When I opened my eyes, what greeted me was a crimson inferno and blood-soaked earth.
‘Is this an illusion?’
From within flames so thick I could barely see ahead, screams rang out without end.
Begging for help, begging to be spared.
There were even voices pleading that, if nothing else, at least the children be saved—but those who had set this place ablaze did not accept pleas.
What they wanted was only plunder and death.
Driven not by madness but by fanaticism, they had no such option as mercy.
They would simply repeat the slaughter until every unbeliever in this place was annihilated.
The ensuing banquet of death and madness continued as though it would never end.
Until that man appeared.
Atop a hill a short distance from the city.
A knight clad in red armor looked down at the city. The man’s body reeked thickly of blood, yet strangely, his face alone looked like that of a pale-faced scholar.
Had some kin of the knight lived in the city? Or had he simply been overcome with fury at this tragedy?
Drip.
Thick tears of blood flowed from the knight’s crimson eyes.
He looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
His expression twisted with grief.
And yet, even as he was overwhelmed by his own emotions, the knight did not stop.
The knight charged toward the city at tremendous speed.
Boom!
Each time the knight took a step, a blood-red explosion erupted and the ground collapsed.
The plunderers turned their heads at the sound.
At that moment, for the first time, an emotion other than madness appeared in the plunderers’ eyes.
Fear.
They were clearly afraid of the knight.
But even crushed beneath that fear, the plunderers did not flee.
‘Did they decide it was already too late?’
No, more than that…
It seemed they were moving fanatically according to the orders of “something.”
One by one, those of outstanding skill gathered and approached the knight.
There were fifty of them.
Judging by the dense mana flowing from their blades, they were a force capable of easily destroying a small kingdom.
Even seeing that, the blood-red knight did not stop.
The distance between the two sides narrowed, and at last, their weapons met.
—And the knight became a monster.
Shrrrrk!
The red afterimages flowing from the knight’s body turned into blood and covered him from head to toe.
Soon, the knight, now closer to a demon beast than a human, thrust his spear toward one of the plunderers.
A swift and precise strike.
It was practically like something out of a spearmanship manual, but what was more terrifying was the change that occurred in the spear.
Crack-crack-crack!
The moment the spear touched the plunderer’s body, countless thorns sprouted from it and pierced through him.
At the sight of their leader reduced to tatters, the plunderers recoiled and widened the distance in horror.
The knight did not leave them be.
Each time the blood-red spear was swung, one plunderer was reduced to pulp and collapsed.
One, then two.
A hill of corpses slowly piled up.
Before long, only one of them remained, and he shouted loudly as if calling his comrades.
In response, plunderers began swarming in again from the surroundings.
Their numbers were beyond counting.
‘He has to avoid them.’
No matter how strong that man was, this was impossible to win.
That was my judgment.
But the red knight did not avoid them.
Without even looking at them, the red knight swung his spear toward the ground.
And what followed was slaughter itself.
Shwaaaaak!
A blood-red vortex centered around the knight’s body began to grow larger and larger.
The plunderers saw it and tried to put distance between themselves and it, but it was already far too late.
The surging wave of blood swallowed the plunderers’ bodies, and what soon revealed itself was nothing more than lumps of meat that had once been human.
I watched it all from within the vision.
The slaughter came to an end.
On the earth covered in flame and blood, no one remained except the blood-red knight and me.
Having finished the massacre, he turned his head to the side—
[What do you think?]
He smiled at me.
[Can you bear this fate?]
**
“Fate, you say?”
[Yes. Fate.]
Hearing the words of the blood-red knight, the Lord of Fresh Blood, I fell into thought.
This event, and of course the scene just now, were things I had never seen in the game.
Why had such a change occurred?
[You seem to have many thoughts.]
Seeing me like that, the Lord of Fresh Blood spoke.
Until just a moment ago, he had looked like a monster, but now his demeanor was like that of a gentle scholar.
After thinking for a moment, I asked him a question while leaving out any mention of the game.
“No, I was just a little taken aback. I know about you, but I’ve never heard there was a battle like that.”
