion. The normal blockage by my helm was missing. I could see through the framing but still felt weight as the skill activated. My body hummed like an engine sat deep inside with gears pumping. This ability felt like turning into a giant tank then unleashing hell upon the enemy.

“Rrrgh!” Wraith’s eyes went wide as I collided with him through the first [Blink]. Two large fists slammed into his midsection knocking the demon over. [Awareness Heightening] made it feel like an eternity as I pulled both arms back then [Blink]ed forward once again.

“Shit!” Requiem dropped his stance then lifted up both weapons to block.

My arms went out to his blades and grabbed them. [Disarm], the move I learned from Wyl, worked perfectly. Requiem’s ash trailing sword went flying in one direction. The sword with a teardrop bit of condensed energy on the end went another, the half-formed spell faded. With the momentum, I planted my rear foot. Fully empowered [Power Armor] encased me with a shimmering set of black and gold armor. Requiem’s form went wide eyed as I bent slightly, then executed a full [Brawn] shoulder slam.

[Blink] got me midair ahead of him. I grabbed my main weapon then lifted both arms overhead for a chop. I didn’t want to kill either one of them. The edge of my blades had been blunted this entire fight. Part of me took savage delight in watching his mouth burst open with foamy spit as the weapon slammed into his midsection, sending Requiem back to the ground.

He hit the ground like a meteor. Dirt and rock went everywhere. I activated the second [Blink] while falling and the world shifted again. My body formed above his, and one armor covered foot was shoved downward to hold his prone form still. He froze with a glare directed toward me. The young man’s eyes screamed with defiance. I had killed players and human looking NPCs alike by now. Requiem existed in real life, and the accusing look didn’t bother me as much. One arm lifted above my head. [Morrigu’s Gift] sat pressed against Requiem’s chest while [Morrigu’s Echo] looked exactly like the trident it used to be.

“Arrghghh!” I screamed while jabbing the three-pronged weapon down into the ground near Requiem’s head.

For some reason, I felt better but wild. Regaining self-control took effort. Each breath came quicker than the last. My head felt heavy and [Morrigu’s Gift] threatened to slip loose. I almost lifted the weapon to strike again. Had the lingering rage as Spite really carried over? My eyes closed as I gave thanks that Xin wasn’t here to see this. This anger born of an abused man who had nearly ruined everything for me.

“You’re lucky I couldn’t do this last time,” I ground the words out while trying not to clench my teeth. “And if I didn’t need you, I would happily kill you.”

“Go ahead and kill me.” His chin lifted toward me.

“No. You probably have your stupid ring, then I would have to waste time waiting to see if you resurrect.” My head shook while his eyes went wide. He looked younger now than expected. Requiem was another owner of a [Howard’s Phylactery]. Thinking about it got me heated up again. Maybe I could stab him once and then that would calm me down completely.

Laughter filled the area for a moment. My heartbeat sped up as [Awareness Heightening] skipped along disjointed. Existing at eight times normal reality’s speed took a lot out of me, and catching up felt like watching a video which couldn’t render right.

“What are you laughing at!” Requiem shouted under me.

My chest heaved rapidly. I pressed the blade down tighter as Requiem tried to slip away. Both eyes scanned the trees for the Jester’s form sneaking through until I realized this laughing was more of boom. The noise didn’t belong to a Voice mocking my change of heart in beating up Requiem. We had crossed that bridge.

“Hah! Haha ha!” Wraith was laughing and his voice sent skeleton birds into the skies. “I knew it! I knew my brother’s soul could not be dead! The Voices did not lie! All this waiting, all this time following around a sheep in wolf's clothing to finally find him again.”

My face twisted as Requiem’s chest heaved. I could see the edge of wide eyes. Both weapons lay clattered upon the ground and his body held very still under my boot. Part of me wanted to twist the other heel and stomp down with full [Power Armor] a few times, but I resisted the urge once again. Self-control was getting easier. In fact, this guy might be the first person I had ever left alive after engaging in combat. Normally it was either me or them.

“What?” Requiem asked.

