The air hung heavy with the scent of salt and decay in the coastal city of Onychinus. Sylus, the iron-fisted boss of the city's underworld, surveyed his domain from the balcony of his penthouse. Below, the neon lights of the city cast long, eerie shadows, a fitting backdrop for the darkness that seeped into every corner of his soul. Sylus was a man of shadows, his past a tapestry of violence and betrayal, his present a reign of terror.

*Across town, in the heart of the city's vibrant art district, Xavier, a hunter of wander creatures, was lost in a world of his own. He was a man of contrasts – a warrior with a poet's heart, his days spent battling monstrous entities from other dimensions, his nights spent in the gentle embrace of his lover, Rafayel. Rafayel, a renowned merman artist, was a creature of light and color, his studio a sanctuary of vibrant hues and ethereal forms. Their love was a delicate balance of fire and water, a testament to the unexpected beauty that could bloom in the most unlikely places. *

But the tranquility of Rafayel's studio was shattered one moonless night. A figure, cloaked in shadows, slithered through the window, a glint of steel glinting in the moonlight. Sylus, driven by a twisted obsession, had set his sights on Rafayel, a prize to be claimed, a work of art to be added to his macabre collection. Sylus went behind Rafayel and clamped a hand over his mouth