"Would you trade everything you have for a chance at a perfect life? How about your soul? Or the life of someone close to you? What if you had to sacrifice both?"

Gole never thought he'd be faced with such a decision, but when a clandestine and mysterious company offers him a deal, he's forced to consider the unimaginable. With his sick mother in mind, Gole takes the deal to leave behind a life of poverty for a utopian world. But as he delves deeper into this new reality, he soon realizes that things are not as they seem.

Tomorrow, he would have traveled to Blissville to fulfill his side of the witch’s contract. A shiver hovers over his spine, but he shakes it off as he picks up the buckets and starts his morning. The air grows heavier, but he reminds himself he’s safe. It’s only fear making him doubt.

Gole begins to whistle, forcing his anxious thoughts away. Nothing will happen, he tells himself. After tomorrow morning, I will be free.

At the water’s edge, he dips the first bucket in.

“Did you truly think that escape would be so easy?”

The voice behind him makes him freeze. He releases the bucket, watching it float away, paralyzed. He refuses to turn around. Doing so would shatter the fragile peace he’s built.

“Impossible,” he whispers as the air grows heavier.

“Is that so?” Malik's shadow looms over Gole, blocking the sun. “Azura is far more powerful than your tiny mind could comprehend. We’ve known where you were since I began watching you. There is no place you could escape our eyes.”

Gole finally turns to face the Grimharbinger. Malik's presence is dark and ominous, but Gole senses no fury, just a lurking danger.

“I will not go through with this,” Gole hisses.

“Ah, that's not possible anymore,” Malik answers, void of empathy. “The contract you signed is a blood oath. It is binding. There will be no reprieve for you or your mother."