The Fingers of the City
About the Fingers. About the Fingers. The Index Finger's combat roles are divided into three: Executors, Agents, and Oracle Executors.
The leader of the Index Finger—and its very head—is the Oracle. He's the city's oracle itself, the supreme leader of the Index organization. The city's will. That's what they usually call Index. Anyway, among the combat elite, the strongest one you can summon as an Oracle Agent is Ryuen, the Spider Nest's patriarch. Ryuen. He can easily slaughter several of Thumb's Underbosses. He's got the power to take on a whole district single-handedly. He holds three syndicates under his thumb, and in terms of raw strength, he's slightly superior to Vergilius without an E.G.O. That insane monster... and I have to live in the same Spider Nest as him? Fuck no, not even over my dead body. He's a monster who crushes even Underbosses like insects. No chance against him. An Oracle Agent matches a Color Fixer in power. Conquering a district solo is an absurd feat. Can I... really beat a freak like that...?
Valentina's mind was a tangled mess. On the flip side, Mathias. He's Middle Finger's big brother. Unlike Thumb, Index, or Ring Finger—whose leaders are known—Middle Finger is like Pinky; no one knows who's in charge. Thumb's leader is the "Don." Index's is the "Oracle." Ring's is the "Maestro." Speaking of the Don, there's one story. Index once raided Thumb, slaughtering countless Thumb members. That was the start of what Otis calls the "war of the gods," on the Oracle's orders. The Oracle is practically a god in the City. And here's what the mere mortal Don decided in the face of that god: He declared all-out war on the Index organization. Surprising, right? A single human showing that grim charisma to fight a city's god head-on. The Thumb-Index war ballooned into a massive conflict, claiming countless lives.
I'm rambling a bit, but anyway, about Middle Finger: They have big brothers and big sisters like Mathias. Excluding Thumb's Underbosses or Index's Oracle Agents, these are the strongest figures in their syndicates. Big brothers and sisters are covered head to toe in Middle Finger's unique Distortion tech: reinforcement tattoos. Those tattoos are so potent they can withstand hits from things commonly called Phantasms. No need to mention their strength.
Next is Ring Finger, where Callisto belongs. Students, Docents, Maestros—three ranks—and their leader, the Maestro. Ring Finger uses their own unique Distortion tech universally across various fields. The strangest thing about them among the Fingers is that, as an organization, they value art over money. They're split into factions, and info on their leader, the Maestro, is even scarcer than on the Don. From the rumors I've heard, he's a figure even Ring's factions acknowledge, creator of some monumental artistic wonder. No one but a Maestro knows the truth.
Finally, Pinky. It's structured like a point organization. They don't even know each other. Is that really all the explanation...? Yeah, that's it. I know zilch about Pinky. As a Limbus player who died midway through Canto 9, I truly know nothing. Just that every member is ridiculously strong...?
If I really enter the Spider Nest, it'll be full of high-ranking Finger execs. Oracle Agent Ryuen. Big brother Mathias. Maestro Callisto. The Wise Sioni Yoru. And finally, me, the Underboss... The future looks way too bleak. If only I had a cigar right now... Valentina rummaged through her cigar case with that thought, but it was empty. For some reason, the patriarch had taken the cigar humidor from her room, nagging her to quit smoking. Thanks to that, she was forced into quitting cold turkey—and she was in a foul mood.
As Valentina spaced out like that, someone placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What're you doing?"
The hand belonged to Kali, the legendary fixer who'd become the Red Mist in the future.
"Just... didn't expect to quit smoking like this..."
Kali pondered Valentina's words for a moment, then pulled out her own cigarette and waved it.
"Want one of mine?"
"I can't smoke anything but cigars."
"I don't get what the difference is."
Kali sat down next to Valentina as she spoke.
"Shit happens in life. Might as well quit smokes and booze while you're at it."
"I didn't wanna hear that from you..."
"Oh yeah. Some fixers from the Fang Office showed up for a job. Come with me."
"...Me?"
"Duh. If I'm going, you come too. We're friends, right?"
Kali grinned and threw an arm around Valentina's shoulders.
......
The room was packed with Thumb members, Underboss Morrison in the head seat.
"This incident was caused by a 5th-kin Blood Fiend named Francois Rosetia."
He explained an event from about 20 years ago in the Thumb branch.
"Back then, Francois was just another run-of-the-mill Blood Fiend wandering L Corp. But suddenly, she snapped—fixers like Vals and his crew, plus everyone in our Thumb branch connected to her, all went missing or dead. And now, another Blood Fiend with similar powers has appeared."
On the screen Morrison indicated, a massive photo showed a knight in red armor etched with rose patterns.
"We'll call this one the Red Knight from now on. Its traits... Like Francois, it coagulates blood into thorny vines and tree-like forms for combat."
Morrison slammed the desk.
"I judge these two share the same 5th-kin lineage."
