CHAPTER 30: GABUZAR AND SALEMI

At the office, the air was electric with gossip and whispers. People leaned over cubicles, traded glances, and murmured like schoolchildren after seeing a celebrity walk in.

Stephan had pulled up in style.

Dressed head-to-toe in sleek black, he’d arrived with Anna Mary and Yennefer flanking him, like a trio of assassins at a funeral. Their entrance had turned heads, stopped conversations, and started rumors.

The men wished they were Stephan, and the women,especially Eva, envied Anna Mary and Yennefer to the bone.

How did they end up beside the company’s new enigma, the man everyone couldn’t stop talking about? They weren’t just hanging out with him,they looked like they belonged there.

But Stephan paid no mind.

He sat in his usual spot, silent, unreadable, ignoring the buzzing office around him.

His thoughts weren’t here. They were still tangled in what had happened just two hours ago, the soul energy, heavy as thunder, that had pressed down on him like gravity itself.

Whoever it was... they weren’t just showing off. They were sending a message.And Stephan had received it, loud and clear.

Stephan’s lips curled into a slow smile.

If someone wanted smoke, they could have it....D-rank, C, B, A, even SSS.

He wasn’t at their level yet, not by a long shot... But fear wasn’t in his vocabulary.

****

Barely a couple of hours later, the air in the Design Department shifted.

It was subtle at first, an invisible weight pressing down, like the temperature had dropped. Stephan’s frown deepened. An unfamiliar soul energy had seeped into the room, coiling lazily through the air.

Across from him, Anna Mary glanced over her monitor, eyes searching his. Yennefer didn’t bother with subtlety, she stared straight at him with a look that said, You feel that too.

There was no mistaking it. Someone, a player, was deliberately leaking their soul energy. An open challenge. A flare in the dark. Could it be the same player who had shown up at his door earlier?

No. This felt different. Still powerful, but lighter. Less dense. The earlier one had been a storm; this was a blade gliding across skin.

Two players? Stephan’s mind raced. Are they working together?

Then it hit him, a third presence. This one was softer, calmer, but no less deliberate. And it wasn’t the same as either of the first two. His pulse spiked. That made three unknown players. The last two seemed to be in the same place, close enough that their energies mingled.

"What the fuck..." he muttered under his breath.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, reaching out with his senses. He had to pinpoint their location.

His phone chimed.

[Yennefer: They’re at the old Kirkloma Park.]

The park was barely two kilometers from their workplace. Stephan knew immediately, it was an invitation. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message.

[Stephan: meet me on the rooftop.]

Yennefer arrived first, her eyes narrowing. "You want us to accept their invitation?" she asked, disbelief lacing her voice.

"Yes," Stephan replied firmly. "We have to find out who our enemies are."

Anna Mary stepped forward, shaking her head. "Do you even realize how dangerous these people are? Did you not feel how powerful those soul energies were?"

"Yes, I did," Stephan admitted. "But we have to go to them, we’re at a disadvantage."

"Going to them is dancing in the palm of their hand. That’s playing by their rules," Yennefer pointed out.

"They know who we are. We don’t know who they are. That’s why we have to find out," Stephan countered. He allowed a faint grin. "If it makes you feel better, we have power in numbers..."

"Three to one, huh?" Anna Mary said.

"Four to two, counting Grief," Stephan corrected.

He paused, his gaze hardening. "Why panic? You haven’t even seen me use my full power yet."

"Listen, Steph..." Yennefer’s tone was low and sharp. "I get that you’re stronger than us and all, but you do not want to cross whoever those soul energies belong to."

Stephan chuckled. "You can’t win this tournament if you’re scared of dying." His eyes slid to Anna Mary. "If you don’t want to come, fine. But Yennefer, you’re coming with me."

Yennefer said nothing. Anna Mary hesitated, then scoffed. "Who said I’m not coming?"

"Good," Stephan said, his smile returning. "Can you teleport us there?"

Anna Mary sighed, lifted her hand, and opened the portal.

*******

The park was old and forgotten. Weeds choked the cracked pavement, grass grew wild and untrimmed, and the rusted swing sets creaked faintly in the wind. The trees stood gnarled and twisted, their shadows stretching unnaturally across the ground. It should have been bright, it was midday, but somehow the place felt dim, as if the light itself didn’t want to linger here.

Stephan summoned Grief with a thought. They wouldn’t have to search, the two soul energies were already drawing near.

"They’re coming," Stephan said, his voice calm. The others tensed at once, eyes flicking toward the trees. Only he and Grief remained unshaken.

From the shadows, their opponents emerged. The first was a towering man draped in a massive bear pelt, its head resting like a crown over his own, Gabuzar. His presence radiated raw, animal strength. Beside him walked a tall woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder, a wide-brimmed hat casting shadows over her sharp features. Gold earrings swayed with each step, and she drew leisurely on a cigar, exhaling smoke.

