Kai stared blindly at the ringmaster’s practiced grin.

"Welcome to the wandering stage, tired travelers," the tall man said smoothly, tipping his black hat.

Kai did not say a single word in response.

He turned his back on the smiling man and kicked the dirt hard enough to send a cloud of dust into the air.

He marched straight over to a fence post sitting near the entrance, pulled his arm back, and punched the wood with everything he had.

Bam.

The post splintered under his knuckles. He punched it a second time, and his skin split open across his fingers.

Red blood dripped down his hand to stain the dirt below.

’I am losing my mind,’ Kai thought, staring at his ruined knuckles.

’Two brutal decapitations, and the system acts like nothing even happened.’

[System Event: Neutral Zone Discovered]

[Location: The Wandering Circus]

He swiped the blue text away with an angry flick of his bleeding hand. The notification was a total lie.

Eliza and Sera exchanged worried glances from the place because they had never seen him act so erratically before.

"Oh, my poor lost lamb," a soft voice called out from the shadows.

Kai turned his head to see a woman stepping out from between the colorful tents.

She wore a flowing white dress that caught the cool evening breeze, possessed a warm smile, and radiated a very gentle, motherly power that instantly commanded the space around her.

Her name was Ariane.

"You look like you carry the weight of the entire world on those shoulders," Ariane said softly as she walked over to him.

’Who is she?’ Kai thought.

He never saw her in the two nights.

She reached out and took his bleeding hand in hers without hesitating. Her touch felt strangely cool against his skin.

"Come with me to my private carriage," she offered gently.

"I will brew some hot tea and bandage those wounds for you."

Kai wanted to refuse the offer immediately, but his nerves were completely fried. He desperately needed answers, and this woman felt like someone who knew the layout and secrets of this twisted circus.

"Wait right here," Kai told Eliza and Sera, gesturing to the main path.

"Get a room and stay close together. Don’t wander off."

He followed Ariane into a large, ornate carriage parked near the edge of the camp. The inside smelled strongly of dried lavender and crushed herbs.

It was a very soothing smell, but it felt thick and almost suffocating in the small, enclosed space.

Ariane poured him a delicate cup of hot tea and gently wrapped his bleeding knuckles in clean white linen strips.

"Drink your tea," she urged with a comforting smile.

"Tell me exactly what is troubling your heart."

’A random woman acting like a therapist.’ He thought.

"I feel trapped," Kai said vaguely, taking a careful sip of the hot liquid.

"Like I am walking in circles and cannot find the exit to this place."

Ariane sat across from him and smoothed her long dress over her lap. Her eyes were dark and incredibly deep, holding a strange wisdom that made him feel like a small child.

"The circus is a very special place, Kai," Ariane explained in a low, musical voice.

"We have old rules that protect our family from the horrors outside. As long as you respect the family, you have nothing to fear. Sometimes the outside world is far too cruel, and it is better to just stay safe inside the tent forever."

’Stay inside forever?’

’She is definitely hinting at something,’ Kai thought, watching her perfectly calm face.

’But she sounds much more like a prison warden than a protective mother.’

He finished his tea and stood up from the seat. He felt much more composed, and his heart rate had slowed down, but a sense of unease settled deep in his stomach.

"Thank you for the tea," Kai said politely, moving toward the narrow door.

"You are always welcome here, Kai," she replied, her voice dropping to a very soft whisper.

"Please don’t wander too far in the dark."

Kai left the carriage and walked straight toward the back of the bustling camp.

He ignored the food stalls and the loud games, found Vesper practicing her complex fire routine behind a row of empty wooden wagons.

She was spinning an unlit iron chain right now, her amber eyes focused entirely on her rapid footwork.

"We need to talk," Kai announced, stepping out of the shadows.

Vesper lowered her chain and offered him a playful smirk.

"You look very serious for a handsome man who just arrived at a fun carnival?"

"I watched you die this morning," Kai told her bluntly, cutting right through her flirty routine.

Her confident smirk vanished instantly. She dropped the iron chain straight into the grass.

"Your head was cut off by an invisible weapon," Kai continued, keeping his voice low so nobody else could hear them.

"And then I died right after you. We are stuck in a time loop, and I need your help to break it."

Most normal people would laugh right in his face, but Vesper was a half-blood succubus.

She relied on her primal instincts to survive every single day. Her eyes widened as she read his sincerity. The demonic blood in her veins recognized the trauma hiding right behind his dark eyes.

"I believe you," Vesper whispered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What do we do about this?"

"We need to figure out who runs the hidden side of this place," Kai said, leaning against a wagon wheel.

"A woman just told me they have old rules to protect their family. We should start by checking the history of this camp to see who is pulling the strings."

They walked together over to a nearby bulletin board. It was covered in faded circus posters and old announcements.

Kai and Vesper started peeling back the layers of dirty paper, looking for anything that seemed out of place or pointed to a hidden boss controlling the camp.

A few yards away, Ariane stood still in the shadows of a striped tent.

She watched Kai and Vesper standing very close together near the board. Her perfectly sweet, motherly smile slowly fractured into something dark and terribly cracked.

She did not like seeing her new lamb spending time with the fire dancer.

The very first seeds of ugly jealousy began to take root in her heart as she quietly pulled the tent curtain shut.