As they raced down the street, Jack's arms burned—one holding Coco, the other dragging Rose along. The strain was brutal, but he powered through it. No matter what, he wouldn't drop his dog. If it came down to it, he'd leave Rose before letting go of Coco.
Coco barked nonstop, frantic in Jack's arms.
"Mmph—Coco, shut up," Jack muttered through clenched teeth, the sword's handle still gripped in his mouth.
Coco stopped immediately, letting out a small pouty huff.
All around them, chaos reigned. Jack saw other people getting torn down by the creatures—even some who had swords. The blade meant nothing if you were too afraid to use it.
Police sirens wailed in the distance, and gunshots rang out. Officers were shooting at the shadow beasts, but it was useless. Bullets passed through the creatures like smoke.
Then, for the first time in a while, Rose spoke.
"They're getting closer…" she whimpered, her voice trembling.
"I know!" Jack tried to yell, but the words were muffled by the sword in his mouth. His frustration boiled over.
"Will you run faster?!" he snapped, yanking her harder.
He spotted a narrow alley between two houses to the left. Without hesitation, he turned and darted down the path, dragging Rose and carrying Coco.
One of the creatures got dangerously close—its mask glowing with red fury.
Rose let out a terrified cry, closed her eyes, and swung her sword wildly. It wasn't graceful. It wasn't skilled. But it connected.
The blade sliced through the beast, and it screamed before retreating into the shadows.
A teenage boy suddenly sprinted past them down the alley, holding his own glowing sword. Rose instinctively started to follow, but Jack held her back.
"No—this way," he said, pulling her into the backyard of a nearby house.
He slashed the doorknob off the back door and slipped inside silently. Rose followed, closing the door behind her.
But just before it shut, she caught a glimpse of the boy. He was surrounded. The masked creatures had caught up to him. He swung his sword desperately, anger flashing in his eyes—but his grunts quickly turned into screams of pain.
Then silence.
Upstairs, Jack finally released Rose and checked the map floating beside him. The golden dot—the King—wasn't moving.
Jack scoffed, annoyed.
"Yeah, must be nice. You don't have to run from all these damn things."
He clenched his jaw and muttered, "How are we supposed to find you if we're stuck hiding every few minutes?"
His eyes scanned the corner of the map interface:
King's Game: 7:40:00
Dice Event: 40:00
Event Duration: 10:00
He narrowed his eyes. Ten minutes left… and the creatures disappear. Then we choose again. After forty minutes, the King rolls the dice.
Jack groaned. "This is too much. This guy gets so many chances to win."
Rose stepped into the room, breathing heavily.
Jack looked at her grimly.
"The message said this was one of the easy events," he said quietly.
They both fell silent.
This might be their only real shot at stopping the King… and it was already tearing people apart.