The Bookkeeper

Something wasn't right.

The creatures seemed childish and innocent—hardly a threat—yet Raiden's danger detection continued its relentless warning. Confused but cautious, he unplugged his sword's tip from the pavement, rested the blade on his shoulder, and began moving toward the approaching creatures.

"Stay on guard, Leo," he ordered. Though Leo was more confused than Raiden, he still steeled himself and nodded.

However, after Raiden took a few steps, something caught his attention, and he narrowed his eyes for a better look. The Smurfs began to thin out, their cute and sweet expressions growing darker as they drew closer.

Euphoria surged through Raiden once more, a psychopathic smile creeping onto his lips. He gripped his sword tightly, his hand trembling with fear as he watched the creatures slowly fuse together.

Abruptly, the Smurfs began to form a disfigured, elongated creature about 10 feet long. It had dozens of legs stretching across its snake-like body and ten hands, with two appearing on its massive head like-horns.

"What the fuck is that?" Raiden's euphoria instantly faded as he stared at the creature with a disgusted expression. Its long tongue flicked between sharp teeth as it moved toward them—still advancing, but slower than before.

"It's a cursed doll," Leo said as he moved closer to Raiden. "A familiar like Ash, but twisted—sinister."

Raiden turned to him. "The summoner must be around." He cracked his knuckles. "Just like white dragons—they give their summoner no power and stay cute until they need to become something sinister."

Euphoria surged through Raiden again as a big grin spread across his face, thrills coursing through his body. "So all we need to do is take care of this?"

Before Leo could respond, Raiden was already sprinting toward the creature. His body thrummed with excitement on each step, and when he got close enough, he raised his sword with practiced precision. 

The creature struck at him, but he leaped over the attack effortlessly. Upon landing, he brought his blade down on the creature's first few legs, slashing them clean off.

The creature lashed out again in pain, but it was far too slow for Raiden, who dodged effortlessly. Leo seized the opening, dashing forward to strike the creature's chest—the force of his blow shattering two of its arms.

Raiden's expression grew even more devilish as he sprinted forward and leaped onto the creature's tail. With one swift, precise strike, he sliced its head clean off. He hit the ground at the same moment as the severed head, his body shaking with excitement.

"Done!" he said breathlessly.

However, the creature continued moving backward despite losing its head, deflating Raiden's excitement immediately.

"What's going on, Leo?"

Leo sighed. "Curse dolls can only die if their master is dead… but if the master dies first, they become nearly impossible to kill."

Raiden gave him a lazy look. "So we have to kill them at the same time?"

Leo shrugged. "That's the myth… but no one knows for sure since curse dolls are rare."

Raiden's expression dimmed as he watched the creature put distance between them, already beginning to regrow its severed parts. This wasn't going to be easy, so they would have to split up.

"You said the summoner is around, right?" Raiden asked, narrowing his eyes as he watched the creature.

"Yeah… they can't go far without their master."

Raiden cracked his neck. "Handle this thing while I find the master. Once I kill them, I'll come help you finish it off."

Leo gave him a nod, and in that instant, Raiden vanished from sight. Confusion filled Leo as his eyes searched frantically—he could only see Raiden's sword suspended in the air, while Raiden himself had become completely invisible. This was Leo's first time witnessing Raiden use this ability; none of them had ever seen it before.

"Where are you, and why is your sword hovering in midair?"

Raiden's expression darkened. "Really?" he muttered, dropping the sword. He was puzzled—if Levi could turn invisible with his dagger, then Raiden's ability wasn't evolving like Levi's had. Still, he couldn't stand around dwelling on it. He began making his way into the forest.

His vision shifted to heat detection, painting everything in reddish tones. There was no sound, no rushed movements—only silence, as though he had ceased to exist entirely.

Raiden moved deeper into the forest. Since everything appeared in identical heat signatures with far more to process than usual, he had to use his imagination and the shapes of objects to distinguish between them. 

Within just a few steps, he could see slimes clustered throughout the area. When his attention turned to the right, dozens more slimes were bouncing toward him.

He smirked, remembering a key detail from his first slime encounter—they always fled when they sensed humans or any dangerous creature nearby. Following this lead, he moved in that direction, taking care to avoid the slimes themselves in case contact would reveal his presence to the enemy.

A few steps in, he discovered two girls roughly his age or younger chatting while leaning against a tree. One was petting what the heat signature revealed to be a bird—a phoenix, Raiden realized instantly. That's when everything clicked: the phoenix girl had been spying on them all along.

From what he could remember, phoenix familiars allowed their masters to see for miles with perfect clarity, as though they were standing right there. His body shook with excitement as euphoria coursed through him—he was thrilled at the thought of taking them down.

He ignored their conversation entirely—the thrill of the kill alone made his body move on its own as he stalked toward them, his smile stretching from ear to ear as his heart raced with bloodlust.

He moved his hands close to their heads, drew a deep breath, and channeled mana into his strength. Then, seizing the moment, he crashed their heads together with brutal force.

The strike was swift and brutal. The crash echoed through the forest as blood splattered across his face. Though he could only see heat signatures, the sensation of warm blood on his skin sent him into fits of excited laughter. He turned visible instantly, revealing the full scene—two girls in black dresses lying by their luggage, heads crushed, blood seeping into their dark hair.

However, the phoenix girl had the heart of a survivor. Even with half her head crushed, she remained alive, attempting to crawl away while clutching her familiar desperately. The red phoenix was dying alongside her, its life bound to her own.

Raiden crouched down and seized her shoulder, halting her desperate crawl. She turned toward him, tears streaming from her dark eyes as she struggled to speak, though no words came. Raiden knew exactly what she was trying to say: "Please, spare me…"

His devilish smile disappeared as he grabbed her collar and lifted her up. The grin returned as he prepared to end her life, but something made him pause. He needed contracts, and this girl was a perfect candidate. With her, he wouldn't need Speed all that much.

A smile of realization spread across his face, his eyes lighting up with excitement at the opportunity before him. "Today is your lucky day, girl—you are chosen by the bookkeeper."

The girl couldn't speak, her head jerking from side to side. She was dying.

Raiden sighed and set her back down on the ground. He needed to ensure the other girl was truly dead. Walking over to her, he gripped her neck and snapped it with a sharp twist, his body shaking with dark satisfaction.

He turned back to the phoenix girl and felt for her pulse. She was still breathing. Carefully, he lifted her and her familiar onto his shoulder and started back toward where he'd left Leo, intending to save her life and help deal with the cursed doll.

His pace quickened beyond his usual speed, but his expression grew dark as he left the forest. 

The doll had transformed into a massive blue giant with rippling muscles and six arms, towering above its previous size. 

Leo stood before it, clutching his ribs, blood trickling from his mouth, while the giant panted heavily, teeth clenched, saliva dripping, its eyes burning with unmistakable rage.

Raiden approached them steadily, his body shaking with fear as he wore that devilish smile. The giant's rage-filled expression thrilled him beyond measure, showing how deeply his euphoria had warped into psychotic pleasure.