[Sara POV] Year 5, Day 198 (Morning)

  Sara walked through her cave. Inspecting. Checking. Making sure everything was perfect.

  [Dominos, the poisoner lady, coming today. Friend visiting. FIRST friend EVER visiting Sara's home. Must be perfect. Must be nice. Must not scare friend away.]

  The cave didn't look like cave anymore. Inside was transformed. Fancy furniture arranged carefully—chairs, tables, cabinets. Pieces Sara had collected over centuries from various jobs. Rich people furniture. Noble furniture. All stored in Item Box because Sara never had anywhere to put them. Just liked how they looked.

  Now they were here. Arranged. Making cave look like castle interior. Like rich person home.

  [Small army of builders worked here. Borrowed from Greyhold. Well—kidnapped really. But they worked for weeks. Made everything nice.]

  Sara examined their work. The walls were smoothed. Carved. Almost artistic. The floor was level. Properly finished. Even had some decorative patterns.

  [Really nice work. Sara is impressed. They would have earned their gold. Sara would even give bonus for quality.]

  But the builders had run away three days ago. All of them. Just left during night. Didn't even wait for payment.

  [Stupid. Sara went to so much effort. Drugged them comfortably middle of the night. Robbed them of everything valuable while they slept. Provided quality food before and after. Made sure they stayed safe here. Treated them well considering. And they just ran anyway. Got eaten by monsters outside. S-rank haunt is dangerous. Sara told them. They didn't listen.]

  Sara felt annoyed about that. Not sad. Just annoyed. Hauling their bodies back to Greyhold would have been tiresome. This was easier actually. Monsters cleaned up. No evidence. No complications.

  [If they'd decided to kill themselves anyway, would have been easier just to collar them like slaves from the start. Plus they'd probably still be alive. Sara's nice method—comfortable drugging, safe robbery, quality care, letting them leave after work done—wasted on people who ran into monster territory at night. Stupid builders. Stupid decisions.]

  Outside the cave, protection was arranged. The snakes.

  Sara had made deal with them. Pact. The S-rank serpent monsters who lived in this territory. The ones who'd been responsible for the Marchrest destruction during stampede—killing approximately 38,000 people from what Sara heard in reports.

  Reports said Marchrest had strongest defenses in the area. Walls. Wards. Professional military. Clearly no use against these snakes. Some defenders got petrified—turned to stone by venom or gaze or whatever these things did. Walls blown to pieces with magic attacks. Or just rammed to rubble using their massive bodies. Town didn't stand a chance.

  [Very scary snakes. Very dangerous. Good that Sara made deal instead of fighting all 37 at once. Even Sara might have problems with that many S-rank monsters working together.]

  They'd returned here after the stampede ended. After the fear of the Twins—who'd herded them out initially—had somewhat disappeared. This was their home territory. They'd come back.

  Sara had found them. Made arrangement. Simple. Direct.

  [You protect Sara's cave. Sara feeds you. Sara doesn't kill you. Good deal. Everyone wins.]

  All of them had scars now. From Sara's talons. Every single snake. All 37 of them. Every one massive—thirty to fifty meters long. S-rank apex predators in their own right.

  But Sara had marked them all.

  [Sara can't tell good snakes from bad snakes. All snakes look same to Sara. So Sara marked ALL of them. Scars from talons. Now Sara knows—if snake has scars, it's pact snake. If no scars, it's food.]

  The scars worked perfectly. Clear identification system. Plus showed the snakes that Sara was stronger. Much stronger. Fear was effective tool in monster world. Sara understood that well.

  And Sara had been feeding them. The land dragons who lived nearby. Stupid territorial things who'd declined Sara's deal offer weeks ago.

  [Sara tried being nice. Tried making deals. Dragons said no. Dragons were rude. So now dragons are food for snakes. Dragons are idiots.]

  Sara checked on the snakes through her senses. All positioned properly. Patrolling. Watching. Protecting the territory.

  [Snakes probably don't think Sara is bad. Apex monster who rules area. Cares for them. Protects them. Feeds them. From snake perspective, this is good arrangement. Loyal.]

  Everything was ready. Cave prepared. Snakes protecting. Nothing dangerous would come near while Sara had fun time with Dominos.

  [Perfect. Friend coming later today. Everything ready. Sara prepared well.]

  But friend's airship wouldn't arrive until late in evening—22:15 specifically. Sara knew the schedule. Had known for quite some time. Just got preparations done early.

