"Cough..." Glenn wiped the blood off his lips before withdrawing his blade from the last Magekiller corpse. The battle against the monster wave was almost over, with more and more fighters joining the battlefield to push back against the constant onslaught.

Glenn's vicinity was the product of pure chaos: scorched earth, ice sculptures, and pieces of flesh strewn the ground. Other fighters clearly understood from the way he fought that he didn't need any assistance. There was more blood than dirt at this point.

"Well, if you ignore the shattered ribs, the missing flesh, and the crushed fingers, this is a pretty good result," scoffed Diamanes. Glenn grunted as he sat on top of a beheaded Magekiller, his wounds throbbing. C.P.R. had stopped working at perfect efficiency at some point, and Glenn had been forced to rely on his abnormal body to survive. The Magekillers were smart, powerful, and last but not least, fearless. They didn't care about wounds, the deaths of their comrades, or even themselves. They just threw their bodies at him, trading their lives to harm him even slightly.

"I hope they only focused on me..." Glen sighed. Other mages would have a terrible time fighting these creatures. Thanks to his versatility and Nelg, he was relatively fine, but he couldn't imagine an Archmagi fighting back against these creatures. They were perfectly tailored against those who were weak in close combats. Assassins specialized in slaying mages. Magekillers.

Nelg appeared right beside Glenn, his armor covered in blood. "Tsk. This name sucks ass. Also, just letting you know, you took care of thirty-two—sorry, thirty-three of them. They have big souls, considering they're monsters."

Glenn watched as curtains of Mana fell over the Rifts, sealing them away. Munirp's fighters destroyed the last monstrous remnants, not sparring a single enemy. Beasts deserved no pity. Nelg sighed before returning to the comfort of Glenn's soul.

"AH—TEST, TEST!" A thundering voice rang above the battlefield. Glenn looked up, but he couldn't find anything. The twin moons were about to leave their spots to the sun, probably in another hour or two. It had been a long night.

"EVERY TEAM MENTIONED—PLEASE HEAD BACK FOR MAIN CAMP. NEW INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU THEN. FOR MUNIRP!"

Glenn shook his head and pumped his fist half-heartedly. "Cough...yeah, for Munirp..."

"VEIL'S CLEANERS, ONNEA'S PALADINS, MAGI BROTHERHOOD STRIKE TEAM, THE DEVIL'S HAND'S TEAM..." Glenn looked up when he heard his title being called out. Seems like his group got themselves remarked in the fight. He couldn't afford to pay attention to them, but they were probably fine.

"Brother Glenn!" Lucian's voice drew his attention away. Glenn glanced at the regal man's direction, raising an eyebrow at his clean suit. Lucian brushed his golden hair back before stretching a hand out to him.

"You survived! Thank you, Onnea... This night was hell." He suddenly pumped his air to the sky. "But Munirp remains victorious in the end, haha!" Lucian was beaming with a wide smile. Glenn groaned as he took the outstretched hand, pulling himself up.

"Brother this, brother that..." he winced. "Hey, talking about Onnea. Any idea where I can find a priest to patch me up?"

Lucian's eyes widened with worry. "You don't have access to a healing spell? But I thought—"

"I do, but it's not good enough. Now—priest? Where?" Glenn cut him off, his patience running thin. He had spent the whole night fighting and was covered in blood, both from his enemies and his own. A quick Mundare would certainly do the trick to take care of that, but he was too exhausted to bother. 'Who knows when next I will return to fight another wave of fucking Magekillers? Shit, why do I even fight anyway?'

'Because it's fun!' Diamanes exclaimed in excitation, before correcting himself. 'Wait, no, that's the wrong bit. You fight because your sister lives in Munirp! If Munirp's gone, then sister's gone too!'

Glenn shook his head slowly, tired. '...That's certainly reason enough. Thanks.'

'No need to thank me. Just show me some more entertaining fights, I love it!' Diamanes laughed wickedly.

Nelg retched. "At least one of us is appreciating it. Glenn, I was starting to believe you were also a battle-crazed bastard, but seeing your current expression, I'm starting to second-guess myself."

