[ 2 days before the tournament ]

The Palace of Eltsten was considered one of the most beautiful places in the mapped world. The Goddess of Waterfalls raised her home on a floating land above the Riverlands, a pearl of white marble above an endless sea of jade.

“I know what you want. You know my mother would not hear of it. Fortunately, I have a way to make her listen.”

On the terrace of Her Majesty’s daughter, a man of lush syrup-brown hair and a sharp moustache hopped on one leg to pull his pants up. Through the rich curtains, he could still see the shape of her dear as she sat on a soft bed large enough to fit six pairs of lovers. Though no more than a minute had passed since he held her soft skin when guards knocked on her door, he already longed to feel her sweet hair between his fingertips and those soft lips connecting with his.

“Your love is sensible, Sir Mortimer, but my mother cares not for simple men. You could make a fine husband, but what is a man who lacks the reputation? A simple commoner, my love.”

He had so much to say, yet so little time, he felt as though he would die had he left without a promise. But what could he say? What could a man with no gold to his name, no ancestry to speak of do to deserve the love of a princess? What could a simple NPC do to deserve the hand of his Goddess’s daughter?

“There is a man, Mortimer, a man whose twisted desire erases stars from the sky. He is no god, but a devil, a herald of the void sent to remind us of our mortality. A demon he is, a widowmaker whose tentacles wish to engulf the light of our realm. This creature schemes to disrupt order at the next of Kukusi’s games. Ask permission to bear my mother’s flag and go there, slay him in her name so I may bear yours, and with that, your blood in my womb.”

- - -

Mortimer entered the battlefield with a silver rapier. Soup refused to use a weapon, insisting that all she needed were her bare hands and the headwear of her tribe to win this match.

Kukusi ordered the two an even distance away and waited before letting the match begin. Below his charming smile, he was deep in thought. The paper in his hand was meant to announce the next randomly selected opponent to face the current challenger.

“I don’t know how, but he swapped out his name with the other fighter,” Kukusi grumbled to himself, “Had these battles not been predetermined, I would have never caught him messing with things. But why would he want to avoid this fight? Is he scared of either opponent?”

There was not much for him to do now. He made the mistake of speaking faster than his mind would catch up and accidentally announced Mortimer’s name.

“Whatever, the show must go on,” he nodded, then spoke loudly, “Let the game begin!”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Mortimer dashed forward to close the gap between himself and Soup. The goblin remained at the same place instead, chanting something to herself while she began a tribal dance, shifting her legs into a straddle while rhythmically grabbing her thighs, left elbow, shoulders, right elbow, hips, ears, and again. Thighs, left elbow, shoulders, right elbow, hips, ears, and repeat.

The eyes of the headwear began to burn red, and after the fifth cycle of her dance, just as Mortimer closed half the gap between them, the horns of the dead minotaur shone bright red before shooting a burst of red energy towards Soup’s opponent. Immediately, Mortimer’s left leg blew off.

The man fell to the ground, first silent as the dust picked up around him, then howling in pain as it caught up to him and saw his destroyed leg a few meters away.

Soup’s lips curled into a grin, but she remained focused to continue her rite. After three more dance cycles, the minotaur gained light again and burst forward another wave of red energy. It was fast and barely visible, but Tanuki caught a glimpse of its true shape.

“Is that the headwear’s ghost?” he watched the faint bullhead charge forward, but before he could analyse its appearance any further, the battle ended.

Mortimer’s skull crushed before the blow, and with that, at thirty-seven seconds, the battle was over.

What remained of the man was quickly surrounded by a staff of pig-people, who began securing his remains. A moment later, Kukusi teleported to them, and though what he said could not be heard by the others, they could deduce something. Unlike with Fuchsia’s corpse, Mortimer’s backer did not require his to be returned.

For all its worth, his could be thrown to the dogs without anyone batting an eye. Still, Kukusi found a weakling like him to make a perfect appetiser for his next tournament. With a knock of his staff, Kukusi sent a light blue wave through the fighting pits and the amphitheatre, turning the man’s remains into blue particles and sending them away.

“Another soul to the collection,” he noted with a smile, then turned to face Tanuki’s bunch. He was a little surprised to see no joy or excitement on their part, only horrified and somewhat guilty looks.

Soup was in high spirits. She laughed loudly, roaring with adrenaline while raising her fist into the air.