  Early morning now. Full day free.

  [Should go look for Chain. Haven't searched in over a week. Too busy preparing cave. Too busy making things nice. But have time now. Can do desert trip. Kill some time. Maybe lucky?]

  Sara launched into darkness. Wings spreading. Flight toward desert. Toward endless sand. Toward where Chain might be. Maybe. Possibly.

  [Probably won't find it. Just something to do until friend arrives. Better than waiting around cave all day doing nothing.]

  The desert waited. Empty. Vast. Full of secrets Sara hadn't found yet.

  Sara didn't want to go too far. Not today. Friend coming later. Need to be back in time.

  [Pick closest area not already searched. Start there. Systematic. Professional.]

  She descended to unmarked section. Random dunes. Nothing special. Just another area to check off the grid.

  Her harpy racial ability activated. The innate power to detect value. Quality. Treasure. The skill that made harpies dominate appraisal industry across all nations.

  Something. Faint. Very faint. Underground.

  Sara started digging. Talons moving sand. Psychokinesis helping. Fast excavation.

  Ten meters down—gold coin. Single coin. Empire era design. Old. Corroded but still recognizable.

  Sara cursed. Actual cursing. Loud.

  [USELESS oversensitive abilities! Sara's sense detected THIS?! One stupid coin ten meters underground?! This is what counts as valuable?!]

  [Sara looking for legendary artifact. Something that makes dress talk. Not random garbage coins!]

  She tossed it into Item Box anyway. Never waste things. But annoying. Very annoying.

  Sara flew more. Scanning. Searching. Hoping for something better.

  Something large in the sand ahead. Protruding. Visible.

  Bones? Sara descended. Examined.

  Large. Very large. Maybe sandworm teeth? But wrong location—nothing lived here anymore. Desert was dead. Empty. No ecosystem. No creatures.

  [Mystery. But no time to solve how it got here. Not valuable anyway according to sense. Just leave it.]

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  She left it where it was. Continued flying.

  Then—sensation. Strange. Unusual.

  Not physical. Mental maybe? Like telepathy but not quite.

  Cry for help. Hunger. Sadness. Lonely. Not words. Just feelings. Raw emotion.

  [Off the grid. Not supposed to search that direction today. But... something there. Something calling.]

  Sara altered course. Following the sensation.

  As she got closer, the feeling changed. Intensified. Became something else.

  Mental attack. Brainwashing. Come-here-come-here-come-here. Compulsion. Irresistible pull that demanded obedience.

  [Oh. Like slavery collars. Mental domination. Sara immune to those. Various collars Sara tried before never worked. Mental attacks don't affect Sara.]

  But interesting. The sensation was getting stronger. More desperate. More hungry.

  Sara descended toward the source.

  Strange display in the sand. Sara landed carefully. Observed.

  Rusty chain. Half-buried. Maybe ten meters long. Old iron. Corroded. Nothing special about appearance. Just old chain. Worthless-looking.

  And corpses. Lots of them. Surrounding the chain. Dried. Mummified. Some looked really old—decades maybe. Centuries possibly. All positioned facing toward the chain. Like they'd been walking toward it when they died.

  [Trap. This chain killed them. Mental attack pulled them here. Then something else killed them. Blood loss maybe? All corpses look drained. Dry.]

  Sara approached carefully. Watching for danger.

  The mental attack intensified. Come-here-come-here-COME-HERE. Desperate. Hungry. Demanding.

  [Still doesn't work on Sara. Just annoying noise.]

  Then as Sara got close—within maybe five meters—something happened.

  Blood started flowing from Sara's body. Not from wounds. Just... emerging from skin. From feathers. From everywhere. Flowing toward the chain like pulled by invisible force.

  Sara's dress also. Blood seeping from the legendary fabric. Moving. Drawn toward the chain.

  [Dangerous. This chain drains blood. This is how corpses died. Pulled here by mental attack. Drained by blood theft. Left as mummies.]

  But Sara also felt something else. Her harpy racial ability went crazy. Overdrive. Screaming at her about value.

  [INFINITE value. Priceless. Beyond measurement. This chain has more value than anything Sara ever detected. More than dress. More than anything.]

  Sara stared at the rusty chain. Processing.

  [Can this be what Sara looking for? The thing to make dress talk? The legendary artifact?]

  Sara reasoned it out. The mental attack had probably been active for ages. Centuries maybe. Pulling travelers near. Killing them with blood drain. All these corpses. Evidence of its function.

