The crimson moon illuminated the earth, which was enveloped in silence.
Even the legendary mage who had once turned the continent into a sea of flames and the merchants who conspired in the shadows of the continent dared not speak.
Why was that?
The two men could not comprehend this fact, only sweating profusely. The elite among elites that could drive humanity to extinction, the seven greatest stars harboring the primordial sins.
Two of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ were present here. Logically speaking, it was already absurd to presume defeat with such powers.
Unless one of them was not merely one of the three masters on the continent.
No, there was a possibility. The ‘vampire’ had already witnessed a bizarre sight from the remnants of their memory.
The sight of a man battling the ‘blade’ one-on-one.
It was an unbelievable story. No matter what arcane arts were summoned, one had never heard of such a sudden increase in skill. Even the vampire, who had lived for centuries and had delved into countless arcane arts, had never encountered such a thing.
Thus, they paid attention inwardly.
Just in case that man transformed back into an exceptional being once again. They had formed an alliance with ‘Greed’ just to minimize variables.
But the ‘man’ they faced now was, indeed.
“I told you to come at me…”
A ‘natural disaster.’
The man muttered while adjusting his sleeves, his complexion calm. To be more precise, it might be appropriate to say that all emotions had been erased.
In front of the two ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’
Rather, it was the vampire and ‘Greed’ who were frozen. The two could not budge, gazing at the man with tense eyes.
Preparation? Readiness?
What could a human do in the face of a tsunami and a storm? The best they could do was pray on their knees for the wrath of nature to pass.
They could mitigate the damage, but an essential solution was impossible.
The opponent was that level of a skilled individual. Simply by existing, they added weight to the entire world like a weight placed on blank paper.
The man had undoubtedly proven this fact.
“If you decline my goodwill, fine. Just wait three more seconds. One…”
Crackle, crackle.
As the dry voice began counting, the atmosphere in the vicinity shifted. As if there was a distortion, the scenery began to mix chaotically, presenting a momentary glimpse of a strange world.
A vast wasteland.
What existed there were only the sunset and corpses. Hundreds, thousands of deaths added crimson to the dry earth.
It may have been a mere moment in time.
Those who witnessed it could only freeze in shock. Especially the vampire, who could be considered the owner of the barrier, was hit hard.
‘Mind…?’
‘Mind’ was a landscape of the heart, as the term literally implies. The higher one’s realm, the more solid this mindscape becomes, and a mind that grows beyond a certain level can even distort the laws of reality.
That is why beings called ‘high experts’ or ‘archmages’ are revered.
But what if a mind became even stronger than that?
The mind begins to erode reality.
Just like now.
“Two…”
Drops of sweat trickled down the forehead of the vampire.
There was one more piece of bad news.
This was not reality.
The vampire’s barrier was akin to a mindscape. It harnessed the power of ‘boundaries’ to distort the laws of reality and manipulate the place at will.
It could be said to be a forcibly enhanced mindscape by means of sorcery and offerings. Yet, for this carefully constructed world to be overwhelmed in an instant.
Was such a ridiculous act even possible?
Even if that man were a master, it would be impossible.
But there was no longer any time for the vampire to ponder. The man’s mercy was coming to an end.
“Ha…”
“How?!”
It was a primal struggle born from instinct.
The vampire bombarded the man with questions without even a thought.
“How could your body recover like that? It was clearly incapacitated!”
“Exactly!”
‘Greed,’ who was sweating coldly just like the vampire, chimed in.
The girl shouted with a face that could hardly believe it.
“That body was at a level that could no longer regenerate! I brought it back through a trick!”
“And who are you? The feeling is different from that brat…”
“Give my brother back!”
The first to lose control was ‘Greed.’
As soon as the topic shifted to her brother, her eyes turned bloodshot, and she unleashed strands of crimson.
The numbers were innumerable.
Thousands, tens of thousands of blood-red strands transformed into blades and rushed forth like a tempest. The earth, not to mention the wind, was shredded, making it difficult to even open one’s eyes.
An unpleasant sound echoed as the ground erupted. It was a space where earth did not exist, but if outside the barrier, the area would be a cloud of dust rendering one unable to see.
Scratch scratch scratch!
There was no gap in the relentless symphony of death. The crimson strings were doing their utmost to add the screams and blood of their prey.
It was hard to believe that it was a strike that came without any premonition.
This was the true power of the Seven Deadly Sins. Facing that storm head-on, no matter how great a master, they would inevitably face confusion.
At the very least, ‘Greed’ thought so.
How long it would take for that delusion to shatter was not long.
With a thud, the crimson melody abruptly halted. The man’s hand reached out and seized all the thousands of strands.
It felt like a hole had appeared in space for an instant. As if the threads had been swept away in the water, the thousands of strands gathered into the man’s hand as if they had to be there.
It was truly something that happened in the blink of an eye.
“Uh, huh?”
The girl struggled, desperately trying to regain control of the strands. But no matter how much she exerted herself, the blood-red cords did not budge.
All the strands, over a thousand of them.
The unprecedented situation caused a fierce earthquake in the girl’s golden eyes. What reverberated in her eardrums was the voice that was utterly indifferent.
“…One, done.”
And then an explosion.
The girl’s golden eyes blankly scanned the void. Time continued to flow heavily without her properly comprehending what had happened.
What was going on?
The golden pupil slowly turned toward her arm. There, only the empty shoulder that burst from her hand to her arm remained. The cause was clear.
The strands had exploded.
The blood-red strands held by the man had burst from their ends and ultimately blown away the girl’s arm. Only after realizing this did time resume for the girl.
Even the sense of pain.
A desperate scream followed.
