When Roy finally lost sciousness, Roselle and Runebelle stood over him. Kintovar and Haras approached, and Kintan to check their life forces.

  Kintovar assessed the situation, her keen eyes noting the dition of the sisters. Roselle’s life force was at 50%, while Runebelle’s stood at 70%. With a tone of approval,

  Kintovar remarked, “Good job, both of you. By now, you may have noticed that your ons are growing stronger. I realized that, in order to get stronger, I o make some adjustments and remove the limitations on things like your ons. Your ons will tio evolve aually gain abilities simir to sword magic. It’ll take some time, but you’ll see the results.”

  The sisters nodded. Mystimona stepped forward with his arms folded. “I never had any doubts.”

  Haras, raising an eyebrow, ented, “Really? Because you looked pretty worried when they got hit by Roy’s attack.”

  Mystimona cleared his throat with a touch of color rising to his cheeks, “Well, I mean, it’s only natural to feel just a bit ed when it es to battle, right?”

  The group shared a collective chuckle.

  Kintaze shifted ahead of her. “It’s time to move on to the big boss of this area: Jay,” she said, her tone firm yet calm.

  Roselle looked back at Roy with . “What about him?”

  Kintnced briefly at Roy before turnitention back to the task at hand. “It’s not in our schedule to hold a funeral for him. Our primary mission is to front Jay and obtaiar Jewel. We must stay focused on oal.”

  Their attention was now drawn to the magical door behind Roy. It began to creak open slowly, prompting everyone in the chamber to turn in unison.

  The group’s faces twisted momentarily in horror. Inside was a dark architecture. The creatures that lurked in the shadows were grotesque and monstrous, their menag presence were much darker thaher creatures seen in this pce so far. The sheer dread and malevolence of the pce itself though left everyone momentarily speechless, and all they could do was tremble at the horrifying ses that unfolded before them.

  Roselle finally found something to say and remarked, “This pce is scary.”

  Runebelle’s troubled face mirrored her sister’s unease, but she remained silent.

  Mystimona asserted with lowered eyes, “This is a challenge we must face. I’m ready to front Jay.”

  Haras, oher hand, let out a scream and g to Kintovar, exg, ” D-Do We have to go in there?!”

  Kintovar look ahead without any hint of fear showing on her face. She replied, “Yes, Haras. We have to.”

  The group ventured into the domain. Faint strains of music reached their ears. The music had a distinct trap beat.

  The group tinued on their path, but their progress was halted by a group of Goth girls eared almost monstrous in the dark. These figures gave the group a pierg stare.

  While hurring , the goth girls exged ents that made everyone uneasy. One of them remarked, “Look, supper has arrived,” while another whispered, “We’ve been starved for so long.”

  Haras’s eyes widened in terror. She let out a high-pitched shriek, clutg Kintovar’s arm desperately. “I-I don’t want to be eaten!” she excimed. “I’m leaving!”

  Haras tried to detach herself and run off, but Kintovar swiftly grabbed Haras by the b coat and pulled her back. “You’re not going anywhere,” she said firmly. “You’re ing with us.”

  Haras protested, “But… but I ’t hahis! It’s too scary!”

  Kintovar raised an eyebrow and studied Haras with curiosity. “Don’t you read ‘Dark Lotus’? How is this py darker than that book?”

  Haras looked flustered. “Reading is very different than experieng!” she said while shaking from left tht. “This is way more intehan any book I’ve read!”

  The group reached a foreboding castle that was looming over their heads head The castle was a massive structure with t spires reag for the sky. The top of it was shrouded with dark energy.

  The surroundings were equally ominous. The path leading up to the castle was lined with bed trees that seemed to reach out for them. Ths music pulsed with energy, growing louder upon their arrival to the castle.

  Roselle g everyone, who had cautiously positiohemselves a safe distance from the imposing castle door. She hesitated for a moment and then took a step back.

  Kintovar looked around at the group. She pced her hands on her sides. “Don’t tell me you all don’t like the music,” she remarked with a hint of amusement. “I ha.” With that, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.

  The door slowly creaked open. An ued swarm of bats burst forth. The group was immediately set off by the frenzied bats, prompting startled shouts and frantic attempts to fend them off. Roselle fell over in the midst of the bat attack.

  Mystimoended a hand to help Roselle back to her feet. Haras g to Kintovar, seeking prote from the ued onsught, while Runebelle and Roselle struggled to fend off the relentless bats.

  Kintovar shouted over the otion, “Get inside quickly! We ’t let these bats stop us now!” She pushed Haras toward the door, and together, they made a dash for the castle entrahe others following close behind.

  The door closed and locked behind them. The group found themselves in a hallway that only had dles lighting it. Roselle, still slightly shaken from the bat attack, gnced around nervously. “Well, that was... ued.”

  Runebelle added, “This pce is strange...”

  Kintovar raised a finger and said, “It’s all part of the challenge of finding someoh a powerful item such as the Star Jewel. Let’s keep ourselves moving.”

  Mystimona chimed in, “Judging from what iv’e seen already with this pce, I guess that Jay won’t be an easy oppo.” Mystimona grinned. “I’m gettied!”

  Haras g to Kintovar and whimpered, “I hope we don’t run into more bats or anything scarier.”

  Kintovar pced a hand on Haras’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Haras. If anything, we do have our teology at our disposal.”