"We must eliminate them."
Morrison then ordered someone to enter. The newcomers wore thick coats adorned with sharp accessories on their shoulders.
"These are Fang Office fixers. Blood Fiend specialists. Losing Capos hurts, but they weren't ordinary Fiends."
"It's been maybe 10 years since it turned. The drained husks of our members showed rookie mistakes only fresh Blood Fiends make. Is that true...?"
A Fang Office fixer nodded at Morrison's question.
"Yes. Classic errors rookies make—ones no Fiend that's lived a century near would ever commit. Plenty of them, too."
"As I said, your goal is to hunt Blood Fiends. Ours is to help you wipe them out or drive them from our turf. No compromises—Thumb tradition is to expel the uncompromising. Understood?"
"Understood. We're cooperating because our goals align."
Maria, beside him, raised her gun and glared at his cheeky tone.
"...A mere office fixer daring to posture against an Underboss?"
"Posturing? We'll help each other plenty. I'd appreciate more proactive cooperation."
"Fine, I get your stance. Maria, holster it. We're the ones in a hurry—getting pissy just tires us out."
Morrison stood, shaking the Fang Office deputy's hand.
"Sorry, but where's your office head, Benton?"
"Benton? He charged out to hunt the Fiend the moment he took the job."
Maria and the Capos' eyes darkened at that.
"The nerve... An office head snubbing an Underboss's summons...?"
"And skipping after accepting? That's worth ripping out at least four ribs."
The Capos glared murderously, but Morrison ignored them and gripped the deputy's hand.
"Handle those bastards and return Jekyll & Hyde to us."
"Of course. That's our job."
......
Fang Office. Nicknamed Blood Fiend hunters. Blood Fiends are ancient beings that live on as long as blood exists—near-immortals who never truly die. Not just any blood, though; only human blood counts. Probably because they originated as humans. Oddly, they can't feed on their own kind. Only human blood smells sweet to them, marking it as prey.
Long ago, there were as many Blood Fiend hunters as Fang Office today. Now, one such vet is Benton, 55 and graying, his white hair proving his decades as a Blood Fiend slayer.
"This place is huge. Back in my youth, I'd smash Fiends here and string their fangs into necklaces."
Benton eyed his hammer with a murmur.
"Enough yapping. Come out already."
A knight in red armor, lance in hand, stared from the shadows.
"Red armor with rose patterns... Haha, a Blood Fiend who still thinks he's a knight. What a pathetic sight."
The Red Knight charged, closing the gap in an instant. But its lance never reached Benton.
Kwachik.
"?"
The Red Knight looked down. Traps littered the ground—it had stepped right into one.
"You Fiends don't rely on tools like humans. At best, you shape blood into weapons. Armor takes too much volume—inefficient. So you harden blood into blades instead."
"But Fiends overlook one thing."
Benton smashed the Red Knight's head and gut with his hammer, sending it flying.
"Fiends are weak to water. Hydrolysis melts you or causes agony. Even you don't know why."
As the Red Knight rose from the wall, Benton kicked it into a puddle.
"If you can survive, crawl out."
He turned to leave the building. But his right hand was gone.
"...What the...?"
Staring at his severed wrist, Benton saw the Red Knight had emerged from the water, sliced off his arm, and was squeezing out the blood. Sated, it stood, unbound, and approached.
"You're... no ordinary Fiend."
The Red Knight thrust its lance. Benton hammered it back.
One-handed, Benton reassessed.
"Your moves are all pressure-point style. Habits say you're a fresh turn. Am I wrong?"
The Red Knight just pressed a hand to the floor. Sensing wrongness, Benton swung. Distance opened; they stared each other down.
Strong. Incredibly so. At least Grade 2 Fixer level. No, probably stronger. 5th-kin for some reason, but if it regained prime form, it'd crush a newbie like me. Must be side effects from turning, making it sluggish.
"Why become a Fiend with that power?"
"....."
"Immortality? Greater strength? Or..."
"Too much useless talk. Your job is just to fight till one of us nears death—over and over."
It spoke. For the first time.
"Huh, you can talk fine. Thought you were mute."
"You kept blabbering instead of fighting, so I answered. Fight and die, or flee like the others. Choose."
As the knight aimed its lance, Benton laughed loudly.
"Think I'd run from a coward who became a Fiend out of fear of death?"
His hammer's impact shook the ground. The knight endured silently. Then—
BOOM. An explosion rocked its spot.
"Vibration burst. Pathetic coward."
Benton approached the fallen knight.
"Had fun playing knight?"
......
Meanwhile, Kali dragged Valentina on the fixer job. It was less "teamwork" and more Kali hauling her along. Her wrist was red and swollen from a day's tugging. How strong is her grip...?
"What? Next job's timed. Hurry."
"Uh..."
Valentina realized she couldn't resist Kali. She gave up pulling away and accepted being dragged.
"...Fine... Got it..."