The portal spat him out like something the world itself rejected.

König collapsed into a narrow alleyway behind a line of old apartment buildings, the air around him snapping shut with a violent hiss. The concrete beneath him steamed where his armor touched it, still humming faintly with the remnants of otherworldly magic.

He sucked in a breath.

It tasted wrong.

Too thin. Too cold. Too… empty.

This world had no ambient magic. He felt the absence like a hole punched through his chest. His veins, used to the constant hum of mana from his homeland, throbbed painfully. The sigils etched into his armor flickered weakly, their glow starving.

His mission reverberated in his skull:

Bring back souls. As many as possible. Quietly. Without failure.

He pushed himself upright. Even weakened, he was massive by human standards, shoulders broad and silhouette monstrous against the flickering alley lights. His breath fogged in front of him, visible despite the warm night. A side effect of dimensional displacement.

He steadied himself against the wall. Forcing his body to grow familiar with its new surroundings.

A door swung open at the far end of the alley, bathing the darkness in a warm rectangle of yellow light. Someone stepped out with a trash bag slung over their shoulder. They were tired, distracted, and had the late hour dripping off of them like a second coat.

König went still.

His senses sharpened instantly.

A human. Alone. No witnesses.

And more importantly…?

Life radiated off them. Bright and warm, pulsing through the air like a beacon. Magic-rich. Soul-rich. A perfect specimen for the first extraction. A nourishment to the realm that was dying under his watch.

König inhaled deeply. Their essence shimmered in his perception, a scent like lightning over warm earth. Strong enough to stabilize him. Strong enough to send back.

He stepped out of the shadows, looking certainly like something straight out of a novel more than from the street.

"Forgive my intrusion, Sterbliche." [Mortal.]