As they caught their breath, a good bit of noise seemed to be coming from the gates. It seemed that Scarlet had returned from her little endeavour, whatever it was.

They both smiled. Now, they could finally eat at the fire.

Eating the crispy meat of the bear-like creature, and some crisp crab-like legs as a side, they smiled; this was probably the best they’d eaten in a while. Though the meat of the bear-like creature was rather tough, it was incredibly delicious once you bit through it. Plus, a lot of the meat in this world was tougher, and so they’d become accustomed to that over time.

“Scarlet”

The blind woman looked over to the location of the voice.

“Rafe” she said with a smile.

“What were you doing earlier?”

Rafe was incredibly curious; he had to be in the know. Knowledge was power after all.

“Ah, that. It’s a secret” she kept her smile.

‘I won’t press’

“Alright. Hope it went well”

He moved away, heading towards Jed and Alexander; the two had gotten acquainted a little while ago, when Rafe had gotten injured from the enraged dread.

“Yo” Rafe said.

“What were you talking to Scarlet about?” Alexander asked.

“Trying to figure out what she’s been doing. Of course, she didn’t tell me anything”

Alexander chuckled.

“Indeed, very secretive. Even I can’t get anything out of her”

‘Even you, huh?’ Rafe inwardly chuckled.

“What’s Merl’s deal? You two are in his group, surely you know?” Jed asked.

“You mean why he’s so damn gloomy? No clue”

Alexander hesitated before speaking.

“Battle of the rift affected people in a lot of ways. Some people lost hope. Some people killed themselves because after seeing what they saw, they decided dying was a better outcome than living. And some people, they changed…a lot. Merl used to be a lot like us; fighting whatever he could, throwing his life around like it was a secondary priority, strength and power coming first. But, after watching so many of his friends die, and almost dying himself, he became like he is now. To be honest, you could say he really did die on that battlefield. Now, he’s barely living at all”

Hearing that, Jed and Rafe fell silent. An awkward silence ensured for some time, until Alexander spoke again:

“Ah…whatever. He’s still one gloomy guy, no matter the reason. He ought to cheer up”

Though, the other two simply nodded, still feeling a little awkward. However, soon, the topic changed to fighting and even mocking some of the fighting styles in the real world, that would never work on a monster. Still, they were never intended to be used on monsters, not physical monsters at least.

“Ack” Rafe spat as he awoke.

‘Another nightmare? Persistent mind. Five months of non-stop nightmares’ he grimaced.

“You good?” Jed asked, noticing Rafe’s sour expression.

Rafe nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. Just had a weird dream”

Weird was an understatement. He kept having dreams of people dying, sometimes from his own perspective, yet other times from someone else’s. How was that even possible? And why were they so vivid and realistic? Damn dreams.

“Ready?” Rafe asked.

Jed shook his head.

“Nah, not now. Later, if you’re free”

“Yeah that works” Rafe nodded.

Jed had morning patrol for the east forest, so couldn’t do a morning duel with Rafe. At least he could do it later. He had to keep training; keep getting better and stronger. Over the past few months, he’d improved drastically. Honestly, he’d shocked himself seeing how much more powerful he had become.

Walking past Twilight again, Rafe gritted his teeth. Perhaps it was time to confront her. Well, later, he had to clear his mind now, after that damned dream. It was far too…familiar. He hated it.

Scarlet was probably at her spot this morning, and whilst sometimes he’d head over there to chat, he needed some time alone now. Moving over to the only other quiet location he knew, he thought about what he’d seen in the dream. It was Flower Boy, moments before he killed himself.

They fought, just as Rafe remembered, and as he was ready to finish off the violent, hateful youth, the youth’s face warped into terror. Only this time, he felt his face warp, and saw exactly what Flower had seen before he decided to burn his own face off.

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Too damn vivid. Too damn real. Just what were these dreams? It must have something to do with the Korgin eye.

‘Perhaps this is the price’ he thought.

At that moment, he reached his spot.

‘Finally some peace and quie-’

His eyes widened.

‘What the fuck’

Before him, lied the dead corpse of a guard. Merl. It seemed that he had killed himself, brutally. His gloomy eyes had been poked out, his lip bitten apart, and his sword piercing right through his own body.

‘What the hell have you done, Merl? Why…’ Rafe couldn’t think of what to do.

Slowly, he moved his gaze from the mutilated corpse of his patrol team leader. He had to go get a guard. And so, he walked back over, grabbing the attention of the nearest guard, a short distance away.

“Morning, Rafe” Faust greeted him.

Rafe’s face was dark.

“I need you to get Scarlet. Tell her to come here quick. It’s important”

Faust seemed confused.

“Get Scarlet? What’s so important?”

“Someone is dead. Get her”

Rafe’s expression remained dark. This was the first suicide he’d seen in his life. And it was a horrific scene. What would drive a man to do that to himself? Merl was always gloomy, sure, but always calm and collected. If he were to kill himself, it wouldn’t be like this. Which means somebody did this.

