Chapter 3: Beta

An old gas-guzzling car barreled down the Vergessenheit highway, headed for the city's edge, where most of the apartments and offices were located. Two men were sitting in the front seats, both wearing SPCB uniforms—one was dark-skinned with platinum hair in a buzz cut, while the second was pale with slicked-back black hair and black eyes. The dark-skinned man's name was Salem, and the blonde-hair man's name was Stell.

"Thanks for helping me out after my partner got injured and all," Salem said.

Stell nodded in acknowledgment while steering the car down a curve. "No problem. I should be the one thanking you instead. Normally, it would be Rina and I that goes out on investigations, but I'd much prefer if she stayed out of danger."

"You shouldn't be so overprotective. Your little sister is tougher than she looks."

"We both know how dangerous it is to be in the front lines. In truth, I hoped that she would get some sort of job working inside the SPCB headquarters, but she insisted on becoming a shroud hunter."

Salem sighed. "Well, your concerns aren't unfounded. So many people have been getting injured lately. Lorred almost died, my partner broke a bunch of bones, and I heard that there were even more who got spontaneously attacked by shrouds."

"Do you think Clarent is the one behind all this violence?"

"Before, their attacks were more focused. Now, everything's gone chaotic. I hear that it's because Clarent got a new boss."

"A new boss?" Stell asked.

"Yeah. There've been some rumors going around that a young girl named Cecile or something overthrew the old boss."

"Those are probably just rumors."

"Well, earlier today, Aster captured a shroud who attacked the SPP in the eastern district. Apparently, he was a member of Clarent. They sent him to Chaldeus for questioning, but there hasn't been an official report yet. I'm sure we'll get some insider information from him."

"I see."

"Anyway, I don't really like talking about my job," Salem said. "It gets me all depressed and shit. We should change the subject."

"What do you wanna talk about?"

"I hear that the Moon Princess video game is getting a remake."

"I'm not too interested in video games. I'd rather put my effort into something productive."

"Unfortunately, for me, I don't really have anything better to do, so I waste my life away in the virtual world."

"I'd rather practice with my miasma sword or workout," Stell replied.

"It's not like practicing and working out can fill my entire schedule for the day. I gotta have some free time."

"Some free time? Whenever I send you a call, you're always playing a video game."

"It's my escape. I don't wanna spend all my waking hours in this stupid world."

"But you're not actually escaping."

"You're right. But when I'm in the moment, I can forget all the shit I've been through, all the shit I'm going to go through, and all the shit my friends have to deal with. That's the difference between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure only lasts for a moment, but happiness is timeless. Unfortunately, I can't seem to grasp happiness. I thought that I could be happy if I saved peoples' lives by hunting shrouds, but in the end, all my efforts are worthless. I can only find a home inside the worlds of video games."

Stell shook his head. "I'll never understand the way you think. I'm happy enough with my life as it is. Even if I'm not doing much, as long if I save one person, my life is fulfilled."

"That's the difference between the two of us. I'll never be content with my own life, but you've already stripped away all desires."

"I guess so."

"But still," Salem said. "I just wanna get this job done as fast as possible. It's gonna be nightfall soon, and it's been a long day. When we get back, we should go get some ramen."

"I won't be free tonight."

"How about tomorrow night?"

"Sure. But that's if we get back."

"Man, shut up. Don't talk like that."

"Heh. I was just joking."

"Why do you say all your jokes with such a straight face? It's kinda annoying, you know?"

"I like dry humor. What's so bad about it?"

"Everything's bad about it. I despise dry humor. It feels so conceited, and the sarcasm just burns my ears. Goddamn! I'm getting triggered just thinking about it!"

"You're making such a big deal over a trivial thing."

"It's not a trivial thing! Dry humor is horrible!"

Stell shrugged. "If you say so."

As Stell turned the steering wheel, he grimaced in pain.

"What's wrong?" Salem asked.

"It's nothing."

"You sure? What if a shroud laid her egg inside of you?" Salem asked with a teasing chuckle.

"I'm all good. Don't worry. I'm just a little sore from working out yesterday."

"Alright."

A few moments later, the car exited the highway and entered a road with office buildings on both sides. A few cars were still parked on the side of the road, but most of the people working here had already gone home for the day.

"We're getting close," Stell said.

Salem patted his belt to make sure he had his miasma blade and inhibitor cuffs. Once an individual becomes an official shroud hunter, they are given the standard-issue miasma sword. These weapons are powered by batteries filled with a confidential mixture containing miasma, shroud blood, and other ingredients. By pressing a button on the hilt to activate the sword, the ivory-white blade becomes bright blue, giving it the ability to pierce through shroud skin.

"D'you think we'll get into a fight?" Salem asked.

"Probably not. The person who reported a shroud sighting just said that they saw some suspicious activity. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding or something. Besides, why would Clarent be hiding out in a place with so many people during the day?"

"Makes sense."

Stell parked in front of a beige 5-story building with half-columns lined around the ground floor walls. He got out, and Salem followed behind him. The two shroud hunters then entered the empty building and scanned the eerie interior, which was made dim by the lack of lighting—save for the sun's faint glow as it slightly brightened the ground from behind the overcast sky.

Salem walked over to a side panel and flicked on the light switch, illuminating the plain lobby.

"Nothing here," Salem said.

Stell walked ahead. "Let's go up."

The shroud hunters ascended the stairs. For the most part, there wasn't anything suspicious as they went up each story.

Until they reached the last floor.

It was just a dull office space, but the room's door was left wide open. There was some mumbling going on inside.

Salem immediately tensed up and placed a hand on his miasma sword's hilt. Stell put a finger to his lips and stood with his back up against the wall to prevent anyone inside from seeing him. Salem stayed by the stairs where he could draw any attention in a fight if necessary.