Ding!

[Death God System: Player Scan Activated]

[Target Identified: Gabuzar]

[Affiliation: Player – Kharvos, the Death God of Beasts]

[Soul Signature: Overcharged – Summoner Vessel Type]

[Combat Rank: A-Rank (Predator)]

[Level: 40]

[Class: Hellbeast Caller]

[Primary Ability: Summons demonic beasts from the Abyss]

[Threat Level: Extreme]

Then Ding again

[Target Identified: Salemi]

[Affiliation: Player – Veilith, the Death God of Mirage]

[Soul Signature: Stable – Illusionary Vessel Type]

[Combat Rank: C-Rank (Manipulator)]

[Level: 16]

[Class: Mirage Weaver]

[Threat Level: Moderate]

[Special Abilities: Creates powerful illusions, conjures barriers, and bends sight with layered veils.]

"An A-rank and a C-rank," Stephan muttered, his eyebrow twitching. "Well... that’s just wonderful."

Beside him, Anna Mary and Yennefer stood frozen, fear strangling them.

"So, you did decide to show up," Salemi said, halting a few yards away. Her voice carried a lazy, dangerous confidence.

"I almost thought you’d run," Gabuzar added, his deep tone rumbling like distant thunder.

"I’m no coward," Stephan replied flatly.

Salemi took a slow drag from her cigarette, eyes sliding toward Yennefer and Anna Mary. "Shame your friends don’t share that bravery." She gestured with the burning tip, her smirk curling like smoke.

Stephan’s gaze flicked sideways at his comrades, then back at her. "Don’t believe everything you see. You, of all people, should know that... Illusionary Vessel."

Her smile widened. "Already famous, am I? The Hollow Architect... I like it."

Gabuzar’s hulking frame shifted as he jabbed a massive finger toward Grief. "That one yours?"

Stephan said nothing, his silence was answer enough.

"Impressive," Gabuzar said, lazily poking his ear with a thick finger. "You’d almost think it’s human. But its soul energy betrays it. Of all the players I’ve met so far, you’ve got an ability that stands out the most... Hollow Architect."

Stephan’s eyes narrowed. "What do you want? Have you come here for a fight?"

"Maybe," Salemi said with a sly smirk. "Or maybe we just wanted to meet our competition... see how strong they really are."

Her gaze slid to Yennefer. "You put up an impressive fight last night. But you’re only an E-Rank." Then she turned to Anna Mary. "Both of you are."

She paused, letting the silence coil tight before speaking again. "But the one we’re really here for... is him." Her cigarette pointed directly at Stephan.

"Well," Stephan said, raising his hands slightly, his voice cold. "Here I am."

"I saw that thing fight the girl last night," Gabuzar rumbled. "One-sided, really. Could be a high E... maybe a D-Rank."

His gaze lingered on Grief, eyes narrowing. "I’m curious how strong it really is."

"If you plan on fighting her," Stephan said, stepping forward, "you’ll have to fight me as well."

Gabuzar chuckled, low and dismissive. "That won’t be necessary. Let’s see how your... creation performs against my summons."

A ripple of cold shadow writhed in the air behind Stephan. Grief stepped forward, her spectral blade sliding from nothingness with a shriek of soul-metal.

Gabuzar’s grin widened.He raised a single clawed finger and began to speak, his voice dipping into a guttural cadence that felt older than the city itself.

"From the drowned pits where the moonlight drowns...Rise, Maw of the Swamp: Tyrant of Nine Hungers...

Feast."

The ground didn’t just shake, it heaved, as if something massive below had taken a breath. Cracks split the earth in jagged lines, coughing up dust and shards of stone.

A sound followed, wet, bubbling, and deep, like a cauldron of mud boiling in a hollow cave. Then, with a bone-splitting crack, the pavement directly beneath Grief exploded upward.

A colossal, wart-riddled head surged from the pit, skin slick and glistening like oil in moonlight. Its eyes bulged, yellow and lidless, rolling in opposite directions. The stench hit a moment later: a choking, swampy rot that clawed its way down their throats.

The mouth yawned open, wide enough to swallow a carriage whole. Its breath steamed in the cold air.

Grief had just enough time to cross her blade before the jaws snapped shut, swallowing her and the space she stood in. The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, rattling the windows of the park’s perimeter buildings.

Stephan’s heart dropped into his gut. Shadows writhed around his legs, instinctively reacting. Anna Mary staggered back a step, one hand over her mouth. Yennefer’s eyes widened, the reflection of the frog’s teeth trembling in her irises.

Salemi exhaled a lazy curl of cigar smoke, her lips quirking in the ghost of a smirk. "Well," she murmured, "that’s one way to start a fight."