Absolution's gaze bore into Finley like he was trying to dig a hole into the merchant with his eyes alone. Nobody spoke. The entire room fell completely still; silence broken only and heavy breathing and the drip of blood from the painter's bound wounds.

"What family are you with?" Absolution asked. He wiped at the blood dripping from his lips, his features going deadly cold.

"Doesn't matter," Finley snarled. His hands trembled as he took another step forward. "You can't buy me out. I don't trust you. There's only one way we leave here today. My life has no worth. Not to my family. Not to the System. And certainly not to you. That means I can spend it freely. If you don't believe me, then call my bluff. See what happens."

Absolution's eyes narrowed. Then his gaze flicked down to the sharp mote of light trapped within Finley's hands assaulting everyone's vision. It was so bright that it was impossible to look at directly.

More strength returned to Alex with every passing second. Princess' magic was working its — well — magic. Numbness had turned to pain and had turned back to normal as his body repaired at an astronomical speed. He could have risen to his feet by now if he'd wanted to.

But even with his domain still active, Absolution was terrifyingly fast. Alex wasn't sure if he could actually do enough damage to the man to stop him from killing either Claire or the struggling painter he still held aloft by the throat with one hand.

"Calm yourself," Absolution said flatly. "Are you really in such a rush to step into the grave?"

"Are you?" Finley asked.

There was a moment of silence. Then Absolution's lips curled into a smile. The burning eye within his chest snuffed out. He released his hand, letting the painter crumple to the floor with a strangled gasp.

"Very well. Well played, merchant. Do not expect this to work a second time. The System's protections only go so far. Should you stand in my way again — you will not survive."

Absolution stepped back from Claire and slashed his scythe through the air behind him. It left a rippling purple rift in its wake. Without taking his eyes off them once, Absolution stepped into the void.

It snapped shut behind him, and then he was gone.

Alex scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Claire.

"Claire! Are you okay?"

She pushed herself upright and grimaced, wiping at her tattered shirt before giving up on the futile effort. Her tongue ran along her lips, licking blood from them before darting back into her mouth. "I'm fine. I managed to bite the bastard, but it was like trying to suck on a mummy. His blood had the consistency of sand. About as useful as it, too."

Alex turned to the fallen painter. He sent a quick command to Spark, sending the Knight Wraith to retrieve her arm from where it had fallen on the floor. The monster brought it back over to her and gingerly set it on the ground.

"Thanks," the woman said, fighting to catch her breath. The glowing seal attached to her right shoulder faded away. She grabbed the proper appendage and slapped it back into place like it was a piece of clay. A wince contorted her features. Then she hooked a foot beneath her fallen brush and kicked it up, catching it with her good hand and drawing several lines into the air. They wound back to wrap around her limp, newly attached arm, binding it in place with glowing energy. A pained sigh escaped her lips as she slumped back. "Shit. That hurts. How are you even moving? I thought your head split open."

"It sounded worse than it was," Alex lied. The blood slicking the back of his head and running down the back of his neck made him pretty sure his head had split open. He squinted up at Finley, raising a hand to block the sharp light from gouging his eyes out. "Finely, man, I had no idea you had that in you. That was badass. Seriously. You might have just saved all of us. But did you seriously have a bomb that powerful this whole time? You've been holding out on me. That said, please turn the damn thing off. Absolution is gone."

The burning light snuffed out. Finley let his hands drop. He swallowed nervously. "I… no. I didn't."

Alex's brow furrowed, but Claire beat him to the punch. Alwaysreadfromthesource:M|V|LE4MPYR.

"Didn't what?" Claire asked.

"Have a bomb," Finley said.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

They all stared at him.

"Then what was in your hand?" the painter asked in confusion.

"A Sparklight," Finley replied, his tone almost nearing wooden. "They're about one Credit. Made from crushed up bug bodies and output light bright enough to light pretty much any dungeon. They're a must-buy for any adventurer. This version comes at a low melting point, so the material won't sting your skin if it comes in contact with it. It's multi-purpose."

The merchant sounded like he was somewhere halfway to shock. His pitch was so stiff that it was clear his mind had reverted all the way back to his base settings — which were apparently trying to make a good sale.

"Wait. You bluffed Absolution?" the painter asked in awe.

"With a kinky candle, at that," Claire said, a smile starting to spread across her lips. "Wow, Finley. Didn't need to know you were into that, but well done."

