Necromar’s right arm releases dark smoke. The smoke is purple in color and spreads quickly around him. It clings to Necromar, yet Najun and Mamoru keep their distance.

  Shime: “You can’t escape his smoke. Just give up.”

  Necromar starts running. The smoke follows him. It covers everything so completely that not even light can shine through anymore.

  Mamoru: “What are we supposed to do, Najun? I can’t do anything to him with my knife.”

  Najun: “I don’t know.”

  Najun looks around. The smoke pushes them further and further back. It rises over them and traps them inside a cage of smoke.

  Najun: “Wait.”

  Najun: “D-Do y-you think your Princess would like this?”

  Shime: “Wait, Necromar.”

  The man wrapped in bandages stops. Shime steps into the center.

  Shime: “How dare you talk about our Princess?”

  Najun swallows in fear and also steps into the center. They stand directly opposite each other.

  Najun: “I’m sorry if I sounded disrespectful or rude, but I’m only thinking about your Princess.”

  Shime: “Stop speaking her title so sarcastically immediately, or I’ll hang you on the spot.”

  Najun raises his hands as a sign of apology.

  Najun: “But my question still hasn’t been answered. Would your Princess like it?”

  Shime: “Yes. She wants your death just as much as we do.”

  Najun: “Yeah, I can imagine that. But she struck me as a very sadistic person. She’s not the kind of person who would give someone a quick death.”

  Shime looks surprised at Najun’s good understanding of Liko, but she still refuses to agree with him.

  Shime: “We’ll kill you slowly. That will satisfy the Princess’s preferences.”

  Najun: “Yes, but I think she’d like to do it herself.”

  Najun uses all his knowledge and assumptions about Liko and her relationship with her servants to get them out of this situation.

  Najun: “How do you think she’ll react when she finds out you broke her two toys?”

  Shime: “S-She w-w-would be proud of us… Shut up.”

  Najun: “The truth hurts.”

  Shime walks over to Necromar and silently discusses something with him. Najun tries to listen, but they’re too far away. After their conversation, the smoke retreats. All of it gathers back into Necromar’s arm.

  Shime: “We’re taking you with us. Hands forward.”

  Najun does as she says. Mamoru wants to intervene and shouts out.

  Mamoru: “What are you doing? We’re not giving up that easily.”

  Najun: “Just do what she says. I don’t feel like being hanged or poisoned.”

  Mamoru: “That won’t happen. Rangers don’t allow things like that to happen to their visitors.”

  Najun doesn’t listen to him and allows himself to be restrained. Even though Mamoru could flee—and even take Najun with him—he gives up. Instead of protesting, he lets himself be tied up as well.

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  Mamoru: “[What is this, Najun? I’ll trust you for now, but if things get serious, I’ll abandon you.]”

  Together, they walk all the way back through the hospital. No one speaks or makes a sound.

  Shime has taken the lead and guides them through the building.

  Shime: “I don’t really understand what our boss plans to do with you. Maybe you can tell me?”

  Mamoru: “I can’t tell you anything. I know just as much as you do.”

  Najun: “No, I don’t know either, and even if I did, I certainly wouldn’t tell you crazy creatures.”

  Shime smiles in an aggressive way.

  Shime: “There you can see the well-raised human and the dog that ate the child at birth and took its place.”

  Najun clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes.

  Shime: “Your cheeky attitude is getting on my nerves. Watch it before I change my mind and eliminate you right here and now.”

  Najun: “Don’t forget, that wouldn’t please your Princess at all.”

  She doesn’t respond to his provocative but honest statement.

  Shime: “[What is so special about them that they have to be killed? The Ranger could be a danger to the upcoming contract and our safety, but the other boy isn’t a serious threat.]”

  Shime looks Najun up and down.

  Shime: “[Average build, no pronounced abnormalities or signs of superhuman intelligence or power. He’s a complete nobody, and we have to neutralize him at all costs. Do the Princess and her brother know more about this?]”

  She dismisses the thought again, convinced that Liko would never lie to her or hide important information from her.

