Glenn stopped before a house and squinted to verify the street's number.

"101 Dillon Alley, Sootshroud. Yeah, that sounds about right," He winced. The house in question was unassuming, run-down, and covered in a thick layer of dust. Sootshroud, or District II, was one if not the worst District in the Bourgeoisie. Factories were spitting black smoke wherever he looked and the air was thick with ash. The few people he met on the way were laborers with faces dirtied with coal and exhausted by the hard work.

'It's strange for them to be using coal when fire magic exists, but what do I know about the industry?' Glenn thought as he hesitantly knocked on the door. This was the address that Faceless from the Indigo Bureau had given him. It was on the way back home anyway, it would have been a waste not to stop there.

'You could have kept the letter instead of destroying it,' Diamanes remarked mockingly. They had spent at least a few hours searching for the right address and knocking on the wrong doors before Nelg eventually put an end to the supplice and told him the right address. Glenn pressed his lips together but remained silent. The door opened from the inside by an old man with a large, black hat.

"Come in..." The old man grunted. Glenn obliged, frowning as he entered the place. The musty scent of dust and coal was heavy even here. The wooden walls were covered in large spots of blue mold, and there were holes in the ceiling letting the pale sunlight in. The windows were all so dirty they couldn't be differentiated from the walls.

The old man led him to a small staircase leading underground and groaned, "They'll be down there. Farewell."

Glenn smiled awkwardly to thank the old man, but the latter had already turned back and left for another room.

"Alright then..." Glenn rubbed his hands together and went down the stairs, doing his best to ignore the cobwebs and moss-covered walls. Why couldn't these people afford a nice office, like everyone else?

He eventually arrived at the lower floor, where a single door was waiting for him. He entered without knocking, unbothered and unworried.

"This is awfully looking like a trap," Nelg commented from within Glenn's mind. The latter's lips curved upward slightly and he clenched his fists.

'That would be a nice opportunity to try out my new spells on living targets, don't you think?'

Diamanes laughed wickedly, 'Yes, that's the way to go, haha!'

He entered a sober room, with stone walls and a single table in its center. Three other individuals were already sitting there, none that Glenn could recognize. One of them, a glasses-wearing scholar hurriedly stood up and smiled in relief, "Sir Glenn. Thank you for agreeing to our request!"

Glenn's eyebrows creased, "I didn't agree to anything yet."

The scholar froze and sheepishly sat back down, "...Right, sorry."

"Hah!" The second individual, a strong lady with an eyepatch and an armor of blue steel scoffed. The fur in the interstice of her armor gave her a noble yet violent look.

"Spineless bastard," She spat, "When will you ever learn to stand up for yourself, Lioras?"

The scholar, Lioras, coughed in his fist and looked away. The last individual, a man wearing a green robe with golden filigranes sighed heavily. His face was covered in tribal tattoos that failed to hide the exhaustion in his bloodshot eyes.

"Please, let's leave the squabble for later." He turned to Glenn and extended his hand out, "I am Vilroy Lancer, and I'll be representing the Indigo Bureau in this discussion." He turned to the scholar and the lady, "This is Lioras Noli, a Seeker and an expert in uncovering the forgotten truth around old myths and lost civilizations. The lady here is Isadora Fierro, the squad leader of the Magi Brotherhood's Striker Team."

Glenn shook Vilroy's hand and laughed, "I wasn't expecting this sort of comity. Why the hell are we buried in this hole instead of a nice coffee shop?"

Lioras Noli cleared his throat and frowned, "The contents of this discussion are strictly confidential. It goes without saying that what is discussed here must remain here."

Isadora crossed her arms and shook her head, "Nonsense. The only reason we're in this shithole is that your funding got pulled, Lioras."

Vilroy rubbed his forehead before clasping his hands together, "Before explaining this situation to you, Sir Glenn, I must assure you that everyone in this room is privy to this conversation and will not speak of your implication against your wishes."

Glenn shrugged, "I don't really give a shit anymore, so if you want to blabber on whatever you want me to do, feel free to do so." He took a seat on the last remaining chair and leaned back comfortably, "But first, I'd love to hear more about this whole ordeal. If I understood correctly, you sent a team to explore the Blumar Quarry and tried to find the Lightbringer, but things didn't go as expected?"

The silence of everyone confirmed this. Glenn slapped his forehead before chuckling, "This is incredible. How did you manage to make that gigantic cube of Blumar move from its spot?"

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Lioras' eyes widened, "Wait, how do you know we were looking for the Lightbringer?" He stared angrily at Vilroy and slammed his puny fist on the table, "I thought this information was only known to us and the Indigo Bureau!"

Vilroy gazed absent-mindedly at the scholar before sighing, "Sir Glenn here is the one who brought us the information of the Lightbringer's location after surviving an encounter with him."

Lioras gasped and gazed at Glenn in shock. Isadora Fierro frowned and looked him up and down before moistening her lips, "Isn't the Lightbringer some sort of old monster? How the hell did you survive?"

Glenn flashed her a charming yet slightly mocking smile, "Skills."

'It was mostly luck though, wasn't it?' Diamanes corrected from within Glenn's mind. The latter's eyebrow twitched but he refused to reply to the entity. Isadora clicked her tongue, "Skills, huh... Arrogant bastard," She grinned, "I like you!"

Glenn grinned as well, "The feeling is mutual. Now, why don't you all stop turning around the pot and tell me what this "secret" meeting is about?"

Vilroy cleared his throat, "As you've understood from the content of our letters, the expedition that was sent to investigate the Blumar Quarry has disappeared alongside the Cube they were supposed to explore. Which caused the cave-in you might have noticed in the news these past few weeks."

