GLITCH

Corruption

MAIDEN'S GLOSS CITY

December 2

12:04 pm

"What happened?"

"Urgh, D-Dert came and is trying to control the queen…"

'Control'…? Someone can possess such strength to manipulate a high-level and a Fallen person?

"Dert…?"

"Y-Yes…please."

"Very well. You can still move, right? Use this."

I let him chew a capsule Ferni brought. Thankfully these are chewable. The only downside is that it's an inferior version of what I usually carry. These only heal wounds, not the stamina of a person. But still, it is unwise to leave such a heavily-wounded man unattended.

"Recover your strength for now."

"Thank you very much."

I nodded and rushed towards the castle.

•••

THRONE ROOM, Maiden's Gloss City

11:01 am (Earlier)

"What just happened?"

Licht easily detected that there's sudden chaos in the city. A few moments later, a messenger stormed the room and relays a message while panting heavily.

"M-my liege I'm here to report! It has been identified t-that a large number of golems are starting to swarm the city! T-These golems are said to be spawning from the city walls!"

"What?"

"That's absurd!"

"This is plain stupid. Are they trying to usurp the queen's position?"

Various reactions could be heard coming from the queen's guards. The queen immediately puts them in silence, telling them that acting in such a panic manner won't ever help.

"My liege, what should we do?"

"All of you, scatter and take commands on the field. Prioritize evacuation!"

"How about your safety my queen…!?"

"Don't be ridiculous…am I that weak to you?"

"N-No! I haven't thought of such, Your Majesty!"

"Good. Follow my orders. Go now and stay on alert."

"YES MA'AM!"

Her ten loyal guards saluted at the queen and hurriedly rushed from the throne room. As the sound coming from the stomps of the running crowd faints—signifying that they're already away—Licht gives her attention to the messenger.

"So…? Why are you here Dert?"

"Y-Your Majesty, what are you--"

"Stop spouting lies."

It seems that the person is starting to reason out and prove his innocence but then Licht swiftly interjected, putting a stop to the man's blabbering mouth.

"There's no use hiding your real face to me."

"Tch. You're always a sharp woman ain't cha?"

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Thank me after you lie on the ground and beg your life to me."

The queen is about to stand up when Hellus appeared on site and launched a sneak attack, targeting Dert's nape. Dert smirked while raising an eyebrow, blocking the attack using only his right pointing finger.

"Wha--?"

"Hellus!? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'll stall some time, please run away ma'am!"

"You i***t…! Disengage from combat and stay behind me!"

Licht scolded Hellus for acting recklessly. However, Hellus didn't pay attention to his queen's plea to escape with her. As a devoting subject of the queen, Hellus upholds the promise he did when he started working as the queen's aide—to help Licht and obliterate any fools that'll do harmful actions to Licht.

"Hoh? It seems that one of your doggies is here to defend. It seems that you put a leash on your subjects pretty well. Haha…"

"Stop your nonsense. I'm more than enough to deal with you."

"Wow! A dog that bites more than what he could chew!"

"…"

The two continued the clash with swift attacks. Hellus used everything in his arsenal—dagger arts, knife-throwing, CQC, agility. However, every attack would be caught, dodged, and parried by Dert, barehanded. This shows how strong Dert is. Hellus however didn't give up and still attacked the enemy in a barrage, not letting Dert take offense. However, Hellus did a misstep and eventually got knocked over by a single punch by Dert.

"Ghurrrk!"

"Oh? Did I just hear a squeak? Anyway please die for me."

With a smug face, Dert was about to smash Hellus' head with a stomp when someone—or something—intercepted before Dert could execute it.

"Che! You should've stayed put bitch."

"As if I could let you kill a citizen of mine in front of me."

"Oh? To think you summoned it to fight me. It's my greatest privilege to fight one of the Fallen."

Fallen is surprised to see Licht using her ace, the [Light Maiden]. But he didn't react beyond that. He diverted his attention to Licht herself and snorts.

"You cur…! I already quitted the group. Also, the rule states that no one shall harm any other fallen, whether it is an active or retired--"

"Bah! As if I care about rules. All I care about is destruction!"

"Tch. I prefer Dubes than this guy."

Dert just shrugged it off and started assaulting Licht.

"Heh? You in love or somethin'?"

"I respectfully object."

Dert just snorted as he continued his battle against Licht and her [Light Maiden]. Even with the disadvantage, he has in terms of numbers, he easily fend off each attack, solidifying his position as one of the top ranks of the organization Licht affiliated with before.

"Tch."

"Haha, you're formidable as I thought. See? My hands are tremblin' since I'm scared at you--"

"Stop this nonsense talk. I'm just getting started."

Licht released a couple more [Light Maiden], each on her every side. This feat is more than enough to make Dert whistle in amazement.

[Light Maiden] is a summoning skill that sacrifices a certain amount of mana percentage from the caster. The more mana poured while casting, the more powerful the maiden becomes. However, it was set that one could only use it once and could only summon one maiden at a time. And yet Licht did the impossible—summoning three maidens is a world record.

"Wow, that's nice. You're now serious eh?"

"…perhaps."

Licht then used her maidens to corner Dert while playing the support role. She cast multiple buff spells, like [Haste] and [Strength Boost]. With that, she was certain that her victory is ensured.

Dert just shattered her hopes.

In mere ten minutes, the three summoned maidens shattered like a piece of glass after being slain by Dert himself.

"You truly are powerful."

"For a ruler such as you complimenting me…I shall thank ya for that then. However, playtime's over."

"Wh—guhaack!"

Dert suddenly vanished from his position. In a split second, Licht found herself pummeled to the walls with Dert's sheer force. The impact is so great that it made her spew some blood.

"Well, you see here pathetic queen, a lot is coming here and there, and wait what am I about to say? I can't remember."

"Tch. K-Kill me already…"

"No can do. You see here my good lad—I'm one of the primary members of the Fallen so that I can't do."

"…?"

"Puzzled right? Meh, just watch me work."

With a smug, he puts his hand on Licht's chest, specifically on the crystal embedded on it.

"W-What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Nothing—I'm just corrupting your Mantle together with the crystal, that's all."

"…! Wha--!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Dert's palm became pitch black in color and started to corrupt Licht. Licht, staggering as she clings on to her consciousness and sanity, looks at the part where Dert's palm and the crystal located and she something grotesque for her. The crystal is now acting wildly, and she's now being held with several black hazes shaped like a man, rooting from the underground.

Licht has only one option—scream in agony.

"Ah, I see. So it's amid purification. Hah! Your power, uh…yeah Mantle…your Mantle is resisting the corruption! What a fine discovery!"

"Is that so? What a fine discovery it is truly."

"Yes it does—wait…what?"

Somebody, particularly a female, came to the scene, wearing a lab coat paired with peculiar gloves and shoes. Her eyes are albeit glowing.

"As someone who also craves discoveries, I think I can feel your exhilaration. However, I shall cull your experimentation procedures...Monarch of Corruption."

"Oh? You had identified me that fast? That's some fascinating eyes you have there. Can I gouge it out?"

The lady just sighed and deflected a preemptive strike from Dert with just the back of her left palm.

"That is if you can."