A sinister, pale-green tint began to infect the sky, spreading, corrupting all that which the light touched. The expedition could only look up in horror, for there, pulsing in its demented clump of wrinkles and lumpy pink mass, was the result of their failure. The Brain of Ambition had risen. Their end was nigh.

  There was none among them who could mistake this thing, this horrid demon, as Maugris any longer. They felt it in their bones. Their eyes lost all glimmer of sentimentality. Pain wormed into their heads as they gasped for breath and shuddered; for the Brain’s presence disturbed all that gazed upon its twisted appearance. It was strange — unnatural. An impossible creation unafraid to let its hatred of the living be known. Its entire existence was of spite.

  Lucius supposed it was a good thing that the Brain no longer resembled a man. Now, the paladins could fight without restraint, without guilt. A warrior’s instinct overtook their minds and distracted them from the reality of their tragic undertaking. There was only the urge to survive: to fight for the sake of the nation.

  Whether they could hold on to that resolve, however, Lucius was skeptical. For the Evil’s true danger had yet to reveal itself.

  “Why must my genius be labeled blasphemous? God is merely a shackle. They tell me that it is not proper, that it is the command of the Almighty to remain a stagnant and lowly race. But man is destined for greater heights. Let knowledge be spread regardless of consequence. Let my ambition smother all who dare seek to bring me down.”

  The paladins and priests all began to collapse on their knees, groaning. A familiar madness glinted in their eyes. They clutched their heads in a desperate bid to fend off the influence creeping into their scattered thoughts, but it was no use. This was not a battle that could be won through mere physical resistance. Only with their willpower could they hope to stave off the Brain’s charm; yet, even these holy warriors, disciplined and trained for war, could not ignore it — the craving and hunger for more.

  Such was its inevitable allure. Those who sought power naturally fostered it. To the poor of more humble standing, its call was practically irresistible. After all, who hadn’t thought of it at least once in their life? Wealth, glamor and fame, the excitement of progress. Yes, that is ambition: the potential of something beyond yourself. Was it any surprise, then, that everyone was bewitched by the Brain?

  Well, everyone except for Lucius. The gentleman was perfectly fine, of course! Why should he yearn for what he already has?

  Surprisingly enough, his companions were also doing rather well for themselves. Harper was fine due to her composure skill, but Mili and Marco, who had previously succumbed to the Eyes, managed to keep their rationality — albeit through rather extreme methods.

  “Gah… I’ll be a… the bestest most famest rockstar ever! Summerfest, Coachella, Lollapalooza… heck, why just stay in the U.S of A? Let’s go on a worldwide tour! Asia, Europe, Africa, everywhere! I’ll be EVERYWHERE! EVERYONE’S GONNA LISTEN TO MY MUSIC—”

  In between her manic ramblings, the musician raised her finger and then called forth a small bolt of lightning to zap her own body. It surged through her veins, her blood. She stood up and twitched erratically as the static continuously ran all along her body as if she were a living breathing conductor. The process appeared… uncomfortable, to say the least, but it did manage to help distract her from the Brain’s whispers.

  Marco, meanwhile, used his fiery gauntlet to set his own clothes ablaze.

  “Yeah… yeah, why shouldn’t I get a pool? The kids will love it. Lazy river, a giant slide, the works. Wait, nah, forget the pool. Let’s just build an entire waterpark! Always wanted one of those. I’ve got the money, don’t I? It’s all for the kids, definitely for the kids…”

  The flames enveloped him from the neck down, scorching his skin until it blistered over in a raw vibrant red. Lucius didn’t take the man to be of the masochistic sort; it’s just that a little pain was necessary. The demon’s call was persistent. Only with constant, sweltering agony could he power through. Plus his recovery skill helped to reform his flesh so the burns weren’t permanent.

  “Jesus Christ, Marco, you good over there?” Harper said, wincing at the sight.

  Marco had trouble replying due to all the smoke around him, so he simply gave her a thumbs up.

  The firefighter was just about to question Lucius on how he managed to keep his wits, but she decided against it at the last moment. Such specifics weren’t important. What mattered was that the four of them were relatively sane. The other players also found ways to compose themselves, although a few weren’t quite as fortunate. Mister Crowley, arguably one of the most dangerous amongst them, was one such fallen soul.

