Glenn jumped down from the tree he was sleeping in and stretched with a grunt. There was work to be done. A glance informed him that Astrid Di Forte had long departed the scene, alongside the victims of this incident. The young man rubbed the back of his neck, navigating through the streets of the Northern Town toward tonight's target. A Corrupted one that only acted during the night. Perhaps crushing that thing will allow him to get rid of this hateful feeling running down his throat ever since he recovered the girl and the other kid's corpse.

The young man drew a deep breath and calmed himself, at least as much as he could. Diamanes snickered in the back of his mind, judgmental.

'You know, you'd probably feel a lot better if you just went and straight up caved that bastard Cleaner's face in.'

Glenn moistened his lips, his fists clenched.

'I'd rather not murder someone by accident. But...' He paused and a rageful glint passed through his eyes, '...Maybe I can make an exception for Blorg. This bastard deserves it.'

Diamanes laughed, his chuckles echoing in his host's head, 'That's what I'm saying! Let go of things for once! What could he do to you, anyway? Fight back?'

Glenn sneered, before discarding these thoughts. It was one thing to think about killing someone, but another to discuss it. And so far, Blorg had only proved himself to be a cocky, incompetent idiot. He wasn't exactly "evil" incarnated. And yet...

The young man shook his head and glanced at the darkening sky. He pulled his Exan-Egg out of his dimensional pouch, checking the time. 8:24 P.M. He was a little late, but it should be fine. After turning into a darker street, he noticed a group of white-clad priests of Onnea discussing something with mages of the Magi Brotherhood.

"—hopefully, yeah. I heard that the Devil's Hand was going to take care of this one." One of the priests said with a hint of awe. The mage he was speaking with shook his head and chuckled.

"Do you think they'll send him for such a low-priority target? I believe Cleaner Blorg was the one drafted for this fight."

The group of priests grunted and sighed dejectedly, "That idiot?" "...Damn it, I guess we'll have more injured to take care of then..."

Glenn frowned and stepped out of the dark, startling the mages and the priests. Without giving them the time to move or attack him, he summoned his Identification Dagger and made it gleam in the light of the torches illuminating the zone.

"Fixer Glenn. Can someone brief me rapidly? And where the hell is my assistant?" The young man requested while continuing to walk, his eyes glued to the ward separating him from the Corrupted containment zone. The mage who wasn't expecting him hurriedly picked up his jaw hanging off and rushed toward him. A priest did the same after a short while, his surprise still drawn on his face.

"Uhm, it's....it's an honor to—" The mage stuttered, earning a sigh from Glenn. The young man turned toward the priest, who quickly picked up on what he wanted.

"Praise to Onnea. The Corrupted is an ex-Blade of the Brotherhood of the Iron Blood, who went insane after failing to rank up to the Fourth Aura Rank."

Glenn's eyebrows rose. "The Brotherhood of the Iron Blood? That's their mess to fix, why are you guys implicated?"

The priest grimaced, "Well...They did send another Blade to take care of him, but we have yet to hear about him...It's Cleaner Blorg, who's supposed to be in charge of Rampart Street."

A vein popped on Glenn's forehead and he slowly blinked, "...Blorg? That guy is a Blade of the Brotherhood? Since when? Aren't the Blades supposed to be an Elite force that struck the Bloodblade enemies?"

The priest shrugged helplessly, "...That's what I also believed until now."

Glenn rubbed his temples and restrained himself from sighing once more.

'Hey, we never fought a guy from that religion, right? That'll be fun!' Diamanes exclaimed excitedly. Indeed, the Brotherhood of Iron Blood had only recently implemented themselves in the Fringe. Many Fixers were believers of the Brotherhood, but mostly the lower-ranked ones. Bronze, Silver, and some Gold ranked as well even though they were rarer. In the Black-Gold rank, most were unaffiliated with a religion, or they were hiding it well. It made sense, for these individuals would probably be drafted by their respective Churches so that their strength may be put to the use of the God they worship. Living the good life under the protection of the Cleaner's Workshop was probably the better choice.

Glenn pulled his hand-axe out of his belt, the cold steel gleaming under the pale light of the night. The sun had entirely set now, and a shy pair of moons were rising, hidden behind thick black clouds. Glenn creased his nose and walked to the ward's edge. The sound of someone running frantically stopped him before he entered the containment zone. A glance back informed him of Kevin sprinting with all his strength, his notepad hugged against his chest and his glasses threatening to fall off at any moment.

"Ah!" Kevin exclaimed, gasping heavily for air. Glenn gave him a minute to catch his breath and crossed his arms. The skinny assistant sighed in relief and adjusted the position of his glasses.

