The sun painted the Cerberus HQ in soft colors, on this uncharacteristically nice morning in England. Three clan leaders had gathered in Cherry's office to discuss sensitive information, one of them was Marcus.

"What do you know about the Phantom Killer?" Cherry asked the two men, and Kim answered first "Twisted serial killer and rumored to be an assassin for hire, too. He has been active for over 20 years and all around the world. He kills class holders, normal humans, children, pretty much anybody. His victims show little to no signs of physical harm and he leaves them generally in obscene poses, mocking the dead." The room stayed silent after this. Marcus had only ever heard this name in the news. One of those horrible problems happening far away, to other people. And now, it was right in front of him.

"You aren't trying to say it was him who attacked Elena?" Kim finally broke the silence. Cherry nodded. "Elena was drained of all her endurance, to the point her whole body shut down. It is a wicked way to kill. A completely healthy body just stops working and dies.At least, this is how most experts believe the Phantom Killer murders his victims. Luckily Xeen told us she wasn't really dead or we would have lost her," Cherry said, and her jaw muscles were working hard.

"But does the Phantom Killer leave his targets half dead?" Marcus asked. Cherry shook her head. "Normally not, but I think he was disturbed by Leon, who went looking for Elena. Causing a ruckus, while so many class holders were nearby, seems not to be the way for a coward, who kills from the shadows," she explained her theory. Marcus and Kim nodded in agreement.

Given the information at hand the only class that would fit the evidence was... "The Phantom Killer is an Energy Thief?" Marcus asked. Rank 105 and considered only useful in combat against other class holders. Their core ability was to drain endurance on touch and they could mess with the target's abilities.

Kim turned to Marcus. "It is suspected that he is an Energy Thief. But if that is the case, then he is different and much stronger than any recorded Energy Thief out there. They haven't even unlocked their fourth ability yet. It is possible that he, like you, reinvented his own class in some way and unlocked a lot more power," Kim said. "I get where you are going with this and I agree, it is highly unlikely he was just in the neighborhood and attacked Elena by coincidence, but can we be certain he is the Source?" Marcus said, while he was still in his own thoughts.

"So you already made the connection," Cherry said with a sad smile. "The Source is wicked strong, so much is certain. The people we have captured refused to talk about him under all circumstances, they are more afraid of him than of us. The Phantom Killer is also extremely strong, just recently he killed Wang Wei from the Chinese Block," Cherry said. Marcus gasped, "Wait, what? The news said he fell in a raid." But Ye-jun shook his head, "They are keeping it secret. He was found in his own home, no signs of struggle, but in a very degrading position. A level 132 Blood Knight murdered without a hint of him fighting back," Ye-jun said, and Marcus was speechless.

"Leaving the how and why for later, if it is true that the Source is the Phantom Killer, what are we going to do now?" Kim said and looked at Cherry. "Keep it secret for the time being. Given past events, if that guy learns we are on to him, he will start killing all of us. We might be strong enough to take him in a direct battle, but an ambush from the shadows is another topic. Long term we need to find a permanent solution for him," Cherry said with a grim look, and the men agreed.

Another thoughtful silence followed and Marcus saw the other two exchanging looks. "There is more?" He asked. "Yes." Kim took the lead, "We would like to propose an alliance between our clans. The danger of the organization and the Phantom Killer is far from over and it would be wise to unite our strength," Marcus read the room, they had already discussed this beforehand. It was a good idea and Marcus saw no reason to oppose the alliance, but he still felt somewhat forced into the decision.

"Colors of the Wild will join you," he said and the others smiled. "We will discuss the details later and we also thought about inviting Ravens! and Fuego Verdadero to the alliance," Cherry explained and looked satisfied. Ye-jun watched Marcus and for a moment it looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind in the end.

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Kim left soon after, but Cherry wanted Marcus to stay and talk to him alone. She moved from behind her desk to the chair next to Marcus and sat down. She took a deep breath and Marcus could see this wasn't easy for her. "Are you now afraid of me?" She asked with a soft voice and he had to hide his surprise. "Because I dealt with that wretched woman," Cherry added more context to her question, and now Marcus understood what she was talking about. "Moron!" He said, and she raised her eyebrows. "I know the meaning of your name, and I understand the logic behind your actions," he said and added, "I'm not afraid of you, Cherry." She instantly looked relieved and gave him a faint smile.