  The bomberman leaned back and let loose a maniacal laugh as he pulled out all sorts of explosives from his bag. “I’ll show you all. I’m an inventor, a visionary of the century! Those old has-beens at the world fair were too jealous of my intellect, but I won’t be stopped by the likes of them. Not when the police raided my workshop. Not when I was locked away for ‘felony mishandling of explosives.’ No! I will become the greatest demolitions expert of all time, no matter what stands in my way.”

  Lucius’s companions just narrowly managed to escape before a flurry of bombs detonated all around them. Everything was in chaos. The once-orderly expedition had now become split into two sides: those rampaging mindlessly, and the others struggling to contain them through non-lethal means.

  The paladins swerved and swiped at the air while the priests fired off spells into random directions. Lucius had to weave through the battlefield lest he be caught in a rogue explosion, and though he and his plucky trio attempted their best to knock their unruly fellows out, there were simply too many of them. The damage had already been done.

  Farther out toward the tents, however, Lucius spied a certain someone still fighting off the madness. The gentleman quickly slid past the demolished campsite and scooped up a very bewildered Sir Renaud, before returning back to safety. The Peer grumbled and scratched at his neck. But other than that, he managed to cling onto his reason.

  “Curses… these foul voices in my head refuse to cease,” the man said, digging his nails into his hair. “But they pale in comparison to the bitterness festering in my heart. This thing will not conquer me.”

  Lucius pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt off Renaud’s clothes. “Well, I am very glad to see you with sound mind, Sir Renaud. I must admit though that our circumstances are rather dire at the moment. Do you perhaps know of a solution to calming the others?”

  Renaud frowned and shook his head. “I did prepare countermeasures for this exact situation, but they all involved the aid of Maugris.”

  “Oh, yes. That is problematic, isn’t it?”

  “Quite.”

  The only option left was to subjugate the Brain as quickly as they could. The longer they dragged on, the more lives would be lost. How exactly the party could do so, what with the demon floating beyond their reach and all that, was still uncertain.

  “Don’t you have that jewel thingy with you?” Mili asked Lucius. “Sounds like as good a time as any to use it.”

  Harper lightly smacked her back and pointed at the trees. “Not if you want us to be trapped in a wildfire. I’ve only got so much water in my fire hydrant.”

  Marco grunted in affirmation.

  >[The Primal Hunter is interested in seeing how you plan to subdue the demon. They connect their sight with their human successor and tell him to watch closely]<

  >[Virtual Goddess of the Wired nervously bites at their nails. They know Lucius is a capable person, but this mission seems just too impossible to complete. The Star donates 500 and cheers the gentleman on]<

  >[Monster of Kinderheim smiles and says Lucius brought it upon himself. Actions have consequences, but you already knew that, didn’t you? Yes, this outcome was exactly what you wished for. The Star waits for this scene to conclude]<

  At least his otherworldly sponsors were entertained. Lucius crossed his arms and pondered for a moment. He examined the Brain, scrutinized its folds and crinkles. One would think it a mere being of nonsense considering its demonic origin, but after studying its movements, he began to see a pattern.

  The Brain wasn’t merely a single entity. It was composed of many different parts, all of which acted independently from each other. They represented the real-world sections of an actual brain: a frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and many others. Fortunately, Lucius was quite knowledgeable about the brain’s anatomy. He had temporarily acted as a hospital assistant in his younger years for Saint Jude’s Medical Institution for the Criminally Involved. There were no shortages of gang members, hitmen, mercenaries, and all sorts of unsavory folk from the underworld who checked into the sterile white rooms. It was there that the gentleman was given a very thorough lesson into where one should strike to leave a man at their most vulnerable.

  The portion that housed a person’s motor capabilities — their coordination, precise muscle movements, and posture — was the cerebellum. Coincidentally, the Brain of Ambition had its cerebellum completely exposed! If the party were to damage it, then perhaps they might bring the grotesque thing crashing back to the ground. It was certainly worth a try.

  Lucius spoke of his plan to his fellows and attempted to come up with a plan. At the moment, only Mili had the capability to deliver a fitting strike. The only other ranged attacker still sane was Mister Cain the soldier; however, his bullets were simply too small and lacked the impact needed to harm the Brain. He was also currently preoccupied with wrangling the others, all the while cursing and spitting in frustration.