Glenn followed Lucian's steps, walking over mounds of corpses. Lower-ranked fighters had been fodders in this battle, their lives sacrificed to earn even another second for their comrades. The scent of death permeated his place like a curse, and it weighed down on Glenn's shoulders.

'I love fighting, getting stronger, progressing...' Glenn crushed a monster's skull under his foot, his anger rising slowly. 'But this? I fucking hate it. My bones were shattered and my blood drawn, and yet, so many on our sides still die. If my sister's safety wasn't depending on the fate of this kingdom, I'd already be back fighting ancient gods or something. At least that has some meaning, compared to this abject slaughter.'

Diamanes clicked his tongue. 'Prefers to fight gods over wars...certainly not a soldier, but more an adventurer...Hey, wanna do your ISTP test too? I think I could do it for you if you just ask.'

Glenn muted the annoying entity for a moment as he entered a temporary camp set up in an area cleared of corpses and blood puddles. Tents had been raised, bearing the symbol of Munirp, a setting sun. Wounded warriors sat beside pale, Mana-deficient mages, their wounds treated by priests of the Church of Onnea.

"Do you mind...?" Lucian smiled politely before flicking a Mundare over Glenn, not waiting for his answer. The latter shivered as all the filth and blood caking him disappeared, leaving only the open wounds and cracked bones.

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"When you think back to it, isn't it incredible that you're able to move despite all the damage you sustained? Like, if I trust your memories from Earth, twisting your ankle would be enough to put you on the ground crying. But now...?" Nelg whistled, impressed.

Glenn moistened his lips. 'I did get tortured and fought to my death since then. I think that does change my reaction to pain a little.'

Nelg's mental image shrugged. "If you say so."

Lucian led him to the largest tent in the camp, his steps assured. It certainly looked like he knew where he was going. Both Aura knights and mages sent fearful look their ways, be it at Glenn's left purple arm and at Lucian's back, where Munirp's setting sun was embroidered.

"You famous or something?" grunted Glenn.

Lucian shrugged. “I don't think so? Today's my official debut, people shouldn't know me yet...” He scratched his shin, thinking. “But then, I did put on quite a show... Oh well.”

Glen didn't get to give it another thought as he noticed Sahro, Liara, and Milena approaching. His team was looking as disheveled as him. Sahro's mechanical arm was hanging limply, red bolts of electricity shooting out of it without warning. His fox, Raijin, was sleeping on his shoulder, his fur not as flamboyant as usual. Liara was taking every step leaning on her sword, her spear missing, while helping Milena walk at the same time. The three of them were covered in blood and mud.

"Seems like you got it easy," Sahro grunted as he punched Glenn's shoulder lightly. "Don't be jealous when my legend grows larger than yours."

Glenn sneered. "And what will they call you? The Fox Fighter? Hey, are you going to grow a tail?"

"Shut it, both of you..." groaned Milena as she held her head. "I burned most of my brain to control one of those Magekillers, I can't possibly endure one of your bickering."

Liara sighed dejectedly, no words escaping her mouth. She glanced up and down at Lucian before turning to Glenn, silently asking for presentations.

"Oh, yeah, this is Lucian. Lucian's here's my team." Glenn waved his hand sloppily before collapsing on top of a barrel, his wounds oozing with blood and white, bubbling scum as they tried to stitch themselves up. Lucian bowed his head slightly with a charming smile.

"It is my pleasure to meet my Brother's allies."

Sahro raised an eyebrow. "Brother? Glenn, is he another long-lost relative, or...?"

"Self-acclaimed brother," corrected Glenn as he applied the C.P.R. spell to his wounds once more, hoping to at least seal them. "Right, Lucian, why do you call yourself my brother? I've known you for, what, hours?"

Lucian flashed a broad, innocent smile. “My respectable father always taught me that those who fight by your side are brothers for life. And... seeing as you're stronger than me, I think I might even call you Big Brother!”

Glenn looked at Lucian for a moment, before shaking his head. 'Why do I always end up meeting some sort of lunatic all the time?'

'Don't birds of a feather flock together?' Diamanes asked all but innocently. Glenn rolled his eyes as he glanced at the other teams joining them in front of the large tent. Veil waved at him but remained with his Cleaners, mages, and fighters wearing the colors of the Cleaner's Workshop, red crosses over white. The Magi Brotherhood was also there—and surprisingly, Glenn also recognized someone in that team.