"It wasn't a—"

"I think I've got to agree with her," the painter said as a faint smile passed over her features. "If something looks and walks and quacks like a duck…"

"This a gross misrepresentation of the Sparklight's capabilities," Finley muttered. He slowly sat down and put his head in his hands as he stared at the ground. "But it might be a kinky candle."

The painter let out an exhausted laugh. Equal parts relief and hysteria warred for priority over her features. "I can't believe it. I must have cashed in every single bit of good karma. Absolution had me dead to rights. I can't properly draw anything but basic lines with one hand. If you hadn't been here… I'd have been done for."

"Yeah. He's… something," Alex said, shaking his head as the adrenaline pumping through his veins slowly faded. "Something tells me he wasn't even going all out. His domain was definitely capable of more than that."

And even still, he basically mopped the floor with all of us. It seems like he has some kind of assassin build. That eye in his chest basically just shuts one person down and keeps them that way if nobody can stop him. If we hadn't completely and utterly outnumbered him… there wouldn't have even been a fight.

What kind of monster is Absolution? He'd be awesome if he wasn't such a raging asshole.

"I'll take what I can get," the painter said. The fingers on her re-attached hand twitched. She looked down at it for a moment. "You knew him, didn't you? Were you both on the Local Leaderboard?"

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

"We had a run-in with him a while ago, during an Outworlder gathering that we stumbled into," Alex said. "We happened to have aligned interests for a very brief period of time."

The painter looked back up to squint at Alex. "No. I remember you. You were definitely one of the Local Leaderboard members. I'm an artist. Memorizing silhouettes isn't that difficult. Nobody else showed up in a dress shirt. Granted, I never would have made the connection if you hadn't recognized Absolution, but — oh. Wait. You're here for the Core Shard, aren't you?"

Don't think there's any point denying who I am. She's got me.

"Honestly, no," Alex said. "We were here for something else entirely. We had no idea you were here."

"I see," the woman said. "Well… are you going to try to take it? Because I really don't want to start getting excited about surviving just for you to stick a dagger in my back. If you're going to kill me, get it over with. Too many emotions are bad for my skin. They make me break out."

Alex almost laughed before he realized there wasn't a spark of amusement in the painter's eyes. She was dead serious.

"Not today. I'm too tired — and we came here for a different reason."

"We're establishing some trade routes," Claire supplied. "I'm Claire. You've already heard Finley's name, and the crazed one is Alex."

"I'm Alyssa," the woman said, inclining her head. She pushed herself to her feet with the aid of her huge brush and shook her limbs off before giving a satisfied nod. "Well, I owe you all. What brought you to Blackreach?"

"This is actually our first time in this town," Claire said. "We're looking for a merchant."

"You are?" Alyssa blinked. She glanced at Finley, then back to Claire. "Don't you already have one of those?"

"It's a long story," Finley said. He looked up from the ground wearily. "In summary, I am cursed."

"He's looking to expand his wares," Alex said. "We came here to find a merchant that he could set up a deal with. Expand distribution. That kind of thing. But what about you? Is this your town?"

"Oh, no." Alyssa shook her head. "Definitely not. I'd hate to have to deal with something like that. Managing a town sounds like a nightmare. I'm just traveling through the area. This must be some weird form of the System's karma."

"What is?" Alex asked.

Alyssa grinned at them. "Well, I'm actually working with another one of the members from the Local Leaderboard. The River King. He's got a trading coalition, and I joined up with it. The reason I came here was to establish relations with the merchants."

"Cursed!" Finley exclaimed, thrusting a finger at Alyssa. "See? I told you! She's our competitor! We saved the person that's going to be competing with us for distribution rights!"

"Actually, I already secured them," Alyssa admitted. "The deals are done. I finalized them a few hours ago. But… you saved my life. I think the least I could do is make a few introductions."

Finley's eyes lit up. He hurried to his feet and grabbed Alyssa's hand, pumping it furiously in a handshake. "That would be lovely. I'd love an introduction. Let's do it quickly. Before Absolution comes back if you please."

The corners of Alex's mouth twitched down in a frown. Coincidence or not, he couldn't wipe the run-in with Absolution from his head. It wasn't even about how close the man had come to killing all of them.

It was what he had said. Absolution's words rung in Alex's skull like the rattle of an incessant wind chime calling out warning of an approaching storm.

Who is Stargazer — and what does he want with me?