“So, your world is called Fracture?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” responded Cordan. Jack had to give the man credit for his levelheadedness under the circumstances. The situation they found themselves in was equal parts strange and dangerous. Alindal, Jack, Raina, and Cordan were lined up facing the Twilight King in his throne room. Behind them, two death knights and a cowled man shrouded in darkness guarded the door blocking any chance of escape. Jack recognized the trio as the group that had appeared with the boss after the Remnant Gate opened. The king himself sat on an imposing throne of dark crystal and bone which rested on a raised dais. Rovena stood to the boss’s left while the animated skull with glowing red eyes floated over his right shoulder. In short, they were trapped on all sides by dangerous entities, any one of whom could likely kill them all. The Twilight King was currently focused on questioning Cordan. Thus far, the relic hunter had done a good job of answering the undead boss’s questions as succinctly as possible, only going into detail when asked. Interestingly, Cordan had fallen into a pattern of formal mannerisms that made Jack wonder if the man came from a regal background.

“And you say it is connected to many other worlds by portals like the one I traveled through?” asked the king. Cordan nodded. “Fascinating. So, this Fracture is a nexus of sorts. Do you know how many worlds are linked to it? Do these worlds share a commonality that connects them to yours? And why does your Relic Hunter guild meddle with them?”

“The last estimate taken by the guild was somewhere around one thousand viable rifts which are the precedent to a Remnant Gate, Your Majesty. As for similarities, only the fragments of destroyed worlds appear beyond Remnant Gates or that is what I have been told and have experienced at least. The purpose of the Relic Hunter guild is to organize forays into these worlds to collects Relics which are powerful items with special properties.”

When Cordan finished, the Twilight King laughed. The sound was harsh on Jack’s ears and caused Alindal and Raina to flinch. The silver flame in the king’s left eye flared brighter as his laugh filled the room. After a few seconds, he looked at Cordan and said, “I stand corrected. Not a nexus, but a graveyard and you lot are scavengers picking at the bones of the dead.” The creature looked up at the skull. “How fitting for our home to be tethered to such a place, wouldn’t you say Kafkë?”

The skull chuckled then said, “Yeah, I suppose it is.” It paused glancing over the four of them. “Still, there’s been something bugging me since we got back. Mind if I ask a couple of question, boss?” The Twilight King gestured for Kafkë to continue. The skull addressed Cordan, “You say your world is separate from ours, but I have my doubts. How is it that you speak our tongue? I could understand if we were speaking the common language, but everyone here speaks in Chthon which only those touched by the soul crystals can understand. And what’s more, you all were in the company of a lightweaver. What’s your relationship with the Church of the Eternal Light?”

Cordan frowned slightly. “Forgive me, but by lightweaver do you mean—.”

“Kafkë refers to the fool that I cut down,” Rovena declared cutting Cordan off. Raina aimed a glare at the woman who noticed and met her eyes evenly. To Raina’s credit, she held the undead woman’s dark gaze for several seconds before she broke eye contact.

“Ah. Well, the matter of language is a bit… complex. The simplest way I can put it is that all individuals within Fracture possess a special trait called the Fractured Tongue which allows us to communicate with any other individual who has the trait. I’m not sure what is going on here since you are creatures from a Remnant Gate so it shouldn’t work but my best guess is that that is somehow involved since I, at the very least, do not speak any language called Chthon. As for this Church of the Eternal Light, I do not know it. The man killed by Lady Rovena hired my guild to facilitate the expedition into your world. I do not know his background because the guild does not pry into such matters.”

That’s my cue. Jack who had been looking for an opportunity to interject himself into the conversation saw his chance. From the beginning, he’d hoped to build goodwill with the Twilight King since the boss was his best shot at avoiding capture by Ciel at the moment. Still, he was glad Cordan had been the first to speak since it gave Jack the opportunity to gauge the undead king’s temperament. So far, Jack believed the undead was more curious than anything. He didn’t question that the creature would kill them if the whim came; however, Jack sensed no overt hostility or malice from him. He stepped forward drawing the eyes of everyone in the room. His eyes caught the glint of metal and he glanced over to see Rovena holding her white blade in a relaxed grip at her side. The blade had been sheathed before he moved. He swallowed his nerves and addressed the Twilight King.

