CHAPTER 31: UNDER THE ILLUSION’S SKIN

"Did that thing just swallow my Soul Servant?" Stephan’s thoughts hammered against his skull, sweat beading down his forehead. "That... is one giant frog," he muttered, eyes locked on the monster.

It was like something ripped straight out of a nightmare, a hulking, wart-covered behemoth squatting in the cracked earth. Its leathery skin glistened, mottled with shades of sickly green and mud-brown. Its limbs were thick as tree trunks, ending in webbed claws tipped with black, hook-like nails. Each slow, rumbling breath it took puffed out clouds of foul, humid steam, and the stench of stagnant water and rotting meat rolled off it in choking waves. Its eyes , two bulging, golden orbs, locked on Stephan with the unblinking patience of a predator that had all the time in the world.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" Anna Mary yelled, stumbling back.

"It’s a frog... darling," Salimi said with a sweet, knowing smile. "But a big one."

"It’s a beast from hell," Gabuzar added flatly. "Although it’s one of the weakest ones."

"We–weak? Did you just call that thing weak?" Yennefer’s voice cracked, eyes wide.

"Are you intimidated by its size?" Stephan asked, tilting his head. "Or just how ugly it looks?"

"Both, I guess," Yennefer muttered.

"That Gabuzar guy is an ugly son of a bitch too," Anna Mary said, still shaking.

"Is that so?" Salimi raised a teasing eyebrow. "Come on, darling, he isn’t that bad. He’s just... scruffy."

Gabuzar grunted in disapproval, crossing his arms.

"Well," he continued, "it seems like your Soul Servant wasn’t as strong as I expected. My frog took her down in less than seconds."

"You think so?" Stephan’s lips curled into a dark smile. "Grief isn’t dead, you know."

"Huh?" Gabuzar grunted lazily.

Then they felt it, a flicker in the air, like the whisper of a storm yet to break. Faint but undeniable, Grief’s soul energy pulsed back into existence.

"Show them what you can really do, Grief," Stephan said, voice low with dangerous satisfaction.

The terrific frog shifted uneasily, its throat bulging as it let out a low, wet gurgle, half croak, half vomit, like something trying to crawl out from its insides.

"What is it doing?" Anna Mary asked, stepping back.

"I don’t have the fucking answers," Yennefer snapped.

Stephan smiled, his gaze glittering with malice.

Salimi took a long drag from his cigarette, exhaling a lazy plume of smoke. "Seems like your frog’s got stomach problems... diarrhea, perhaps."

Gabuzar didn’t flinch, but his eyes narrowed. "This is going to be interesting. Really interesting."

The frog convulsed violently, its beady eyes bulging as a sickly green light began to pulse from deep within its gut. Then...

SHHHRRKKK!

A spectral blade punched clean through its abdomen, tearing upward in one fluid, merciless arc. Black ichor sprayed into the air like oil in zero gravity, hissing where it touched the ground. The sound was wet, meaty, like silk ripping through flesh.

The wound split wider with each heartbeat until Grief stepped through, spectral cloak whipping in the sudden burst of unholy wind. She emerged like a wraith from hell, dripping in the monster’s blood, eyes glowing faintly from the darkness of her hood.

The frog let out a final, strangled croak before its massive frame shuddered. Cracks of green soul-light splintered across its body, glowing brighter and brighter, until the entire beast collapsed into ash, disintegrating in a rush of heatless flame. The air reeked of decay and smoke, and where it once stood, only a molten smear of ichor remained.

Stephan’s smirk was pure malice. "Now that... is my soul servant."

"She cut through the frog!" Anna Mary said, excitement spilling out as Grief landed beside her master, spectral blade still dripping black ichor.

"The bloody thing’s still alive," Yennefer muttered, half wishing Grief hadn’t survived.

"Shall I cut him down, Lord Stephan?" Grief asked, her voice low and eager, eyes locked on Gabuzar.

Stephan opened his mouth to answer...

Clap.

Clap.

The sound was thunderous, echoing across the ruined street.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Gabuzar stepped forward with a booming laugh. "That was splendid...though you were up against my weakest summon. But still, splendid, soul servant."

In the blink of an eye, Gabuzar vanished, then reappeared right beside Stephan, one massive hand resting almost gently on his shoulder.

Stephan’s eyes widened. His breath caught.

What the hell? How did he...?So this... is the speed difference between a D-rank and an A-rank.

In that instant, he knew, Gabuzar was not someone he could beat. Not yet.

"You’ve got talent, boy," Gabuzar said, squeezing Stephan’s shoulder, his voice carrying a strange mix of admiration and menace. "I’ll admit, I’m jealous. I low-key wish I was the Hollow Architect’s vessel. Too bad that’s not going to happen."

He leaned in close, his foul breath thick with the stench of the beasts he summoned. "So I have a proposal for you... Why don’t you and I join forces, Stephan?"