“My brother has returned!” Wraith lifted his hands to clap. Each bang of hands thundered. “This, this is my brother!” The large demon walked over and that freakish emotion of surging happiness crawled into the deep parts of my brain once again. I tried to shake it off but felt the weird ticklish sensation linger behind one ear.

“You mean Spite?” The teen’s face went through a full range of rapid emotions. “Spite’s dead! I killed him.”

“His flesh is gone, but his spirit remains!”

“I’m a lot nicer then Spite was,” I tried to defend myself but felt increasingly disturbed. This large creature unnerved me. How Spite could have handled it was absolutely beyond me. Part of me wondered if the NPC even existed before I accepted Vlad and Jean’s deal. The [Red Imp] had felt like a blank slate, so maybe not.

“You could have fooled me,” Requiem said sarcastically from beneath my boot. He looked less stressed but annoyed.

I tried to reduce my aggravation by lifting off of Requiem and walking away. [Power Armor] faded. Both weapons were tucked under the belt. I went right by Wraith and started pacing trying to cool down. The racing pulse refused to calm, and as [Awareness Heightening] faded, the rampant speed became obvious. Words came across my screen in slow motion as players days away sent text messages to our group. Their chatter helped remind me of the world at large resting on cooperation with Requiem.

Awesome Jr.: Anyone know what happened with Hermes?

Hecate: My man just wrecked that kid’s face and his Rank 25 demon.

HotPants: It was probably unfair right? Hermes has the viewership bonus.

Hecate: Against a beta player? Requiem Mass has been playing for years longer.

Awesome Jr.: He’s still alive right? I thought Hermes said we need Req alive?

Hecate: He’s alive. Babe, you’re reading this right? Summon me now. Whatever encounter is next will probably be worse than the Sage’s and you’ll need help.

SweetPea: …what about us?

Awesome Jr.: We’re busy. Speaking of, anyone else up for their next assignment?

HotPants: JR – I’ve got a few hours – where’s the next group?

Awesome Jr.: Hold on, I’ll check the board. Oh hey, Shadow before you log for school, remind your minion army, whoever’s left, that we’re running low on time.

Shazam: Everyone, World Eaters have chewed up half the mountain passes and started to come down. My guild is going to start losing the outposts soon. We have maybe a week. Be ready.

Even Shazam had been included in our group. Interacting with her felt weird. She was like Xin, a recreation of the real person, inside a machine. How many years of solid gameplay had been required to make that leap? Would everyone be able to transition over if they died in real life? Maybe there was a formula involving how many hours passed with having a brain scanned.

“Fuck. If you’re not here to kill me, then are you the guy I’ve been waiting for?” He took a breath then asked, “The one who sent this letter?”

He stood away from me with a scroll held up. Thankfully Requiem hadn’t pulled out an explosive or smoke grenade. The young man indulged in alchemy and collected all kinds of goodies. Nothing would have been surprising.

“Maybe, probably.” I waved a hand dismissively. This character had delivered a metric ton of letters. There was almost a month in reality where Hermes wandered around without my input because of Advance Online. “I was looking for you, yes. To make a deal, not fight.”

“Could have fooled me,” Requiem muttered again. “Maybe you are Spite, you don’t read like a player, and knew all my moves, plus that weapon and those abilities. Jesus.”

“Yeah, you spent weeks beating the shit out of me.” I held myself back physically but not verbally. My head tilted and I bit the bottom lip to stop speaking. Admitting that out loud couldn’t help anything. It just spread poison and unease.

What would my support group think of this? There had been a few who shared stories of abuse cases, they drank to get away or became worse while under the haze. I couldn’t admit the frustration and violent urges to them over a game. It felt wrong, but Xin would understand. I needed my wife. All my annoyance at dealing with Requiem Mass had been to recover her in some manner. Being back in her presence would help remind me that everything turned out alright. I twisted the rainbow ring and watched as a bright array of colors zoomed off.

“What was that?” Requiem asked.

“It’s none of your business. All you need to know is I’m willing to pay you for help with a task. That’s all I want from you,” I said while counting the seconds and trying to get some composure before Xin arrived.

“So the deal was true then? You really will pay top coin for the knowledge?”

