The beacon of light that pierces the sky has yet to subside. It cannot be calmed by the heavy winds attracted to it. These brave winds that'd dare approach the beacon all flee in fear shortly after realizing their hopeless situation.

 

The mastermind behind the formation of this beacon is none other than Genevieve Law. 

 

Genevieve was a mere [C-Rank] when she met Miss Tachibana. Tachibana's abilities were commendable, so commendable that even Genevieve wished to reach her level. With unnatural growth, an unmatched temper, and a will of steel, Genevieve successfully climbed the ranks to [A-Rank] where she resides today. At some point along the way, she became one of Tachibana's three wives. These three wives have become notorious for running Eryland and being ridiculously powerful.

 

In comparison to the rest of Tachibana's wives, Genevieve is the weakest. Though, despite being the weakest of three, in Eryland, she is among the strongest out of thousands. 

 

---

 

Genevieve's foot rests on top of the succubus. The succubus was so powerful that she'd severed my arm from my body with one attack. All of my abilities, except for Regeneration, have been deactivated on their own accord. I can no longer maintain these monster transformations. Thankfully, because of Genevieve's interventions, I no longer need to.

 

My vision is blurry since I just had my intestines lacerated by that woman's hand. How the hell did she manage to get so strong? Only a few seconds after our fight, Malison and I could take her on individually if we both fought at our full power. The only thing I can think of is that she wasn't fighting at her best either!

 

"Now then, I need both of you to give me a reason why I shouldn't butcher you on the spot. Now!" Genevieve's voice held so much power behind it, so much superiority. She held no concern for my near-death state. 

 

Actually, I didn't even notice until now that my wounds are healing a lot faster. My arm which was once detached from my body is starting to regrow. I'm more than grateful. I couldn't imagine having to walk around every day with one arm. Maybe I could've become one of those badass one-armed swordsmen though! Nah, my class doesn't count for swordsmanship. Not that I couldn't become the best swordsman with my skill though.

 

"I don't know how it happened, but Clover was attacked by that woman or something. She was too strong for us to handle under conventional methods and was trying to kill us. Her abilities were so great that I couldn't get away from her, even with my teleportation." In a tone much more serious than any she's used before, Malison's poker face has come to the forefront!

 

"As you can see, we weren't holding anything back." Nudging her head to the side, Malison beckoned Genevieve to the catastrophe that's been ushered into the city by their battle. 

 

The beacon of light finally calms down on its own as soon as Genevieve nods, pinching her chin in a thinking expression. "That does sound pretty reasonable, doesn't it?" She continues to nod her head. This woman is a lot more altruistic than I'd thought.

 

Genevieve's foot comes crashing down into Malison's head, sending it smashing into the ground with a rumble! 

 

I was wrong, it seems. This woman is completely ignoble. If it weren't for whatever special privilege we were given, she'd probably be incinerating us right now. I thank whatever god is out there for gracing me with a life that I won't meet an untimely end in.

 

I wonder though... Earlier it said that I'd reached [Corruption 4]. That was after all of those weird thoughts I'd been having for a little while. Corruption is generally a difficult stat to raise. It's weird for it to start working now, of all times. I should see if Anaphiel has any idea of it works the next time we meet. I kind of miss her. 

 

"Don't kid yourself, you little shit! Do you know how much money it's going to take to put all this back together?! You're the only runt in this city who can control space, but you can't manage to do something as simple as put a building back together—and you have the audacity to blow my fucking city apart?!" You know, now that I hear it, she makes a very sound argument. I still can't endure this rough treatment, though!

 

"You're far too harsh on the youth, Miss Law." On top of one of the crumbling buildings nearby, a voice calls out to Genevieve. I've never heard this voice before, but it sounds a bit distorted. 

 

Looking in the direction of the voice, I'm surprised when I find that nothing is there but a set of approaching flower petals. What are flower petals doing in a place like this? There must be an exotic shop nearby since these are from a cherry blossom tree! I didn't think I'd see one near here.

 

Malison's hand reaches up and catches me by my collar. As I look down, I catch the sight of one of the petals approaching my left eye. Why's it getting so close...?! Then, Malison teleports us away from approaching petals.

 

Right when I look in the direction that we'd just escaped from, I can now see why Malison moved us away. Even with her head bashed into the ground, she has a more keen sense of danger than I do. At least when my guard is down like that.

 

"I know who you are, brat..." Heat erupts around Genevieve, striking the flowers that'd once been approaching us. The flowers that had an ominous aura around them now ceased to exist, withering away with haste, as if too frightened to remain. "You're August Hunter, [The Garden]. What the hell is the [Frosthood] Guild doing in my city?" 

 

"Frosthood?!" I remember that name from my first fight with Mind. He must be one of her associates. I feel like an idiot for now realizing sooner! 

 

"Ah, the undying Flame of Eryland, Genevieve Law! I didn't see you there!" The man claps his hands together, bursting into a fit of laughter. The mask on his face exhibited sorrow, but his personality exhibited mirthfulness. I should watch and learn. I feel like I'm going to learn something. Something's clicked inside of my head solely from this exciting scene. Fighting, observing, and listening; I feel like by doing all of these things, I can grow...

 

August reveals his true intentions shortly after, "I'm also here to collect one of my underlings, you see!" This succubus is the only person who he could be talking about. It'd make sense for that group to have a powerful freak like this. 

