CHAPTER 173 - FLIRTING WITH SHADOWS

Sand crunched beneath Zane's boots as he stepped into the half-buried ruin. The air pulsed with ancient energy — thick, electric, and unsettling. A sense of pressure tugged at his chest, and he didn't need the system's whisper in his mind to know:

The next artifact was close.

Suddenly, a voice echoed down from above — smooth, mocking, and way too familiar with dramatic timing.

"Took you long enough."

Zane looked up. A figure stood atop a cracked stone archway. Cloaked in dusk-colored robes, the wind tugging at her hood just enough to reveal glints of emerald green hair. Around her neck, nestled against her collarbone, a glimmering chain pulsed faintly with shadowed energy — silver-black with streaks of violet.

She leapt down, landing with the grace of a feather and the smirk of someone who absolutely enjoyed causing problems.

Zane crossed his arms. "Lemme guess. You're the final boss of this ruin?"

"Boss?" she laughed. "Darling, I'm the main character."

Nyx groaned in the background. "Oh, Void help us, she's a narcissist."

Link muttered, "Please let her trip on something."

"Name's Shade," the woman said. "You're Zane, I presume. Kinda hard to miss that whole 'brooding warrior' aesthetic you've got going."

Zane pointed at the chain. "Let me make this simple. That necklace? I want it."

"So do a lot of people. Wanting it doesn't make you special."

Zane took a slow step forward. "You don't understand. That thing isn't just pretty. It's dangerous. It bends shadows, controls people, warps free will. It belongs—"

"Let me stop you right there," she interrupted. "You sound like every annoying prince I've ever robbed. 'It belongs to my kingdom!' 'It's my birthright!' Blah blah."

Zane's eye twitched.

"Look," she said, taking a step closer, "I found it. I wore it. I mastered it. If it didn't want me, it would've turned me into dust like it did the last guy."

Nyx's eyes narrowed. "Last guy?"

"He exploded," Shade said casually. "Well. Imploded. But the point stands."

Link whispered, "Sounds like our kind of girl."

Zane muttered, "No. Bad chaos fairy."

---

Shade began circling him, one finger trailing along the chain's length like it was an accessory, not a world-breaking relic.

"Tell you what," she said sweetly. "Convince me why I should give it up. Maybe you're charming enough. Or maybe you have something I want."

Zane blinked. "What could you possibly want from me?"

She smiled, leaning in. "Your boots. Those look custom."

Zane stepped back. "Alright, no. You don't get to flirt and rob me."

"Watch me."

---

She vanished — just like that. A flicker of shadow and she was gone. Then Zane felt something sharp at his neck. She'd reappeared behind him, voice in his ear.

"Still want the chain, handsome?"

Zane didn't flinch. He just smiled.

"Absolutely. And I always get what I want."