"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE FUCK," Ariane shouted.

Her sweet facade crumbled into ruin right in front of him. The warm scent vanished completely, leaving behind the foul stench of rotting meat and decay.

She raised her hand high above her head. The familiar, terrifying rattle of iron echoed through the small space. She summoned the weapon right inside the carriage because her jealousy completely blinded her to the system rules protecting the area.

’She took the bait,’ Kai thought to himself.

He watched the blurry shadow of the chain materialize in the air.

’I just had to talk about fucking someone else to break her stupid brain.’

"I am going to string you up by your pretty neck and make you watch while I skin that bitch dancer alive," Ariane snarled.

She showed teeth that were suddenly far too sharp for a normal human mouth.

"You are welcome to try," Kai laughed loudly, leaning back in his seat without a single shred of fear.

"But you are going to have to get in line because a lot of crazy women already want a piece of me, and you are far too old for my taste."

The chain whipped toward his throat with killing intent.

The moment the weapon launched forward, a loud alarm rang out across the entire circus camp.

A huge red system window shattered the air directly between them, illuminating the carriage with a warning light.

[System Alert: Zone Rules Violated]

[Entity ’Ariane’ designated as Hostile Boss]

[Neutral Zone Restrictions Lifted]

The shadow of the weapon instantly snapped into sharp focus. The iron links glowed with a sickly magic now that her hidden invulnerability had entirely dropped.

She was no longer a protected neutral character but another monster waiting to be killed.

Kai did not sit still to take the hit.

Triggering his Shadow Step the exact second the red warning appeared, he blinked out of existence just as the weapon smashed into the cushion where his head had been resting.

He reappeared right outside the door of the carriage and kicked it wide open to give himself some breathing room.

"Now," Kai shouted at the top of his lungs.

Sera triggered her distraction from the other side of the camp. Three loud explosions rocked the festival grounds as her rigged merchant wagons went up in bright green smoke.

The plumes cleared the panicking crowd away from the boss fight instantly.

People screamed and ran toward the forest trees, leaving the main walkway empty.

Ariane lunged out of the carriage with her purple chain swinging. She looked unhinged because her beautiful white dress was torn and her perfect hair was a tangled mess.

She raised the weapon to strike Kai again, but Eliza was already waiting. The blonde cleric stepped out from behind a post and raised both of her hands. She unleashed a blinding beam of pure holy light that hit Ariane squarely in the chest.

The bright magic burned away the lingering shadows and pinned the screaming woman right where she stood.

"Get your hands off my man," Vesper yelled, jumping down from the performance stage.

She whipped her own burning chains through the night air. The orange links wrapped tightly around Ariane’s iron weapon.

The intense heat of the succubus fire immediately started melting the cursed metal into a useless puddle of slag.

Ariane shrieked in pain and tried to pull away from the holy light.

Pushing his physical stats to their absolute limit, Kai drew his dagger and activated his new Abyssal Strike skill.

A layer of highly pressurized water coated the sharp steel, dripping onto the dusty dirt path.

He sprinted forward, stepped right past the melting iron, and drove the wet blade straight through Ariane’s chest.

Stab.

The pressurized water exploded outward from the blade, tearing her corrupted heart to pieces.

Ariane let out a gurgling gasp before her body crumbled into a pile of grey dust.

The suffocating curse sitting over the circus shattered like broken glass.

Kai pulled his dagger back and read the floating blue text with a satisfied grin.

[Hidden Boss Defeated: Ariane, The Jealous Guardian]

[Experience Gained: +8000 EXP]

[Level Up!]

[Stat Points Available: +20]

[Loot Acquired: Guardian’s Chain Whip, Circus Ledger]

[Time Anomaly Resolved: The Loop is Broken]

He dismissed the system windows and looked toward the large striped tents. The tall ringmaster took one look at the pile of grey dust and dropped his fancy black hat to the dirt.

The cowardly man turned around and ran screaming into the woods, completely abandoning his carnival behind him.

Kai put his weapon away and took a very deep breath. The horrible loop was officially broken, and he finally had his head securely attached to his shoulders.

Eliza and Sera walked over to join him on the path. They looked a little tired from the sudden adrenaline rush, but they were safe. Vesper walked up right behind them and wrapped her arms around Kai’s waist, pressing her cheek against his back.

"You did it," Vesper whispered, sounding genuinely amazed.

"I told you I had a solid plan," Kai smiled, turning around to wrap his arms around her waist.

Sera fanned the green smoke away from her face and offered a wicked smirk.

"You definitely have a talent for making women lose their minds, Kai. The things you said in that carriage were filthy."

"I meant every single word of it," Kai laughed, pulling Vesper a little closer.

"I needed her to snap, and nothing makes a crazy ex madder than talking about taking a younger upgrade with a much tighter ass on a road trip."

Eliza rolled her bright green eyes, but she was smiling.

"You are terrible. But since we actually survived the night, I suppose we can forgive your dirty mouth just this once."

"I think his dirty mouth is his best feature," Vesper said, looking up at him with amber eyes.

"And I believe you owe me a private dance lesson in my caravan to properly celebrate."

Kai looked at her sun-kissed face and felt a familiar heat building low in his stomach. T

"Lead the way," Kai told her softly.

They left Eliza and Sera to search the abandoned food stalls for a midnight snack.

Kai followed Vesper to her quiet red caravan near the edge of the camp, fully prepared to enjoy the very sweet rewards of outsmarting the system.