“Sequester is dead.”

Those were the three words that John had wanted to hear the very least. Maritan had clearly suffered a similar level of resistance from their target. She was covered in burns and bruises. Sequester had used his catalyst to allow for her escape. He sat down at the table and cradled his head with his hands. They were one man down and no richer for the effort. Maritan could barely recognize John; his face was terribly swollen.

“What happened with Kageyama?”

Joseph slammed the wall behind him with the back of his foot, “He beat us. I got thrown twenty feet just from touching him. Then he broke Sir John’s nose with a single punch.”

Part of Joseph would have preferred to conceal his weakness, but John despised liars. People who did not take responsibility for their actions were not fit to serve as officers. That was what he had always insisted on. It was a thorough beating for all arms of the operation. Kageyama got away without so much as a scratch, and his companion was tougher than she looked. It was a total failure. John had underestimated the scale of the problem they now faced. He had been blinded by his own desire to remain influential within the Inquisition.

For John, very few things could have made his evening worse than it already was. As if the divine were listening to his dark thoughts, the door to the safehouse was unlocked, and in stepped the one person he did not want to deal with. John’s brow twitched in abject fury as Adelbern Weiss leaned against the entryway.

“Now this, this is the saddest sight I have ever seen.”

Of all the places that the Absolver’s personal dog could be, why was he here? The rest of the officers didn’t know who he was; John was cursed with familiarity. He stepped through into the living room and observed the downcast faces of the surviving Inquisitors. The room held the stale atmosphere of a funeral.

Adelbern continued, “Let me guess – you talked them into coming here to kill Kageyama?”

“If you are here just to twist the knife then please relieve us of your damnable presence, Adel. I will hear none of your thoughtless words after Sequester fell in doing his duty.”

“Tragic, really. I simply wish to offer you some words of advice. Whatever your plan is, I respectfully observe that you will not be capable of killing him. His strength has rapidly grown beyond our control. A force in numbers is the only realistic method of felling him now.”

“As we have learned,” John snapped, “What other unseen wonders will you inform us of next?”

Adel’s face took a grave turn, “Your pride has already cost the life of one man, will you allow it to be the end of three more?”

John was taken aback by his sudden change in tone. Despite being three decades his junior, he knew that Adelbern was no joke. He was exceptionally talented in tactics, combat and leadership. The Absolver had hand-picked him from amongst thousands of other candidates to work as his right-hand man. An unofficial position, but one that commanded clout and respect. His affable personality rubbed people the wrong way. When Adelbern became angry it was an event indeed.

“What foolish delusions are you operating under? You are one of the Inquisition’s great commanders, yet here you are; a band of miserly scoundrels rolling in the dirt. Are you truly so desperate to claw back that spent authority that you willingly debase yourself to an even greater extent? The Absolver is furious!”

“He can talk all he wants!” John didn’t care for the Absolver’s opinion, nor had he asked for it.

Adel slammed the table and silenced his justifications; “He talks because he respects you, John! Rivalry or no, he believes that you are one of the linchpins holding this organisation together. To commit willing suicide by driving yourself against the rocks? Idiocy of the highest order.”

John had never seen Adel in such an incandescent manner before. It was enough to give him pause, even as his competence was directly insulted.

“The sword and the man who wields it are too much for four, five, or even six men. You can stab him, cut at his flesh, but he’ll continue to fight on regardless. You’ve seen it with your own eyes now. And to make matters worse – every man he kills only contributes further to his already dangerous power.”

John hadn’t heard of such an ability, “How so?”

“The reason Stigma was locked away is not because of prophecies of apocalypse or portents of corruptive influence. Stigma allows those with the drive the means to upset the balance of power in our society. Money, time, skill – they become no object in exchange for a steady diet of human lives. What cannot be destroyed using your own hands can be withered away with its touch. After he consumed one of our officers in Blackwake, he stole his ability to wield a sword. He knows how we fight.”

John’s mouth was held open as the truth of the matter finally arrived. That was why he had managed to survive against their superior swordplay and training. He knew. He had stolen a man’s memories and made them his own. It was a sick, evil thing. The very essence of who they were dissipated into mist, all for an advantage in conducting further crimes.

“And with every failure the gap closes, step by step. Combine that with its effect on the body, and you have a recipe for an unstoppable juggernaut of a man. A being that would make the worst natural disasters seem tame by comparison. Once that tipping point is reached, it will be too late to take action.”

What John could not possibly know was that Adelbern had no interest in seeing Ren be stopped. He lived a life surrounded by people who dedicated their entire selves to the organisation and its goals. The thought of duplicity such as this was beyond John. Everything had been carefully arranged and placed, though John’s decision to come and fight Ren directly was not anticipated. Adelbern nearly had a heart attack when one of his spies revealed that John was within the city limits. Adelbern had bided his time – knowing that John would eventually retreat to this safehouse.