"My apologies, Sir, ha... I thought you would have wanted to...ha... stop by the Dormitory before executing this bounty," Kevin sincerely excused himself. Glenn rolled his eyes and patted the assistant on the shoulder.

"No bother. Anything you need to tell me before I head in?"

Kevin glanced at his notepad, frowned, and shook his head, "Nothing that cannot wait for this to be over. Please execute Vladimir Di Fors, who succumbed to Corruption."

Glenn smacked his lips and made his joints crackle.

"Let's go then. Standard protocol, of course," He added when turning toward the still-surprised mage. Without another second of consideration, he jumped through the ward, landing in an area covered in shadow. There was no moonlight, no torches lit, nothing. Only pure, black darkness. Glenn frowned and muttered a small Lux, creating a ball of light to illuminate his path. The shadows moved and wrapped around the ball of light, swallowing it and destroying it entirely.

"...Oh, I understand why it's out only during the night, then..." Glenn muttered, "...Is this a trait of the Brotherhood of Iron Blood? I expected something a little more flashy..."

Glenn waved his right hand, charging it with powerful Mana as he cast Sun's Touch, burning the darkness away with incomparably stronger light. As the shadows retreated to darker corners, Glenn realized that every house in the area had crumbled down into messy piles of debris. A single construction had survived, a circular building with banners made of shadows hanging off it.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

'Wait, isn't Di Fors that paladin's family name?' Diamanes suddenly asked in realization. Glenn glanced at his left hand for a moment, jogging his memories for someone bearing the Di Fors' name... A paladin... Alabaster Di Fors? The guy who's always escorting Astrid? Was Vladimir his brother?

Well...This was too bad, but...

What did it matter anyway? The only solution to Corruption was extermination. It was a little strange that Alabaster had family out of the Church of Onnea, but it was simple to understand that people could believe in completely different religions. After all, there were obvious advantages to believing in a God, and there was a whole world of choice.

Was it sacrilegious to think so? Meh, They wouldn't be Gods if They were offended by so little.

The one positive thing was that Glenn was the one that will take care of Alabaster's family, and not some uncaring asshole nor the friendly paladin himself. Having to kill a person you know and were friendly with is not a good experience, after all. He could testify to that.

Glenn clenched his hand and channeled more Mana into Sun's Touch. His right arm became as bright as a sun, chasing away all leftover shadows. The sound of something sizzling and shrieking in pain made Glenn spin on his feet, his hand-axe turning to a longsword in the same movement. A large, bare-chested man was kneeling with blood flowing out of his ears, eyes, and mouths. Mouths, since he had a few of those wide-opened on his chest, gritting their teeth in pain.

Behind his back was a sword with a ridiculously large crossguard, planted in the nape of the Corrupted's neck. Vladimir, as was his name before Corruption, cried at the sky hidden behind the ward.

"WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?"

Glenn raised an eyebrow without stopping to channel his Mana, ready to test the creature's capabilities. He aimed his finger at Vladimir's bloody face.

"I don't know why. But I do know how you're going to die," He whispered as a Hellzone appeared under Vladimir's feet, burning the creature to a crisp. But strangely, the Corrupted didn't scream in pain this time, simply kneeling in the flames and letting his flesh melt away.

"...Shed the blood of your enemies as you shed yours...Iron for Blood, Blood for Iron..." Vladimir spoke through the flames, his voice reaching Glenn's ears effortlessly. The young man's eyes widened as he felt something coming, and he hurriedly switched tactics, throwing a dozen Carbon Blades in the Corrupted's direction. The creature roared and reached for the crossguard stabbed in its neck, pulling it out in a macabre show of blood and rage.

Glenn took a step back and reinforced his Saturn Rings while keeping a defensive position with his sword. Vladimir continued to roar, raising a blood-red sword to the sky, before stabbing it into the floor.

"Divine Declaration: Iron Duel!" The Corrupted stated with crazed eyes, his deep voice hurling through the battlefield.

'Oh, wait, what the hell is—' Diamanes seemed to realize something important but his voice was cut off from Glenn's mind. The young man froze, but that surprise was nothing in front of the one he felt when his Saturn Rings disappeared without his intervention. His Mana was sucked away, and his sword disappeared, automatically placed back in his soul.

"What kind of fuckery...?" Glenn muttered with wide-opened eyes, before hurriedly dodging Vladimir's violent fist. The creature had abandoned its sword where it stabbed it, instead choosing to rip Glenn with its own monstrous hands. The young man clenched his teeth and held his left hand forward, summoning Nitrogen, but nothing happened once again. His Mana refused to obey him. The young man tried with a Blackhole, but no, the source of his spells didn't matter.

This was a Mana-ban. How? He had no idea.

'Diamanes, what the hell is going on?' He hissed in his mind as he continuously dodged one attack after another, angering the Corrupted even further.

