"So let me get this straight. You three are the fearsome terrorists known as the Corinthians — an organisation created by that chained angel — and he asked four eyes, who is supposedly the leader, to keep watch on me?"
"My name isn't four eyes, you damn brat!
I just told you — my name is Armin."
I ignored him and kept looking at the red haired girl, my tone a bit abrupt and shocked.
"AND the hot Corinthian girl who just saved me is her — Shija?"
"Why do I get the feeling that he is more shocked by her identity than by the fact that we basically kidnapped him?"
The blonde girl named Alice whispered in Shija's ear — though her voice was far from quiet.
Shija didn't answer.
"Because I am!"
I looked at four eyes.
"And wait — what exactly do you three want from me?"
Four eyes chuckled and grabbed a remote control for the nearby huge TV.
"You'll love this, kid."
He pressed play. The news channel.
The title alone was enough to pull my eyes off the two girls.
'The New Member of the Corinthians — The Clown.'
You've got to be kidding me.
The news reporter presented footage of me at the police station — when I ordered the register officer to kill everyone, which he successfully did before Joe put him down with a sedative.
"As you all know, gentlemen and women of the great nation of the west, the brutality and vileness of this criminal. He committed mass murder, with near casualties and deaths of thirty soldiers."
The news reporter's eyes through the screen seemed full of hatred for a moment, as if she were looking directly at me.
"Including the housewife and daughter of one of our proud and loyal Sergeants — Sir Leonel."
She projected a picture of their dead bodies.
Her firm, calm voice turned sincere for just a second as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Our condolences to their families. I hope you all pray for them right now, so their souls may rest in peace under the great rule of our one and only god, Visares the Righteous."
A moment of silence, so the viewers could pray for the dead.
Alice used this precious time to mock me.
"How low of you, kid," she said, her voice playful and majestic — enough to make me forget about my terrible photo displayed in the very centre of the screen.
Shija's cold eyes looked at me with something like pride and admiration, which eased the pain of my shattered image of her.
It's a cruel thing to meet your idols.
Four eyes coughed, pointing at the news reporter.
"She's about to continue."
I nodded.
"Now we will present the surviving victims' testimonies — live!"
My eyes opened wide.
The first were the three children who had poked out their own eyes.
They were crying beside their mother.
"Come on, boys. Speak up," she said, her tone disgustingly controlling.
The boy in the center spoke first, his voice crooked with fear.
"W-we were playing with the neighbourhood cat… then he tapped my shoulde—"
His lips trembled as he kept glancing at his mother.
Her hand was on his shoulder. Too tightly.
"Continue, honey."
She irritated me enough that I didn't bother correcting the boy's testimony.
"He told us, 'Would you three lovely children be interested in hearing a joke?'
And we nodded.
The demonic clown's joke was — 'how about we put our blessings to good use and poke out our eyes.'"
A tear fell from the boy's eye. The one on his left continued.
"The clown's words were absolute — our bodies couldn't move, only do what he asked."
He pointed at his blinded eye.
Then the boy on the right burst into tears.
"Th… then he made us watch… watch him kill the cat. With a smile."
I chuckled.
The three Corinthians looked at me with strange eyes — yet somehow none of them were judgmental. As if they understood.
The mother sent the kids out.
The news reporter, holding her mouth in shock, forced a question.
"Madam… what do you feel?"
The mother exhaled, her tone calm.
"It's our fault."
The news reporter blinked.
"Pardon?"
Then the mother burst.
"It's our fault — didn't you hear me?!
Why in hell would the god of the west decide to pardon those monsters years ago?
The Saviour of Light should have killed them all!"
The news reporter fell silent.
I couldn't hold it. I laughed.
It was hilarious. Really hilarious.
"Was it really that fun to torture three children, clown?" Alice asked, her voice playful yet somehow intimidating.
I looked her up and down.
"Well, you look older than me… so you could try experimenting such thoughts on me."
Alice chuckled.
"Watch your back then."
I… I… why am I blushing?
Four eyes coughed.
The news reporter continued.
"Thank you for your testimony, ma'am."
She raised her voice cheerfully with a fake smile.
"Let's continue to the other victims!"
The next live feed appeared and as I expected — it was the register officer.
He looked… troubled.
His proud, cruel eyes had turned into something pathetic. Well, I'm probably not the one to judge people's looks, considering my own.
"Hello, Officer Morgan."
Morgan nodded.
"Can you describe to us what happened yesterday?"
A moment of silence.
"It… it's blurry. I can't say for certain. What I remember is that a clown entered with a hilarious smile, walking past the line — not to report a crime, but to tell me a joke…"
The reporter's eyebrows twisted.
"A joke?"
"Yes, ma'am. He told me, 'Wouldn't it be funny if you were to kill everyone here?'"
Well. At least he's truthful.
