“So, they were in the sewers after all.” I started my search after a Grand Order member informed me of the Soul Eaters. I found several running amok on the surface, but most are in the sewers. “What’s weird is that they are all flocking towards Haruki and Louisa. Should I help them out? Or do you want me to keep you company?”

In the alleyway beside me, a presence appears. A man dressed in a dark cloak camouflaged well with the alley’s shadows. “Hello there, Callisto of Grand Order. I’m not surprised that you spotted me this—”

“Get to the point. Who are you?”

“Oh my, I never introduced myself. My apologies. You may call me Joker. I came here with members of my organisation to collect our pet.”

“Your pet?”

“Yes. You see, we lost our precious pet. He means the world to us, and we are so utterly devastated. Would you be so kind as to return him?”

“Sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking—”

“Oh dear! I forgot to mention this. You see, Necromancer has a horrific personality. He keeps many pets in dungeons and sets them free, hungry. He let loose thousands of his pets, and they are now terrorising our organisation’s pet. The leader will have a stern lecture prepared for Necromancer, but that does not change the damage already caused. So, for that, I must apologise.”

Is this man insane? He’s going on and on about pets. Is this the effect of a new drug?

“Look here…”

“OH DEAR! My sweet Haruki! Why did you leave us?”

“H-Haruki? Did you just say ‘Haruki’?”

“Hmm? Ah, did I not mention our pet’s name? Silly me.”

Haruki? What is this man’s connection to Haruki? From Louisa’s information, he should have no connection to Haruki. That is unless he was connected to Haruki in Ragnarök. “You said Haruki was your pet, right?”

“Is.”

“Sorry?”

“He is our pet. So, can you kindly return what’s ours?”

“What connection do you have with Haruki?”

“Am I speaking to a brick wall? Did I not say he is our pet? How stupid can one man be?”

I raise my hand to the sword around my waist and clench the grip. My calm heartbeat now throbs like a drum inside my chest. This man is annoying. But…

“Since when has he been your pet?”

“When? Hmm… I can’t say. It’s been quite long.”

“I see. And does Haruki know he’s a pet? It’s never come up.”

“Never? Well, of course, it wouldn’t. He’s been rotting in a cell for ten months.”

“How do you—”

“Oh please. Information on an insignificant organisation like yours is not hard to find. We would have been here earlier, but the leader told us to wait.”

“And who is this leader of yours?”

The man stays silent. He steps back and disappears into the shadows, only to appear behind me, and say “You’ve been asking an awful lot of questions. Do you think I’m an idiot who does not understand what you’re attempting to do? I will not speak our leader’s name with such a loose mouth.”

“Is that so? Then I guess you came here prepared to die.”

“Strong words from someone as weak as—”

“Moon Magic: Lunar Ray.”

A mana orb forms behind me and blasts him in the abdomen, sending him flying into a nearby building. I draw my sword and cautiously watch his movements.

“You know,” he says, lifting himself, “you should wait for others to finish speaking before attacking.”

He dusts himself off. My eyes fall on his abdomen, expecting some damage—but to my surprise, there are no scratches, not even on his cloak.

“Hmm? Mr. Callisto?”

“This voice…” I spin around. Behind me, a large crowd formed. “Everyone, get d—”

“Too late,” says Joker. He appears, wearing a sinister smile, behind the man who called out to me and pierces him through the stomach with his hand.

“No!”

“Yes. This is what happens when you interrupt me, Moon Cross Callisto.”

The rage that I felt earlier boils over. I leap towards Joker and slash at his arm, which was lodged through the man’s stomach. He pulls his arm away and dodges my rapid slashes and thrusts with relative ease. All the while, he looks around at the crowd. As he looks through the crowd, he smiles and says, “Let’s play a game, shall we? In this crowd, I picked a target. If you can save the person from dying, then you win. But if you can’t… then you lose and someone dies. Are you ready?”

“Joker!”

My scream lands on deaf ears. Joker vanishes again and his presence disappears.

Where is he? Does he think of this as a game? If so, he’s more insane than I thought.

“Aarrgghh!”

I turn to the sound of a woman’s scream at the centre of the crowd. The people around her look back, terrified. After witnessing her decapitation, they run away screaming.

“Ah! It looks like I won. So, want to play another round?”

“JOKER!”

“No need to scream, Moon Cross. I can hear you loud and clear.”

This is not good. I have no control over my body. I know it was all provocations, but two lives were lost right before my eyes. He thinks nothing of the people he killed. Through his eyes, they are sheep in the den of a wolf. That is something I can’t accept.

I rush him with a flurry of slashes like before, only this time, I attack him faster. My attacks tear through his cloak like moonlight pierces the cracks of leaves. I leave him no chance to think about a counter-attack. If he does, he will die.

“Your attacks are faster than before. So, I was right. You were holding back. That makes me wonder… are you still taking this fight easy? If so, I have more stimulants within my attack range.”

“Y-you… Don’t you dare think of attacking any more people! This is a battle between the two of us. Leave them out of it.”

“Fine, I will refrain from bringing any of those ants in between our dance. But you will have to prove yourself, my dear Callisto.” He pulls a deck of cards from his cloak. “My favourite card is the Joker, did you know? It’s a wild card. You never know what it will do next.” His cold eyes rise with a passionate glare. “Release.”

The Joker he draws from the deck releases a beam of light similar to my Lunar Ray. It takes me by surprise and blasts me down the street, into the frightened group of citizens.

“Mr. Callisto? H-help us…”

I push myself up, despite the pain rushing through my body. “Don’t… worry. Just make sure you—”

“Just make sure you disappear,” he says, slashing another woman’s head off. The blood splatters spray over my face. “Oh, yes. I promised not to involve the ants, didn’t I? Well, we all make mistakes, don’t we?”

“Moon Magic: Gravity Bind.”

A gravity field surrounds Joker and me. I increase the weight pushing on our bodies to twenty times the planet’s gravity. “This… is…”

“I’ve finally got you locked down, Joker.”

“This… is… Not working,” he says, unfazed.

“W-what?”

The gravity field disappears, and he walks to me. “Don’t feel disappointed, Callisto. We all fail sometimes. Yes, it’s as natural as those ants dying a fool’s death. But you must not wallow in despair. Stand up and fight. Fight the devil causing you such grief. Fight against the cause of your despair. Only when that happens can you—”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Oh? Did I not warn you about inter—”

“Moon Magic: Gravity Bind.”

“Increasing the gravity again? Did you not see that such a weak attack does not—”

“Moon Magic: Thousand Lunar Ray.”

A magic sigil appears below us and fires thousands of Lunar Rays at him. Though he avoids the first barrage, another soon fires off. And another. Like my slashes earlier, these attacks leave him no chance to run. He’s soon overwhelmed and consumed by the rays of light.

“Not yet,” he says, as the barrage continues. “Absorb.” The light rays disappear, one by one. “You will no—”

“Moon Magic: Meteor.”

I expected such a development, which is why I bought enough time to fire an area-of-effect spell against him.

A meteor breaks through the clouds, blocking the moonlight and covering Mico in darkness.

“Y-you’re crazy,” he says, smiling from ear to ear. “But this is not enough to stop me. Release.” Using the same attack as before, he releases a barrage of light rays, and it fires off at the meteorite. The rays of light are concentrated mana, so they easily tear through the meteor, like it’s paper. The meteorite scatters into tiny fragments and is blown away by the wind.

“I’m crazy, you say?” Joker took this chance to escape. His presence is nowhere near to be found. But now that I can relax, I look back, surprised. “Is… Haruki’s mana weakening?”