"The Cube?" Glenn repeated in surprise, "I guess it's a fitting name for that Blumar absurdity."

Vilroy nodded, "We have no E.T.A. on their status, but we have their locations."

Lioras coughed and added, "There has been an increased number of Seeker disappearances, so now every member is mandated to carry location beacons."

Glenn paused and looked at Vilroy with an interested look, "Wait, so you're saying you have their position, right?"

"Exactly." Vilroy confirmed, "And we want to create a rescue team to get our members back."

"Hmm..." Glenn rubbed his chin, "I see why you want me there, but..." He grinned wickedly, "What's in it for me?"

Lioras stared at him in disbelief, "Who—who do you think you are? The honor of helping the old and respectable order of the Seekers should be enough of a reward—"

Isadora Fierro smacked the scholar on the back of the head, "Don't listen to that coward," She licked her lips, her lips curved upward in a predatory manner, "We have a reward for you, but I could add a bit more on top..."

Glenn clicked his tongue, "I'll consider it. So far, it's not enough to convince me to take my team back to where that insane, cannibalistic bastard is sealed."

Vilroy rubbed his hands together and produced a document, "Do you know about the Exan University?"

"I heard of it, yeah," Glenn replied puzzledly. Why would he care about that?

Vilroy Lancer pushed the document in his direction, "Here's an admission to the S-Class of that university. I heard you recently found yourself a...sister. Sending her to the university would set her future on a golden road."

Glenn sighed, "My sister is already training with a master swordsman, learning under a Restoration Operator, and studying magic with me. What else could she find in a university?" He muttered as he took the document and gave it a read. Janica wanted to go to that university if he remembered correctly, but she hadn't been accepted due to lack of funding. He could pay her tuition, or...

"You know what?" Glenn grinned widely, "If you add in two other admissions in that university, and of course a hefty reward in credits, we'll do—"

"You keep speaking of "we" or "your team", but we only want you, Sir Glenn," interrupted Lioras.

Glenn paused and looked at the annoying scholar, pondering. "Sahro and Liara don't lack in fighting power nor fame though, so I suppose you only want rank four and above fighter?"

Vilroy nodded, "Correct, Sir Glenn. The rescue team will be composed of the best elite we can afford. Isadora and her Striker Team are considered to be the best mage-knights of the Magi Brotherhood, and are all above or equal to the fourth rank."

He glanced at Glenn's left, purple arm and added, "Of course, we know they would be hardly able to compare to a Fourth Circle capable of destroying noble vampires or turning the tides of war. Tales of the Devil's Hand punching above his weight are common these days."

Glenn shrugged, "I can't help it if they're weaker than they seem."

Lioras scoffed, "Hopefully, your skills will be at the height of your arrogance, Sir Glenn."

Glenn glanced at him, "You know, I can still choose to back out, and none of you would be able to do a thing about it." Lioras froze while Isadora and Vilroy shook their heads.

"As a matter of fact, I think I'll be very excited to hear about the second failure of your team when they are defeated by that monster older than Munirp and end up in his stomach as a consequence," Glenn added, grinning as he watched Lioras' face drain of colors. Glenn could still remember as he watched Doyle Malory take a bite out of Monsieur Maron and how helpless he had been against him. They had only managed to seal him away with the help of the Laboratory.

Vilroy waved his hand dismissively, "These are the stated rewards, but add in that all three of our organizations will consider having a massive debt in your regard." His blue eyes flashed sharply, "The combined goodwill of the Seekers, the Magi Brotherhood, and the Indigo Bureau should amount to an interesting amount."

Glenn looked at each of them one by one, before grinning, "I suppose it would. When would we need to go?"

Isadora suddenly stood up and leaned on the table with a wide smile, "Now."

A magic circle suddenly appeared under their feet, flashing with powerful light. Glenn didn't even have the time to protest that the circle teleported them to another place.

"Fuck, you couldn't give me an hour or two to notify my team?" Glenn complained as he easily shrugged off the nausea. Lioras puked his guts out in a bin meant for this purpose while Vilroy and Isadora walked up to him.

"My apologies, Sir Glenn, but considering the location of the target, every second counts," Vilroy bowed his head apologetically. Isadora patted him on the back and opened the exit door, letting in a warm gust of wind. Glenn froze, recognizing the sensation. He stepped out only to face the immense shadow of the greatest chains of mountains on this continent.

The Dark Wall.

"You're fucking kidding me..." He muttered in disbelief.

'Haha, I guess Veil wasn't lying when he said you weren't done with this place!' Diamanes laughed mockingly.

Nelg grunted, "The Laboratory was taken to the Land Beyond the Wall? Hell, this is going to be complicated. We're going to search for a missing team while in the middle of the war."

Glenn stretched and made his knuckles crack, "Well, might as well take care of it now. I wanted to go find that Laboratory again if I could anyway, and try fighting Doyle Malory once more. If it's against him..." His lips curved upward in a wicked manner, "Maybe I'll be able to break through. Can't really say I'm satisfied about having to do this whole thing in the middle of that mess of a war."

Vilroy stopped and cleared his throat, "Oh, the target's position isn't indicating the Land Beyond the Wall."

Glenn paused.

"...What? Then where the hell does it..."

Vilroy nodded in the Dark Wall's direction. Glenn's eyes widened and he looked back in awe, "Don't tell me...Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Sadly, your guess is right," Vilroy sighed, "They aren't located beyond the Dark Wall, nor in Munirp."

"They are in the Dark Wall."