In a shadowed alley, pleas and the sound of kicks echoed.

"Don’t… stop hitting him! The money’s here—take it!!! Just stop!"

The ragged, bruised girl tossed a crumpled paper ball at the thugs’ feet.

"Please… stop. I admit those two girls paid us. It’s all there—take everything!"

The boy being kicked shouted, "Sister!"

She shot him a look, silencing him. "Let us go… that’s all the money we have."

The nearest thug snatched the paper, unfolded it, and counted the magic coins inside. "Ten magic coins?! Just for directions? Must be some fat sheep from who-knows-where! Boss, shall we take them?"

"They’re outsiders from the East Gate—strangers here. My men are already tailing them."

"Do it." The white-clad leader took a drag of his cigarette, utterly relaxed. "Such prime goods would be a waste not to play with."

"They’ll leave this city eventually. Now’s our only chance… A highborn lady’s first time? Just imagining it makes me ache. Watching them go from defiance to begging, then craving it… exquisite."

"If they’re too important, we’ll just shake them down. Rich folks have more coin than they can spend—sharing with us poor souls is only fair!"

A lackey chimed in, "Brilliant, Boss! It’s only natural!"

"What about these brats, Boss? Ten coins won’t even buy a turn at the brothel." One thug stepped on the girl, examining her.

The white-clad man flicked his spent cigarette away. "Don’t kill them. This is Emirielle’s territory in the Lower District. Dead kids cause more trouble than adults."

"Don’t worry, Boss—we know the limits!" One man dragged the girl deeper into the alley, two others following.

Another yanked the boy toward the opposite end.

The leader strolled out with the rest.

Two hours later…

"Go eat well, brat."

They tossed a silver coin at her feet, laughing as they mocked the girl’s scrawny, underfed frame. They bragged about how many times they’d used her, sneering that she wasn’t even worth being called a woman.

The girl slumped against the wall, her clothes torn to rags.

Her eyes were vacant, devoid of life.

*What did I do wrong?*

She’d only done what she always did—asked for coin when giving directions.

She’d answered, handed over the money, tried to leave… Why did they follow her?

She’d given everything… Why wouldn’t they let her go?

*Was it my fault?*

Every bone felt shattered. Her gaze drifted to the silver coin on the ground, stained with blood and filth.

*It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over.*

She reached out, picked up the coin.

Pushing herself up against the wall, she staggered inward.

Her brother was still back there. She had to find him.

After a painful trek, she found him at the alley’s other end.

The boy lay motionless on the ground, blood seeping from beneath his trousers.

She rushed to him, flipping him over. "Brother! Wake up! We have a silver coin today—we can eat our fill!"

His face was ashen. No breath stirred his chest. His skin had already cooled.

A single magic coin lay forgotten near the wall.

"Brother! Brother!" Her screams tore from her throat, but the boy in her arms stayed silent, eyes shut.

When her voice cracked raw, gut-wrenching sobs finally broke free.

*We only wanted to live… What was our crime?*

*If someone had to die… why him? Why not me? I’m the sister!*

*Thud.*

A footstep cut through her wails.

She lifted her head numbly.

A strange little girl with ash-white hair stood before her.

"Does it hurt? Do you hate them? Do you resent this?"

The girl nodded emptily.

"Do you want to kill them? Destroy this broken world?"

"Kill… them? I can’t… I can’t!" She buried her face, shoulders shaking.

"I can make you able…" The Destroyer pressed against the girl’s forehead.

"How?"

"Destroy this world. Then you can kill them. Even bring your brother back… Come. Shatter this unjust world. Let everything turn to dust."

"Your pain, your hatred, your regret—they’ll vanish with the world you destroy."

"Just destroy this world…"

"It’s simple, isn’t it? Destroy the world. That’s all."

"Destroy the world…" the girl whispered.

"Yes~" The Destroyer nuzzled the girl’s cheek, breath warm against her ear. "Look how dull this world is. Evildoers sit high above. The kind are trampled underfoot."

"You only wanted to live. You did nothing wrong. The fault lies with this world!"

"Every misfortune stems from the powerless."

"Remember how your brother died… crushed by a world where evil stomps on goodness. He was so kind. You were so kind. You simply chose not to be cruel."

"Choosing to destroy this world isn’t evil. It’s how your kindness fights back."

"Choose now. Destroy this vile, unfair world… or accept your brother’s death and crawl through life like a worm?"

"Choose! Choose! CHOOSE!!!"

The Destroyer’s whispers coiled in her ear, her mind, relentless.

Her thoughts dissolved into two words.

Reason fled. What little remained eroded.

*A new dress. A full meal. Coin. Survival… Brother. Bring him back. My brother is dead… World? Unfair. Destroy?*

*Why destroy the world? Brother’s dead… Brother? Brother, brother… bro—*

*What does my brother have to do with the world?*

*Why do I want to destroy it?*

*For whom? For what? Why? I don’t know! I don’t know!*

*Destroy the world. Destroy everything I see.*

*Just destroying the world… no big deal.*

*The reason no longer mattered. She just wanted it gone.*

An eerie smile curled her lips.

She released her brother’s body, letting it roll to the ground.

Then she embraced the little girl before her.

"I want to destroy this world."

The Destroyer grinned. "Destroy it. It’s just a world."

She sank her teeth into the girl’s neck, greedily drinking her blood.

She watched the girl fade in her arms—breath gone, life gone.

Then the girl’s eyes snapped open, glowing crimson.

She lifted her brother’s body and handed it to the little girl.

The Destroyer bit the boy’s neck too.

But unlike the girl, she only left a single wound—a mystic rune flared where her teeth pierced, then vanished.

The boy woke, the same eerie smile on his lips.

"Welcome back, brother."

"I’m back, sister."

The Corruption had begun.