"Your time of payment has arrived, Emperor."The voice sounded extremely hoarse, wet, and heavy. The words seemed to be forced out of a throat that had long been clogged by dirty fluids and thick mud.Caleb Thorne sat silently in his chair. He stared at the shattered glass on his desk. A sticky black liquid with a very pungent smell of crude oil continued to drip onto the stone floor. The puddle of toxic oil merged with the shadow beneath his leather shoes.The temperature inside the highest tower of the Black Castle did not turn cold; instead, it became incredibly humid and stuffy. The air felt like being at the bottom of a dead ocean.From within that puddle of black mud, dozens of horrifying figures crawled up into the physical world. They were Mud Ghosts. Their forms lacked a clear skeletal structure. Their bodies were formed entirely of toxic waste, boiling asphalt, and rusted ship chains. Their faces were melted, leaving empty eye sockets that emitted a green sewage light. They