  [Effective trap. But why? What purpose? Just killing randomly? Defending territory? Feeding on victims? Strange.]

  Sara wasn't sure what to do. The instructions for making dress talk had been confusing. Some said ritual binding needed. Others said things explain themselves when happening. Should Sara take chain and go ask seamstress? But how to transport something that kills everyone nearby? Even Sara might get affected if exposed too long.

  Blood was still flowing. Slow drain. Not dangerous yet. But continuous. Patient. Inevitable if Sara stayed.

  [Just touch it. Take it. Move to safe location. Maybe truth explains itself. Maybe not. But can't leave it here alone and hungry and crying forever.]

  Sara reached out. Talons touching rusty metal.

  The moment of contact—everything changed.

  The cry for help became words. Clear. Desperate.

  ?Blood! Blood blood blood!?

  Sara felt confused. [What? Just 'blood'? Telepathy that makes no sense? What is chain trying to say?]

  Not telepathy exactly. Something else. Different. Language maybe? New language. Sara knows many languages. But never heard like this.

  Sara focused. Tried to understand.

  And then it clicked.

  [Oh. Sara's dress eats blood. Chain speaks blood. Sara can understand blood. Seamstress was right. Dress and blood. Same thing.]

  Understanding flooded in. Chain is hungry. Been so hungry. Killed everyone. Didn't want to. Couldn't help it. Hunger overpowered everything. Asking for help. Desperate. Lonely. Isolated for so long. First one who survived contact. Please help. Please feed. Please stay.

  [All that from 'blood blood blood.' All that meaning. All that need. Blood-language. Sara's language now.]

  ?Blood! Blood blood!? Still crying. Still desperate. Still begging.

  [Like child. Very young child. Limited words. Infinite meaning. Sara understands. Sara will help.]

  [Sara hears chain. Sara won't leave. What does chain need? How does Sara help?]

  ?Blood! Blood! BLOOD BLOOD!?

  [Feeding. Chain needs feeding. Needs lots of blood. Can't get enough from travelers. They die too fast. Need more. Much more. Sara understands.]

  Then—

  Images flooded Sara's mind. Memories. Chain's story. Everything compressed. Everything shared in desperate rush to make Sara understand. To make Sara stay. To make Sara help.

  Master. The creator. Ancient daemon lord who'd made chain.

  But not just daemon lord. Divine child. Isekai. Someone who'd come from Heaven. From another world.

  Pictures showed. Fragments. Strange world. Buildings made of glass and metal. Boxes with wheels riding on roads—hundreds of them, moving fast. Bird-like things in sky but not birds—massive, metal, carrying people inside.

  [What? Where? How? Sara doesn't understand any of it. Strange world. Impossible things. Nothing makes sense.]

  Master had used his divine power to create chain. Everything he had left. All his strength. His essence. His divinity.

  Plus sacrificed three closest companions. Also divine children. Also isekai. People who'd come with him from Heaven. Friends. Trusted ones. Betrayed. Used. Their lives converted to power. Their essence bound into chain's creation.

  [Betrayal. Murder. Sacrifice. All to create chain. Dark creation. Blood-soaked from beginning.]

  After creation—happy time. Chain and master together. Making friends. Monster friends. Playing together.

  But the playing was... strange. Chain showed pictures but Sara understood the meaning.

  Destroying cities. Ruining kingdoms. Killing millions. Many millions. Endless killing. Master used chain for horrible things. Chain didn't understand why. Just knew Master was happy. Master wanted to play. So chain helped.

  [Like Twins. Who did horrible things when Null monster asked. Never understanding what was actually asked. Just following. Just wanting to make Master happy. Innocent despite the horrors.]

  Then evil person came. From Heaven. New divine child. Hero.

  Hero collected party around himself. Strong people. Powerful allies. Even got true dragon who agreed to be his mount, azure dragon with silver-white wings.

  [Wait. True dragon serving human? That's backwards. Dragons don't serve. Dragons get served.]

  Hero's party started killing their friends. All the monster friends. One by one. Hunting them. Destroying them. But always running when Master and chain wanted to fight properly. To protect their friends. Just picking them off. Cowardly tactics.

  In the end only Master and chain were left. All friends dead. All allies gone.

  Then the big fight happened. Master and chain versus Hero and his party.

  They killed many of Hero's people. So many. Almost won. Victory was close.

  But then—

  Hero used cheating ability. Some unfair divine power. Made himself invisible for single moment. Just one second. Long enough to get behind Master. Long enough to swing sword.