“Is that all you got? Ahaha! I came here for a fight but all I see are weak men! Send in the next one, let me crush ‘em!”

Her work pleased Kukusi. He found the small savage to be quite enjoyable.

Looking at the stars, he saw mixed reactions. Some shined bright with excitement at the sight of blood, while others showed barely any light for the disappointing fight.

“Thankfully,” he thought, “The finale will appease them both. Even now, I can feel his presence near the arena, he must know it’s his time. Strange still, I do not sense any kind of fear or excitement in his aura. It’s as if he was a held-back breath that never needed to let go. How strange it is, how he can reduce all that overwhelming power into something so little.”

Kukusi grinned, “Whatever. Even if he beats this savage easily, my patrons prepared a special trap hidden inside the winner’s prize. The moment he accepts it in his hands––Whoosh!––and his soul is ours.”

He had been awaiting this day for a long time. Whatever happens, he would not let that monster leave his realm alive.

Kukusi cleared his throat and spoke loudly.

“Ladies and Gentleladies!”––he pointed his staff at the gate opposite to Soup––“Our next challenger is one to enter a tourney for the first time! Still, his reputation outshines even our strongest fighters’! Some love him, some hate him, but none can question his talent! I am pleased to announce the debut match of the Sage from the Desert, the Mirage That Sees All, the one and only Prrrrrrrrrooooofessor!”

“Professor?” Tanuki snapped out of his daydreaming.

The wooden gate opened with a mist akin to that which enveloped all previous challengers. A most peculiar silhouette drew itself within. He moved slowly with a walking cane in his right hand, though he did not seem to have a need for it. Height-wise he only reached above average due to that green ball sitting atop of his head, revealing itself to be a green turban as the mist withdrew.

Tanuki was surprised to see a mask akin to a plague doctor’s hid his face, its eyeholes repurposed as one-way glasses to help his eyesight while concealing its true colour. The sides of his head hid under a white veil that turned yellow from the stain and sand. His clothes were layers upon layers of thin material meant to save him from the burning rays of the desert sun while still allowing air to circulate.

Soft gloves and simple footwear hid all traces of his natural skin colour. Though he would appear modest from afar, one closer look would reveal all kinds of magical artefacts attached to his belts. A purple and green potion, a lantern on his opposite side emitting black smoke, two pyramid-shaped stones attached, and many more gizmos of magic that hid beneath his silken cocoon.

Most notable of his belongings was a large violet diamond decorating the head of his cane, something he rubbed with his hand almost unconsciously, and a broken key that hung from his neck like a prized artefact.

The Professor seemed meek compared to all the fanfare in his introduction. Tanuki feared he might be torn to shreds by Soup, only before remembering something that turned all his worry to confusion.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he whispered mainly to himself, but Edgar noticed.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is the same guy that asked me to trade my dark essence. He was supposed to show up the evening we met, but he never came, and I have not heard from him since.”

“Hmmm. Maybe he decided to take what he wants via force. Wouldn’t surprise me, all the divines you’ve told me about were evil. You seem to be the only exception to your kind.”

Tanuki did not answer but knew Edgar might be right. This was not his first rodeo with other divine beings and knew exactly how scummy they could get. Still, he held out some hope that the Professor might be an ally, not so much for the sake of their partnership, but rather for the peace of his heart. He could not handle another betrayal, not after what happened in Yoshimura.

As the Professor made his way closer, Tanuki noticed a quiet although significant twitching in his neck. The closer he looked, the more he realised that trembling resided quieter in all the man’s body, resulting in small jerks and unconscious ticks in movement. A short tightening of fists, a sudden bending of his back. The way his head moved reminded him of small birds in the park looking for fallen breadcrumbs. He found it less cute than uncomfortable.

“Good evening!” he spoke with an oldish voice and bowed lightly to Kukusi, before continuing his path to Tanuki. Soup already thought of two different insults about his appearance, which she was annoyed to lose to the Professor’s complete ignorance of her presence.

“Hey, asshole! Where do you think you’re going? Are you afraid? Come back here!”

The Professor did not turn back, but rather waved to Tanuki and giggled as if seeing a small puppy. He waved back, though hesitantly.

Soup would not accept such disrespect. Despite Kukusi pretending to try to stop her, she went after the Professor and clenching her fist tight, she jumped high to punch him in the head.

