They crossed through.

Cold air struck them immediately.

Not freezing.

Just damp.

Heavy.

A strong wind rolled across the dirt road beneath their feet the moment they emerged on the other side, carrying the smell of wet soil, old wood, and something faintly rotten hiding underneath it all.

The village stretched ahead quietly beneath dark gray skies.

Too quiet.

Han Islat slowly lifted his head.

Above them, thick clouds churned across the sky in massive layers, swollen and dark enough that rain looked inevitable within the hour.

The air itself felt wrong somehow, dense and oppressive, like the world was holding its breath before something terrible arrived.

Wooden fences creaked softly in the wind.

No villagers walked kn the streets.

No lights shone from windows.

Only silence.

Then—

Flap.

Something dropped from the sky.

Several people jerked backward instantly before realizing the creature was small.

Round.

Oddly chubby... and damn it looks cute?

It floated through the air with tiny feathered wings beating rapidly at its sides while its body resembled some deeply confused mixture between a worm and a bird. It had the plump segmented body of a caterpillar, a tiny beak, and wide shiny eyes that somehow made it look both adorable and profoundly suspicious at the same time.

The creature circled above them once before stopping midair dramatically.

"Ohoho!" it announced proudly. "You all are finally here!"

And somehow, unbelievably, it said all of that in the voice of an excited little kid.

High-pitched.

Bright.

Adorably cheerful.

The kind of voice that sounded like it belonged to a child showing someone their favorite toy rather than a bizarre flying worm berd guiding people into a death scenario.

Every word bounced with innocent enthusiasm, soft and playful enough that under different circumstances, it might have actually sounded cute.

Which only made the entire thing feel infinitely worse.

Its tiny wings then fluttered harder as it spun through the air like an overly enthusiastic tour guide.

"Allow me to explain your situation!"

Nobody relaxed.

Not after earlier, or now.

Not after the things they had already seen.

The creature noticed immediately.

And smiled wider.

"Oh," it chirped lightly, "you’re right to look nervous."

Then its body twisted slightly midair.

And an image suddenly appeared above the village road like a floating projection made of pale smoke.

At first—

Nobody understood what they were looking at.

A narrow alley.

Dark.

Wet.

Something lying on the ground.

Then the image sharpened.

And several people froze.

It was a body.

No—

Half a body.

A man collapsed sideways against the wall of the alley, neck ending in torn flesh where his head should have been. Blood coated the stones beneath him in dark streaks while something crouched nearby in the shadows.

Tall.

Too tall.

Its limbs bent at strange angles, long and thin like stretched wires wrapped in black skin. It stood motionless in the corner of the alleyway, almost blending into the darkness completely—

Except for the way its body twitched.

Small.

Jerking.

And then—

The thing slowly turned its head toward them.

Even through the projection, the movement felt unnatural enough to make several people step back instinctively.

Its face didn’t fully appear.

Just enough.

Enough to see the shape of something smiling too wide.

Enough to realize it had been eating.

The little worm-bird floated happily beneath the image.

"If I finish explaining," it said brightly, "you should begin moving immediately."

Its tone remained cheerful.

Playful.

Which somehow made the next words much worse.

"Because once night falls..."

The image flickered.

The black figure vanished from the alley.

Then reappeared closer.

No movement shown between.

Just—

Closer.

The worm-bird’s tiny wings buzzed softly in the silence.

"It starts hunting properly... okay now, enough talking, talking... I need to help you all, so.. like... barricade, help the villager, sacrifice, I don’t know! Agh!!! (⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠) Sorry..."

Han Islat stood still for a moment, eyes fixed on the strange little creature hovering in front of them. The wind tugged lightly at his clothes, the village stretching silent and wrong behind it, but somehow— despite everything— it didn’t look threatening. If anything, it looked... harmless.

His expression softened just slightly.

"This thing actually looks cute," he murmured under his breath, the words slipping out almost unconsciously.

Behind him, someone from Yellow Team nodded immediately, relief clinging to the agreement like it needed something— anything— to hold unto. "Yeah... I was thinking the same."

A quiet laugh came from the Red Team, low and uncertain, like testing whether it was still safe to feel anything normal. "Right? I mean, it’s kinda c—"

The sound hit.

A roar— loud, distorted, wrong in a way that didn’t belong to anything natural tore through the village without warning.

It wasn’t just noise. It dragged across the air like something breaking through it, warping the silence into something jagged and alive.

Every head snapped toward the source.

The laughter died instantly.

The air seemed to tighten.

Even the wind hesitated.

Above them, the worm bird shrieked.

"Wahhh!!! (⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠) Faster!!! We must— I mean, you all must do something!!" it flailed midair, wings beating erratically now, voice pitching higher with panic. "Barricade! Use spells! Anything! Anything at all!!"

Its earlier cheerfulness cracked completely, spilling into something frantic and unsteady, like even it had just been reminded of what kind of place this really was.

And just like that—

The illusion shattered.

***

(Back in the arena — minutes ago)

The moment lingered only a second longer before the last member of Team One stepped through the portal. The surface of it rippled faintly, light bending inward—

Then it collapsed.

Not slowly.

Not dramatically.

Just—

Gone.

Like a bubble bursting without a sound.

The space it had occupied snapped back into emptiness so cleanly it almost felt unreal, as if... the village, the wind, the creature— everything— had been swallowed whole without a trace.

Silence followed.

Then—

Team Two shifted.

Not all at once, but enough to feel it. Heads turned. Eyes lifted. Some instinctively looked toward where the portal had been, as if expecting it to reopen. Others didn’t bother.

They already knew it wouldn’t.

Their attention moved upward instead.

To her.

The bunny announcer stood above them, leaning lightly against the railing as if nothing significant had just happened. Her smile remained in place, easy and bright, but her eyes... her eyes were watching. Not casually. Not lazily.

Intently.

Then, as if sensing the weight of their attention, she flicked her fingers again.

A soft pulse rippled through the air.

And above the arena—

A massive projection bloomed into existence.