Stephan’s mind cut through the haze of shock. He knew exactly what this was, an alliance. Not out of friendship, but to use him. And they had come for him alone.

"Is this proposal only for me?" Stephan asked evenly.

"If it makes you feel important, then yes," Salimi said, smoke curling from her nose like a lazy serpent.

"And if I accept... do my allies become part of this alliance?"

"I’m afraid not, darling," Salimi replied, smiling coldly. "We want you only. Only you."

Silence.

Then Stephan’s hand shot up, gripping Gabuzar’s wrist. In one swift motion, he tore it from his shoulder and let it drop. His eyes were cold.

"Then I’ll have to decline."

"Huh?" Gabuzar’s voice was low, almost playful, but his eyes widened in a way that made the air feel heavier. A cold, razor-edged silence fell between them, sharp enough to slice through the tension in the air. Even Salimi froze, her cigarette halfway to her lips, the smoke curling upward like it was afraid to move.

Yennefer and Anna Mary swallowed hard, their throats tight, sweat sliding down their temples in nervous rivulets.

Then Gabuzar’s expression shifted. His shoulders eased, his lips curved, not in kindness, but in a predator’s patience.

He exhaled a long, slow sigh. And in the very next heartbeat, he wasn’t there anymore.

He was beside Salimi, as if he had never moved at all.

Gabuzar scratched his cheek, the gesture casual, almost lazy. "I was really looking forward to forming a healthy alliance with you, Hollow Architect," he said, voice tinged with mock disappointment. "Weren’t you too, Salimi?"

Salimi nodded with a smirk. "Seems like we’re not pretty enough to be playing in his league, unlike those two."

Her gaze flicked toward Yennefer and Anna Mary with deliberate weight before she exhaled a plume of smoke. "Anyway... that makes us his enemies, right, Gabuzar?"

"That’s right."

Stephan clenched his fists. Every instinct screamed that these two were far stronger than him and his crew. But he wasn’t going to just stand there and let them slaughter him. If they were going to fight, he’d make sure they remembered the blow he landed, no matter if it was his last.

"Bro, chill," Salimi said with a teasing lilt. "We’re not going to fight you... for now."

"I’m too lazy for a fight today," Gabuzar added, his tone so casual it almost made Stephan more uneasy than a threat would have.

No one moved.

For a moment, the street felt like it had stopped breathing, only the faint hiss of Salimi’s cigarette breaking the silence. Yennefer’s hand hovered near her chains, Anna Mary’s knuckles were white, and Stephan kept his eyes locked on Gabuzar, searching for the twitch that meant it had begun.

Then, with a bored wave, Gabuzar turned his back.

"Well, that’s really disappointing," Gabuzar said, his voice low and tinged with regret. "I was really looking forward to fighting side by side with you... watching your fascinating power grow."

Then he turned, his golden eyes catching Stephan’s for a heartbeat. "I was gonna help you win the tournament, you know?"

Stephan and his crew froze, jaws slack.

"What kind of joke is that?" Stephan asked.

"It’s no joke," Gabuzar half-laughed, though there was no humor in it. "You see... my patron isn’t interested in any King of Death title. It doesn’t interest me either."

A short, brittle silence followed.

"Then why do you play?" Anna Mary asked.

"For fun, darling," Salimi said smoothly.

Stephan narrowed his eyes. "Are you also not interested in winning the competition?"

Salimi tilted her head, the glow from a nearby streetlight catching in her eyes. "Hmm... yes and no. Contrary to Gabuzar’s patron, mine really wants the title. But I’m not interested in becoming a Queen of Death..."

Her lips curled into a slow smile as her gaze traveled down Stephan’s frame, appraising, almost predatory. "I have other interests."

"My patron," she added with a shrug, "is a simp. So he lets me do whatever I want."

"Oh..." Yennefer said, her voice carrying an edge of amusement.

"Anyway, we really gotta go," Salimi said, already turning toward the line of trees. Gabuzar followed without a glance back. "The player meeting’s about to start. Which means..." she looked over her shoulder with a sly grin, "...we’ll be seeing each other again very soon."

"Player meeting?" Stephan frowned.

"I told you my patron’s a simp," Salimi said without slowing down. "He gives me... special information if I rub him the right way."

Gabuzar’s gaze lingered on Stephan. "Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies. Till then... grow stronger and beat me."

Salimi lifted one hand lazily. "Erase."

The world around them rippled. The trees vanished. The dark, choking air dissolved. In its place stood the park as it truly was, faded benches, patchy grass, cracked pavement. No looming forest. No suffocating gloom.

It had all been one of Salimi’s illusions.

Stephan exhaled slowly. So that’s her trick...

"What the fuck?" Anna Mary said, eyes wide. "And what the hell is this ’player meeting’ she was talking about?"