  In the middle of their walk, Najun notices a half-open door. It leads to a delivery room. He actually plans to ignore it, but just as the door is beside him, he feels a strange sensation in his stomach. He stops and starts groaning. With his hands on his stomach, he runs into the room. Mamoru follows him instinctively, thinking Najun has started an escape attempt.

  Shime: “Stop! Halt!”

  Shime and Necromar chase after them immediately. Najun enters the room with such severe stomach pain that he should have collapsed. Shime grabs him by the shoulders and screams at him. She pulls out another rope and begins to strangle Najun.

  Shime: “Who do you think you are? Deceiving me by mentioning the Princess’s wishes. You deserve death for that.”

  She lets his face turn blue. Mamoru tries to intervene, but Necromar blocks his path and won’t let him reach his companion.

  Najun: “P-Please s-stop…”

  Shime: “Die, you miserable—”

  Najun lets out a strange scream. It’s so loud that everyone present has to cover their ears. It stuns them and even makes the windows vibrate.

  Shime: “What the hell is wrong with him?!”

  She looks at Mamoru, hoping for a logical answer.

  Mamoru: “I-I d-don’t know!”

  Both Mamoru and Shime fall to the ground. The scream reaches a life-threatening intensity.

  Necromar is the only one besides Najun still able to stand. He slowly approaches Najun and touches him with his right, highly toxic hand. He wants to kill Najun, but the scream is slowly taking effect.

  He uses his left arm and lifts Najun up, choking him until the screaming stops. Najun goes completely quiet, eyes closed, hanging by the neck in Necromar’s grip.

  Shime: “What are you waiting for, Necromar? Kill him.”

  Mamoru: “No, wait. You can see he’s not himself. Something is wrong with him.”

  Only now do those present notice the condition of the delivery room. It is completely devastated, with reddish, dried stains everywhere. The bed is covered in old blood, and it almost looks like there are mud stains mixed in. Everyone feels the oppressive aura in the room, as if something terrible had happened here.

  Shime: “Do it. Kill him!”

  Before Necromar can follow her command, Najun starts making strange noises again. Everyone braces for another scream—but something else happens.

  Najun vomits into Necromar’s face. At first, the vomit is dark and clumpy. After a short time, it turns red.

  Necromar drops him. Najun turns toward the room and vomits all over it. Eventually, the clumps become human body parts. Half a head, a foot, several eyes and fingers, and many internal organs.

  Shime: “Holy shit! He’s throwing up corpse parts!”

  Finally, he vomits up entire corpses. Three full bodies come out of him. Najun’s mouth stretches unnaturally wide, and it looks like his face might tear apart.

  Najun stops vomiting. He stands there—motionless and calm—then collapses to the ground and starts twitching. Shime walks over to him and sticks her fingers into his mouth. She wants to make him vomit again, believing there’s still something in his stomach. She practically digs inside his mouth.

  She hits a spot that makes him vomit again. This time it’s a syringe—broken, bloody, and filthy.

  Shime: “Hey, you Ranger. What the hell is wrong with this boy?”

  Mamoru stands by the door, completely shaken by the situation and close to vomiting himself.

  Mamoru: “A-As a R-Ranger, I don’t know what to say or what to do.”

  Najun has lost consciousness. He lies in his own vomit. Shime has no intention of pulling him out of it quickly. She talks to herself, wondering what is wrong with Najun. Combined with her earlier thoughts, her distrust grows—even though she keeps telling herself that her Princess would never lie to her.

  Najun’s unconsciousness pulls him back. Back into the dark dimension where he was before waking up.

  ???: “So you agree?”

  Najun: “Yes.”

  Najun answers automatically. He has no control over his body or his mouth. It’s just like before. He can barely even hear what the person in front of him is saying.

  ???: “If you agree, then shake my hand.”

  Najun shakes his hand and slowly recognizes the person whose hand he’s holding. It’s Mister Mysterium, smiling at him and thanking him. Everything else happens exactly like last time, with the mysterious dark figures walking past him.