The viewing frame steadied again, though the image wavered at the edges—New Star was collapsing faster now, and even Silvermoon’s Fate Sea Chart struggled to keep a clear hold.
In the cathedral below, Greed Wolf was still alive.
So was the Blood-Red Nun.
The two of them circled each other under the pulsing red sigils, blood pooling across the floor like a shallow tide. Greed Wolf’s movements were controlled, deliberate. He wasn’t chasing the Nun blindly anymore.
He was watching her.
The Blood-Red Nun smiled at him, and for once her smile didn’t look playful.
It looked strained.
Greed Wolf’s eyes narrowed. “You’re scared.”
The Nun laughed, but the sound was sharp. “Me? Of you?”
“You’re not fighting to win,” Greed Wolf said. “You’re fighting to leave.”
Her gaze flicked—just a fraction—toward the cathedral’s far corridor.
Greed Wolf caught it immediately.
“You’re running from someone,” he pressed. “Not from me.”
The Blood-Red Nun’s smile twitched.
Greed Wolf stepped forward, voice turning colder. “Tell me who’s coming. Which of the Seven Gods found you?”
The Nun’s eyes widened a hair, then she snapped back into that maddening calm. “Oh?” she purred. “So you do have teeth.”
Greed Wolf didn’t blink. “If you won’t say it, that’s fine. Run.”
The Nun paused.
Greed Wolf’s grin was wolfish now. “I’ll follow you. I’ll drag you right to them. Let you and the Level 4s tear each other apart.”
The air between them tightened.
“You hate that idea,” Greed Wolf said softly. “Because it means you lose control.”
For the first time since Ethan had met her, the Blood-Red Nun looked like prey.
In the Independent Space, the Dream Twins stared.
“She really is being hunted,” one whispered.
Silvermoon’s jaw tightened. “Rhine told us.”
The long-haired twin turned her head slowly toward Ethan, eyes bright with the kind of annoyance that was almost admiration. “Comparison really hurts, you know.”
Ethan gave her a blank look. “I didn’t compare anyone.”
“You didn’t have to,” the twin said. “Just standing there is enough.”
Silvermoon shot them a warning glance. “Focus.”
The other twin, the one with shorter hair, sighed dramatically. “Fine. But still—Greed Wolf’s instinct isn’t bad. He just… got played first.”
Ethan didn’t disagree.
On the viewing frame, the Blood-Red Nun’s body blurred, her robe fluttering like torn banners. She didn’t answer Greed Wolf’s question—couldn’t, or wouldn’t—but her silence confirmed everything.
She was leaving.
Greed Wolf lifted his weapon slightly, not attacking—threatening. “Go.”
The Nun’s eyes glittered with hate.
She vanished into the corridor like a smear of blood.
Greed Wolf didn’t chase immediately. He watched the direction she fled, breathing hard, as if memorizing the scent.
He’d chosen his path.
One of the Dream Twins muttered, “If Greed Wolf had Skye backing him…”
Silvermoon’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t drag Skye into this.”
The twin ignored her and kept going, almost thoughtful. “Honestly, Skye is the only one who can ‘mess with’ Rhine. Everyone else just gets outplayed.”
Ethan’s mouth twitched. “That’s not true.”
“It is,” the other twin said at once. “Skye has a weakness.”
Ethan stared. “A weakness?”
The long-haired twin nodded solemnly. “Gold.”
Ethan: “…”
Silvermoon: “…”
The Dream Twins looked pleased with themselves, as if they’d solved a great mystery.
Silvermoon rubbed her temple. “You’re both impossible.”
Ethan didn’t know whether to laugh or groan.
On the viewing frame, Greed Wolf finally moved—following the Blood-Red Nun into the collapsing veins of New Star, chasing her not as a hero, but as a hunter steering prey toward a bigger beast.
And above them all, the blood-red sun kept climbing, indifferent to every choice any of them made.