“I said listen!” she roared and blinked twice in confusion when rather than landing her blow, she appeared on the opposite side of the nonchalant Professor. Quickly gathering her thoughts, she ran after the Professor to deliver a vast kick onto his back, “Quit fooling around, fool!”

Once more, it seemed as though she utterly miscalculated her attack, appearing a few meters in the opposite direction of the Professor.

“What?” she faltered as her mind tried to make sense of things.

The Professor did not pay attention to the green distraction. He stopped a little distance below Tanuki’s bunch and spoke with jolly.

“How wonderful! Excuse my cackling, but my excitement is one too much for that weak body of mine. You must be Tanuki, yes? Hachiro Tanuki! What a fine name! I wish I could shake your hand, but such formalities will have to wait. Oh, goodness! Silly me forgot to introduce myself, though we have a great showman to thank for helping with that.”––he bowed humbly––“Mister! ‘Tis a humble servant of our partnership, Professor by the name, an academic by profession.”

“Hi,” Tanuki spoke, continuing a moment later, “… I’m Tanuki.”

“What a fine lad you are! One day a great man surely you’ll become!”

“Why are you in the ring?” he cut to the chase.

“Oh, yes, about that,” he turned around and yelled to Kukusi, “I surrender!”

It took a few blinks of the showman to realise, the Professor was being serious. His mouth opened but no words came of it.

“Excuse me?” he repeated in shock.

Soup too was quite surprised, though she took that as a sure sign of her intimidating appearance. Indeed, if her opponent surrendered, that meant she had not only won the match but the tourney too.

“Yes! Soup wins again!” she held her fist high, continuing with a celebratory speech to thank her father, her mother, but most importantly, herself. “I believe in the importance of a good diet and regular exercising. Sports are very important too. My favourite is fishing, you know, fish are good food. My favourite breed is the big one, but sometimes I like the tasty one…”

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The Professor ignored both, instead turning back to Tanuki to speak.

“Apologies for not appearing on our scheduled rendezvous but something of great importance required my attention. By the time I was free once more, it came to me you’d been chosen for a tourney, and my slothfulness figured I could just attend and kill two birds with one stone! Oh, and trade with you, of course!” he followed with a carefree laugh that unnerved Tanuki.

He then continued, offering his hand.

“So then, have you got the black essence granted for defeating the Kiss of Death?”

Tanuki felt unsure about the man but still opened his inventory. He retrieved the dark orb and showed it floating above his palm.

“I did take it with me because I feared someone might rob my realm while I’m away. To be honest, I still don’t understand how these essences work.”

“I’ll tell you after you hand it over and our partnership goes into full effect! I’ll even provide another gift for you, just to show my honesty!”

“Will it be another healing salve?” Tanuki wanted to ask, but Edgar held him back and leaned close to whisper directly into his ear.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

Tanuki lowered his voice. “I promised I would give this to him. Well, I mean, I decided I would give it to him.”

“Why?”

“Just look at him! He looks a lot older and wiser than I’ll ever become. Even his fricking name, it’s Professor! That shows he’s smart! Also, he looks rich, just look at that diamond on his cane! That must be worth a thousand times our realm. If I can get on this man’s good side, he might defend me from…”

“From what?” Edgar raised his head, “From our enemies? Or maybe, from the world itself? My Liege, if you keep depending on others for your safety, you’ll find yourself as a slave reduced to no more than a tumour feeding on the side of a greater mechanism.”

Tanuki felt a chill run up his spine. It was fear, the dread of existing in a harsh world.

“T-Then what do I do?” he faltered.

“You let the wind blow on you. And when it throws sticks and stones in your face, you stand proud and take it. It will hurt at first, but by the time your wounds heal, and the next barrage hits you, you’ll find the world less painful than it seemed before.”

He continued, “Those who hide behind others will fear pain because they’ll never grow strong. Now, I by no means want to discourage you from making alliances but think again. Who says this man is not a trickster? You got something he really wants. A partnership is not one party giving its all for empty promises, it’s the exchange of what the other parties necessitate.”

Tanuki pulled away. “But I don’t need the black essence, I don’t even know how to use it!”

“Ding-ding-ding!” Edgar put his finger on Tanuki’s forehead. “That’s exactly your necessity! You need knowledge! You want to know how to use essences!”

