Biam Stream and Biamri Village, winding around Balrang Reservoir that spans Paju east to west, are shrouded °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° in an ominous water mist.
A briny, fishy stench.
A wind heavy with moisture.
In the dark, silent Biamri, an unsettling magic slowly gathers.
“It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming! I can feel it!”
A cultist, eyes rolled back in a drug-induced frenzy, screams wildly.
Before him, as if hallucination, the symbol of the Blood Demon King, the shiver, the ecstasy.
[“Blessing of the Abyss” is granted.]
And from afar comes the scent of blood. So thick with corruption it makes one’s head spin.
“Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Right, right, right, right. This is it. This is exactly it.”
A cultist, drenched in rapture, claws at his own skin.
Unable to contain a violent impulse, he crushes the skull in his hand.
About two hundred cultists once fled from Paju to Cheontaedong, but now their number is far more than two hundred.
Drawn by blood, hunger, and thirst, alien races reveal their grotesque forms and join this hunt to kill the wily Kim Sinhwa.
“Let’s go! Move out! Let the hunt begin!”
“Kill! Crush them! Let the great ritual for our god commence!”
“Tear out his blood! Throw him to the ground! Rip out his entrails!”
Cultists, aliens, monsters, amphibians, insects surge from the darkness.
Driven by blood, slaughter, and vengeance, they move through Cheontaedong’s rotten marsh with motions as joyful as a dance, as pure and horrifying as children rushing toward a festival.
“There, there, there, there! That’s it! That car! He’s in that car! Kim Sinhwa is in that sedan! No doubt!”
Below this slope stretches the long, dark, eerie highway cutting Paju from west to east. A single sedan races along it.
An immense aura of magic radiates from inside the car.
“Oh! That magic! That’s the exact magic the Blood Demon King revealed!”
Yes—he’s suppressing and concealing it, but that potent aura—no mistake, it’s Kim Sinhwa!
“Let’s go! Let’s kill Kim Sinhwa!”
Cultists, aliens, monsters, amphibians, insects brim with confidence. Their eyes glow with blood-red light: “Yes, let’s go! Let’s hunt Kim Sinhwa!”
Ah—the blood boils.
The hunt! Yes, I’ve waited too long! Rip apart the sacrifices brought from Paju! Tear their flesh, yank out their spines! Wrap their entrails around your necks as you march, spearing their heads on pikes! Begin the March of Blood!
Splash, splash—
Slash, crunch—crack—
Even as they advance from the Cheontaedong marsh toward the highway by Biam Stream, they continue gruesomely murdering their captives.
Rend, rend—
Crunch—crunch—slither—
Tearing flesh, drawing blood, extracting entrails, smashing bones—a horrific human-sacrifice ritual.
In the foul, polluted swamp, filthy blood and sin pour out.
Yet none among them feels guilt, conscience, or any human emotion.
“More blood! More blood!”
In response to their plea, the Blood Demon King, the Abyssal Entity, grants them a new blessing.
[“Blessing of the Abyss” is granted.]
A new blessing: [Frenzy]. A boon to tear apart, smash, and destroy our enemies!
Yes—this is the truth of this world.
Here, by shedding blood, slaying kin, chanting blasphemous spells, one can attain power beyond mortal comprehension.
This is the world’s reality.
Faiths that do not serve the Abyssal Entity, and human-made morals, are vain delusions and mere superstitions.
“Mage? What’s wrong?”
“The problem’s getting bigger.”
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
[System: “Feast Offering” trait activates.]
A staggering flood of messages covers my vision.
I cannot see ahead.
“They’ll attack any moment.”
“Let’s go! Let’s baptize him in blood!”
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill Kim Sinhwa! Kill Kim Sinhwa! Mage, mage, mage! Kill the foolish mage who knows neither worship nor reverence for gods! Slice his flesh, gut him! Pull out his entrails! Kill him! Kill him! Kill the mage!
“This is... is this... isn’t it too... too excited?”
Cho Jang mutters.
She is a member of the Gourmet Expedition, a judge one rank below Sunbu, who once faced Kim Sinhwa. Though superficially similar, the Blood Demon Sect and the Gourmet Expedition hail from different countries and cultures.
Unlike Sunbu, Cho Jang seldom liaises with other sects, and she feels a strange unease at the bloodlust of the Blood Demon Sect and these alien races.
Her attendant, Joo Gwan, bows his head.
“Sometimes such fervor is necessary, isn’t it, Lady Jang?”
Jang strokes the head of the anaconda attached to her left arm and reads dissatisfaction in his face.
“Ah, so you... have complaints, do you?”
At her words, Joo Gwan bows again.
“The Blood Demon Sect relies on talismans and geomancy more than combat. We had no role in forming the Blood Magic Circle, yet now we’re forced to lead the vanguard?”
“Even so... our numbers are... too few. And we don’t know... how the offerings will fare... I’m uneasy. For now, we stay in reserve and observe.”
Though Joo Gwan looks anxious, he speaks no more. The Gourmet Expedition survives thanks to Cho Jang’s cautious judgment.
[“Blessing of the Abyss” is granted.]
A new blessing: [Concealment]. No matter what commotion we raise, until we land our first strike, the enemy will not notice our approach.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
The ground trembles.