"STOP FLEEING!! FIGHT FOR YOUR HONOR, WARRIOR!" Vladimir roared, blowing huge clouds of dust with each jump it took.

Glenn's mind raced. Diamanes was out of reach somehow. His Mana was blocked; he couldn't use his weapon. Was he forced to fight fists to fists with this thing? The young man's expression darkened with realization, and he changed his stance, dashing into the monster's embrace instead of away from it. The Corrupted, surprised, tried to close his massive arms on him, but Glenn slipped through the grappling attempt. He drew a deep breath and clenched his fist, before punching straight through Vladimir's right knee. He had expected to damage it slightly, maybe break his fist doing so, but...no.

His fist pierced through the knee like a knife through butter. The young man didn't waste this opportunity to be surprised and ripped his hand out, dashing out of range from the Corrupted. The creature tried to stand on its broken knee but collapsed to the side helplessly. Roaring with rage, Vladimir grabbed the broken knee and ripped it away, opting to instead walk on the stump. Glenn barely flinched at the sight. This was almost usual, now, wasn't it?

More nonsensical creatures, with more nonsensical fights, right? Glenn's heart fired up with the rage he was trying to contain ever since he saw that dead kid, and he roared to the sky beastly. The Corrupted shrieked with all of its mouth, using his arms to move toward Glenn. The young man's eyes were bloodshot, and his fingernails were digging into his palms from how hard he was clenching his fists.

"...Fuck..." He hissed, struggling against the wave of hate and fury that threatened to spill out. Vladimir threw its massive fist at Glenn, rifts opening in the ground due to the sheer air pressure created by the attack. Glenn bit down on his lips, his sight slowly tainting with crimson red. Spilled blood, countless children's corpses, the Beyond, that kid earlier, the sight from the Book of Doloratrox...

Everything burst out in a flare of madness as Glenn's fist made contact with Vladimir's. A second of silence passed until Vladimir's right arm imploded in a mess of mangled flesh, bones, and blood. Glenn watched the rain of red he had created, his eyes filled with crimson.

KILL.

Glenn fell on all four and used his every limb to dash forward, growling beastly. The Corrupted roared back and managed to catch Glenn in its left hand. It squeezed as hard as it could, but Glenn pushed back with brutal, pure strength, blood pouring out of his nose and eyes.

KILL. THE. MONSTERS.

He grabbed the left arm and twisted it violently, ripping it off the Corrupted, before throwing it away. The creature seemed to finally feel the pain as it fell back, each of its mouths screaming in pain. Glenn coldly walked and reached for the largest mouth in Vladimir's chest, forcefully prying it open. The monster tried to resist, but every effort it spent seemed useless in front of this absolute might. With one last beastly roar, Glenn ripped Vladimir in two, bathing in the blood pouring out.

'—fuck? Ah, ah, you hear me?!? Shit, what's this Divine Intervention shit? Anyway, good job—' Diamanes shouted in Glenn's mind, surprised, but the young man's head was already filled with voices the entity didn't recognize.

KILL THE MONSTERS. SHOW THEM. RIP THEM APART.

Glenn heaved, his breathing ragged and almost inhuman. He was standing on top of Vladimir's carcass, completely covered in blood. His Imoogi suit and black gloves were dripping in crimson fluid, a large pool of blood forming under Glenn's feet. The young man fell to his knee and clenched his head, the voices intensifying.

KILL! KILL! INFLICT THE PAIN THEY INFLICTED YOU!

His Mana rushed back in, soothing something unknown in Glenn's heart, and allowing him to take a deep, desperate breath. Like a drowning man, he struggled with each gasp for air, coughing on blood. The voices were chased away by the Mana and with it the threat of Corruption, lingering around for an opportunity to seize Glenn's heart.

'...This...This is it...' Diamanes muttered in bewilderment, '...Mana is the only thing stopping you from insanity? But why...?' The entity pondered, either oblivious or uncaring about how his host felt currently. The young man forced himself up, his head spinning. He stumbled out of the Corrupted carcass, walking away from it. Almost on auto-pilot, he went to the ward's edge and walked through it. The priests and mages waiting outside turned toward him, all smiles, but that happiness was short-lived.

They stepped back as spells and divine light flared up, ready to strike. Glenn grunted, blood continuing to trickle down his face and body. Each step the young man took was a bloody one, leaving an ominous imprint on the floor. The voices were gone; his rage, though, hadn't entirely left. And he knew exactly where to direct it. He stepped toward the mage from earlier and grabbed his shoulder. The mage yelped and instinctively threw a fire bolt at him, but Saturn Rings caught the spell and deflected it away.

Glenn drew a long, raspy breath.

"Where is..." He coughed, his eyes bloodshot, "...Where is Blorg?"