Unrequited love? Never heard of such a thing. A man that doesn’t love me back doesn’t deserve to live.

~Aine, Goddess of Love and Vengeance

The goth banshee grasped Crow from behind. Her massive tits smashed into his naked back, and he could feel the unwashed rags covering her and tried not to gag. Her icy fingers traced his abs upward, her nails leaving bloody trails as they went.

Summoning vines from his back, he used them to force a gap between them and savagely slammed his body backward. The banshee was thrown off him, but he didn’t count on her nails digging into flesh, unwilling to let go. The amount of meat she gouged from his hide went unnoticed as he took off running for the end of the bridge. Fuck the consequences!

As he tumbled across the ground past the last lantern, his cock slapped against his thigh like a whip. The pain wasn’t fierce, but it woke him from his fear-induced state. Out of all the wounds he had just acquired, all he could think about was the painful whipping from his manly appendage.

Struggling to his feet, he didn’t even care that he had to suffer the last four punishments. Behind him, the banshee’s incessant crying and calling out for her husband chilled him to the bone. How the fuck does goth banshee keep finding me?

Monsters bubbled up out of the water, and strange powers went crazy. Facing the banshee and the bridge, Crow’s jaw dropped because he had no idea what was happening anymore.

“Run for it! The archway is open,” Hooligan shouted from above, and Crow did just that. He turned and bolted for the open doorway, wondering if this stupid challenge would let him escape.

“Don’t touch my husssband!” A shrill scream sent destructive sound waves across the bridge. All the things chasing after him, whether elemental, beast, or unknown, panicked. Their screams of terror were cut short as their bodies were destroyed by the banshee’s destructive force.

Crow was now in a glass box above it all and watched in horrified fascination. The banshee he’d thought was annoying but harmless tore through those various powers like wet paper. Even the durable bodies of those summoned dragons couldn’t withstand the destructive power of the banshee’s soundwave attack.

Finally, she saw Crow staring down at her, and she leered at him with undisguised lust in her eyes. The black makeup streaked down her face from her fat crocodile tears. She licked her black lips and winked at him seductively.

Munro was laughing non-stop. He couldn’t get enough of this weird freak show. The best part was seeing the ordinarily unruffled Crow looking disheveled and out of sorts.

“Not funny, asshole. What the hell choices were those?”

“Hey, all I chose was the loss of dignity because I figured you’d long given up on your pride.”

“I might be shameless, but I have my dignity!” Crow growled.

“I chose ‘Spirit of the Past,’ but… do you know her?” Hooligan asked, and Munro laughed even harder.

Suddenly, the challenge below disappeared, and they were all in the starting room again. “That shouldn’t have happened. I’ve expelled the banshee back to where it came from, but I don’t know how it got here. This is vexing.”

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“I know that banshee. I’ve met her twice before in different worlds, but I don’t know how she finds me.”

“Hmm…” the disembodied voice hummed, and the other three waited. “You do have strange energy on your body. I’m afraid we can’t continue this challenge.”

“But—” Munro objected.

“Wait, young one. Since one of you passed it, we’ve decided you’ve succeeded. This was our error, and we’ll fix the formations to prevent this in the future.”

“Is it possible to know how many Shrines are on or in the water area?” Crow asked, wondering if they were feeling generous.

“Have you not visited the lounge area in Sanctuary?”

“Huh? No…” Crow looked at the other two, who shrugged along with him.

“You… go check there. A map appeared the moment the Shrines activated. There are twelve zones, thirteen if you include the main temple, and it tells you how many Shrines are in each. It is interactive, so it’ll tell you how many you found in that area, but that’s the best you’ll get out of it. It is also the most we can tell you. So yes, I can answer. There are four in this zone. As far as them being underwater… all we can say is explore anything that looks strange.”

“You keep saying we, are you not our consciousness?”

“No, we are the ghosts in the river. This is a special challenge, and there is one in each zone.”

“Does that mean a reward?” Munro asked.

“Normally, yes. However, since we gave you a pass, the only reward you get is that your artifact has gained a new feature. You can activate it at the pedestal in the center of the henge within the Sanctuary.”

Crow thought about it and felt this was an acceptable trade. This challenge was probably not something they should have been able to pass this early. It made him worry about whether they should skip these in the future until they had sufficient strength to pass them.

“Wait, before you send us on. Is there a way to tell the difference between the Shrines?”

“The Shrine’s main entrance is an arched door, and if you look at the peak of that arch, you’ll see a crystal. You are smart enough to figure out the rest.”

Before any more questions could be followed up, they were inside the ordinary Shrine with the portal at the back of the room. They looked at each, and Hooligan hurriedly turned away.

“Please put on some clothes,” she said.

“I don’t have any left,” Crow sighed and looked over at Munro, who shook his head and handed him some simple canvas pants and a vest made of soft, thin fabric. After getting dressed, he suddenly burst out laughing. “Why are you pretending now? Couldn’t you see through my clothes before?”

“I have some control now,” she argued back hotly. “Do you get naked a lot?”

Crow flushed, unsure how to answer that, and he could see Munro’s shoulders were shaking in response. He didn’t laugh aloud, but how could Hooligan miss his amusement?

“I prefer not to answer that one.”

“Then how about little—err miss hottie that chased after you on the bridge?” Hooligan was brutal and relentless. Crow walked into the portal and entered Sanctuary, leaving those two to stare at him open-mouthed.

“You can have your grudge with him, but you have to admit, it’s never boring around him,” Hooligan chuckled and entered the portal, so she didn’t hear what Munro said next.

“And another woman falls to his charm.” Munro was glad he had Esme, and while he was envious, he knew well enough to be content with what he had. A hard lesson he learned from his father’s demise.

The three of them entered Sanctuary and, before they split up, went to the cafeteria to eat. They weren’t the only ones there, but it wasn’t crowded. They discussed their plans for the next few days, and while Crow wanted to take a week of rest, the other two weren’t as leisurely with their time. In the end, they decided to meet up three days later.

Crow climbed into the shower first thing when he got back to his room and felt the stress of fighting beasts, completing challenges, and the harrowing experience at the end just melt away. One of his greatest strengths was letting go of his anxieties and keeping his mind clear. However, he was human, and while he could clear his heart and mind, his actions still weighed on him. A Soulverse filled with Soul Butlers was a testament to the kind of troubles he couldn’t vacate from his mind completely.

He wanted to see what was new about his artifact but left it for the following day. Right now, all that he wanted to do was get some sleep. Crawling into his bed, he slept until late morning.