"Where did you obtain that Lantern?" Van Dijk asked, his piercing gaze locking onto Ludwig like a predator assessing its prey.
"You can see it?" Ludwig replied, frowning in confusion. The lantern, with its faint otherworldly glow, hung innocuously at his side.
"Of course," Van Dijk said, leaning back in his chair. "It's something that has ill-fated memories with me, something that belonged to someone I swore I'd end with my own hands one day.."
Ludwig hesitated. How could he explain something he barely understood himself? But ill-fated item? and someone else had it before? Was there another lantern wielder present before Ludwig?
Before he could muster a reply, Van Dijk continued, his tone grave, "That Lantern... belonged to Necros." He steepled his fingers in a pyramid, his expression unreadable but heavy with contemplation.