 

As if he'd been reading my thoughts, August looks in my direction. "You've got yourself a weapon too, Genie!" When he turns back to Genevieve's direction, a fist comes crashing into his mask which sends him jetting back, through a nearby building. 

 

"Don't speak to me so casually, you fucking criminal." Flower petals begin to stir through the air, spiraling and connecting together, dragged by the wind. A tornado of petals begins to form where August landed, chipping away at and destroying the building he was buried in. The petals revealed their true, powerful properties. Making contact with the building, it begins to decay away. Atomically, the building and its materials were all deconstructed by the petals; by these miniature petals impossible to see with the human eye.

 

This is only my assumption. No, this goes beyond an assumption... I know how it works. It's like I've seen this scene before. That's impossible, though. Rather than seeing this scene before, it's like just by looking, I can see text in the sky. I can hear a whisper that's so distant that it doesn't even sound like it's directed at me. I know what I'm watching.

 

✦ Congratulations, you've achieved [Corruption 5]! ✦
✦ You are growing... I hope to see you grow even more. ✦
✦ Watch. Listen. Feel. ✦

 

"I mean, seriously! This new 'update' has brought nothing but a storm of shit to the world, don't you think?! I heard that over in [Achus] a vampire showed up! Can you believe that? A vampire! Things we'd have only seen in dungeons are popping up all over the world!" August, unbothered by the strike by Genevieve, continues to excitedly gossip about the world's news. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that these two are close.

 

Malison is kind enough to give me an explanation about August and his position. "In the Frosthood Guild, there are seven executive members who've been deemed too powerful to go after regularly. Typically, agents would go after any Unranked Awakener that comes under their radar, but the executives are all exceptions. They all hold power no less than [B-Rank]. August Hunter is one of those executives."

 

Before I can formulate my next thought, Malison cuts my mental gymnastics short. "In terms of ranking, he is superior to Mind Khussa. But, in terms of power, he'd still be inferior. Always assume a Red Witch is a rank higher than what they're given, Clover." Malison's finger flicks my forehead. Instead of having her head bashed into the dirt, she's now leaning against the wall of a nearby building, still holding me close at her side. I can't complain about it now. If not for her holding onto me, we'd have already been killed by August's petals. 

 

"Got it," I reply without taking my eyes off the battle in front of us. Frankly, I can barely keep up with what's going on.

 

Virulent waves of heat move in strings to counter against the wave of petals heading in the direction of Genevieve. In between this clash of waves, I can see many supplementary projectiles being unleashed within the radiance of their clash. "I'll tell you what! If those brats were a bit stronger, they'd have probably beaten her! She's at a major disadvantage against their type, you know! Isn't that embarrassing?! Your runts lost to mine!" August laughs behind the mask, finding pure joy and amusement in the idea that we'd have lost to this woman.

 

What does he mean by being at a disadvantage against 'our type'? I'll figure this out later. 

 

"Fuck! Alright, stop!" Genevieve shouts through their clashes. I think she understands how badly of a disadvantage she's facing herself here. In terms of power, Genevieve has the edge against August. But, she can't use all of that power since we're in a city that she's been entrusted to. If she were to unleash her full power in city limits, she'd definitely end up destroying more than a few buildings. Half the city would be wiped from the map if she gets careless.

 

Their attacks begin to die down at the same time. With their clashes alone, the street that they'd been fighting on has been completely cleared of its structures. I don't think there was anyone inside of the buildings that've been ravaged, but there's no telling whether anyone's actually died from their clash or not.

 

"You know damn well this isn't the setting for people like us to be fighting, you dickhead." Genevieve bites down on her fingernail, clearly irritated by this outcome. "You knew that from the start, but still tried to fight me? I thought you took pride in beating enemies at their strongest, August." She didn't even attempt to hide the condescending tone behind these words. I don't blame her, she's livid, and so am I!

 

"Forgive me, Miss Law, but I do have my orders as well! I just wanted to have a bit of fun is all! Remember the good old days, when we were so weak and naive?!" August claps his hands together, snickering behind his mask. I can't imagine the kind of face he has. He slides his hand through his blonde hair, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Nonetheless, I'll be taking my runt with me, in return, I won't butcher yours." With a comedic thumbs up, August skipped over to the succubus who was still lying on the ground, smoke rising from her body. She's been charred in multiple places, but it appears that she's still alive and can be healed.

 

A petal swarm moves to surround the unconscious succubus, raising her into the air after comfortably engulfing her. "Can you believe it though, an update, after 10 years! We've theorized that there will be a new one soon too! I think this world is finally starting to get moving from the boring standstill from before! New content!" To August, this was just a game. He wasn't wrong in a way, this was kind of like a game... to me. As far as I'm concerned, I am the only person with the ability to truly come back from the dead. I am the only person who gets to enjoy this system for as long as I want! 

 

August and the succubus are carried away from a swarm of petals. Genevieve doesn't even make an attempt at stopping them, biting her nails more ferociously than before. It's probably taking a lot for her to restrain the anger that'd been shooting a beam through the heavens moments ago.

 

As soon as August and the succubus were out of our line of sight, a blinding red light overtake me, when I look in Malison's direction, she was no better, sweating up a storm.

 

I'm fearful of turning to the source of the light. By the time I take a glimpse at Genevieve, she's already halfway done dashing in our direction.