‘Who?’ Rafe pondered. There were way too many guards in this fortress to pin down a killer.

‘This is not going to be easy. And what if he really killed himself? Damn it all’

A little later, Scarlet arrived, three guards following behind her. She seemed incredibly serious.

“Rafe. What happened?”

“It’s Merl…he's dead. Suicide, it looks”

Scarlet’s face warped for a moment before returning to her serious expression.

‘She’s sad. Of course…they attacked the rift together; they share those scars’ Rafe thought.

Scarlet and Merl were in the same attack squad when the guard attempted to fight for the rift. They shared that experience together; that hell.

“Let’s go” she said.

Rafe led the way to Merl’s body. Upon seeing it, that same expression of pain appeared on her face. It was worse than she had thought. Seeing the mutilated corpse of her old friend, it broke her a little. This time, she wasn’t able to hide the pain she was feeling, and Rafe saw that in full bloom on her beautiful face.

‘A hell of a world we live in, for someone to do that to themselves’ Rafe sighed.

Later, Rafe was dismissed by Scarlet, and so he headed back to his lodging. Since he’d had to be the one to find the body, she gave him time off of patrol, well she offered it, however Rafe declined; he had to grow stronger. He couldn’t do that by sitting by idly.

Back in his room, Rafe was deep in thought. Why would Merl do that? He’d survived this long after the battle of the rift, what would make him do it now? What pushed him over the edge?

Or who killed him?

‘There’s no way in hell a person like Merl would do that to themselves. Someone did this’

But who? Rafe wasn’t confident in being able to find them. However, if they continued, more of the guard would die, and they would be weakened. Plus, what if they are targeting his patrol team? He could be next. Right now, he was at risk, and so was the rest of the patrol team.

“Fuck” he cursed.

What could he do? Just wait in this damned room all day and pray? No way in hell. He had to do something, but what could he do? He was no detective. Whilst he excelled at fighting, this wasn’t his forte.

‘He could help…he is rather smart. In fact, he’s probably the smartest person I know’ Rafe pondered.

But how could he get him to help? What was in it for him? Oh…no this would be enough. You couldn’t sway Brax with much, but entertainment? A mystery? That should do it. After all, he is one damned psycho.

With that, Rafe summoned his Dao and set off for Ryu’s lodging, at the centre of the fortress, the largest building within the titan walls, and where Brax was currently residing.

‘Cunning bastard, talking his way into luxury’ Rafe spat.

As he reached the doors of the lodging, a group of guards stopped him. He recognised a few, part of Scarlet’s personal guards, though she didn’t use them much.

“Rafe, what are you doing?” one of the guards asked, recognising him. Since he knew Scarlet a little, he had a decent bit of borrowed power.

“I need to see Brax…it’s urgent”

The guard put his hand over his face.

“But you know we can’t just let you in” he sighed.

Rafe shook his head.

“Just call him down”

The guard sighed.

“We can’t enter either”

Rafe clenched his fist tightly, drawing a little blood. Time was of the essence. When would this crazy bastard strike again…well, assuming this person did exist. In the end, there was no proof so far. However, Brax could be able to help with that. He’s handy in that type of work.

“Fine” Rafe sighed, “Brax. Get out. It’s important. You hear me?” he yelled.

The guards grimaced. Rafe just had to make a commotion. However, it did work, and a little while later, Brax arrived at the doors of the large lodging.

Before them stood a tall man with short, messy red hair and incredibly pale skin. He was dressed in light armour and a wooly coat likely made from a sheep-like creature. Or just a wooly monster. His physique was mildly muscular and he was quite lean.

“Rafe. Come on in, buddy” he said, faking a friendly smile.

However, Rafe followed nevertheless. This matter was important.

Closing the doors behind them, Brax dropped the friendly act.

“So…what do you want?”

“Someone killed Merl. I want you to find out who. I believe he may be after my patrol team”

Brax squinted his eyes, then a wicked smile appeared on his face.

“You want me to stop this killer before they get you, huh? Because you and I both know you could watch this whole place burn down, and you wouldn’t bat an eye”

Rafe spat.

“Just answer whether you’ll do it”

Brax dropped the smile.

“Sure…but I’m gonna need access to the corpse, so let’s head to where they’re keeping hi- oh wait…Scarlet forbade my entry”

Rafe grimaced as Brax continued:

“Now I doubt Scarlet will let me fiddle with their old pal, so it looks like you’re gonna have to…steal a corpse” he smiled visciously.

Rafe shook his head.

“I’ll ask Scarlet. I’m sure she’ll let you”

Brax looked confused for a moment, then pushed that thought aside.

“Are you sure you have time to waste waiting for her?”

“There’ll be no waiting. I doubt she left this place after her old friend just died. Well…I hope”

Brax didn’t seem convinced.

“Oh, well. Don’t take too long, my friend”

Rafe turned around with a dull expression.

“You’re coming with me. I know where she’ll be”