  A Goth girl suddenly appeared infront of the group and began to pull Haras aanic swept through the group. Haras cried out, “Kintovar, help! A ghost is dragging me away!”

  Without hesitation, the group rushed to Haras’s aid, but the Goth girl’s grip was surprisingly strong. They struggled to free Haras.

  Kintovar shouted, “Hold on, Haras! We won’t let her take you!”

  Kintovar went to reach fadget oool belt, but before she could, a fsh of darkness engulfed the hallway, and when it dissipated, both Haras and the goth girl had disappeared, leaving the group in shod dismay.

  Kintovar’s let out a cry, “HARAASS!!!” It echoed through the y corridor, but there was no respohe mysterious goth girl had taken Haras with her into the unknown, and their fate remained uain.

  Mystimona, with a serious tone, said, “Stay on your toes, everyohis pce is strange indeed.”

  The group soon found themselves at a crossroads within the dark castle. To their left, a set of stairs led upward, while to the right, they spotted a mysterious door. Straight ahead, however, was a wall blog their path. They now faced a choice of which way to go: up the stairs, through the door, or to iigate the wall.

  Mystimona turowards the ground and said, “We have options here. Left, we’ve got stairs. To the right, there’s a door. Which way do you think we should go?”

  With a slight tremble, Roselle suggested, “Maybe... we should try the stairs.” She g to Runebelle for support.

  “In that case,” Mystimona said with a determined nod, “I’ll check out the mysterious door.”

  Runebelle, her eyes darting nervously between the choices, added, “But what if someone or something is behind that door? Maybe we should iigate the door first before making a decision.”

  Mystimona proposed, “lit up from here.”

  Roselle looked at Mystimona as if he was crazy. “Split up!?”

  Mystimona nodded and expined, “Yeah. Kintovar and I will go up the stairs, while Runebelle and Roselle check what’s behind the door.”

  “Split up!?” Roselle excimed. “No way! That’s—”

  Before she could finish, Runebelle’s gloomy presened behind her. With a resigned sigh, she gently picked up Roselle with surprising ease.

  “What are you doing, Runebelle?” Roselle asked while being lifted off the ground.

  Runebelle face remained as somber. She ignored Roselle and turo the others. “Just be careful out there. This pce is more dangerous than it seems.”

  Mystimona gave a nod. “We’ll be careful. Let’s revene here once we’ve explored our respective paths.”

  Roselle and Runebelle ventured down the right path, the sight of bones and skulls strewn about. Roselle clutched onto Runebelle’s arm tightly. “Runebelle,” Roselle began, “Aren’t you scared?”

  Runebelle replied softly, “Of course, I am. But it’s a different kind of scared. I’m ‘sad’ scared.”

  Roselle managed a small ugh. “That makes sense. You still crack a joke like that, so it means you’re fearless. I’ll be fearless too!”

  With newfound resolve, Roselle boldly pushed open the mysterious door, “I’m fearless now, Runebelle. Nothing will scare me!” But her bravado was short-lived, as a moving skeleton suddenly came into view, causio let out a terrified scream and quickly hide behind her sister.

  The skeleton spoke and sounded oddly human. “Are you here for the party? You don’t look like you fit the theme of this party. What brings you here?”

  Roselle, still hiding behind Runebelle, mao stammer, “We... we’re not here for the party. We’re just trying to find our friend.”

  The skeleton’s eye sockets seemed to narrow its bony haing on its in ption.

  The skeleton’s eye sockets widened in realization as he said, “Oh, you mean the new ‘flesh and bohey got retly. Don’t worry, they haven’t cooked her yet. It’s a bit too soon for that. Well, since you’re here, how about joining the party? You just o look the part. I take you to Chloe, she’s the expert in turning newers into Goths. She’s the 2nd Queen of this Domain, right after Jay, the 1st Queen.”

  Roselle, still a bit shaken from her initial fright, looked at Runebelle with . The offer was ued, but reality began to hit Roselle in the face.

  Roselle said with a feigned ess towards the Skeleton while raising a finger, “One moment, and okay?”

  Roselle pulled Runebelle aside momentarily and trembled. “Runebelle, did you hear what he said? About cooking and turning us into Goths? I mean, I’m all f hings, but this is just too... too much!”

  Runebelle pced a hand on Roselle’s shoulder. “Roselle, it’s okay. We’ve been through a lot of things already. We’ll figure out a way to save Haras a out of here.”

  The skeleton led Roselle and Runebelle into a grand and eerie throne room. Two giant chairs stood at the far end, one occupied by a figure shrouded in darkness. The other, a massive throood empty. The room itself was adorned with Gothic decorations, giving it a distind ominous atmosphere.

  The figure seated ohrone came into view. They held a striking presence. Her youthful face was framed by medium-length, wavy hair. She donned a yet dark Gothic dress that seemed to be tailored to perfe. The most captivatiure was the pair of butterfly-like wings that spread out from her back, giving her ahereal and mysterious air.

  Chloe’s pierg eyes met those of the newers, and a hint of amusement pyed across her lips. She extended a gloved hand toward the sisters and spoke with a melodious yet slightly eerie tone, “Wele, visitors. I am Chloe, the sed queen of this domain.”

  Both sisters found themselves uo pletely mask her uhey took in Chloe, who was not only full of darkness, but extraordinary powerful from what they could feel from her.