The Absolver was in a tough position. He needed John alive. He was one of the few members of the Inquisition’s militant wing who had not been entirely robbed of his reason or practicality. The respect he garnered was enough to prevent them from taking over in a mad power grab. Adel also shared his opinion. John dying would be catastrophic. Allowing any one man to accumulate the Inquisition’s forces for the sake of a war would unleash untold suffering. Adelbern could not say as such to John directly. He liked thinking he was in control of the situation, and airing the reasons behind the Absolver’s support would result in the opposite of what they wanted.

At least until Ren was ready to upset the balance a little more.

Such were the complexities and absurdities of these political games that Adel had to treat John like a spoilt child, and trick him into doing the right thing. This was his least favourite part of the job. He never knew how the likes of John would react to an Absolver’s edict. He reached into his jacket and unfurled a piece of parchment marked with the Absolver’s wax seal.

“He has requested that you return to your previous post at the fort. He will also be calling an emergency meeting of the petty council – he wishes for you to discuss this matter there, and to emphasise the urgency of a unified response.”

“Bah. More political twaddle. He never passes up on a chance to try and humiliate me.” John snatched the letter away and read it to ensure its accuracy. It was just as Adelbern had regaled. The Absolver was asking for him to return to the fort.

“Whatever you wish to believe Sir, the fact of the matter is that there are not enough Inquisitors in the Federation to slay Kageyama at this time. And transporting a large number of them across the frontline is impossible.”

“I’ve never met a man I couldn’t kill,” John barked.

“Until now.”

He glanced up at Adelbern with a sour expression.

“The Absolver said this. A fight between men is equitable and predictable. Ren Kageyama is no mere man. He exposes the flaws in our system and exploits them to their maximum effect. In order to defeat him we must consider our options carefully.”

Joseph stormed up to the stranger; “Your manners leave much to be desired. You spit on Sequester’s efforts with your cowardly proposition!”

Maritan bit her lip and remained silent.

Adel had little patience for Joseph, “Manners are earned, not owed. You’d do well to practise them yourself.”

John stepped in before Joseph made things worse, “Are you certain that there’s no way to defeat him?”

Adel exhaled, “Unless you have a legendary weapon of your own, I think not; and even then, the odds are poor.”

John clung on for dear life, “But if we find one?”

“I’ve already said my piece,” Adelbern concluded, “If you wish to continue this fruitless hunt, then I am in no position to force you. I was only asked to deliver the Absolver’s message.”

John, in a moment of madness, considered asking Adelbern for his assistance. The idea was snuffed out as quickly as it emerged. John did not have the authority to officially go against one of the Absolver’s orders. He could not request the help of other Inquisitors when his present mission was not one conducive to the organisation’s goals. Furthermore, Adelbern held some amount of animosity towards his camp within the Inquisition.

“If you need my honest opinion, I think you’ll die trying. Both me and the Absolver are of the same mind that it would be a terrible loss should that happen. Humiliation is one thing, but it can be overcome in time. If you die there are no second chances.”

“What good am I if I am incapable of avenging those who we’ve already lost?”

Adelbern shook his head, “Our mission is not revenge, Sir. We’re meant to protect people. You are being blinded by your own anger. The answer to this issue is not to invest more blood in pursuit of an unattainable goal. Like the nerves that run through our bodies - pain is a warning. Kageyama has already killed one of your number and reduced your combat strength. The odds are being pushed into his favour.”

John could not align that reality with the perception he felt. Ren Kageyama was but one man, and one man alone. How could he possibly stand in opposition to some of the Inquisition’s finest warriors? Had Stigma truly transformed him into an irrational existence? One who did not abide by the laws that he did. Adelbern’s warning about Stigma was becoming more and more pertinent as he struggled to accept this.

The threat was not ‘corruption,’ nor was it the coming of a great apocalypse – it was the singular power it could offer to anyone. He was a thief and a mercenary. A common criminal. Yet he had killed dozens of men in a single fight. A less restrained person could cause much more damage than Kageyama had until that point. It needed to be contained and returned to the armoury without delay.

A legendary sword of his own.

“Sir, if I may.”

“Yes, Maritan?”

“During my eavesdropping endeavours in the taverns, I heard that there is another legendary sword somewhere in the city. I refrained from delving any further at the time, but I believe that it may be an appropriate avenue to success in our mission. If we could simply get our hands on it…”

Adelbern had heard enough. He turned to leave without sparing a second glance to the bedraggled Inquisitors behind him. It seemed that the circus was not planning on leaving town just yet – that meant he needed to cover John’s ass when everything went wrong. It was always the stubborn ones who caused the most trouble.

He sighed and pulled his hood up, “The Absolver better give me a big bonus for this bullshit.”