1. The Arrival (Updated Version)

*Gasp*

At an alley nearby the most famed saloon in the capital, a small shadow could be seen rising from the rubbles.

If one would listen carefully, they would be able to hear the rough breathing of the shadow's owner. The sound was like that of a kitten's gasp. It was a tune that some people would deem as pleasant and fragile.

The shadow moved inch-by-inch until light finally reaches its bare feet. Slowly, the child's porcelain skin that shimmers under the golden sun was revealed. Her lustrous long hair that was darker than the night seems to absorb every light that touches it. Her amber eyes was wide and filled with confusion as she frantically looked at her surroundings.

Her attention was caught by a couple of people talking loudly outside the saloon.

"Oi! Come here quick! The fight has already started a while ago. I've been waiting for you for so long, you dunce." An old rough-looking man told his friend.

"It's yer fault I'm tardy. If only ye helped me with those bastards I would've been here early." The thin middle-aged man answered, annoyed.

"Well, you—" the old man didn't manage to finish what he was saying when suddenly a slit appeared on his throat. Blood gushed uncontrollably onto the person before him.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?" The person talking shouted his lungs out to the point where his extremely confused and fearful wide eyes became filled with bloody veins.

The people around started screaming and shouting for help when suddenly, the person who just got his throat slit, fell down the ground with a thud. His bones are almost protruding the outside of his dried skin. His whole body was drained of life and blood.

Nobody knows what happened except for one.

The little girl watched as the phantom-like being release the body of the dead man from its latch. Its face continued to show a perverted smile, revealing its blood-tainted tongue. Its body and face was that of a man, but the aura that it exudes feels like it is something from another world. It was at a state of deliriousness for now, as it has finally had its fill.

None of the other people around notices the creature, which makes the child confused. It seems like she's the only one who could see it. The strange thing is, even at the face of such a gory creature, the child felt anything but fear. She even tried approaching it, but before she could even take the first step, the creature has already vanished into thin air.

"Sir knight! Please help us! My friend— look at what happened to my friend!" the thin man bawled to the knight patrolling the area. "He was the strongest of our mercenary group, I can't believe he died just like that. Ah- this should be a curse! I'm telling ye, Sir knight!"

Because the target of her curiosity was gone, the girl didn't bother to stay at the scene of the accident anymore. So she decided to follow a group of people into the nearby saloon. Nobody seemed to notice her as she kept walking until she heard a very loud thud, followed by a cheer.

Her curiosity was again piqued by the wild cheering of the crowd underground. It was so loud that even the people in the saloon upstairs could hear them clearly.

In the end, the little girl decided to follow the people going underground. She continued through the torchless staircase, making her completely enveloped by darkness.