22.) Halloween Carnival

"Wait! I can't let you guys go and hog all the fun yourselves!" Lily walked closer to the group, placing both hands on her hips. She beamed a smile and said, "I'm tagging along as well!"

"Huh? And why should we allow that?!" Trevor shot Lily an annoyed look, but she paid the man zero attention.

"Oh, pipe down! Besides, if anyone is going to drag us down, it's gonna be you! Now let's move it!" Lily took the lead and was the first to head out the door.

Trevor huffed and folded his arms across his chest but followed her. Dawn was about to head out next when she heard Kris wince in pain and saw him clutching a hand over his right eye.

"Kris, what's wrong?" Dawn worriedly asked him, but the raven couldn't answer through the stinging pain his right eye emitted. A blue screen appeared before him, which he read with his left eye.

{Banker 'Undead Rich God' applauds your improvement and has decided to reward you 'Soul Reaper Eyes.'}

'What the hell?! I haven't even done anything yet?' Kris questioned this bizarre event, feeling the pain in his right eye disappear just as the screen vanished out of existence.

"Kris?" Dawn's soft voice woke Kris from his thoughts, and he saw her big brown eyes staring at him.

"Sorry about that! I'm fine!" The raven-haired boy sheepishly scratched at his neck, feeling Rin's eyes throwing daggers at him.

'How dare that lowly human steal my mistress's attention!'

Rin didn't know if Kris was truly in pain or not. Nor was he concerned about the other's wellbeing. What he disliked was Kris stealing his precious mistress's focus and concern.

"Are you sure? 'Cause if something is wrong-"

"No! I'm fine!" Kris refused to be left behind, but as he looked at Dawn, he saw something that made him freeze. Floating beside Dawn's head was a dark purple screen that read:

{Banker: She's Who Rules The Underworld}

'Huh? What the heck am I seeing?' The screen confused Kris, but he decided to question it later as he walked towards the door.

Since Kris was so persistent, Dawn didn't push it, and soon the entire group was standing outside. A few floors up, the chief of the base peered down at the group.

"Are we just going to let them leave like that?" asked Fredrick standing beside old man Hector.

"Now that he has seen that awful demon, there's no stopping that son of mine. Besides, this might bring him some closure." There was a deep sadness in Hector as he recalled the few days after Tricia's death.

He found his son curled into a ball, eyes void and lifeless as he cried over the lost life of his girlfriend and childhood friend. Moving his mind off painful times, the old man reminisced over fond memories of the two such as when they were children, laughing and being naughty.

Since the apocalypse, Hector's religious beliefs had become shaken. Asking himself that if 'god' genuinely existed, why did he allow this to happen? But just this once, he wanted to believe in a bit of faith.

"If a god truly exists, I ask that he please watches over those children."

During their adventure, Kris noticed two more strange screens. The yellow one belonged to Lily, and it read:

Banker: {'Goddess of the Hunt' = Artemis}

When he looked at Trevor, the screen read: {The Lion-Headed Warrior = Apedemak}

Now Kris wasn't profoundly knowledgeable in the mythological field, but even he knew the information on Lily's screen hinted that her Banker was none other than the Greek Goddess Artemis. Trevor's was a bit more puzzling, but he felt it was another kind of god or at least a mythological figure.

'So I can identify the bankers of other Players? Wait? Could the bankers be figures from different mythologies?!' Kris's newfound discovery and ability left him astounded.

"Hey! Dawn, how do you know where to go? I mean, are we even going in the right direction?" Lily asked and jogged next to Dawn.

"I can't explain it, but I just know," said Dawn. Soon the view of an abandoned fairground came into view.

"He's hiding here?" Trevor scrutinized the place with a hint of disbelief, and Dawn couldn't blame him.

'Most of the rides here look like they haven't been ridden in ages and are covered in dirt and rust.' Dawn scanned the place with her eyes, remembering the story said that Jerry's hideout was an abandoned fairground.

'This place looks like it belongs in a horror movie.' Dawn felt a cool brush of air against her cheek and immediately got a creepy feeling from the place.

"Hey, Pipsqueak, I'm tired of walking around. Where is that bastard hiding?" a vexed Trevor asked. After passing a broken-down roller coaster ride, Dawn spotted a blue tent that stood out from the grim atmosphere of the place.

"There! That's where they're hiding inside!"

Dawn pointed, but before they could take a step, a burst of disturbing laughter rang out. From out of nowhere, black stick-like figures appeared, wielding scythes but with the heads of jack-o-lanterns. They swarmed around the tent as if they were protecting it.

"What the heck are these creepy things?!" Lily exclaimed first as Dawn opened her system, which called the creatures:

{Lvl.7: Jack-O-Lantern Reapers}

After the jack-o-lanterns made their appearance, the group's attention was stolen by a spell circle that appeared above the herd of monsters. What emerged from it was an attractive young maiden whose racy garments screamed goth.

"For me to grant you entrance, you must pay a fee. The fee is 7800 coins. If you do not have that amount, you can sign a loan. If you decide to sign up for a loan, please note a 50% interest will be added. What is your choice?"

The girl asked them in a disinterested voice as she lounged in the air as if it was a couch. The nails on her hand, where she rested her cheek on, were painted black and red, matching her hair color.

"A 50% interest fee?! That's highway robbery?!" Lily screamed in disbelief.

"Since you refuse either choice, you leave me with no choice but to execute you for trespassing on my master's territory." The girl snapped her fingers, and the monsters swarmed at them at high speed.

But things didn't go the way the girl had expected.

"You guys go ahead while I take care of things here." Kris strolled to the front, hands in his pockets. Clashing with the monsters was an army of skeleton monsters, but something about them was different from when Dawn last saw them.