Isadora walked toward him in large stride, the fury in her eyes not halved despite her eyepatch. She poked a finger in his chest before brushing her bloodied hair back.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were back from the Dark Wall! I thought you flew away on its back!"

Glenn pushed her back slowly. "For my defense, I returned during the evening. I barely had the time to enjoy some time with my family that all this mess happened..." He forced a weak smile through his exhaustion. "But hey, here I am. Anyway, when do you want us to have a date already?"

Isadora blinked, opening and closing her mouth multiple times before giving up and leaving back to her team. Milena's eyes darted from Isadora to Glenn as a smile crept up her face.

"Wait a minute...I thought you weren't interested in relationships!"

Glenn lifted his left, purple hand. "I'm not. And it's not serious, she's just a friend I made on a job."

Milena frowned. "You flirt with your friends?"

"I do need to find a way to not go insane," shrugged Glenn.

"ATTENTION, PLEASE!" shouted a knight who just left the large tent. The image of a wolf had been embossed on his breastplate, and he exuded a pressure almost comparable to Sahro's. The discussions between all the teams dimmed down as the knight clasped his hands behind his back, standing straight.

"Pay your respects to the Commodore of the Wolves Order, Count Mortelli!"

Glenn's heart missed a beat and his blood turned to ice. His Mana almost exploded furiously, but he managed to contain it against all odds. A tall, muscular man in his fifties wearing an intricate armor of steel and silver came out of the tent. He had a grayish royale beard, and his gray hair had been precisely trimmed. An ornate sword rested in a sheath hanging at his waist, the pommel rustling with a red jewel. His eyes were the same color as steel, tempered in flames and coal.

Count Mortelli looked at the teams that had been called out without a word. He didn't show any signs of recognizing Glenn nor accord him any special attention. But Glenn knew better than that.

'This is the schemer who stole Redan's title, tainted his legacy, and ultimately caused his death. Someone who's in cahoots with the Occult Wanderers and even the Thorn's Church.' He tightly clenched his fists and grounded his teeth. Sahro's fox hissed at the man as if replicating his master's emotions. Pebble, the one-eyed dragon suddenly appeared on top of Glenn's shoulder, his single eye following Mortelli's every move.

"As most of you are aware, I am the eyes and ears of the Crown on this battlefield," the Count declared sternly. "I'll be coordinating the operations to best take care of this crisis. I will not tolerate any disobedience. Unruly soldiers are not welcomed on my front, no matter how skilled they might be."

'He sounds exactly like the sort of asshole I enjoy crippling,' commented Diamanes with wicked laughter. Glenn ignored him and restrained his anger. He couldn't act now. There were many knights of the Wolves' Order all around them. 'It's not time yet.'

A table of stone suddenly surged out of the ground in front of him, taking shape to resemble the battlefield. Mortelli pressed his hand on the table.

"Special operatives have already tried to seal the Rifts, but as you might have guessed, it was unsuccessful. The best we can do right is to block the passage, but the Rifts remain. To adopt a... 'familiar' language, we've only plugged the hole and failed to patch it up. It won't hold forever."

Mortelli crossed his arms. "To add to injury, we've discovered that those Rifts can be used to travel to other dimensions. They're two-way passages." He drew a deep breath in. "I called all of you because you are our strongest, most competent teams if we ignore Munirp's military divisions, of course."

"Since our armies are already too busy containing the threat and pushing back against the other bordering countries, we're forced to rely on you. Here are your missions." Mortelli slammed his fist on the table and pointed at the Rifts.

"Enter the Rifts, find out what maintains them into reality, and destroy them. For Munirp's honor."

"For Munirp's honor!" Lucian excitedly exclaimed, breaking up the tense ambiance. He had been hiding behind Glenn since the start of the meeting. Count Mortelli raised an eyebrow.

"...I don't think you're part of any of the teams I called. Who are you to dare intrude on a military briefing?"

Lucian's grin turned to something Glenn never noticed in the young man, a certain...dangerousness and majesty that simply couldn't be imitated.

"I am Lucian Magnus, Munirp's one and only Crown Prince. And I, am His Majesty's eyes and ears."