It was evening when Sharv finally returned home. He and Vijay had brought the iron box with them, and now, all that remained was to open it.

  Sharv gently placed his hand on the box, then began unfastening the chains that were tightly bound around it.

  After some time, the box was freed of its bindings.

  ‘Careful when you open it...’

  “Yeah, yeah... don’t worry.”

  Sharv calmly opened the box.

  Though it didn’t look very old from the outside, the sound it made as it creaked open was strange, as if the box had been sealed for centuries.

  But the moment it was fully opened...

  ‘?!’

  Both Sharv and Vijay were taken aback, staring at what was inside. Within lay a charred, withered human hand.

  It looked completely burned out, so much so that all the flesh had rotted away, leaving exposed bone.

  Small worms crawled over it, and a horrid stench filled the room.

  Sharv covered his nose, he has seen dead bodies, and smell their rotten flesh, from very close but this one was giving an extremely unusual smell.

  And Vijay, being a spirit, could not smell it. Sharv asked him,

  “Is the spirit sealed within this hand?”

  ‘... It seems so. The Death Prana and Lunar Energy emanating from it are immense.’

  “But... isn’t that Death Prana and Lunar Energy a bit too much?”

  ‘No doubt—it’s probably a Monstrous spirit according to my guess. Do you really want to try and make it your spirit servant?’

  “What else?”

  Vijay didn’t want Sharv to tangle with a spirit of such high rank right now. Defeating one was no easy feat.

  But after remembering how Sharv had subdued him before—inside his own consciousness, at the risk of his life. Vijay knew Sharv wasn’t ordinary.

  To control one’s own mind while unconscious and win... that was no small matter.

  Sharv had already proven capable of it. Perhaps he could do the same even to a Monstrous Spirit.

  ‘Sigh... fine, it’s up to you. Just remember—don’t kill yourself. You remember what I told you, right? The spirit will first try to strike directly at your consciousness. Stay alert, and stay awake.’

  “...”

  ‘And even if you lose awareness for a moment, try to defeat it inside your own consciousness. Just like you did with me. If you manage to pin it down within your own mind, escaping will be impossible for it.’

  Sharv already remembered those words, but he let Vijay repeat them anyway.

  “Yeah... I understand.”

  He reached out, ready to touch the withered hand,

  ‘Wait! Hold on! What’s that?!’

  Startled by Vijay’s sudden cry, Sharv paused and looked closer.

  On the wrist of that rotten hand was a black string, tied with dark-colored beads.

  What was strange was that while the entire hand was decayed and crawling with worms, the beads themselves were perfectly intact. Not a single worm touched them.

  And, the Death Prana and Lunar Energy flooding out, their true source was the beads.

  ‘It looks like the spirit isn’t in the hand, it’s sealed inside those beads.’

  Sharv stared at them for a moment, then carefully lifted the hand.

  He felt no discomfort.

  In fact, strangely enough, the energy radiating from the hand gave him a sense of calm.

  ‘No... not from the hand, the calmness comes from the beads.’

  Sharv carefully rolled the beads from the rotten wrist. And the instant he fully removed them.

  Cltrr-cltrr-cltrr!

  ‘!!!’

  The beads suddenly rolled out of his fingers on their own, wrapping themselves around his wrist.

  Whoosh!

  An enormous surge of negative energy burst forth from them, so overwhelming that Sharv felt as though he might be swallowed whole.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  ‘Sharv! throw those bea...’

  Fhooooosh!

  Before Vijay could finish, suddenly the world around them shifted.

  Just a moment ago, they had been in Sharv’s home. Now, both were falling into a vast abyss of darkness.

  ‘Shit!—What the hell is happening?!’

  “I don’t know!... But one thing’s clear, we’re falling down... Into the void!”

  Fhooooosh!

  ‘Fuck! This...’

  “Why are you panicking so much?! You’re a spirit, you won’t die from falling anyway!”

  ‘Yeah, But I'll die, if you die!!!’

  Sharv snapped back at him, though his own expression had darkened. To be caught in such a mess... it unsettled him deeply.

  But he steadied himself.

  In a situation like this, only calmness would work. Anger or panic would only waste his strength.

  Fhooooosh!

  ***

  “Damn it... someone else already took that thing!”

  In Duriyan village, Surendranath had been searching everywhere for it. But after combing through the areas of the village, he realized it was gone.

  Someone had already taken it.

  His expression twisted. He couldn’t return to the Society empty-handed. The Society Leader would be furious.

  He looked at the traces left behind—someone had clearly been here before him and taken the object.

  He wanted to chase after them, but they had left behind almost no trail.

  The footprints were faint, and even those had likely been covered by the snow that blanketed the ground.

  Still, from what he could gather, one thing was clear:

  “Whoever stole that thing... is a native of these mountains. Only someone familiar with this terrain could leave so few traces behind.”

  Clench!

  Surendranath clenched his fists.

  He couldn’t return without it. Which meant he had no choice—he had to find the one who had taken that thing.

  “Tch!..”

  With that, Surendranath left the village to begin the hunt.

  ***

  Fhooooosh!

  ‘!!!’

  Sharv’s eyes narrowed.

  Every hair on his body stood on end because beneath him, he could now see the black ground rushing closer.

  He and Vijay were plummeting fast, with no way to stop themselves.

