The pitch black flames burned out, leaving nothing but scorched earth. With a flick of her wrist, Vi tossed me away like I weighed absolutely nothing. The visions of the past, Vi’s memories, still haunted my mind as I lay on the ashen ground.

“Do you understand now how foolish you’ve acted?” Vi asked, her glowing purple eyes glaring daggers at me. “Will you continue to defend him now? Keep this game going longer? Is a few fleeting moments of power really worth defending such a demon?”

I looked over to my right, at the still, lifeless body of the lizardman, Gox. past him, Tyrael stood, her bow ready to fire a magic arrow that would surely be of no use.

“Aren’t you… doing the same thing he has?” my question was quiet, but my words still sounded angered. I rose up to my feet, reaching out to my discarded blade. The enchanted sword spun through the air, landing in my grip once again. “What makes your actions any different to his?”

“Beelzebub used me, toyed with my life and then discarded me like trash!” Vi screamed, showing off another one of her unhinged faces. But instead of seeing an angry, childish goddess like I had seen her as before, all of her actions showed only her deep scars.

In the face of such agony, enough to shatter her meak mortal personality and leave only this behind… Beelzebub was able to sit calmly, unaffected by her emotions.

“You say Beelzebub is a demon for abandoning you, betraying you…” I pointed my blade, Incindra, towards the white witch before me, flames leaping from the sword in response to my words. “Then what are you but a demon yourself! Throwing away your pieces, trampling over this world for your own gain, you’re no different!”

“I’m nothing like that monster!” angrier than before, a burst of black flame surged around her outstretched hands. It coiled around her arms, like two serpents with a mind of their own. “He cares for nothing, no one! I don’t want to rule this world as a god, to challenge others to this sick game, all I want is to avenge them!”

Heavy tears streamed down her face, her anger no longer able to mask her deepest feelings. She had suffered, no, she still was suffering. She was suffering worse than I ever had, but still...

“And so you’ll selfishly use up anyone you can for your revenge?!” Now it was my time to shout in fury, a single tear forming in the corner of my own eye. “You think you’re different, but you’re no better!”

“You… uurk.” Vi staggered, clutching at her chest in pain. “This is all I can manage right now, huh?”

And then, just as she arrived, she was gone. Vanished into thin air, only the results of her actions remained. I sheathed Incindra and walked towards Tyrael.

“If ya get a healer in fast enough, maybe it’s not too late.” I pointed at the kneeling but unmoving Gox, who had refused to fall even in death. I knew reviving the dead wasn’t impossible, as long as their bodies weren’t too damaged and it was within a few hours, so she should be able to save him.

“What will you do?” she asked me, knowing full well that my suggestion required I leave as quickly as possible.

“Dunno, it was fun but, well, I do better alone I think.” I answered her, resting my hands on the back of my head. I strolled past her, heading back into the forest. “Maybe we’ll meet again, maybe not.”

I doubted if we would ever see each other again, it seems like our fates were headed down very different paths, but who’s to say?

The mark of the Joker card on my head ached, despite never causing any pain to me before now. Was it because of my encounter with Vi’s personal piece?

[Your Experiences have changed you. Skill ‘WIldcard’ removed.]

“Huh?!” I looked at the message in disbelief, though, the skill didn’t seem to do very much in the first place, but why?

[Skill Obtained: Jack’s Wild]

[Jack’s Wild: The unlimited potential of the abyss grows within; having seen the abyss with your own eyes, you now understand the truth of this world, if only a little.]

“What does this mean?!” I shouted, my fist slamming against a nearby tree. Vi’s Skill was a clear cut ability that buffed her, but I kept getting this cryptic shit!

“Urgh!” At the same time as I finished reading the Skill, a piercing headache felt like it was going to split open my skull. For a brief second, the world around me distorted, the trees looked like flat wood cutouts, my hand looked like a marble statue.

And then everything was normal again. These arbitrary changes to my level and abilities were really getting on my nerves, it’s like this game’s rules changed at the gods whim. These stupid, stupid rules, stupid abilities, they were the cause of so much hardship!

I had to stop this out of control game, somehow, some way. These gods couldn’t be allowed to continue manipulating things for their own amusement

-

Vi stumbled away from the table, a thick sweat forming on her skin. Her body felt as though it was unable to draw breath properly, and she barely remained conscious. The amount of energy it took her to manifest within the game after having escaped the board so long ago, it was far greater than she had anticipated.

“I’m going to go lie down.” she remarked, not waiting for Beelzebub to respond to her.

The goblin girl’s words continued to echo in her mind, driving her mad. She couldn’t stop thinking about them, because somewhere deep within her subconscious, she agreed with them.

She had let her goal become clouded, forgotten her purpose for even being here. Why was she wasting so much time playing around with Beelzebub, going with his flow? It didn’t make any sense at all really, she wasn’t here to be his friend.