The night was dark. Enough to suffocate the world itself with the sheer lack of light. It was as if the moon and sun had been removed from the Earth’s view, leaving it in complete, cold darkness. Its source? The Ghost Liner that had traveled to the middle of the city, to where it sensed its first victim to be.

Meanwhile, up in his ivory tower, the Lord of the Clocktower observed through familiars the entity that had just emerged from the shadows. Of course, he was afraid - not that he would admit it. The message from the Overseers meant that whatever it was that entered his territory was something that not even his Servant alone could deal with.

But before he could even hope to change anything, something shifted in the bounded fields that he had casted over the high-rise hotel. It was not subtle at all. An abrupt, erratic change in the air that shook him to the core. He was sweating now, a cold chill running up his spine.

It had entered the hotel. That by itself was cause for concern - if not downright panic - however, what came with it was even worse. Countless humans had become distorted, shifted into something abominable, their souls twisted into an alien form. From what he gathered, it was similar to the curse of the Dead Apostles, yet so much different from them.

“Fellow participants…” His voice was shaky, an audible tremble to it.

“...one of the Ghost Liners has entered my workshop. I am sending you the coordinates of my workshop immediately…” It was abundantly clear that the man was afraid, even from the familiars that he used to communicate with the others and the Overseers.

Upon hearing this news, the Overseers immediately opened up their communications: “Attention all participants of the War: the first Ghost Liner has been spotted in the workshop of one of the participants. The coordinates shall be sent to you shortly.” And with that, the location of the Lord’s workshop was relayed to the rest of the participants. Hopefully, he would somehow keep his pride, the Lord thought to himself.

But in the darkness near the workshop, something else emerged, a being cloaked in corrupted light that sought to destroy the one that had tried to kill it. It was the second Ghost Liner that had emerged, and it simply watched what was to occur in silent observation.

“Interesting…”