Xu Zhao froze for a moment, then her eyes instantly lit up.
"What did you say? Say that again?" Xu Zhao could hardly believe her ears.
"I'm here to present you with a Honkai-Moe Black Gold Card. It can be exchanged for any one Curio in New Penacony." Perhaps pleased by Xu Zhao's stunned expression, the Golden Honkai-Moe King held the card high once more.
"Really?" Xu Zhao sprang from her chair, her black-stockinged legs striking the floor in quick succession as her voice brimmed with incredulous delight.
"Of course it's real." The Golden Honkai-Moe King extended the black gold card, which radiated golden light, toward Xu Zhao.
Any one Curio.
Any...
One...
Xu Zhao's grin nearly reached her ears. Her long silver-white hair drifted gently behind her as she hurried toward the Golden Honkai-Moe King, her eyes behind her glasses curving into crescents.
"Baby! Mommy loves you!" Xu Zhao spread her arms toward the Golden Honkai-Moe King.
But just as Xu Zhao's fingertips were about to touch the black gold card...
"Snap."
A snap of the fingers.
Crisp, light, casual.
The shadow beneath the Golden Honkai-Moe King's feet instantly stirred. Like an awakened Abyss, it suddenly opened its maw and swallowed the Golden Honkai-Moe King, along with the black gold card, into the darkness.
The Golden Honkai-Moe King disappeared.
Along with Xu Zhao's one, almost-within-reach Curio of her choosing.
Xu Zhao remained frozen in place, her arms still spread wide.
Her fingertips hovered above the spot where the Golden Honkai-Moe King had stood moments ago, less than three inches from where the black gold card had last been.
"No!" Xu Zhao's voice squeezed from her throat as though someone had grabbed her by the neck.
Behind the spot where the Golden Honkai-Moe King had vanished, a figure had appeared