“If I may, Your Majesty, I believe I can offer more insight into the two questions asked,” he said taking a page out of Cordan’s book and bowing his head. He caught the curious looks of Alindal and Raina as well as one of suspicion from Cordan.

“Speak then,” the skeletal figure said.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. First, as Cordan explained, the Fractured Tongue enables those within Fracture to communicate with one another; however, the reason it is allowing us to speak with you and your entourage is that you have been to Fracture. You see, the rules of Fracture aren’t very discerning in my experience. The Fractured Tongue was likely applied to all those who passed through the Remnant Gate. That said, it would not apply to any who have not been to Fracture. I know this because Your Majesty is not the first denizen of a Remnant Gate I have conversed with under such circumstances.” As he finished, the Twilight King tapped his chin pensively.

Jack mentally sent thanks to Guros, his fallen friend. Guros had been a sentient beast creature Jack encountered a year after waking up in Fracture. His group had captured Guros with the intent to sell him but changed their plans when his unintelligible bestial cries turned into discernable speech a few days after the raid. Through his conversations with Guros, Jack had learned many interesting things about the effects of Fracture on the denizens of Remnant Gates. Unfortunately, one of those effects was death if the creature was away from their homeworld for too long as he’d learned a month later when Guros died. Although the process was much quicker, he believed a similar situation had occurred with the Twilight King and his companions. Jack could only guess why it’d taken days for the Fractured Tongue to work on Guros while its effect had been near-immediate on the Twilight King though he suspected the strength difference played a factor somehow. Guros had been from an E-rank Remnant Gate while the king and his company were S-rank.

“I see,” said the Twilight King. He raised a skeletal hand close to his jaw and one of the rings adorning it glowed with blue light. “Zandur, come to the throne room and give your report.”

A chill passed through the room as he lowered his hand. Moments later, a shadow detached from the wall closest to the throne. The shadow silently slid across the floor before stopping at the base of the dais between Jack and the king. A deep vibrational hum emanated from the shadow shifting pitch several times until the noise stopped. The Twilight King watched them all carefully the entire time before it waved dismissively at the shadow which vanished into the darkness at the edges of the room.

“I see that none of you could understand Zandur.” Jack wasn’t sure how he could be certain, but he was glad king was satisfied with his answer. There were other things about the Fractured Tongue that he’d left out like the ability to intentionally turn the trait off as Alindal often did when he spoke his elven proverbs. It was risky to omit details when dealing with someone as powerful as the Twilight King; nonetheless, Jack aimed to hang on to any advantage he could. The king leveled his gaze on Jack. “You claimed to have insight into both questions Kafkë asked. What of the lightweaver and your connection to the Church?”

Alright, time for a bit of a gamble. I hope I’m not wrong, he thought. To the king, he said, “I believe you already have some knowledge of the man called Ciel, Your Majesty.”

Unliving eyes of shadow and flame looked down on him, inscrutable and unwavering. Raina and Alindal appeared confused by Jack’s statement while Cordan’s suspicion gaze grew more intense. Finally, the Twilight King said, “I would hear the words from you anyway.”

Jack bowed. “Of course, Your Majesty. Ciel or the man you and Lady Rovena fought is not a member of the Church of the Eternal Light. He is a Celestial.” He paused when Cordan began coughing roughly as though he’d choked on something. Raina moved to help the man but he recovered quickly and waved her off. Jack met Cordan’s eyes. The suspicion had been replaced by fear which told Jack that the relic hunter had heard of Celestials at least. he continued, “While he was overcome by Your Majesty’s strength, I’m afraid that he hasn’t truly been defeated because, in addition to the great power they wield, Celestials are also immortal. Although it may be hard to believe, Ciel’s similarities to those you call “lightweavers” is likely coincidental.”

