Deep in a cold dimension of swirling black rivers and starless skies, a massive skeletal figure sat on a throne made of bone and obsidian.
The Main Grim Reaper.
Tall.
Silent.
Ancient.
His eyes glowed dark blue like dying stars.
Ghost knelt before him—
white hair floating weightlessly in the void, expression solemn.
The Grim Reaper spoke with a voice that felt like a thousand tombs opening:
"Ghost."
Ghost bowed his head.
"Yes, brother."
"There is a thief among realms," the Grim Reaper said.
"Souls torn out before their time. Devoured. Hidden."
Ghost's jaw tightened.
"You want me to find who's doing it."
"No."
The Reaper leaned forward.
"I want you to destroy them."
Ghost's eyes flickered with Death light.
"As you command."
He vanished in a ripple of black flame.
Meanwhile—
Ginny wandered a vast underground cavern, humming softly to herself as pink-ash feathers drifted behind her.
"Helloooo? Anyone dead? Half-dead? Mostly dead? I'm bored."
Her glow cast eerie shadows against the stone walls.
Something pulled at her—
a feeling like a heartbeat beneath the earth.
Ginny tilted her head.
"Oooh… what's this?"
She fluttered deeper into the cavern.
The air grew colder.
Silent.
Still.
Then she saw it.
A crystal chamber, glowing faint blue.
Inside—
A girl lay asleep on a stone slab.
Long dark hair.
A faint celestial glow under her skin.
Her breathing soft.
Her presence ancient.
Ginny pressed her face against the barrier.
"Ohhhhhh… well hello, sleeping beauty."
She giggled.
"Zyla."
She touched the crystal—
and it trembled.
Ginny's cracked porcelain face softened.
"Oh sweetheart… you're dreaming too loud. Something's coming for you."
Her smile faded.
"But don't worry. Big sister Ginny's here."
She tapped the crystal once.
A pulse of power shot through the cavern.
Above ground—
in every direction—
demons lifted their heads.
Something divine
and dangerous
was awakening.
Ghost drifted through the underworld, the dead wind brushing past him like whispers.
Nothing felt right.
No alarms.
No explosions.
No roaring ancient monster.
Just…
Silence.
And new demons.
Young.
Fresh.
Energy humming through them.
Ghost narrowed his eyes as a group passed him, giggling like children on their way to a festival.
They weren't born.
They were made.
And inside each one…
Ghost could feel stolen souls burning like tiny lanterns.
He frowned.
"Morvath?"
No.
These demons had no Void stench.
Morvath's creations always reeked of cosmic rot.
This was something else.
Something newer.
Something young.
Ghost followed them, unseen, phasing through walls as they skipped through the tunnels, carrying glowing fragments.
They chanted.
"Party, party, party—
For our Queen so pretty!"
Ghost's eyes widened slightly.
"…Queen?"
They ran deeper, disappearing into a shimmer of magic.
Ghost pressed a hand to the air.
A barrier.
A massive orb shield.
Warm.
Holy.
Protective.
He stepped back.
"Someone powerful is protecting something in there…"
Ginny inched close to the glowing dome surrounding Zyla's crystalline chamber.
She rested her palm on the barrier.
"Ooooh… no wonder I haven't seen demons crawling around this place."
She smirked proudly.
"Someone put up a mother-level protection spell.
Cute."
Inside, Zyla glowed brighter—
her heartbeat pulsing like a celestial drum.
Ginny stepped closer, eyes twinkling.
"You're charging up for something, little angel…"
Then—
Vines sprouted from the stone.
Flowers burst into color.
A garden bloomed around Zyla's resting place.
Ginny blinked.
"Oh. Visitors."
Three warm presences appeared—
beautiful silhouettes made of starlight and love.
Zyla's family.
Celestial figures kneeling beside her, touching her forehead, placing blessings on her chest.
Ginny stepped back.
"Alright alright… I'll give the family their privacy."
She fluttered out of the chamber, humming quietly.
Ghost moved through the cavern, trailing the strange new demons. Their stolen-soul glow made the underworld feel wrong… altered… like someone was rewriting the rules of death.
He paused.
A presence stood behind him.
Heavy.
Ancient.
Celestial.
Ghost turned.
Elisha emerged from the shadowed tunnel—
massive, silver-furred, moonlit armor cracked from battles fought in secret.
Burning gold eyes locked onto Ghost.
Ghost frowned.
"You're supposed to be guarding Elyon's Gate."
Elisha didn't growl.
Didn't attack.
He looked… guilty.
"I was," she said quietly.
Ghost narrowed his eyes.
"And then what? It broke? It vanished? Or you lost it?"
Elisha exhaled—a slow, ashamed breath.
"I let him out."
Ghost's emotionless face finally cracked with surprise.
"You what?"
Elisha stepped closer, voice low.
"I opened the Gate. Elyon walked out willingly… with Lucifer."
Ghost stared in disbelief.
"You released a God and the Fallen Morning Star."
Elisha nodded once.
"He asked for freedom. He said the wrong God was sitting on the throne of creation."
His jaw tightened.
"And he asked me to protect the one thing that matters next: Zyla."
Ghost processed that.
"And now Elyon is gone."
Elisha's silence was the answer.
Ghost raked a hand through his hair.
"…You didn't tell Heaven, did you?"
"No."
Elisha's ears flattened.
"They'd kill me. And then kill Lucifer for escaping. And then kill Elyon again if they found him."
Ghost sighed.
"Wonderful. Another cosmic mess."
Elisha stepped forward, sniffing the ground.
"But something else is happening. Something new."
Ghost tensed.
"What did you find?"
Elisha's shoulders stiffened.
"These demons—they carry souls.
Stolen ones.
Not erased. Not eaten.
Stored."
Ghost's eyes darkened.
"Morvath?"
Elisha shook his head.
"No. This feels… younger. Wilder. Like a newborn god."
Ghost shivered.
"And can you track it?"
Elisha bared her fangs.
"I followed the scent all the way here."
She looked into the darkness ahead.
"It leads toward her."
"Her who?" Ghost asked.
"Elisha's voice dropped to a whisper:
"Zyla.""
Ghost floated forward.
"Then we find the thief."
Elisha gave a single nod and bolted into the darkness, Ghost streaking behind her like a shadow of death.