Tanuki looked away in thought. It took him a moment, but he understood what Edgar wanted him to do.

“Thank you, Edgar,” he nodded affirmingly before turning back to the Professor, “Now hold on a second! I find it quite odd you would want to tell me about the essence after I give it to you.”

“Oh, but Mister Hachiro, I am a firm believer of show-don’t-tell!”

“I don’t know what that is, but if you don’t tell me right now, the deal’s up. We might revisit this discussion after I shove it up a few more holes, but hey, don’t hate me when I stumble on an answer!”

“Mister Hachiro, I must insist,” he stepped forward in desperation, raising his hand to argue, “That object is of great scientific significance. I am willing to repay you twice after I’ve secured the essence, but please, you must…”

Once the Professor mentioned a nobler cause, Edgar feared Tanuki might give in to his pleas. After all, he was a young boy with a pure heart, one most impressionable.

Fortunately, that heart stained from all the humiliation he had to endure. For the first time in so long, he was like a king looking down on beggars, and he enjoyed that agency, the freedom to determine the fate of not just himself, but of someone else too.

Thus, he did the only reasonable thing any boy could do in that situation and put the dark essence into his mouth. Edgar gasped from the pleasant surprise while the Professor stepped forward and reached out in panic.

“Don’t do it!” he yelled without much thought, to which Tanuki spat out the orb with a pleased grin.

“A-ha! So, I was right, and the essence needs to be eaten!”

“No, that’s not it,” the Professor rubbed the temples of his mask and accepted defeat, “Essences are the building blocks of the universe. The way they work is quite mysterious, there is no connection between one and another. I must admit, I have an idea of the use for the essence left by the Kiss of Death, but only because I’ve been studying traces of her for a time far before your arrival.”

While he was speaking, Soup sneaked up on him from behind. Edgar and Six noticed, but both remained silent for different reasons. The green goblin grinned with satisfaction as she readied to pounce the old man, and as she launched through the air to tackle him, she let out a sharp battle cry.

“Don’t ignore my speech, asshole!” she yelled as she was about to reach him, but the Professor vanished and reappeared behind her, sending two chains made of sand to restrain her to the ground. Two followed, tying her legs together and her mouth shut so she may not intervene. All in mere seconds.

Tanuki jumped a little in his seat, but his fear quickly disappeared in admiration of the man’s power. Despite his humble appearance, he was not only powerful but also incredibly fast.

The Professor bumped the butt of his cane against the struggling Soup’s head, who would have replied with curses and bites, had her mouth not been filled with sand.

“You’re lucky I’m a pacifist,” he laughed, then turned towards Kukusi, “Do not mistake. She’s still the winner. I surrendered.”

The pig had been silently staring at him for a long time now. His appearance changed completely from that warm, sensational tone. A rigid revengeful stare loomed over his pupils. The Professor did not care much for him though, quickly returning to Tanuki instead.

“Now, shall I be so lucky to gain your trust in the form of that dark essence?”

Edgar jumped from his seat a little as a thought excited him, but Tanuki quickly waved him away. He too thought of it.

The Professor was powerful. That meant he had already faced many waves and dungeons. A consequence of that must have been an abundance of resources.

He really needed that essence and Tanuki was willing to push his luck even more if that meant access to more resources.

“I ask for another token of your trust,” Tanuki raised his nose, “I feel this trade is not fair unless you provide something of equal value first.”

The Professor was silent for a moment. Tanuki wondered if he asked for too much and should walk back on his wishes, but the Professor seemed to open his inventory interface and scroll through a dozen different items. By the size of his personal menu, their hunch was right, the Professor was way richer than they thought.

“I would never have thought, Mister Hachiro,” he said but did not elaborate, rather summoning a token from his inventory and throwing it to the boy, “Catch!”

Tanuki almost dropped it, but quickly fixed his mistake and caught the small thing. He opened his palm to reveal a moon-blue token that bore the carvings of an egg. The Professor knew he would not recognise it after so few instances of using them, so he explained.

“A portal, it shows. That coin is a [Guest Token] that allows you to visit the realm of another God without having to ask for their permission first. You won’t be able to hurt them or be hurt by them while in their realm, you can also summon a teleport back home anytime you wish. Regular visitation tokens would alert the realm’s owner of your arrival, but I’ve enchanted this one to serve as an exception. They will never know you’ve been there, should you be careful when you go.”

