Narrator (Piper’s thoughts): Some people fall into Lucidfall looking for answers.

  Others come to erase their debt.

  Scene 1 – [AFTER THE TOWER – EASTERN BLINK FIELDS]

  The dark grass here didn’t grow. It hovered.

  Blades of dark-blue light floated inches above the dirt, swaying to a wind that didn’t exist. Piper stepped carefully between them, her boots crunching against memory-fragments in the soil—shattered watches, empty photo frames, chalk words that vanished when looked at directly.

  Thirteen walked beside her, arms crossed, scarf flickering.

  Piper: “So… where exactly are we going?”

  Thirteen (casual): “Somewhere we shouldn’t.”

  Piper (frowning): “…You’re a terrible GPS.”

  But before Thirteen could make another dry remark, a sound pierced the silence.

  A whistle.

  Low. Lethal. Drawn out like a knife sliding across bone.

  Then—a scream.

  They rushed toward the sound.

  Scene 2 – [WRECKED MARKET SPHERE]

  They arrived at what used to be a circular trading post—now just a broken dome of metal and hanging banners. At the center: a demon. Four-eyed. Panting. Crawling backward.

  In front of him stood a figure cloaked in black, wearing a long, tattered suit and a flowing cape. Their mask was sleek—monochrome, expressionless. A dark blade dripped with ethereal ink.

  Thirteen (tense): “Oh no.”

  The figure spoke, voice modulated and smooth:

  ???: “Demon 74-01. Debtor. Owes two fears to the Pale Registry. Failed to deliver. Execution authorized.”

  The demon cried out: “PLEASE! I paid back half!”

  The figure: (calm) “Partial compliance is non-compliance.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  She moved as if she teleported.

  SLICE.

  One motion. One scream. One severed scream.

  The demon vanished into a burst of static and glass.

  Scene 3 – [CONFRONTATION]

  Piper stepped forward, hand glowing faintly.

  Piper: “What the hell was that?!”

  The masked figure turned.

  ???: “Hunter Thuh Prey. Designation: Contractive Reaper. Active Bounty: Anything owed.”

  Thirteen (muttering): “She’s not like the others. She’s not here to feed… she’s here to collect.”

  Hunter Thuh Prey (to Piper): “Scan complete. You owe nothing. Yet.”

  Piper flinched. Something in her chest shuddered, as if her soul had been poked.

  Hunter Thuh Prey (to Thirteen): “You, however…”

  Thirteen (coolly): “Yeah, yeah. I know. Come collect it when I stop running.”

  Without another word, the Hunter dashed forward, blade raised.

  Scene 4 – [BATTLE – THIRTEEN & PIPER VS HUNTER THUH PREY]

  Thirteen blocked the first strike with a swirl of temporal energy—his scarf wrapping around her blade mid-air.

  Piper unleashed a burst of PK Starflare, but the Hunter sliced through the suns like they were candlelight.

  The fight spiraled. Steel against PSI. Blade against dreamfire.

  Piper’s hands burned. Her vision blurred. Thirteen shouted something—but the Hunter moved too fast.

  Then—

  CRACK!

  Piper’s Starflare landed directly against the Hunter’s mask.

  The mask shattered—a glowing shard slicing across the ground.

  The face underneath blinked through the dust. Pale violet skin. Soft, sharp eyes. A jagged line of glowing red markings down the side of her cheek.

  And unmistakably—

  Female.

  Her mouth curled slightly.

  Hunter (quietly): “…Mistake.”

  Her voice was so elegant.

  Her cape flared. The suit tore slightly as she moved again—revealing underneath…

  Just a black bra and briefs, adorned with old demonic runes, glowing faintly. Her suit had only ever been a professional shell. Beneath it: the demon she really was.

  Thirteen and Piper’s faces flushed.

  Piper: “H-Huh?!”

  Hunter (coldly): “Armor is a mindset. Modesty is a choice. Neither of which matter when your blade is faster than shame.”

  Thirteen (grinning):

  “She talks now. That’s new (God damn shes hot! But my love, is only for Piper..!)”

  Scene 5 – [AFTERMATH]

  After a final clash, the Hunter’s blade was knocked loose by a combined blow—Piper’s PK Echomimicking her sword’s energy and reflecting it back with warped logic. It destabilized her stance just long enough.

  But instead of pressing the attack, Piper held back.

  Piper: “You kill people who owe things? Even if they’re trying?”

  Piper and Thirteen combined attacks against Hunter, clashing together. Hunter then unleashes electricity multi-slashes all at once.

  Hunter: “Debt is weight. If left unpaid, it crushes. I remove the weight.”

  Piper and Thirteen get knocked back, Piper unexpectedly heals them.

  Hunter picked up her mask’s broken halves and reassembled them, scar still visible.

  Hunter (to Piper): “You… are outside the Registry. But you won’t stay there.”

  She turned and walked away—cloak flowing, blade dragging against reality like a line in water.

  Thirteen: “She’s not done with us.”

  Piper (still catching her breath): “I figured.”

  Piper collapsed onto the ground.

  Thirteen: “P-Piper!!?”

  END OF CHAPTER 3

  Hey again, Dreamwalkers.

  This chapter marks Piper’s first encounter with someone who isn’t a monster… but might be worse.

  Miss Hunter Thuh Prey isn’t some mindless demon. She’s precise. Legalistic. Sharp as a dagger to the soul. Her targets aren’t evil—they’re in debt. And in Lucidfall, that’s sometimes a worse sentence than damnation.

  What makes her dangerous isn’t just her skill, her blade, or her speed—

  It’s that she follows rules in a world where nothing else does.

  The fact that her mask breaks and we learn she’s a demon underneath the suit? That’s intentional. In Lucidfall, identity is armor. And when the armor cracks… what’s left underneath isn’t always human.

  You’ll be seeing more of her.

  A lot more.

  And for the record?

  No one knows who she’s working for.

  Yet.