  “Phew, alright. Let’s do this,” Mili said, bringing out her guitar and strumming an electric melody. “Don’t know if I’ve got enough firepower to fry it, though.”

  To that, Harper responded with a wry grin and stood directly behind her. “Quit worrying. I got a new skill a while back perfect for this kinda thing.”

  She raised her axe and then let out a powerful roar. Soon, a strange circle expanded far out below and encompassed everyone within what appeared to be a twenty-foot long radius, with Harper serving as the center point. A faint, sparkling light gently rose up from the circle; and as Lucius stood inside, he felt a boost in his abilities not dissimilar to the blessings cast by the priests.

  >[Fireman’s Morale has been activated! All holy, dark, and magical spells will have their power increased by 20% as long as the caster remains in the circle]<

  Mili let out a wicked laugh and strummed her guitar even harder. Her eyes glowed; her frizzy hair hissed with a low, crackling jolt. She only had one opportunity to catch the Brain by surprise. Its guard was down — the time was now.

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  “We’re not wishing for a brand new world, the lost still can be redeemed~

  “It has always been a beautiful world, we just weren’t looking.”

  With her last chorus, a flash blinded everyone in a bright glare, before receding just as quickly. There was a bang, an explosion of sound; and then a massive lightning bolt fired from Mili’s guitar and hurled through the air faster than they could see, faster than the Brain could respond to. The bolt crashed straight into its cerebellum and turned the once-sallow pink into a stark black.

  But the Brain was tougher than initially thought. Only the surface of its cerebellum was damaged; the inner workings still wriggled and squirmed as before. Except now the demon was on full alert. It unleashed a revolting squeal from its countless folds, louder, even louder. Its frontal lobe began to twitch and stretch outward until it formed the shape of a wrinkled beacon.

  “The pursuit of greatness should not be held back by the ignorant. I am capable of so much more, but society fears that which it cannot understand. Let the dull rabble remain as such. I will rise while they wallow, and I will bring along with me the chosen who understand my will, my dreams, my ambition to reach where even God could not.”

  A surge of energy concentrated the beacon’s tip, growing more and more until it collapsed into itself and then unleashed a howling ray directly high above. It carved into the sky and branded upon it a mark of evil: dark, pulsing, squirming for all to see. It did naught else except serve as a spectacle, but to the players below, they were overcome with an imminent sense of dread.

  For that mark was a distress signal. One that would call forth the expedition’s mortal enemies.

  The demons were coming.

  “Fire again, fire again!” Harper yelled.

  “Dangit, you think I don’t know that? I’m trying! I need time to charge up.”

  Mili did her best to conjure another bolt, but the Brain had already erected a gruesome barrier of white matter around itself. Her attacks did not nearly have the same impact as before. And beside the Evil itself, those bewitched by its ambition began to turn toward Lucius’s party. It was just like before with the Eyes. The demon sensed danger; it ordered its flock to chase after the source.

  The group of players still sane had little chance to stop the others before they descended upon Mili like a ravenous pack of hounds. Lucius and Marco stood guard and fought the horde back; however, their madness was just too much. Mili couldn’t concentrate and had to join the fight herself, along with Harper who was busy protecting Sir Renaud. At this rate, there would be no slaying the Brain before the demons arrived.

  “Aw hell, I think we’re screwed guys,” Mili said while bashing one of the paladins on the head with her guitar. “Any other plans? What about you, commander leader sir?”

  Renaud grumbled and slapped a priest away with his cane. “I am thinking. Outward attacks will not succeed… we need a more direct method… something closer…”

  The Peer snapped to attention and then grabbed Lucius’s shoulder. “You are a capable one, Sir Lucius. If there was an opportunity for you to reach that thing, are you confident in stopping its flight?”

  Lucius shrugged. “Well, I would find a way. But how am I to get up there, anyways?”

  “I have seen your muscular friend’s strength throughout our journey. He is the key.”

  “Oh, are you referring to Mister Bernardi?”

  Renaud nodded and then pointed to a fallen tree. “Climb it.”

  “Very well.”

