Brunaulf POV:

10 seconds.

I knew Triste, Sindel, Orga, and Cirris wouldn’t arrive in time, even with the acceleration the slipstream gave them. I closed my eyes and manipulated the strands of madness as they wrapped around the bottom half of their legs.

The madness conveyed its extreme disapproval of my actions, refusing to go any further than their knees. However, that was more than enough to help them reach the appointed destination in time.

I glanced at the Watchers and Vices that had already found suitable ambush positions to take out the guards around the Pit.

15 seconds.

“Madness: Distortion II.”

I activated the evolved form of Distortion and darkness fell on the district. It shut their entire network down, forming small black domes in areas not directly connected to the pentagram.

At the same time, the Watchers and Vices began their attack. The guards were not only too surprised but also too disoriented to respond quickly. It didn’t take long for their numbers to start rapidly falling.

“R-Raid! It's a rai—”

One of the Vices silenced him instantly as his motionless body flopped to the ground. It didn’t matter if they screamed till they coughed up blood; no one would hear them in the end.

‘...’

My gaze shifted to Gia, who was alone with Charge in a street near the boundary to District 2. I watched her take off his jacket, cover his face and push his head into her moderately large bust.

“I don’t need to say it, but I will anyway. Tell anyone about this, and you’re dead.”

“Y-Yes, Ma’am!”

She grabbed hold of his hand as Charge activated his ability. I shook my head at how ridiculous the conditions of use were and understood why Isabelle was so against it.

Once you made an ability, there was no way to change its core principles. Shin was a stage that many, including myself, didn’t completely understand.

30 seconds.

Cloak wore off, and Gia immediately Overheated. She fell forward as Charge gently placed her back against the wall. He held her hand tightly, keeping his ability active to reduce the time of her Overheat.

Everything up until this point had gone smoothly. I could feel the Madness attacking all of the relay points simultaneously. There was nowhere for them to run or hide; all they could do was accept their reality.

“You... Are you the Mad Wolf?”

The sound of an alluring woman's voice drifted into my ear as my eyes swivelled to the side. The District Leader had left the Pit at some point on our way back to report the situation and now stood outside of the affected area facing me.

“...Don't call me that.”

I turned around to face her. Her dark pink eyes sparkled as she looked me up and down. A thick red flush spread across her nose, followed by the batting of her eyes.

“I-I'm... Your biggest fan! I’ve always looked up to you from the moment I first heard about you!! You’re incredible!! You’re the best!!!”

“...”

Her excitement leaked into her voice as she threw compliment after compliment at me.

‘Fan?’

I gazed at her constantly moving mouth while I placed my hand over the left side of the mask. I sighed inwardly at the annoyance of this situation. I was tired—tired of it all.

“S-sorry! M-My name is... Um... Ursula, but you... You can call me whatever you want.”

She lightly pressed the tips of her fingers together, hovering them over her voluptuous bust. This strange situation rendered me speechless. I was used to being hated; it was a natural part of my life, but now I somehow had a fan? It didn’t make sense to me. Something was off.

“...You're in my way.”

“O-oh...! But I had to tell you... I love you! I love you so much!! I’d do anything for you!!”

“What?”

I narrowed my eyes as the madness squirmed inside of me. I felt its displeasure—its agitation and I agreed with it. Ursula's entire face was now a deep shade of red as she took a shaky step forward.

“This body... It’s yours... My life... Is also yours... If you want me to die... I’ll die for you...”

She looked at me with euphoric eyes; her body trembling with excitement. Ursula stretched out her hands towards me while licking her lips seductively.

“Enough. If you’ll do anything for me, then change yourself. Stop with this pointless killing and turn over a new leaf. Start afresh... before it’s too late.”

Her smile somewhat faded. She stood up straight and looked me in the eyes.

“...You’re joking, right?”

“...”

The edges of her mouth dropped down, and she furrowed her eyebrows deeply. The blood that had rushed to her face drained away as she clenched her fists.

“I watched you more than anyone. I loved how you captured your targets, how you tortured them in creative ways, and I loved how you killed them. I love you for being the perfect embodiment of what a human should be: Unrestrained.”

She placed her hand over her face as her shoulders heaved up and down. Ursula chuckled to herself loudly, causing her whole body to quake as if she had just heard an extremely funny joke.

“Ah... Who did this to my Mad Wolf? You’re talking to me about change? We both know people don’t truly change! They mask themselves to adjust to the norm dictated by other people! Turn over a new leaf? Stop trying to play hero and embrace who you really are... A Villain!!”

She stretched out her hands, matching a wide smile that reached the corners of her bulging eyes. Her long, black hair curled around her body, exemplifying the darkness within her eyes. A sigh escaped my lips as I stepped forward.

“Know your damn place.”