“Ah, ugh, a… ugh, kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”
Unable to bear the pain, the girl’s body staggered as she lost balance. Seeing her pitiful state, the vampire bit her lip.
Overwhelming.
The feelings filling the vampire’s mind were that brief and clear. ‘Greed,’ who was known for her psychopathy even within the Dark Cult, had been brought down in an instant.
Now what to do, even that inquiry seemed extravagant.
She had to survive.
To do so, there was nothing but to exert all her energy.
The vampire gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuh-!
Only the crimson moon shone in the space, creating ripples. The circular waves gradually narrowed and began converging in the clenched fist of the vampire.
The space warped, and the scenery twisted around the vampire.
Even then, the man showed no particular reaction. The girl, who had fallen while screaming, was simply disregarded as he continued to walk forward.
He could certainly run faster than that.
Was he ignoring her?
The vampire ground her teeth in frustration, but there was not much time left.
The control of the area was still in the vampire’s hands.
The wave gathered to its limit trembled, ready to burst out at any moment. Without hesitation, the vampire unleashed it.
KABOOM!
The earthquakes that had taken place until now felt like a joke.
With the explosion, the insides of the barrier ejaculated all at once. The surge of power rising like a blazing inferno had a clear target.
The man, still walking without hesitation.
It was a shock that twisted the earth. There was no need to wait to see what the result of compressing and compressing it would be.
If only the opponent were not just the man.
For the first time, the man’s sword began to move.
“Wha…!”
The sound echoed resoundingly.
That was the starting point. The vampire could only stand there slack-jawed, and the fragments of the broken space floated between the man and herself.
What the man had done was simple.
He deflected the wave of rising power with the blade of his sword.
With just that, all the momentum was twisted. The immense velocity directed at the man became a ray piercing through the vampire instead.
The fortunate point was that the vampire’s barrier distorted causality to protect her. Though she could avoid mere injuries, she could escape any situation that might inflict fatal wounds.
Still, she could not withstand the impact from that power.
The vampire took a few steps back and coughed up a mouthful of blood. The emotions swirling in her eyes as she wiped the blood from her lips were a mix of confusion, shock, fear, and awe.
No matter how one might argue that it wasn’t her true self, it had been a long time since she was so overwhelmingly pushed back. Perhaps the second time since joining the Dark Cult.
The first time, well.
The vampire shook her head at the name that suddenly crossed her mind. It was an unconscious act.
How dare she think of ‘Delphrium.’
What a blasphemous thought.
Was it to erase fear?
The vampire tried to chuckle but eventually raised her voice as if it were a last warning.
“Puhaha, hahahaha! You, you… hehehe, you can’t possibly defeat me…!”
With a sudden halt, the man’s steps finally stopped. His deeply set gaze was fixed on the vampire.
It was a chilling gaze.
Could such an emotionless eye truly exist? The vampire involuntarily shuddered but had no choice but to voice her conviction with a more assured tone.
“Do you see?! Your counterattack didn’t even touch me… This area is under my control.”
“And?”
“Humans can never harm me!”
The glint in the vampire’s eyes burned like a flame. The sight of her clenched fists, painted in blood, was imbued with both pride and fear.
“Do you understand?! The causality here is in my hands… The five elements constituting the world are under my control! No mere human can ever break this sorcery… unless, of course, the dragon from legend doesn’t return…!”
As she spoke, the vampire’s fiery gaze shifted past the man.
There, with her head clasped, was the archwitch, groaning in pain. While clutching her head, she never took her eyes off the man.
A chill settled on the vampire’s lips as she witnessed this.
“…I see now. That was your last hope, wasn’t it?”
At that moment, crimson tendrils soon wrapped around the archwitch’s entire body. The archwitch writhed in agony, but the gap in power had already become far too clear.
A scream erupted from the crushing pain.
“Ugh, uck, kyaaaaaaaaaah!”
But that was not the end.
To eliminate any potential variables, the vampire’s bloodshot gaze scanned her surroundings. There was still another woman remaining.
“Or perhaps that little girl?!”
Screams erupted again.
The next sacrifice was Elsi. While groaning in pain, Elsi was just as powerless. The blood-red tendrils swiftly bound the petite girl’s limbs.
Yes, it was finally over.
The vampire’s eyes sparkled as she blocked all possibilities. Enraptured in victory, she finally turned her gaze back to the man.
What kind of face was he making?
A face stained with despair? Or perhaps one of frustration?
The vampire tried to squeeze her vocal cords like a desperate attempt. To shake off the fear she could not erase, to declare her victory.
“You, you lowly human… can never defeat me, who is favored by Omeros…!”
Had it not been for the incomprehensible letters that appeared behind the man.
That hue was dazzling.
Red, blue, pale green, golden, brown.
The letters glowing in various colors each had different shapes. Upon seeing those characters, the vampire involuntarily took a step back.
Once, she had walked the path of magic.
She knew well what those letters were and how much power each one bore.
Fumbling, the woman’s lips moved.
“Y-yonghyul characters… But how come there are five of them…?”
“You underestimated humanity too much.”
The man said that and took a step forward.
The five letters trembled simultaneously and began to rotate slowly. The light of the entire world flickered and converged into a single point.
And two steps.
The vampire thought she was stepping back, but the man had already arrived before her.
Like a mirage.
As usual, the man asked in a toneless voice.
“…Did I ask who your last hope was?”
Thud, the vampire’s knees naturally buckled.
It was a reaction that welcomed the greatest creation of the divine. The man’s golden pupils, split like a reptilian’s, looked down upon her.
The man slightly lowered his head one last time. It was to whisper directly into the vampire’s ear.
Rumbling helplessly, dripping with killing intent.
“It’s me.”
The entire world was dyed white.