"But... just for the argument, how did you know Amanda was wretched?" Marcus carefully asked, and Cherry tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "A lot of it is experience, I am nearly 60 now and have met my fair share of horrible women. The other hint was the way she looked at you, Marcus," she said, and Marcus hadn't seen this coming. "How she looked at me?" He repeated, and didn't remember anything in particular from that meeting.

"You are a good guy, Marcus. Certain women like to use men like you like cheap tools. They see your emotions and good nature as a weakness they can exploit with false promises and sex. And don't tell me you are faithful to Azaa! There are ways for a pretty girl to break you, to seduce and corrupt you, until you believe it is your own wish and your fault all in one. The way she looked at you told me, everything else she had shown us, every word she had said, was an act." Cherry ended her rant and Marcus had to swallow a lot of things. She saw him as weak, as a weak spot to exploit. The thought of it was repugnant and hard to accept at the same time.

"Do you know how things were at the beginning? When class holders killed each other for EXP?" Cherry said after a moment to move on from that woman. "I read about it," he said and earned a different kind of smile. "It was hell. I lost several friends to that murderous scum. They came after me too, because they thought I was just a pretty face and had earned my rank by spreading my legs and not through my abilities. After several attempts on my life I decided to go after them before they came for me. To make sure everybody understood the message, I left rolling heads behind," Cherry said.

"Things escalated from there and before I knew it, I was the figurehead of a movement against the EXP Farmers. These were bloody years and this is also how Cerberus was founded. Javier and Cheng did basically the same thing and eventually we joined hands and formed a clan." Cherry stopped at this point and watched Marcus' reaction. "I just wished you wouldn't have to do such cruel things," Marcus spoke from the heart. Cherry gave him a bright smile "Thank you, it means a lot to me."

After a brief pause her face became resolute, as if she just made up her mind. "Marcus, you need to learn that the world is not nice and fair, but full of people who wish to exploit you. If you don't stand up to them they will take everything from you," she said with a stern voice. Suddenly aware how aggressive she sounded, she toned things down a bit.

"You don't have to do it my way. That is what I came up with, not only to cause fear in my enemies, but also to keep men at bay. Over the last years this has become less needed, thanks to Janette and also my general fame. Maybe the assassination attempt and the way that witch looked at you made me overreact…," Cherry reflected, and Marcus smiled a bit. "I like the new you," he said, and she looked honestly bashful.

After the intense talk, Cherry let Marcus go and Rin brought the whole squad back home, where they were welcomed with a lot of cheers. The rest of the day Marcus oversaw Fin's training and used the time to think. The fighting, the killing, Elena, Phantom Killer, the speeches… he discussed all of it with Xeen who had waited until Marcus was ready to talk. Marcus had gained three levels, mainly because he got a solo kill on the Viper and all their enemies had been a lot higher level. Combat had worked out, even though they hadn't prepared well, which needed to change asap.

Marcus had also realized something else. Even if he had mastered Impulse Wave already, it would have been hardly useful in these fights. The tight corridors, allies all around, using large scale attacks like Impulse Wave under these circumstances wasn't viable. This made him think that his fundamental idea what this ability was about… was wrong. Marcus couldn't believe that his fourth ability was this limited in its application. Xeen of course had nothing to say on this topic.

When dusk came and fair Fin was covered in sweat and grime, Marcus thought about Cherry and Ye-jun, the new alliance and Cherry's story. Do I have to become cruel to survive in this world, Xeen?

Maybe. I don't know. I did cruel things and justified them to myself. The more responsibility you have the more you will find yourself in situations where you have to make tough decisions. Right now, I believe your friends are shielding you from certain things, because they do not want you to become cruel. They take it on themselves, so you can continue to be the way you are.

But that isn't a good solution. I don't want them to suffer because of me. If anything I want to protect them from harm.

A noble sentiment, but do you have the strength to do so? Ambitions without power are just feeble dreams.

So I need power to protect everybody from the harsh world. I feel there is a contradiction hidden inside this idea.

Power corrupts and isolates you if you are not very careful. At the end of my life I had nobody left close to me. So take it from somebody who has seen the end of the road, it is not worth it to pursue power by all means, even if you have good reasons for it.

Marcus let the words from Xeen simmer in his mind until Fin's training was over and it was time to join the party around the fire pit.

The squad shared the stories of their fights with the clan and Marcus made sure to highlight the performance of all members. Of course, his stunt with the Viper became the highlight anyway, followed by Janette's head popping extravaganza. As the party came to an end, his only wish was to be with Azaa. He felt drained by the events of the last days and he wanted to get away from it all, at least for some time. Marcus cleared things up with Janette and gave Fin a lot of 'homework' for the time he would be gone.

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