"No… No … don't!"
"I can be your blood slave—please, I beg you, please—ahhh—!!"
The shrill screams of tearing flesh rang out as panic spread through the crowd.
"Enemy attack! Grab your weapons!!"
"I'll fight you bastards to the death—!"
Shouts erupted from all directions.
Then came chaotic footsteps, collisions, and groans…
Amid the deafening noise, Kein slowly came to consciousness, his head splitting with pain.
"Where… is this? Wasn't I just in the military district library?"
A sharp agony surged from his chest and abdomen. Instinctively, he reached down to clutch the pain—only to feel something wet and sticky.
He looked down.
His chest and stomach had been torn open, dark red blood pooling across the ground.
"Hh… hh…"
At that moment—
A strange sound came from nearby.
He turned his head—and his mind went blank.
A young girl was crouched over a corpse.
Her pale skin gleamed softly in the dying sunlight. Her delicate features were flawless, pure—almost saintly in appearance.
What drew the eye even more were the wings on her back.
Black, bat-like membranous wings slowly fanned the air, shimmering with a faint violet sheen beneath the sunset.
Her claws tore open the corpse's chest, pulling out a human heart that still twitched faintly.
Her movements were eerie yet elegant, as if savoring an exquisite dessert. With every bite, a satisfied hum escaped her throat.
Fresh blood dripped from her arm to the ground.
Kein's pupils shrank violently as shattered memories flooded his mind.
This world had humans.
And it had other races.
A thousand years ago, the Crimson Moon had appeared in the sky, and countless alien beings poured forth from spatial rifts.
Creatures that should have existed only in myth descended through the裂in the heavens.
Some were as beautiful as gods.
Some as grotesque as demons.
Some as holy as angels—
But they all shared one thing in common.
They regarded humans as blood food.
These powerful, bloodthirsty races swept across the world in a terrifyingly short time.
All modern weapons were useless before them. Overnight, humanity was beaten back into a cold-weapon era.
Only fragments of technology survived.
The slaughter began.
To resist extinction, human great powers used forbidden arts to erect a blood-red wall stretching millions of miles—the Scarlet Great Wall—sealing humanity's final core territories away from the alien races.
His name was Raine Valeri.
An orphan. His parents had died early to alien raids.
To survive, he and several villagers hired themselves out to a caravan that traveled between the inner and outer regions of the Great Wall, working as guards and porters.
Even with the Wall's protection, many humans still lived outside it.
Some were too poor, some displaced by war with nowhere to go.
Others stayed to supply frontline forces.
He belonged to the first group.
Just moments ago, their caravan had been ambushed while resting along a mountain pass.
The attackers were Heartwitch Succubi.
Among the alien races, they were considered the lowest tier—
But to a group of mercenaries without supernatural abilities, they were nothing short of a natural disaster.
"Damn it… what kind of opening is this?"
Raine felt a chill seep into his bones.
He had just arrived in this world—and immediately received such a 'welcome'!?
[Ding! Detecting host at critical life threshold…]
A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
What!?
Raine's expression stiffened.
[Blood Offering System successfully bound.]
[This system forges a pact through blood, treads the path of war, and shall aid the host in ascending the supreme throne.]
[Repairing host's bodily damage… Repair complete.]
[Unique Talent Awakened — Blood Abyss Devourer!]
[Effect 1: Infinite Advancement]
Enemies killed grant bloodstone. Consuming bloodstone permanently or temporarily enhances strength. As long as sufficient bloodstone is available, level advancement has no upper limit.
[Effect 2: Bloodstone Assimilation]
Bloodstone is the crystallization of alien life and power. Through devouring, the host may not only strengthen the body, but also has a chance to extract and inherit bloodline abilities contained within the bloodstone. Devoured bloodstone cannot be used for level advancement.
A surge of warmth exploded from his heart, instantly flooding his limbs.
Raine's torn flesh rapidly regenerated—healing, scabbing over, revealing brand-new skin beneath.
The weakness drained away like a receding tide, replaced by a surging sense of power.
He clenched his fist in disbelief.
[Ding! For the next 30 minutes, the host is immune to all negative damage. Adapt quickly and acquire bloodstone.]
As the system's voice faded, Raine stood fully restored.
Only his blood-soaked clothes bore witness to the horror moments earlier.
"Hm?"
A soft sound of surprise came from nearby.
One of the Heartwitch Succubi lifted her head.
She stared at Raine standing again, confusion flickering across her eyes.
"Strange little insect… where is your wound?"
Her expression was innocent and naive—yet it sent a chill down Raine's spine.
His gaze swept across her body.
At the base of her left wing was an old wound that had not healed. Her breathing was subtly unstable.
He quickly reached a conclusion.
She was not at full strength—she might even be severely injured.
Raine instinctively analyzed her condition.
In his previous life, he had endured five years of brutal training in war zones, mastering biological structure analysis, weakness detection, and real-time tactical decision-making.