  Lucius had an idea as to what Renaud was planning, and so he broke away from the Franks’ assault. Before he did, however, he sneaked over to where the delirious Mister Crowley was rampaging and swiped one of his bombs. The man had no time to react before the gentleman delivered a swift chop to his neck, made his return, and then plopped himself on the bark.

  No sooner did he make himself comfortable that Marco hurried over and used a new skill of his. He held out his hand and winced as it transformed entirely into steel. With a grunt, he picked up the tree and threw it hard directly toward the Brain.

  Lucius delighted in the wind ruffling through his air, but his enjoyment was cut short. The tree slammed into the white matter and created a sparse opening for the gentleman to squeeze into. It was… not a pleasant experience, to put it plainly. Lucius had to plunge his arm into the wet, oozing, and squishy creases. The folds wrapped around him and squeezed tight, threatening to consume his body and all, but he managed to complete his objective and quickly wrestled himself free before leaping back toward the ground.

  He would have splattered into a gentlemanly clump of meat, ordinarily. Thankfully though the shop had various parachutes available, so Lucius bought one and gracefully returned to his fellows: triumphant.

  “That was certainly an interesting experience,” he said, landing on his feet and greeting them with a bow.

  “Uh, yeah. Good to see you back, Lucius,” Harper said, alternating between staring at him and the Brain above. “What did you… do, exactly?”

  “One moment. It should happen any time now.”

  Right after he finished his sentence, a deafening boom rippled above them. Lucius’s party gawked in awe as they witnessed personally the crude descent of the once-mighty Brain. A large chunk of, not just its cerebellum, but its other lobes as well were blown into chunks by the bomb Lucius had planted in its folds. Honestly, even the gentleman himself didn’t expect the explosive to be quite this effective. Bravo, Mister Crowley! The man certainly knew his craft.

  The Brain crashed unceremoniously back onto the earthly world. It struggled to rise back up, its grey and white and brain matter reduced to liquid slush from the impact, and it screamed out in distress for its bewitched victims to protect it.

  But alas, most of them had already been subdued. There were some unfortunate deaths, some among the players as well. However, the expedition members had a grudge to settle. Grief can wait. This was the time for revenge.

  Lucius’s party, the other players, and the remaining Frankishmen who had succeeded in resisting its lure all began to encircle the Brain now.

  “Finally,” Miss Rhodes said, cracking her neck and then wrapping her knuckles with a spiky cloth as if to mimic a gauntlet. “Ain’t no hard feelings, mister. But you’ve gone and done too much. Hurt too many good folk. Whatever made ya like this, I hope you find some rest wherever sends your way.”

  Before it could recover, everyone descended upon it in a mad flurry. They were mere inches away from pummeling it into paste and ending this nightmare once and for all.

  But the Brain wasn't entirely defenseless. It had a few tricks up its meaty sleeve.

  There were two lobes of it still unharmed from Lucius’s attack: the frontal and parietal lobe. The first one controlled the body’s cognitive functions and voluntary movement. How to organise, how to plan, how to coordinate… when these core functions are removed, what happens?

  It becomes very difficult to attack.

  “Lucius? Where am I… what was I… argh, something feels wrong. I can’t—I can’t think right.”

  Mili crumpled and grabbed at her face, confused, frightened. Her eyes glossed over and, though she tried to pick her guitar, her fingers just wouldn’t move the way she wanted. It wasn’t that she couldn’t play, but rather her ability to follow rhythm and patterns had suddenly vanished.

  Harper meanwhile stumbled around in a daze. She laughed, and cried, and flared in temper. She switched between different emotions like one changing their mask, except Harper couldn’t control it, leaving her in a terrified state of instability.

  Marco seemed the least affected of the two, and he charged forward to pound the brain with his gauntlet. But at the last second, something strange happened; he stopped a few feet away and then punched the air. He looked bewildered. Marco stepped back and punched the air again, and again. He couldn’t comprehend that the Brain just wasn’t in range. No matter where he stepped or how he moved, the old mobster would never come close to reaching his foe.

  Such was a result of the parietal lobe: it affected touch and one’s spatial perception. To Marco, it may have appeared that he was hitting the Brain, maybe even felt like it, but the truth was different. His own brain tricked him into believing a false reality.