Tanuki stared at the token in his hand for a while. It was less than what he had hoped for, but still more than he would have got otherwise.

“Should I press my luck any further?” he wondered, but before he could reject the idea with a regret that would haunt him for days, the Professor said something that caught his interest.

“You know, Mister, I have ears that reach beyond what one can imagine. It reaches beyond space, but also beyond perceivable time. I heard faint whispers of a future, Mister Hachiro, one that should not come to fruition lest an outside force intervenes. For so long, I’ve ignored that whisper, but your strong presence amplified its voice. Though insignificant it appears, I wonder, could two faint whispers make a thundering shout?”

His words left an impression on not just the boy, but Edgar too. It made the farmer even more suspicious of the well-spoken academic and though knew these might just be empty words meant to exploit their curiosity, there was a possibility he might mean his words.

To ease his troubled heart, though he did not truly intend to trust him with complex thoughts, he turned to Six for advice.

“Hmmm. What do you think?” Edgar asked, a bit confused as to why Six appeared so tense.

“I no like fire,” he spoke, one hand gripping his sword.

Edgar raised an eyebrow but took it as nothing more than the incoherent babbling characteristic of plantfolks.

Tanuki ignored the two, listening to his own thoughts to find the truth. In the end, he decided the token would suffice. He got more than he wished for while still remaining on good terms with the Professor. The partnership remained alive. He proved himself as someone not to be underestimated, which earned at least some respect from the Professor.

“I’m happy with this,” he nodded and threw the Professor the essence.

He reached out to grab the tiny orb, but before he could have, a shadow flashed between them, and the essence disappeared. The shadow snatching it moved so fast it was nearly impossible to trace, had he not been so upfront about his act.

“Stop,” Kukusi’s voice turned deep as he commanded them with rage. With his free hand, he raised the black orb, its harmless dark flames engulfing his paws.

Adjusting his monocle, he made it fall even further out of the two chunks of fat keeping it in front of his eye, though he did not try fixing his mistake. No longer did he care about the professional façade.

The Professor showed no respect to him or his show, surrendering before the fight could even begin. He did not care so much for how it impacted the spectators’ thoughts as for the goodwill of wealthy patrons. What he truly desired was the Professor’s head, something he would have no chance of getting should he not intervene right here, right now.

“We’ve evaluated your wish to surrender. Unfortunately, we must deny the request.”

“Oh, I think you should give that back,” the Professor leaned forward as if talking to a child, pointing at the essence.

“No,” Kukusi replied.

Tanuki wanted to stand up and intervene, but as he was about to speak, his head bumped into an invisible wall. He put his hand onto it and felt a strange tingling sensation. Edgar and Six too stood inside the barrier, but not any of the servants around them.

Edgar banged his hand on the wall and yelled, but his voice did not go through. They could hear the outside, but it could not hear them.

“Did the Professor do this?” Tanuki’s eyes grew wide with fear.

“What?!” Edgar yelled. He reached under his robe and took out a hidden knife he kept from his cupboard. In a desperate attempt, he tried to stab the barrier, but the dull blade bounced right off.

Six ran before Tanuki to create a meat shield. He did not stop the plantfolk, peaking the battlefield by his side to continue watching the altercation.

The Professor remained calm even as Kukusi channelled his mana and his aura turned dense.

“That thing is no toy, Mister.”

“Quiet,” Kukusi held away the orb, “I was willing to invite you on the off-chance someone might put a blade through your throat.”

“I’m sorry to have ruined your day.”

“I’m not going to be a pawn in your schemes. What is that boy to you, anyway? Have you any clue what his domain is?”

“I’m more than aware he is the weakest of the bunch. Quite literally, might I add. But,” he looked back over his shoulder at Tanuki, “Natural selection has yet to take its toll. Fascinating, really. Would I be a true academic had I not researched such fine specimens from up close?”

Kukusi sniggered and slowly backed away. “Your little plaything will be reduced to the dust in the coming wave either way, so it's best you say goodbye to him like you’re about to say goodbye to your life! I got the hounds on you! The nobles have been planning their revenge for twenty-four cycles. You will pay with your blood for what you’ve done!”

The Professor rubbed his chin. Then, he raised his other arm to reveal an empty void in place of his wrist.