  The distance between them and the dark ground was shrinking rapidly.

  Clench!

  Sharv clenched his jaw tightly.

  “Vijay! You’re a spirit, aren’t you?! Do something!”

  ‘What the hell do you expect me to do in this situation?! I don’t have wings to carry you away!’

  “Tch!”

  ‘Am I really going to die here...?’

  Sharv thought.

  Sharv didn’t particularly fear death—after all, everyone must die one day. But to die without avenging his uncle’s killer...

  That, he could not accept!

  ‘No...’

  He looked at vijay, and swore to himself that even if he died here, his path would not end.

  He would return as a spirit, just like Vijay, and still take revenge.

  Fhooooosh!

  Sharv closed his eyes.

  The ground was now only moments away. Any second now, they would crash into it!

  ‘Fuck...I’ll have to become a spirit too!’

  He thought grimly. But then...

  Splash!

  ‘?!’

  It wasn’t the ground below them, it was water.

  Sharv and Vijay plunged into the dark waters. The water was very dark, even darker than the night sky.

  ‘This wasn't land but water! We're still alive!’

  Vijay exclaimed, startled.

  Being a spirit, he could speak even within the water. Sharv, however, couldn’t—he was forced to hold his breath.

  The water was deathly still and pitch-black. Sharv had never seen anything like it in his life.

  Beneath him stretched only endless darkness, as if the depths led straight into the underworld itself.

  But he didn’t focus on that. Instead, he swam upward with all his strength. After a short while, he broke the surface.

  “Gasp!...”

  He sucked in air, then looked around. All around him stretched the same endless blackness and silence.

  For most people, such a sight would drive the mind mad.

  But not Sharv. In fact, he felt very relief—because he was alive.

  Had it truly been solid ground beneath, he would be dead for certain. But this vast, dark sea had saved him.

  Even if he was stranded in some unknown place, the fact that he was alive and unharmed that was what mattered most.

  As long as he lived, he could fight and try to escape this strange realm.

  But if he died... Then everything would end.

  Vijay muttered looking around the sea,

  ‘It’s so dark here! This place feels... really unsettling!’

  “It unsettles me too, but before that, we need to find a way out of this black ocean. Vijay, do you see any land around?”

  Vijay turned his gaze in every direction. But all he saw was the endless black sea.

  It was as though they had fallen onto a water-filled planet, one with no trace of land.

  He shook his head.

  “Am I supposed to just keep floating like this forever?”

  But then...

  ‘?!’

  Suddenly, Sharv felt solid ground beneath his feet.

  He froze, confused.

  How was that possible? He had fallen into what felt like a vast ocean of incredible depth. So why did he now feel land beneath him?

  But that was only the beginning.

  Slowly, all the water level began to fall, and soon the waste sea around them began to drain away.

  Bit by bit, it vanished, until the ocean had dried completely.

  Now, Sharv stood upon a barren black land that stretched infinitely in every direction.

  As Vijay looked around, it seemed as though they had fallen onto another strange world, one with nothing but land, without a single trace of water.

  Fear began to creep into Vijay.

  “Well... at least we’ve got land now.”

  Sharv said dryly. Strangely, though he had been submerged, his clothes were perfectly dry—spotless, as if he’d never entered the water at all.

  Vijay asked nervously,

  ‘Sharv... how do we get out of here?’

  Sharv replied calmly,

  “I don’t know, but we’ll find a way.”

  ‘This place... it’s too strange. First we fell from that black sky, then the dark ocean, and now this...’

  “Yeah, it’s mysterious. But do you know what’s the strangest thing of all?”

  ‘...What?’

  “Despite all this darkness, even without a single source of light, we can still see each other, and everything around us...”

  ‘You’re right! I didn’t notice that!’

  Vijay exclaimed. He turned, glancing around uneasily.

  And then—

  ‘S-Sharv! W-What the hell is that?!’

  Sharv spun around. Behind him, a black pillar-like figure had appeared.

  It was just slightly taller than the height of an average human male.

  Then—

  Two hands appeared from behind it, grasping its edges, shaking it as if shedding something from it.

  ‘??’

  Sharv and Vijay were both confused.

  But then realization struck, the pillar was not a pillar at all.

  It was hairs...

  Long, black hair, so long it flowed down around the knees of a womanly figure.

  Only her back was visible to them, hence it looked like a tall pillar in their eyes.

  With graceful hands, the woman gathered her hair, tying it into a small messy bun. Even so, the strands were so long that they still reached down her hips.

  Sharv and Vijay stared in silence. Then, the figure turned.

  She wore a black sari, and in it she looked hauntingly beautiful. Black henna-like markings covered her hands, her eyes glowed brilliantly, and her lips had a natural brilliance.

  It would not be wrong to say that if she wore a red saree instead of black, adorned her hands with bangles, bracelets, and ornaments, she would resemble a perfect bride.

  But her attire was the complete opposite of any ordinary bride’s.

  Vijay was entranced by her beauty, unable to look away.

  Sharv glanced once, but quickly forced himself to remain composed. The woman’s sharp eyes lingered on Sharv as she spoke,

  “You kept me waiting...”

  Then her gaze shifted to Vijay.

  “Ah~ so a spirit has come along too, this time? Is he your servant spirit?”