"And what happened afterwards?"
Morgan's hands clawed at his face, hiding it in shame — which made me furious. We both agreed it would be a great joke. People who deny pleasure after the fact always make me want to puke.
"I… found myself surrounded by a pile of bones and fire."
Four eyes smiled, as if he'd figured something out.
He opened his mouth to speak — but Morgan's voice startled him. It startled everyone, including the news reporter.
"HE IS A DEMON!
I KILLED MY OWN FRIENDS… CIVILIANS WHO CAME SEEKING HELP. CHILDREN AND WOMEN!"
Tears began to fall from his eyes.
"I… couldn't kill myself… no matter how many times I pointed the gun, the bullet always lands on the ground.
When I try to stab myself, the knife disappears!
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I WANT?
I WANT HIM TO KILL ME."
Alice's eyes opened wide. Four eyes' glasses slipped. Shija was… hard to read.
Soldiers tried to calm him, closing his mouth.
"END MY MISERY PLEA—"
Officer Morgan fell to the ground.
And in his place, Joe sat.
He was the one who had knocked Morgan unconscious.
"Hello? Is everything alright?" the news reporter asked.
Joe raised his hand, pulled out a cigarette and lit it nonchalantly, not minding Morgan lying near his feet.
Seeing him so soon — even on TV — made my stomach roar.
Yet his eyes were… different.
Smoke left Joe's mouth as he spoke with a calm voice.
"Hello everyone. I'm Joe Alfred — the new Sergeant in place of Sir Leonel. May his soul rest in peace."
The news reporter coughed.
"You are one of the survivors of the tunnel incident?"
"Yes."
"Could we hear your testimony, sold— sorry, Sergeant?"
Joe smiled lightly.
"Just call me Joe, miss.
And of course.
After hearing the other victims' testimonies, I felt the need to correct some misunderstandings — and fill in what they missed."
"Please do, Joe."
"At first glance, the clown appears to be no more than a troubled teenager… but thinking of him in such simplistic terms would most certainly lead you to your end. As it nearly did with me."
The news reporter finally sipped her coffee.
Which was honestly what irritated me most.
Does this woman not know how expensive coffee is these days?
"What do you think of him?" she asked Joe.
Joe's head tilted.
"A trickster."
Huh?
"H-how so?"
Joe threw his cigarette onto Officer Morgan.
"The clown has the brand of a blue distorted star on his wrist. When it flickers, he asks something of you — framed as a joke, as the victims described — but I believe it's nothing but a punchline with teeth."
Wow… I didn't really realize any of that. It just happened to work.
Four eyes muttered,
"How impressive."
Alice muttered next,
"How beautiful he is…"
Whose side is she on exactly?
But she wasn't wrong. Even the news reporter looked at him with admiration — and maybe something else.
Joe continued.
"His ability is to manipulate and control the victim, as he did with Officer Morgan."
"Pardon me, Joe.
But that raises a question — Officer Morgan wasn't conscious of his actions… so will he face consequences? A death sentence?"
Joe chuckled.
"Actually, I was getting to that point before you asked.
The question of whether Officer Morgan is guilty demands that I share my own experience."
Joe lifted his leg, presenting his injury.
"The clown tried to compel me to do something similar to what he asked of Morgan. Yet I resisted — and shot my own leg instead."
"…yes. That sounds painful."
Joe stood up from his chair.
"Not more painful than watching your unit die in the night, ma'am."
Then he reached for his gun.
"Sergeant? Why are you pulling your weapon?"
"What do you mean?" he said, charging it.
"You asked, and I'm answering."
He pulled Morgan off the ground like a ragdoll and aimed the gun at his head.
"Sir Morgan is not guilty…"
Then Morgan's head exploded.
"…yet we cannot let today's monstrosity repeat itself."
A tear fell from Joe's eye.
Then the live feed ended.
Leaving a blank, black screen.
For some reason my heart was racing, thinking of what Joe had said in the tunnel.
"A heart that shouldn't be stained with blood."
My cheeks pulled upward on their own as I touched my face roughly.
"What have I… created?"
My hands began to shake as another question surfaced.
Why was he crying?
Why?
Should I be crying too?
Then I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.
It was four eyes, bending down beside me.
"Are you okay, kid?"
Am I okay?
How would I even know?
I smiled widely, hiding my shaking hands behind my back.
"Why wouldn't I be okay, four eyes?"
His eyes were full of disbelief — yet he said nothing. Just sat beside me.
Why did you show me this? I asked.
He didn't answer.
But I noticed a mark on his right palm — an eye, flickering yellow.
Then Alice's eyes began to flicker like bleeding stars, colors I didn't know existed.
A mark glowed on Shija's chest next — a crow, white and red.
And finally, my own mark flickered blue.
Four eyes grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet alongside him.
"To understand that you are one of us now."