I released the full extent of my Ki, crushing her into the ground via its pressure. The Madness giggled as I placed a hand over the mask.

“Ha...Ha... T-that's more like it... But... You’re too far away from who you used to be. I'll do it... I’ll bring you back, Brunaulf!”

Her Ki erupted as she slowly got to her feet. Ursula licked her lips and glared at me.

“I’ve been the leader of this place for many years... If I had to rank myself, I suppose I would make the sub 10s. After all, I’m the one responsible for putting them there in the first place! Don’t worry, my love~ I’ll bring you back soon~”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“...”

I contemplated on whether or not I should have switched places with Lissandra as Ursula charged at me, and the battle began.

***

Ven POV:

10 seconds.

Gunnar and I reached the Range thanks to the slipstream propelling us forward. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but that was the first time I ever moved so fast; it was like entering a whole new world.

The Range was at least three times larger than the Pit. Since the wide, ‘U’ shape of the buildings created a boundary between the outer and inner parts of District 1, it worked in our favour.

As Lissandra’s intel stated, the training that happened at the Range was indoor, so there weren’t many people outside as the remaining Watchers and Vices quickly got into position.

“I love you, Ven.”

Gunnar wrapped his arm around my waist while kissing my cheek softly. His sudden action broke my concentration, and I felt my cheeks become hot.

“Focus, Gunnar...”

I bit my lip slightly before shifting my gaze towards his chest.

“...Love you too.”

I mumbled quietly and Gunnar grinned. The District Leader had organized the raid in such a way that it drastically boosted our survival rates. He didn’t want a repeat of the District 3 incident to happen under any circumstances.

15 seconds.

Darkness swept over the area instantly, and the raid began. The combination of Cloak and Distortion was phenomenal. It left the enemy with no time to react as we brutally severed their consciousness from their bodies.

The Pit couldn’t be compared to the Range in terms of strength. After all, this was the place where gems were filtered and further refined. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them diamonds in the rough, but they definitely had potential.

As a result, we didn’t use a man-to-man formation. The District Leader had emphasized teamwork: the moving of small groups to attack with a numbers advantage that overwhelmed the enemy. It was working.

30 seconds.

Cloak vanished, and we became more exposed than before. Many of the opposition grasped this opening, breaking out of the walls along various points of the Range.

Gunnar was about to step forward when I stretched out my hand to stop him. He glanced at me as we stood on top of the U-shaped building, observing the battle below.

The Watchers and Vices fighting right now lacked many things, and one of those things was experience. They needed to go through the fire at some point in their lives.

“Is this wise?”

Gunnar leaned forward, examining the increasing number of strong Ki practitioners moving around in the darkness. Our side continued to cut down their forces at an alarming rate thanks to Brunaulf's Distortion, so we could afford to stay on standby for now.

“Yes. Our mission is to watch over them and ensure that we take out everyone in this area. If we charge in blindly, we might end up losing sight of the bigger picture.”

He crouched down as his long jacket flapped along with the morning wind. I saw his eyes narrow while he kept a close eye on everyone’s condition.

“Roger.”

I let out a soft sigh. It was going to be a long morning for us.

***

Triste POV:

15 seconds.

Brunaulf's ability quickly detached itself from my legs, and I frowned as I clearly felt its disgust at having to temporarily become a part of me.

‘My legs are pretty nice though...’

That aside, thanks to his assistance, we reached the location just in time to see the darkness cover the area. I glanced at Sindel and Orga, who gave each other a quick hug before the raid began.

“Ha... Can’t you lovebirds save that stuff for later?”

I clicked my tongue, annoyed by how intimate they were.

“W-Wha...? L-Lovebirds...”

Orga went a deep shade of red as she covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyebrows furrowed while she quickly regained her composure and sneered at me.

“You’re one to talk. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you look at Brunaulf. Have you no shame?”

“...Huh?”

I felt my eyebrows twitch while the veins on the side of my head popped. I glared at her as Sindel let out a helpless sigh.

“I dare you to say that again.”

“You. Like. Brunaulf.”

It was ridiculous. While I admit that my perception of Brunaulf had drastically improved, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I liked... Him. That would be beyond disrespectful to Denise; it’d be no different than taking advantage of her circumstances. I would never do that to her.

I clenched my fists and charged forward when Cirris pulled me back. Sindel held Orga by the waist, stopping her advancement as we glared at each other.

28 seconds.

“Uhh... Just so you guys know, Cloak is about to wear off.”

Cirris scratched the back of his head as he released his light grip around my arm.

“...Dammit!”

30 seconds.

Sindel peered down over the rooftop, examining the confused crowd below. A few fights had broken out between what we assumed to be the newest members, as most of the rest remained composed and moved slowly.

“The only reason I didn’t intervene in your little squabble earlier was because it wouldn’t affect the mission. However, now is not the time to be side-tracked. Stay focused.”

