Midas panted heavily as he gave a wary glance towards the man that was bound in chains. As the silver burned into his flesh, creating a dozen miniature clouds of smoke, the Stranger seemed to grow weaker.

At the very least, he seemed unable to break the chains that bound him despite the supernatural strength he had shown previously. Thus he was helpless as he hung on the side of the shuddering metal crate, wincing at every movement of it as he could feel the beast within constantly knocking against the spike that was pinning him there.

Since that spike was also through his guts, he could feel every tiny movement, and none of these movements were tiny. Combined with the chains sizzling into his flesh, both inside and out, his existence had quickly turned to absolute torture. But the Stranger was alone in thinking that he did not deserve it.

Midas kept a close eye on him, always suspicious that he would free himself from the chains, whilst he also warily glanced over his shoulder at the destruction that filled the camp. Bodies were strewn everywhere and the thick stench of blood filled the air.

All of this destruction had been caused by one man, for reasons he could not understand.

Not that he didn’t ask. But whenever he did ask anything, he would simply be met with stone cold silence, or a condescending laugh.

Thankfully, once he was fully bound in the chains, his control over the guards failed and they were returned to their natural states. However even in their mind controlled state, whilst they had not been able to control their actions, they had been fully aware of it all.

Whilst many of the guards fell to their knees, lamenting over the horrors they had carried out, and the payments they would be missing out on because of it, Beans pulled himself off of the ground.

The colossal Shadow Demon slowly rose to his wobbling legs, before hobbling over to the area that Belladonna had landed when she was thrown from the Strangers grasp.

He nudged her gently with his nose, shifting her unconscious body, before letting out a soft and sad whine.

Beans laid down again, his legs giving out as he collapsed to the ground, as he curled himself around Belladonna’s body. He wrapped her tight in his tail, before covering the both of them with his wings, as he tucked his head in next to her body.

He stared at her for a few minutes, letting out a few more whines with weak breathes, before allowing his eyes to close as he protected her with his body.

Midas glanced at the two of them, as well as the merchant convoy that was starting to clean up after the self-caused massacre, and let out a soft sigh.

It seemed all they could do was wait, and hope that Belladonna had some explanation for this all. Because it was clear that it was not just him that was going to be wanting an explanation.

***

Valerie pointed her hand towards the pool of blood covering her flood, as lines of magical energy drew themselves in the air, forming the circle of [Blood Well]. A moment later, the blood pulled itself from the floor and flowed through the air towards her. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Even the stains that had formed cleaned themselves up and joined the rest of the blood flowing towards her.

Once the ball of blood was formed, she moved over to the bathroom and simply plopped it into the sink, before washing it away. That was easier than she thought it would be. A little too easy to make her comfortable.

If Bai Yin hadn’t been apart of some secret organisation that would have hunted Valerie down for her disappearance, would she just be able to get away with murder so easily?

Burn the body and magic away the blood. She wouldn’t have to bother cleaning it properly or worry about making a mess. Just slaughter and magic it away. It was kind of terrifying to think about.

Shivering slightly at the realisation, Valerie rolled herself back into her bedroom. Although her legs were somewhat working, they were still barely able to hold her body weight at their fullest strength, so she was relegated to the chair until she decided to murder someone else, or find some other way to get some blood.

But at the very least, the hunger had disappeared for the moment. Yet the changes in her appearance had remained.

Her teeth were still razor sharp and clearly inhuman, her eyes still held hints of crimson and her skin was deathly pale. Not to mention, her heart still did not beat.

Still, at least she had her friend from the future to warn her about such an event so that she could prepare thoroughly for it. Oh no wait... He didn’t!

Of all the people to be sent back from the future, why did it have to be the useless one? Why couldn’t it have been future Jason, the world hero? He wouldn’t have been this worthless with his information.

Honestly, what was even the point in keeping this guy around?!

Valerie sighed as she finished shouting in her head. She would have to tell the others about this. If it happened to all of them then some might be more disappointed in their new forms than others. Actually... thinking about it more, she was certain that all of her party would love their new forms. Even Jason.

He would absolutely love having those ears for real, the weirdo. At the very least, they could prepare themselves and not have to deal with something like this.

She glanced at the body that was still laying face down on the floor, and was about to move passed it, when the body suddenly shuddered. Valerie lurched to a stop, not just out of shock but as she felt like she had been sucker punched in the gut, as she felt a strange connection form between herself and the corpse. A corpse that now had its eyes open as it stared at the floor.

"Get up." She commanded, and felt the connection in her stomach tug in response, as the corpse obeyed without question.

It simply planted its hands next to its torso, and pushed. It’s body stayed as rigid as a plank, as it lifted off of the ground and tilted backwards, until it was standing straight up in front of her.

Although that only lasted for a second, as the corpse dropped to one knee and bowed its head before her whilst speaking in the same cold, emotionless tone that Bai Yin usually had when she was still alive,

"Greetings, Master."