Kukusi’s hate turned into terror as she realised what had happened, He turned to the essence in his hand and saw the Professor’s wrist floating in a whirlwind of dust, and the key from around his neck penetrating the essence.

“W-What are you doing?” he stuttered when he realised he could not pull away the essence.

“Is it not easy to see? I’m presenting my thesis on how legendary enchanted items affect dark essence differently. That in your hand is the essence left by the Kiss of Death. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Remove this key at once!” commanded him Kukusi, but the Professor simply ignored him and continued.

“Now, my research shows it bears the ability to turn living creatures into undead without killing them. Such findings would open doors for whole new branches of medicinal research. Imagine all the ailments that would cease from a patient becoming immune! Their resistance to pain would increase, venom would no longer affect them, and most importantly, no longer could old age extinguish the flame of life!”

“I said stop!” Kukusi shouted and sent a wave of energy at the Professor, but it simply passed through him, cutting straight through the arena’s foundation and collapsing the ground beneath Tanuki. For a single moment, it seemed like they would be buried beneath the rubble, but unlike the pigman staff, Tanuki and his followers remained unharmed in the defensive barrier.

Kukusi attacked two more before stopping to gather his breath. The Professor evaded them without moving a muscle as if his attacks were whiffs of lukewarm breeze that went around him.

“Now then, let’s see if my thesis translates well into practice!”

“Stop!” Kukusi screamed in plea, but the key turned and an explosion of light engulfed the arena.

Tanuki could see not the arena, only his companions within the barrier. He tried to speak out to them, but the explosion deafened them with a loud shriek.

Edgar stared straight up, his eyes fixated on something. He tried shaking his shoulder to grab his attention, but he would not respond. Then finally, he looked up.

The souls of deceased fighters cried and screamed as they flew outwards with the explosion, somewhere far, far away. There were faces unfamiliar, but the face of Grey too, showing terror as she passed on some plane unfamiliar.

Something made an audible noise and turning to it, Tanuki realised a small crack on the barrier. It grew more and more, as the souls of the deceased hit it like sharp stones.

Then the barrier shattered.

There was a white light brighter than a thousand suns.

His legs gave away and he felt his body fly through the air with the ease of a leaf.

He hit something and felt his shoulder break. He bit down hard on his scream, the adrenaline giving him the strength to repurpose his pain into a fuel that helped him stand on his feet.

As much as the explosion made him as small as an ant in a tornado, its aftermath was as a winter dawn fog and ashes raining from the sky with rubble mixed in.

“Where are the others?” his thoughts echoed in his skull. He moved forward, feeling the world double as his eyes shifted and he nearly fell to the ground. He stopped to take two deep breaths and pushed forward.

It must have been only a few tens of seconds, still, it felt like an eternity. Dragging himself along the ashes, he felt his foot get stuck in something. He kicked the ash away and saw the side of Edgar’s head, blood flowing out of his ear.

His heart nearly shot through his throat. He got on his knees and forced his broken arm, he first tried with two, then surrendered to the pain and only used one to clear the trash.

“Is he dead?” the fear bounced within his mind, amplifying with every turn. Tears blinded his eyes and snot disrupted his breathing.

“He’s going to die!” he yelled when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He turned, eyes growing wide as he saw him.

“Six?”

He wasted no time with introductions, joining Tanuki to dig out Edgar. Tanuki did not speak, only cry as they removed enough to pull him out, though he did notice that Six remained unharmed. A second later, he realised the shield on his back, or rather what little remained of it.

“Portal nearby,” Six spoke finally, placing Edgar on his shoulder and beginning in a direction.

The farmer woke up a little, grumbling something that though unintelligible still eased Tanuki’s mind. He was alive, though not conscious for long.

A few more piles of trash later, they saw a green portal in the fog. Six wasted no time looking around and went through with Edgar.

Tanuki let them pass first and turned as he heard something nearby.

“Another person?”

He saw very little of them. There was a box nearby, and behind it an unconscious Six and someone other below the fog, though Tanuki could not perceive her well.

“Hello?” he called out to them, to which the figure shot her large catlike ears into the air and turned towards Tanuki. He waved, but the figure swiftly fled into the fog, dragging Soup after her.

Tanuki thought about going after them, but something bellowed through the fog as large quantities of stones began to fall. The amphitheatre was collapsing, and he did not want to get caught beneath it.

Without wasting a second more, he escaped through the portal back into his realm.