Stell leaned his head to the side in an attempt to make out the muted speech, but he was too far away; all he could make out were a few words. Stell took a risk and leaned his head further, glancing inside the room.

There were two men: one talking on the phone and one tied to a chair by what looked to be inhibitor cuffs. The person with the phone had a beard and rugged facial features, and he had an irritated facial expression. On the other hand, the man on the chair eyed his captor with enmity. Though he was restrained, his muscular build with scars all over his face and body gave off an intimidating aura, as if he would choke the other man on the phone with his bare hands if he managed to break himself free.

[The man on the chair must be a shroud,] Stell thought. [That's the only reason why he'd be detained by inhibitor cuffs. But what about that other man? Could he be a member of the SPCB? But he isn't wearing the uniform. It's possible that he could be a freelance shroud hunter. I've heard about freelancers, but I always thought it was just a rumor since only miasma weapons were effective against a shroud's demonic form. It must cost a fortune to buy a miasma sword from the black market.]

Stell beckoned for Salem to come near. "We're going in."

"You sure?" Salem asked.

"Yeah. But stay on guard."

The two shroud hunters entered the office room. The man with the beard looked at the hunters and froze, but the man on the chair simply furrowed his brows.

Stell gasped. From this angle, he recognized the man on the chair to be Marcellus, the leader of Clarent. He's made appearances during past attacks, but the SPCB could never capture him because of his immense power.

[But what's he doing here? Could it be true that Clarent now has a new leader?]

"Ah, shit. I'll have to call you back later," the man with the beard said, putting his phone in his pocket.

"We're members of the SPCB," Stell said. "I'd like to ask you to hand over that shroud. Freelance shroud hunting is illegal as per the Shroud Countermeasures Statute, section three, article three."

The bearded man laughed. "This must be a misunderstanding. I'm not a freelance shroud hunter."

With a wicked grin, he pulled back his hair to show two stubs above his forehead. Then, the room lit up with scintillating blue light, prompting Stell and Salem to block their faces from the rapidly expelled miasma. The SPCB uniform looked like simple pieces of clothing, but it was designed to withstand and repel miasma while also protecting the wearer from weak blows.

When the light settled, there stood a ghastly porcupine with scythe-like mandibles and pitch-black spines lining its arms and back. Stell and Salem drew their miasma swords and activated them.

"This day just keeps getting worse and worse," the porcupine said. "First, I had to deal with this stupid piece-of-trash boss, and now, I have to deal with this!"

The porcupine threw its spines. Stell deflected them with his sword while Salem dodged to the right, hiding behind some desks. While the shroud hunters were occupied with protecting themselves from the projectiles, the porcupine followed up with another attack, charging straight at Stell with a claw swipe. Stell sidestepped and slashed with his sword, but the porcupine blocked it by turning around and letting the spines take the hit.

The spines must have been made from abnormally-dense miasma because a miasma sword should have been able to slice through them on normal occasions. Instead, Stell's blade got struck. He tried to wrench it free, but before he could do so, the porcupine went for another swipe, forcing Stell to let go of his weapon and dodge.

Just as Stell dodged, Salem emerged from behind a desk and grabbed the sword from the spines. With his other hand, he thrust his own blade under the porcupine's armpit where there was no protection. The porcupine tried to block the weapon with his arm, but the spines were too small, and the miasma-infused edge pierced straight through. The porcupine wailed in pain and staggered away, clutching its wound as it poured out blue miasma that became black smoke upon making contact with the air.

Salem tossed Stell's sword back.

"Thanks," Stell said.

"No problem."

The two shroud hunters rushed the porcupine, who turned around and tried to escape through the window.

"Aim for the small spines," Salem said. "Those aren't nearly as dense as the large ones, and you'll be able to slice right through."

"Got it."

Before the porcupine could flee, Stell performed a low horizontal slash, slicing off the porcupine's vulnerable leg. Just as the porcupine fell, Salem plunged his sword into the sinewy neck, severing the spinal connection.

But this wasn't enough to kill a shroud. As long as the body inside the demonic form was alive, any outside wounds could heal in less than a minute. To make sure the enemy didn't catch them off-guard, Stell flipped over the porcupine on its back, exposing the soft belly. Salem then stabbed it five times, making absolutely sure that the shroud inside lost his life.

As Salem stepped back, the shroud corpse dissolved, and Stell opened the room's windows to let the fumes out. Unfortunately, there was still one other matter to deal with.

Stell and Salem walked up to the muscular man on the chair.

"You're Marcellus," Stell said. "Aren't you the leader of Clarent?"

"Former leader," Marcellus replied with a deep abyssal voice.

"Former leader?" Salem asked.

"That's right. A month or two ago, this girl came along. She said her name was Cecile, and she told me she would be the new leader from now on. Of course, I resisted, but all my guards dropped dead. I don't know how, but she made them all kill themselves with a simple snap of the fingers."

"The Authority of the Queen?" Stell asked in astonishment.

"Possibly, but I'm not entirely sure. If she does have the Authority, I have no idea how she got it. After killing my closest allies, she told me that she would let me live if I swore an oath of allegiance. I pretended to obey her for a while, but one day, I tried to stab her back. Naturally, she didn't take that too lightly. You can tell from my scars."

"But why are you here?" Stell asked.

"I don't know. I was going to be sent somewhere."

"I see."

"What do we do with Marcellus?" Salem asked Stell.

"We should take him to Chaldeus. He'll be a valuable source of information."

"I'd rather die," Marcellus said. "I'd never sell out my fellow shrouds, no matter how much I hate Cecile."

"No can do," Stell said. "You're coming with us. But if you really don't want to give any information, we could always just feed you to the Arbiters' little experiment.