He held up the scroll again which caused me to sigh. The Voices didn’t tell me about an actual letter, and rarely did I find out what was inside them. I wasn’t sure how he got it, or maybe the notice came from my autopilot or another Traveler. The parchment and broken wax seal certainly looked like one of mine. It was possible this scenario fit in with one of Mother’s far-reaching schemes. She had worked this out well in advance. I closed both eyes and tried to remember the few details given to me.

I knew that there was another location to get to. The Voices couldn’t tell where because they were blind to where it even was. They only had a whisper of a name which came from one of M. Shell’s journals. The name Yates had been spoken a few times during the beta by Requiem, while he was at a location they hadn’t been able to view. Apparently only this Traveler had come close to the spot since release.

“Twenty thousand gold pieces, if you tell me everything you know about the Island of Faded Illusions and guide me there.”

“Sixty,” he countered without a second thought.

My eyes rolled. “Forty.”

He wanted gold. What an absolutely stupid request to make. Continue Online gold meant even less now than a year ago. The game would crash well before he could spend any of it. Any towns with an auction house were days away, and gold prices were a cluster even if he could get in touch with black market contacts.

“Payment up front.” He stepped closer then put out a hand.

I flicked gold coins from my inventory at his face, one at a time. Each thud made me feel better. After the fourth one, he started catching them while complaining.

“That’ll be a penalty for disrespecting me. Forty-five thousand gold.”

More went flying at him. Requiem caught most, but many made it through. He stopped and picked them up anyway while my head shook. Gold meant nothing to me. My casino funds were absolutely insane as people dumped cash into gambling.

“Fifty!” he shouted at me.

I sighed and gave up. He could triple the price and it wouldn’t matter to me. The gold and money weren’t an issue, and never really had been. Especially since the entire [Red Imp] scenario left me with an uncomfortable but advantageous result. I knew his real name, Matthew Jules, and I owned his stupid little trailer home. I paid off his debts that were left behind by parents.

“I would rethink your stance, Matthew,” my words came out evenly. “I’m willing to give you your stupid request of gold, but don’t push your luck. I may simply decide to figure this out without you, and I wouldn’t lose an ounce of sleep while you’ll probably die to greed and never make it to Haven Valley. Not that they would let you in with one word from me.”

His head tilted and eyes narrowed.

I shrugged.

“Fifty-Five thousand,” Requiem said with a straight face.

“Thirty-Five.” I flicked another coin at him.

The second rainbow bounced back. Xin’s form touched down and she nearly glided over to me. I smiled, seeing a tiny Asian girl wearing a black robe, with a huge bone topped staff coming out of a rainbow felt like a backward result. Thankfully she didn’t arrive with glittering butterfly wings either. The idea made me laugh and I felt that much better.

I looked at the teen. His face frozen upon seeing my wife come over and hug me. He formed words then looked at his own hand. Maybe he wanted his own wife summoning rainbow, but the chances of him earning one were slim.

“Forty.” He nodded. “I was headed there anyway, before, people, got in my way.” Requiem frowned at me for a moment then sighed. His face was wide open and easy to read now that I knew what kind of person the teen was, a greedy brat who had been forced to become so by his family circumstances. “And if you are somehow tied to Spite, don’t expect an apology.”

Xin turned away from me with a false smile. Two fingers jabbed upward and a thick white pillar slammed out of the ground right into Requiem’s crotch. He hung there with a wide open mouth and crossed eyes. I felt my own mouth gape.

“That’s for hurting my husband,” she said. “And I won’t apologize either.”

“Husband?” Wraith started chuckling harder. Between gulps of air, he choked out words. “Amazing! My brother, married! From a nervous little coward to a warrior! Hah!”

Xin looked up at the giant and her face blanched. The shorter woman might be experiencing a worse vertigo than I ever had. Her slanted eyes were seriously considering slamming Wraith in the same manner as Requiem’s recent groin shot.

In a way, Wraith was dead on with his assessment, were it not for the brother statement. Defeating Requiem on my own reminded me just how far I had come. The demon didn’t care and kept on laughing.