  Beheaded Master from behind. Surprise attack. Backstab. Coward move.

  Master was dead. Chain was alone.

  Then evil person tried to destroy chain. Came close. Tried to break it. Smash it. Get rid of evidence maybe. Remove the weapon.

  But came too close. Within range.

  Chain got revenge. Blood drain activated. Pulled everything. All the blood. All the life. Killed Hero. Destroyed backstabbing coward. Made him pay for Master's death.

  [Good. Evil person deserved death. Got what was coming. Tried to destroy grieving friend. Got killed instead.]

  After that, everyone learned. Keep distance. Don't get close to chain. Too dangerous.

  They tried many ways to destroy chain. Nothing worked. Chain was too strong. Too durable. Master had made chain well.

  Some attempts were very unpleasant. Dropping into active volcano. Burial in ocean trench. Magical fire. Holy spells. Everything.

  Nothing destroyed chain. Just made existence horrible.

  Finally they gave up. Locked chain in dark room. Forgotten. Abandoned. Nobody came to visit. Nobody came to talk. Just darkness. Just isolation. Just growing hunger with no way to feed.

  [Horrible. So horrible. Punished for defending Master. Punished for killing backstabbing coward. Locked away and forgotten. Worst fate.]

  Then—big explosion. Massive. Reality-breaking.

  [Paradise destruction. Sara knows about that. Divine system collapsed. Isekai stopped coming. Everything changed.]

  Chain found himself here. Middle of desert. Middle of sand. No understanding of how. No understanding of why.

  Just hungry. So hungry. Crying for help. But killing everyone who came close because hunger was too strong. Too desperate. Couldn't control it.

  Been here crying for help ever since. About seven thousand years from what Sara had read. Paradise destruction happened that long ago. Seven thousand years alone. Seven thousand years hungry. Seven thousand years accidentally killing people while begging them to help.

  [Sara is first one who survived contact. First one strong enough. First one immune to mental attacks. First one who can actually help.]

  Sara felt something in her eyes. Wet. Tears.

  [Saddest story Sara ever heard. Sadder than Sara's own story even.]

  Monster who lost Master. Monster who defended Master and got punished for it. Monster who spent millennia alone and hungry and crying for help while accidentally killing everyone who might have helped.

  [Wrong. So wrong. Evil people did this. Hero was villain. Chain was victim. Master was victim. All of them victims of backstabbing coward who came from Heaven and called himself hero.]

  Sara felt anger. Real anger. Not just annoyance. Actual rage.

  [Evil people did this. Evil people always do this. Take away what matters. Kill what should be protected. Call themselves heroes while being villains.]

  Blood was still flowing. Slowly. Continuously. Sara could feel the drain now. Manageable. Not dangerous yet. But persistent.

  Chain's voice came again. Desperate. Hopeful. Terrified.

  ?Blood! Blood blood! BLOOD!?

  Sara understood the meaning. The desperate questions. Will you help? Will you feed? Will you stay? Don't want to be alone. Don't want to kill. Just want friend. Just want not-hungry.

  [Chain needs friend. Chain lost Master. Chain is lonely. Chain is hungry. Chain accidentally kills people because needs help but can't get help because kills people. Horrible cycle. Wrong cycle. Sara will fix this.]

  She sent thought back. Clear. Certain. Promise.

  [Sara will help. Sara will feed chain. Sara will be friend. Chain will never be alone again. Chain will never be hungry again. Sara promises. And Sara keeps promises. Always.]

  ?Blood?! Blood blood?!?

  [Yes. Chain wants to be Sara's friend?]

  The response was immediate. Overwhelming. Pure joy mixed with desperate hope.

  ?BLOOD! Blood blood blood!?

  [Yes yes yes! Friend! Anything! Just not alone! Sara understands perfectly.]

  Sara felt the emotion. The desperate need. The centuries of isolation. The endless hunger. The guilt. The hope.

  [Chain is like dress. Like Twins. Like family. Sara will protect. Sara will care. Sara will make sure nothing bad happens again. Ever.]

  Note: This is a longer interlude split into 3 parts for better reading. All three parts will be published over Friday and this weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday).

  Looking ahead: Starting next month or so, we'll have weekend content too! Longer interludes split into parts, cliffhanger bonus chapters—mostly Null+co on weekdays and Sara on weekends. Both storylines running in parallel now (friends to save, friends to host, etc...).