“Does the immortality of these Celestials have a weakness by which they can be killed?” the Twilight King asked. Jack shook his head while pointedly ignoring the wide-eyed look of relief and confusion on Raina’s face. “Hmph, true immortality then? That will be inconvenient if he chooses to pursue us through the portal.” He lifted his hand again prompting the same ring as before to glow. “Zandur, post some of your shadows at the eastern outpost I visited earlier.” There was no response but the king lowered his hand and continued speaking to Jack. “How many of these Celestials are there? And do any others aside from this Ciel pursue you?”

“To my knowledge, there are thirteen across all of Fracture though only one other aside from Ciel pursues me.” Jack had to bite down the urge to sigh because it made him weary just talking about the Celestials. The look of sudden pity on Cordan’s face didn’t help his mood any either.

“Are those sufficient answers to settle your suspicion of the pope’s involvement, Kafkë,” the undead monarch asked.

“Yeah, I suppose,” the skull responded. Rather than acknowledging Kafkë answer, the king seemed to contemplate something as he stared into the exposed night sky to the east and an awkward silence fell over the room for almost a minute until Jack cleared his throat.

“Your Majesty, may I ask a question?” he asked after the Twilight King turned his attention back on the group. The skeletal creature nodded and Jack asked, “Would Your Majesty’s name happen to be Arcen Corran?”

His question hung in the air for a moment until Kafkë remarked, “This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

Instead of answering Jack, the king rose from his throne and descended the dais to stand before him. Jack’s heartbeat nearly doubled as the giant skeletal figure approached putting him perilously close to his cardiac danger zone. The Twilight King rested his skeletal hand Jack’s shoulder and as he looked up into the king’s deathly visage, Jack contemplated how his life had come to such a strange moment. A familiar prompt appeared asking him if he’d like to initiate a Harmonic Convergence when the king got closer. Jack dismissed it.

“So, the connection I felt was no coincidence. I have not heard that name in over a century.” The Twilight Key brightened and for a moment, Jack saw the remnants of a man behind swirling darkness and silver flame in the king’s eyes. Then, like a mirage, it was gone. “I wish to see this ‘power core’ of yours.”

Well, no turning back now. He avoided glancing at Cordan or Raina who he wished weren’t present; there was little to be gained from fussing about it now. The king released him and he stepped back to give himself some space. He quickly pulled off his trench coat, protective vest, and shirt. When he removed his shirt, Raina gasped.

Kafkë who had drifted closer while Jack was undressing said, “Oh look, he’s only half flesh bag.”

Everyone stared at Jack for an uncomfortably long amount of time but he bore it as though he had nothing to hide. He not only wanted to entreat the Twilight King for aid but also desired answers for his own situation. Since meeting the undead king at the Remnant Gate, Jack had sensed that there was something special about him aside from his power as an S-rank world boss. Based on his conversation with Raina, he knew the core melded with his body was a World Core which meant he shared a commonality with the towering undead. Hopefully, he could finally have some answers to explain all of the suffering he’d been forced to endure for the last five years.

The Twilight King broke the silence. “What do you feel, Kafkë?”

The skull drifted far closer than Jack would’ve liked with its shining eyes locked on his Word Core. The faint blue light radiating from the core cast dark shadows over the ridges and angles of the skull’s pristine white bone.

Eventually, Kafkë said, “Now that I’m closer to it, I can tell the difference between it and the Twilight Key. This thing has got a totally different tune to it, but the signal it gives off is so weak that I’m surprised we felt it in the first place. It’s like it’s dormant.”

The king met Kafkë’s gaze and asked, “Could you rouse it with your power?”

“I can’t be sure, but probably,” the skull responded.

“Do it. I am counting on your success.”

“Understood, boss” Kafkë said. It floated up to eye level with Jack. “Alright, Mr. Meat and Metal, just place a hand on the symbol on my head and concentrate.”

Jack hesitated for a moment then placed his left hand on Kafkë’s forehead. When a notification appeared, Jack’s breath caught in his throat.

[You have successfully accessed an Artifact!]

• Name: Kafkë, Keeper of Souls
• Relic Grade: S

[Would you like to use this Relic? Y/N]

Steeling himself for the unknown, Jack selected yes.