[Rather than being frightened, you show interest in that? I like it.]
What was so amusing?
The Lord of Fresh Blood twisted the corners of his mouth and chuckled.
[You need not know about it. You need only bear the fate.]
“I don’t understand what you mean by fate. Just what am I supposed to—urk!”
I tried to continue speaking out of curiosity, but I could not get what I wanted.
He had clearly been some distance away just moments ago, yet the Lord of Fresh Blood was now right in front of me, choking me with one hand.
[I told you there was no need for you to know.]
Each time he spoke, something like red liquid surged behind his back.
If that moved, I would end up just like the plunderers.
A terrible fear swallowed my entire body, but I desperately grabbed his arm and clung to it.
I came here to live not as part of the background, but as a person, without running away. If I simply froze here in terror, how would I be any different from “background”?
After struggling, I barely managed to open my mouth and immediately shouted at the Lord of Fresh Blood.
“Urk… th-then at least tell me this. What is ‘that’? I’ve never heard that such power dwelled in your armament.”
[Yes, now you are finally saying something I like.]
Only then did the Lord of Fresh Blood release me and show me his palm.
Thick blood flowed down from his empty palm.
‘No, is that really blood?’
It felt far too alive to be called blood.
As though it were a separate living creature.
[Look. This is Red Blood.]
I stared at the Red Blood moving atop his hand.
‘It’s a power I’ve never seen before.’
It was different from mana, and different from holy power as well.
No, rather than energy, it was closer to a living creature.
“That’s a name I’ve never heard before.”
[Yes. But it must be a power you truly desire.]
I answered with silence.
Certainly, the might the Lord of Fresh Blood had shown just moments ago was extraordinary.
It had far surpassed an ordinary knight; perhaps he had even reached the realm of the hero-class or superhuman-class I had only heard about.
If I could obtain such power, then my constitution of mana occlusion would no longer be a problem.
‘Still, I can’t accept it carelessly.’
There was no such thing as free in this world.
Even if the Lord of Fresh Blood was close to a good man, there was no way he would hand over something like this without any price.
Then I had to find out the reason…
‘At times like this, a frontal breakthrough is the answer.’
“Why are you handing such power over to me?”
[Oh? You ask so directly? I like it.]
“I know your power is extraordinary. And I also know that no one in the world would hand over such power for free. At the very least, I want to know why you chose me.”
Without answering, the Lord of Fresh Blood approached me once more.
Because I had the sudden experience of being choked, I reflexively took a defensive stance, but as soon as I realized he bore no hostility, I relaxed.
The Lord of Fresh Blood placed his hand over my heart for a moment, then spoke in a tone filled with longing.
[You are empty. A being like me.]
“Like you?”
[An empty being. A cursed one who cannot use mana. One whose dreams were stolen, who suffered despair, and one who stands here alone.]
“…Mana occlusion?”
That was the condition? The heavenly punishment that had tormented me all this time?
Only then did I understand the situation.
In the game, mana occlusion was a trait given only to NPCs.
And NPCs could not enter dungeons or ruins alone without a player.
‘So this really was an event impossible in the game.’
For it to be resolved in this way.
I felt not merely dumbfounded, but hollow.
Seeing me like that, the Lord of Fresh Blood chuckled and continued.
[It seems unexpected to you. Well, until now, that illness must have done nothing but torment you. But remember this, successor. Only the emptiest human can contain the sorrow left behind when the light departs. You were my only chance.]
The Lord of Fresh Blood’s voice was tinged with playfulness, yet desperation seeped through it.
I stared straight at him, then eventually nodded.
To begin with, I had come here to obtain a weapon to kill the troll.
If I gained power here, there was nothing bad about it.
[Huhuhu. How fortunate, successor. Lastly, I shall give you one piece of advice. If you wish to shoulder fate, you must learn patience.]
“Yes, what do you mean by—”
The Lord of Fresh Blood vanished into the darkness just like that.
And then came the awakening.
The vision shattered, and I returned to reality.
Immediately after, extreme pain swallowed me whole.