“Huh—!?”
Joo Gwan staggers back in shock at the epicenter of the tremor.
“Now! Now! Now! Overwhelm them! Like a torrential downpour! Unleash the Bloodstorm! The era of Heaven’s Firmament is over! The age of Blood Heaven has arrived!”
Chirrrrrrr—
Atop a colossal worm that resembles an earthdragon—a titanic Geoseon—the Blood Empress shouts.
Wielding the Seven-Star Sword like a conductor’s baton, she directs cultists, aliens, monsters, amphibians, insects.
“Waaaaah!”
Like a tidal wave, the horde surges forward in her wake.
“Hunting... no, this is full-scale war—too full-scale? I’m... uneasy.”
But contrary to Jang’s worry, the attack unfolds in an instant.
Craaaack—
The Geoseon, bearing the Blood Empress on its head, opens its massive maw and tears into the black sedan carrying Kim Sinhwa.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Show them! Show everyone your power!”
The Big Dipper engraved on the Seven-Star Sword glows blood-red as the Blood Magic Circle’s pressure surges into the car.
“No escape! No escape! No escape! Die right there!”
They’ve got him! They’ve caught Kim Sinhwa! Finish him before he can resist!
[“Blessing of the Abyss” is granted.]
A new blessing: [Crushing Impact]. Our next attack will inflict a fatal wound!
“Attack!”
Blood Demon Sect cultists hurl their long Magnetic Spear Guns.
In unison, the spears pierce the sedan in the Geoseon’s jaws—Craaaack!
The vehicle, transformed into a pin-cushion, leaks a torrent of thick, sticky fluid from dozens of holes, as if the car itself bleeds!
He’s down! Kim Sinhwa is down! Creeping from the darkness, they seized him and tore him apart! He could not resist a drop as that viscous red fluid poured out!
Retrieve him! Skin him! Rip open his abdomen! Offer his entrails to our god’s sanctum! Strengthen the Blood Magic Circle! Advance into Paju! Slay the traitorous Squad of the Red Cross! Slay the Qingho!
“Wait, wait! Wait, wait! Wait, wait! Something’s wrong! Something’s off!”
The Blood Empress cries out.
Crunch, crack—
Rumble—
At last, the interior of the pierced sedan is revealed.
Kim Sinhwa is nowhere to be seen. In the driver’s seat and throughout the car lie scrap metal—empty cans, steel balls, bolts, pins, nails, scissors, knives: all manner of junk.
Why is the car filled with these odds and ends?
And on the driver’s seat where he should sit is a massive pile of mana crystals, rolling and clattering.
No—
Wait—these aren’t ordinary mana crystals.
They’re specially processed and imbued with properties.
And right now, from the driver’s seat, the passenger seat, and the trunk, a glossy liquid spurts forth in torrents—“Is that... oil?”
“Hey, Hyundeok. You see that? We nearly died back there.”
“Ugh, yeah. Where did all that even come from?”
“I don’t know. The Abyssal Entity must have granted some blessing.”
“So now... what happens?”
“What do you mean? It explodes, of course.”
I gather magic and channel power into the pre-inscribed magic circle. Crimson flames erupt in every direction.
[“Afterglow of the Northern Lock School,” SSS-grade accessory unique trait activates: “Trace of Extreme Flame”]
// Trace of Extreme Flame: All fire-type magic effects increase by 100%.
[“Signum Namcheom Sword (Green Jade),” SSS-grade weapon unique trait activates: “Pattern of Heavenly Fire”]
// Pattern of Heavenly Fire: All fire-type magic effects increase by 100%.
[“Supernova Flame”]
[Spell Enhancement: Extended Range]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized Power]
[Spell Enhancement: Chain Explosion]
Just as Kim Sinhwa is about to cast.
Far to the west of Biamri.
On the rooftop of Vasiliisa’s building in Geumchon dong, Tudor lounges in summer attire, whistling. Even in this pitch-dark night, he wears sunglasses.
“Hm, this should do.”
At his gesture, a floating sofa-bed settles into the perfect position beside him.
“I can see a little. Ah, I should have built the building taller.”
Tudor lies back and gazes eastward.
“Tudor. Why the rooftop?”
Orb, puzzled by Tudor’s eccentricity, asks.
“Oh, Orb. You should come over here too. It’s good for your health to get some air once in a while.”
“Health? Out here?”
“Come on, hurry.”
Tudor tugs at Orb’s massive arm. Though Orb has no eyes, he is not blind.
Orb soon realizes why Tudor chose this spot.
“He’s to the east—Kim Sinhwa?”
A brilliant vantage point.
From Tudor’s perch, a narrow strip of sky peeks between buildings to the east.
And far, far beyond—a distance beyond human sight—Kim Sinhwa stands.
“Ah, it’s happening now. Look, Orb. Boom—”
As Tudor spreads his hands, on this midnight, a dawn begins at the far eastern horizon.
Like forging a new sun, a chillingly beautiful light bursts forth in all directions.
It drives back the night, creating sudden daylight.
And then the tremendous roar that follows.
Kim Sinhwa’s spell has been unleashed.
The blinding light fades in an instant, but its aftermath has only just begun.
