Red doesn't suit cities. When you look at a city from a distance and see it draped in a shroud of crimson smoke and licking flames, it means one of two things: either a celebration has spiraled out of control, or history has decided to wipe another page clean in the bloodiest way possible.
"Orichal..." Aria whispered, her knuckles whitening as she gripped her sword's hilt.
Orichal wasn't just a city; it was an architectural marvel suspended between two mountains by massive chains of cold-forged steel. From afar, it looked like a swing for angels. But now, those chains were shuddering violently, and smoke billowed from its narrow alleys like the breath of a dying dragon.
"Looks like the welcoming party started without me," I said, trying to brush off the ash beginning to settle on my tattered rags. "Can we go back? I'm suddenly feeling a strong urge to take a vacation somewhere less... flammable."
[You are impressively cowardly,] Celine chimed in from atop my head. She had taken the form of a small gelatinous cat, her red eyes gleaming with sick delight. [So many souls evaporating over there. The smell of burning causality is delicious. Go on, Caius—maybe you'll find a creative new way to die!]
"Shut up, you parasite," I muttered under my breath.
"What did you say?" Aria snapped, turning toward me. A spark of blue mana flickered in her eyes. She looked magnificent—her body, sculpted by brutal training, radiated an aura that made the very air vibrate. She wasn't afraid; she was furious. And the fury of a woman carrying a sword the size of my front door is something to be respected.
"I said... oh, what rotten luck," I quickly pivoted as we approached the city's massive gate.
The gate was shattered. It hadn't been forced open; it had been melted. Metal dripped onto the ground like silver tears. And on either side of the entrance lay the bodies. Guards wearing armor similar to Aria's, but they were broken, their insides torn out.
Aria stopped abruptly. She knelt beside one of the guards, placing a hand on his blood-soaked chest. "It's too late..." she said in a low voice, trembling with a bitterness she couldn't hide.
The moment she said "It's too late," a tiny drop of blood trickled from her ear. The Curse of Truth. Her body rejected her despair because the pride within her refused to concede defeat. She was literally wounding herself by even thinking that hope was lost.
"Not quite," I said, pointing toward the deep shadows behind the ruined gate. "Something's still breathing in there... and something else is having a snack."
From behind the smoke emerged a creature I hadn't seen in my worst nightmares. It wasn't a wild beast, but an "Entity" wearing the tattered remains of a formal waistcoat. It had an unnaturally long, gaunt body, and its face was a carefully stitched leather mask. No eyes—just a wide mouth filled with needle-like teeth.
It was dragging a guard's corpse behind it, calmly chewing on an arm as if having a light snack at a high-end cafe.
"Mercenaries of the 'Abyss'..." Aria growled. "What are the Rulers' lapdogs doing here? Orichal is under the protection of the Silver Dawn!"
The creature stopped chewing. It tilted its head at an impossible 90-degree angle to the left. "The Dawn... the Dawn has set, little girl," the creature's voice was a strange rattle, as if several people were speaking simultaneously inside its throat. "The Rulers have decided this city is... redundant. We are only here... for the cleanup."
Aria lunged like a bolt of lightning. No words, no warning. The massive sword that looked so heavy became a blur of silver light in her hands. "Bullshit!" she screamed.
CLANG!
Her blade collided with the creature's claws, which had suddenly shifted into solid black metal. The shockwave sent me stumbling five steps back. This was real power. Aria hadn't been exaggerating with her threats; one hit from her would turn me into atomic dust.
The creature laughed, leaping back with incredible agility and landing atop the ruined gate's arch. "A knight of the Old Covenant? What a prize. The Rulers will reward us with—"
Before he could finish, he felt something strange. He was looking at me. Or rather, he was looking at what was above my head.
Celine, who had been a cute blob-cat a moment ago, was now baring her fangs. Her white aura began to leak into the air like a glacial fog. For the first time, I saw actual fear in that freak's movements.
"You... what is that thing on your shoulder?" the creature asked, his voice trembling.
I looked at him coldly, feeling the scent of sulfur and decay rising from my lungs. The "Breath of Decay" was boiling in my veins, and my eyes began to see the red paths of the creature's next attacks.
"Me?" I mocked, stepping forward beside Aria, who was bracing for her next leap. "I'm just a guy who hates mercenaries who ruin my appetite. And you... you look like someone who needs a quick and disgusting death."
[Caius,] Celine whispered in my mind, her voice heavy with hunger. [This creature possesses 'Shadow Essence.' If we kill him... I can grant you a skill that lets you hide within the memories of your past deaths. Are you ready to die again for power?]
"Not yet," I whispered back. "I want to see how this angry knight shreds this freak first. The drama is free, and I'm not missing the show."
Aria glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "Stay behind me, stranger. This is no place for the weak."
"Oh, believe me," I said, watching the red path that suddenly appeared, indicating the creature was about to fire spikes from its back. "I'm the only weakling here who knows exactly when to duck."
"DUCK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Aria, acting on instinct or perhaps sensing the truth in my shout, dove to the left. In that exact heartbeat, dozens of black spikes whistled through the space where her chest had been.
The battle for Orichal hadn't even truly begun... this was just the opening note of a symphony of death and blood.