That instinctive analytical ability surfaced naturally.
Seeing him remain silent, the succubus assumed he had been scared senseless.
She licked the blood from her fingertips and stepped closer.
Dark violet eyes glowed as invisible psychic waves rippled outward.
If this had been earlier, Raine would have fallen instantly.
But now, the wave felt like nothing more than a passing breeze.
The succubus froze, shock flashing across her face.
"It didn't work? Impossible!"
"In that case—just die!"
She abandoned further curiosity.
Her fingers curled into claws as streaks of purple light tore toward Raine's face!
At that moment—
Raine moved.
He rolled aside, narrowly dodging the strike, and in one fluid motion yanked a short sword from a corpse beside him.
Clang!
In the same instant, he had already mapped out two counterattack routes based on her trajectory, angle, and exposed weaknesses.
The succubus missed and slashed again.
Raine ducked forward as if predicting her movement, slipping beneath her claws and driving the blade at an impossibly vicious angle straight into her left wing.
Psssh!
"SKREEEEE—!!"
The sword sank in to the hilt as dark purple blood sprayed everywhere.
She shrieked in agony, stumbling backward.
The seductive charm vanished from her face, replaced by pure murderous rage.
"You damn little vermin—!"
She tried to lunge again—but suddenly faltered.
Clutching her chest, she began coughing violently, chunks of purple-black blood spilling from her mouth.
She really was at her limit.
Now!
Raine didn't hesitate.
He yanked the blade free and thrust forward.
Straight through the heart.
Her pupils dilated, disbelief frozen on her pure, innocent face.
She could never have imagined—
That the lamb awaiting slaughter would bare its fangs.
[Heartwitch Succubus slain. Bloodstone +20 obtained.]
[Devour bloodstone?]
"Yes!"
Raine answered instantly.
[Ding! Devour successful. Ability acquired: Bewitching Eye (Basic).]
Applies mental interference to a single target. Success rate depends on the disparity in mental strength. Each use consumes a small amount of mental energy.
A faint dark-violet glow flickered through Raine's eyes as the usage of the skill surfaced naturally in his mind.
"Raine?! You're still alive?!"
"Get over here! Don't run around!"
A man shouted in disbelief.
It was Vice-Captain Kyle, holding the line back-to-back with several mercenaries. Around them stood seven more succubi radiating killing intent.
They leisurely devoured their prey while observing the survivors, seemingly in no hurry to finish them off.
"Watch their eyes!!"
"There's a brief weakness right after they use their charm!"
Raine shouted.
At the same time, violet light flashed in his eyes as he stared at a succubus about to strike a mercenary.
Her body stiffened, confusion flashing across her face.
The mercenary seized the chance, his battle axe cleaving down and severely wounding her!
The remaining six succubi froze in shock.
How had this human gained a power that only they possessed!?
Rage erupted.
Six pairs of alien pupils lit up as their alluring bodies surged forward, wrapped in terrifying pressure!
Damn it!
The others were controlled—he couldn't handle six at once!
…
Just then—
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
Pillars of radiant light shot skyward.
A mountain-heavy pressure descended instantly.
Woooo—!
A deep, ancient horn echoed from the heavens.
In the air—
A figure tore through the dusk and descended slowly.
A tall man in a black-and-gold uniform stood with hands behind his back.
His face was cold as iron, his gaze razor-sharp.
The mere aura he exuded crushed the fierce succubi to the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
"Scarlet Wall Patrol—Seventh Division."
His voice was calm, yet carried unmistakable authority.
"Clean the battlefield."
"Yes, sir!"
Black-armored figures emerged from the light columns, swiftly restraining the immobilized succubi.
They drew short blades and, with chilling precision, sliced open the succubi's chests.
"AAAH—!!"
Shrill screams filled the air.
The soldiers extracted glowing crystals from their bodies.
The cores of their power.
Blood Hearts.
"Captain, the blood heart energy of this batch barely meets operational standards," one soldier reported.
"Seal their power. Transfer them to the Seventh Training Camp."
"Perfect training material for the new recruits."
The commander issued his orders calmly.
Only then did his gaze sweep over Raine, Kyle, and the other survivors.
"Survivors are to proceed to the nearest Iron Dragon Fortress for registration and inspection."
With that, he vanished.
The black-armored soldiers worked efficiently, dragging the succubi away in restraints, leaving only corpses and suffocating blood stench behind.
Kyle and the others stood numb.
Even having survived, there was little joy left in their hearts.
Raine stood silently, watching the soldiers harvest blood hearts.
Watching the once-beautiful, vicious succubi dragged away like livestock.
Feeling the thick stench of blood saturating the air.
He shuddered.
This was a world steeped in blood and fire.
Here, only naked slaughter and desperate survival existed.
He clenched his fist, the sensation of the blade piercing flesh still lingering in his palm.
Above him, the blood-red night slowly closed in.