Alpha ran his hand along the window frame of a village house; a skin of dust clung to his fingers like ash. He raised one grimy finger to Delta.

“Look, this place hasn’t had a heartbeat in ages. By my read, this was once Ska Village. If that loli sister isn’t an idiot, she’s gambling on hope. She wants to kill us by proxy, with a pact tightening like a noose. The pact’s binding is strict; if we just kill her, the pact will judge us. We’d be marked as violators and die.”

Delta lowered his head to think, then lifted it with eyes like knives at Remi and Flan. “Since they’re so uncooperative, we drag them back and extract their memories. That shouldn’t break the agreement, right?”

“It doesn’t, as long as we don’t kill them. But you’re this eager to find Ska Village because your scan found something, didn’t it?”

At that, his anger melted to a bright grin. “Yes. I found it. A leftover scent, a thin thread of aura, told me this was the storage site.”

“Is that so? Perfect… I’m taking them to extract their memories now.”

At the word “extract,” Remi moved first. She stepped in front of Flan like a mother hen shielding a chick, arms flung wide. “Don’t! Nobody lays a finger on Flan!”

Alpha’s smile bloomed like frost, pretty and cold. “No can do. You wouldn’t listen.”

“Then… if I lead you to Ska Village, does the pact still bind us?”

Alpha bowed his head in faked thought, then nodded as if sealing a stone. “Fine. I’ll believe you once more. Stop playing word-traps; the ending will be ugly.”

Remi lowered her head, hiding every twitch of her face in shadow. “Yes.”

This time, Remi walked alone ahead of the airship. They locked Flan inside “for protection”—honeyed words hiding a knife. Remi moved at a drag, each step sandbagged by worry. She plotted her next move in the hush between breaths.

She was cornered, like a deer against a cliff. Flan was caught; escape was smoke. Slow or fast, she’d lead them back to Ska Village. By their claims, Ska held an artifact that could erase a world. If the elders could wield it, these hunters would be ash. But if the artifact sat idle, cold and dumb, the worst storm would land on her. She would carry this world’s life and death on her back.

“What’s wrong? Move. Any slower, and that impatient Delta might go ‘play’ with your sister.” The voice cracked in her ear like a slap.

Remi bit her lip till iron flooded her mouth, then quickened her pace.

—On the airship—

Delta watched Remi’s route snake across the ground like a dark ribbon. “Alpha, what does the God-King want that thing for?”

Alpha shrugged, shoulders rising like a lazy tide. “Divine secrets sit above my pay grade. Who knows? Maybe to keep his grip on the world and keep hunting lolis. Or to swell his power and collect even more lolis.”

“Why is it always about lolis?”

“Isn’t it common sense? That guy loves lolis. The world of strong men is a mountain we don’t climb.”

“But I heard that artifact came from those disgusting lizard-like folk from a thousand years back. They got reverse-killed by their own toy.”

“Hm? I remember they choked on poison gas, like a fog that never lifted.”

Two stories crossed like tracks; even Alpha looked puzzled. “Honestly, I don’t know. Sometimes my head says they left on their own. No one died. I don’t even know why that thought blooms.”

“Then stop chewing on weird questions. Our goal is simple. Find the artifact, bring it back, and let the God-King continue his loli harem tour.”

“Mm-hmm. That’s it. When we return, let’s drink. I’ve been dry for too long; this time I want a flood!”

“Count me in!”

“Me too!”

Hands shot up around the control deck like saplings after rain. “Easy, easy. We can drink. But first, we take the artifact.”

Remi on the ground didn’t know the sky was already clinking glasses. She kept leading, eyes on the path. Less than five kilometers ahead, the village crouched like a nest. Black smoke coiled from chimneys, ink threads weaving tonight’s meal. Please let that not be their last meal.

She glanced back at the far-off black airship, a raven stitched into the clouds. From that angle, they couldn’t see the village. Please let my kin spot the ship first. Remi eased her steps, stealing one more second from fate.