  No one else managed to escape it — the manipulation of their brains. Whether they became like Mili, or Harper, or even Marco, none could approach the demon. It was right there; victory was ever so close. And yet, all they could do was watch on as the Brain slowly slid itself across the dirt and attempted to escape.

  “No… no!” Renaud cried. The Peer fell to the floor and tried to give chase. He clawed at the dirt, yelled, and screamed with all the force of his soul. But there was nothing he could do. All this pain and suffering, the lives sacrificed to yield them this opportunity… it would all be for naught. This would be his greatest failure. “Maugris, come back! You despicable fiend — how much more must you torment our people? Curses. Damn it all to hell!”

  The Brain did not react to his former friend’s plea. It merely sloshed onward, unbothered. It would have fled from this land and left the expedition to perish here, were it not for a certain gentleman.

  The only one unbothered by its demonic influence.

  “Well, this feels rather familiar, doesn’t it? I once confronted another Evil just like you. How delightful that, this time, I would be given the pleasure to greet a precious acquaintance.”

  The demon stopped in its path and turned its brainy mass to face the one in its way.

  “I must not stop here. I must reach higher, higher, even higher. To join those wayward Stars and realize the potential I always knew I had. I am great. My ambition is infallible. So how? How? How are you above me?”

  Lucius rubbed his chin. “Do you mean to ask how am I unaffected by your powers? Well, it’s simple. I am not.”

  He chuckled and then gestured to himself. “It is true, my ability to plan and organize has been whisked away. But why should it matter? If I cannot think of the future, then I merely need to live in the moment. Every word of mine is thought now. My every move is done now.

  “As for emotions, I do of course feel them. Sadness, rage, happiness. I feel them all at once. They are always a part of me, but what makes a gentleman who he is… well, is his ability to control them. I am who I am at every conceivable moment; such things like emotional instability will not change that.

  “And finally, spatial awareness, was it? That one is perhaps the easiest of them all. I just don’t trust in what I see. If I think I am close to you, then the opposite must be true. From thereon I simply subtract where I was from the starting distance in my memory and then calculate accordingly. The frontal and parietal lobes aren’t all that make up our brains. I rely on what I have, rather than what I do not.”

  The Brain of Ambition sat there, motionless, in a pile of its own sludge. If demons could show emotion, Lucius suspected that it would have looked very baffled right now.

  “But my ambition should be peerless. No one has greater ambition than me.”

  “Well, that’s the problem. I do not have ambition, my friend. I take pleasure in wherever the wind takes me, in the blooms and beautiful flowers that cross my path. Life is too precious to be concerned over such difficult things, do you not agree?”

  “You do not have ambition? I do not understand. Everyone has ambition. Everyone should have it, but I do not see it in your eyes. You speak true. There is nothing… nothing… nothing…”

  The demon soon collapsed into itself. Its wrinkles, its white and grey matter, and all that encompassed its physical form — everything began to melt away, as if its encounter with Lucius had fully overloaded its brain.

  “How can you endure it? A life without ambition. With no goals, no dreams, no longing for something more.”

  Lucius smiled. “Quite easily. It’s not that I don’t have goals or desires, but why should I worry over it? I have no reason to chase after what will inevitably come to me.”

  “Ah, I see. How simple. Yes, so very simple. And yet it sounds like a pleasant life. If only I could… could be without ambition as well…”

  The Brain, ever gradually, lost its voice. It had no more wrinkles to labor. No more ambition to act upon. Without the core of its identity, the demon simply ceased to be. Its dusty remnants were blown away by the wind, fluttering high, higher, ever high into the starry sky it had always yearned to reach.

  Thus was Maugris finally given peace: not the demon, or Brain, or whatever the system called him. Just a man who dreamed of more.

  >[Congratulations! Lucius Rose has slain the newly-born Evil: the Brain of Ambition. The Emergency Quest is now complete]<

  *(NEW!) EXP + 500

  *(NEW!) 1000 Cosmic Coins

  *(NEW!) 10 unallocated stat points

  *(NEW!) [1] random apparel box

  >[In recognition of your great feat, you have been granted a new passive title: Reckless Bravado]<

  Reckless Bravado: Mental afflictions and harmful status effects will be half as effective against you.

  The Esteemed Gentlepeople of the , to whom I am forever grateful.

  [The Distinguishedly Dandy Gentlemen Hall of Fame]