“Got it.”

“...Yeah, yeah.”

I understood Sindel's reasoning. Contrary to expectations, if we had charged in as soon as we arrived, it’s possible one of us would have been caught.

The Organization members here were of a different calibre compared to our own. The Leader had started constant daily training within our Organization many months ago, but these guys... These guys had been training for years. They went through the Pit and the Range in order to end up here. The Range had assessed that they didn’t have the qualifications to join the Royal or Shadow Guards, but they were still strong.

“Guess it’s my time to shine.”

I glanced at Cirris, who seemed oddly geared up for some reason.

“No disrespect, but... Are you even strong?”

“O-of course I am!”

“...”

We stared at him silently, not convinced by his response. I was pretty sure I remembered Gia saying that Cirris's main strength was stealth and tracking down things or people.

I watched him let out a helpless sigh as he closed his eyes.

“Tracker: Hexzone.”

His Ki flared while a bundle of small hexagon shapes formed on the ground. It took on a light blue colour as it lifted up into the air, stacking on top of one another. It trapped the enemy in several isolated zones, heightening their disorientation further.

“I’ve assigned only us four with the ability to enter and leave the zones. No one amongst them is strong enough to break through it individually. Also, don’t worry, this won’t affect their vision either.”

“Divide and conquer. Splitting them up this way will reduce the effectiveness of their coordination while also making it easier for us to take them out.”

“...Not bad at all, Cirris.”

He nodded his head while taking a seat on the roof.

“Tracker: Terminal.”

An earpiece wrapped around my ear comfortably before projecting forward a map. It was the same as the one Isabelle had recreated but zoomed in only on our immediate location.

“Woah...”

“Tap the terminal once to get rid of the map and twice to view it. I won't be able to move from here, so if you want to communicate, we’ll talk through this.”

It made sense why the Leader had assigned Cirris with us now. Even with Distortion, the staggering amount of Organization members meant risk. By isolating them and allowing us to check on everyone's positioning, we could reduce that risk greatly.

“I’m impressed, Cirris.”

Sindel gave him a firm look of approval while Orga fiddled around with the terminal. I kicked off the roof and entered the nearest zone—there was no need to waste any more time up there.

“Keuk...!”

“Ack! S-stop!”

“You little—”

My fists moved nonstop, smashing into the same members multiple times before they fell. I jumped to the side, dodging someone's hand that shot forward as I continued my assault carefully.

One mistake. One mistake and one of these guys could get a hold of me. I tapped the terminal twice and saw that both Sindel and Orga had entered their own zones.

“Triste, pick up the pace. More members are flooding out into both streets. Once I make more than 4 Hexzones, the strength of the previous ones begin to decrease. We can’t risk some of these members slipping out of the darkness via pure luck!”

‘Geez... When did he learn to talk so much?’

His voice directly entered my ear canal, allowing me to hear him loud and clear. It hadn’t even been that long, yet the numbers here just kept on growing.

“I got it. I got it.”

I turned the map off while slapping away one of the hands reaching for my throat. I left a footprint on his face as I used him as a stepping stone to launch myself up into the air within the zone.

I smashed my fists together as they began to glow. The glow reached down to my elbows while I landed against the top of the zone. I peered down at the dozens and dozens of members packed inside the isolated space.

“Ballistic: Rapid Fire.”

My fists blurred as blasts of highly condensed red Ki shot forward. The recoil of each blow allowed my feet to plant firmly against the ceiling while simultaneously increasing the damage of the next. A chain of explosions occurred, ripping through their Ki Armour and knocking them all out cold.

I dropped to the ground and immediately headed to the next open zone, dealing with anyone else in my way.

“Ballistic: Machinery.”

The red Ki enveloped my arms, taking on an armoured-like form as a glint of red flashed through my eyes. I had witnessed parts of Brunaulf's fight that day and realized the importance of flexibility.

The more choices you had in battle, the higher your chances of winning were. Brute force couldn’t always overcome every obstacle—I experienced that first-hand.

‘But...’

I felt the Ki pulsating on my arm as it reached the maximum charge. I kicked off the ground and threw my first forward. The air tore apart as a cannon-like wave of energy eradicated everything in its path.

‘Some habits are hard to change.’

I watched the Organization members crumble to the ground, unable to withstand the sheer force of the attack. The armoured Ki extended down to my fingers as I grabbed hold of the earth below.

The whole area shook as red beams of Ki erupted from the earth. They split further into several smaller beams that rained down on all the targets I had selected, wiping out huge amounts of enemies at once.

‘Ha...’

I let out a sigh before stepping backwards and kicking away another member that had stumbled into my path.

‘This uses up way too much Ki.’

I grumbled to myself while moving on to the next zone.