The Secret Blood Enigma

It was a long history, hidden in the dark side of the world. Everyone who understood its significance kept silent, passing the secret on only when their time came to leave.

"The first to fight the Fiends were the Gospel Church—or, more precisely, the Demon Hunter Order, a secret organization within the Gospel Church."

Lorenzo began recounting a history that should have been forgotten. His gaze turned distant, and he seemed to glimpse the people who had raised torches, exposing themselves to the night.

"Humanity couldn't fight the Fiends at first. The only way to defeat them was to pile up human bodies. Those were the darkest, most difficult times. We could only cower behind our fortresses or sacrifice our own kind to appease the Fiends and halt their attacks. It was a bloody age, until one day, someone said he had received a divine revelation."

Eve was drawn into Lorenzo's story.

"God's... revelation?"

Lorenzo nodded and continued. Like every bizarre myth, this one had someone who had blazed the trail.

"He said he had received a divine revelation, that in the north lay something sacred that could free us from the Fiends. So he gathered a group of people who believed him. They must have been the world's first believers. They crossed the dark lands, left the kingdom by ship, and journeyed for who knew how long, heading for the frost-covered north and setting foot on an uninhabited ice field."

"Many years passed, and everyone forgot about them. The few who still remembered them thought they had died along the way. But then, one day, they returned, bearing bronze urns sealed with gold and holy silver. The craftsmanship was far beyond what the technology of the time could achieve, as though gods and demons alike had been imprisoned in the metal. Their faces were twisted, and they guarded the knowledge within.

"Inside were books written in an ancient language. Only the man who had received the divine revelation and the believers who had journeyed with him could read them. After many more years, they finally translated the book."

As Lorenzo spoke softly, the connection to the uncanny grew stronger. Eve felt an extraordinary sensation, as if she had entered a new world.

A melodious tune drifted in from the street. Low prayers echoed through the room. Only then did the two realize that a church in the city district stood nearby. Some kind of event seemed to be taking place that day. The organ played a magnificent piece as the worshippers murmured their prayers.

"They named the book the Gospel Book, and so the Gospel Church came into being. It was established on Seven Hills, and from that barren land, the Seven Hills rose to prominence. Then came the spread of the faith, and the Holy Gospel Papal State appeared on the map of the world."

That was how the ancient organization had first come into being, wrapped in myth and epic. For a moment, Eve even forgot how strange she was.

"Of course, I don't believe any of that. It's just a story; anyone could make one up. But one thing's certain: the Gospel Book wasn't so simple. There were actually two books. The first was the Gospel Book everyone knew, which preached of God and faith. The other circulated only within the Church."

Lorenzo picked up a cigarette and took a long drag. As smoke rose, they reached the truly secret part of the story.

"The other book was called the Apocalypse. Just as the Gospel Book established the Gospel Church, in the darkness, the Apocalypse gave rise to the Demon Hunter Order. There was no God or faith in that book, only knowledge of the Fiends."

This was the most mysterious knowledge, reaching into the depths of the world. Yet Lorenzo spoke of it so casually. It was a treasure purchased with the blood of countless people, but in his mouth it seemed worthless.

"Once the Gospel Church had the faith, it united most of the people of that era and built a kingdom of God for humanity in the dark world. But it still wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to fight the Fiends. So, in God's name, the believers of that time opened the Apocalypse and established the Demon Hunter Order."

"When faced with the threat of death, humanity is far more terrifying than we realize."

Lorenzo laughed again, his voice edged with mockery.

"People cast aside ethics and morality. They had no bottom line. They only wanted to survive."

"...What did you do?"

Eve felt a chill of foreboding. Her body was cold, as if a nest of snakes were coiling around her, their icy scales scraping her skin.

"To kill a demon, you must first become one."

The words struck Eve's heart like a tolling bell. She felt the connection deepening—that uncanny sensation, impossible to explain yet clear as day. Something had been added to her world, like a damned machine. Before, she had been an ordinary operator, but now more of its functions were opening up to her.

"The Fiends are bizarre. Their vitality is astonishingly strong. They need very little food, have enough strength to tear through armor with ease, and can erode our will. We burned them with fire and struck them with blades, but they were still hard to kill. Compared to them, humanity was so fragile..."

Eve stared at Lorenzo. Her breathing grew more and more ragged, and she could clearly hear her heartbeat in her ears.

The door had opened—the dark door.

"You... you..."

Eve had guessed what he meant, but she didn't dare say it. Fear rose from the depths of her heart. It was as if a Word Spirit had seized her: she felt that if she spoke the dreadful truth aloud, it would become real.

Lorenzo smiled faintly, seeming surprised by how quickly Eve had caught on. He said,

"This technique is called 'Secret Blood.'"

"We killed the Fiends, then used a series of complicated processes called alchemy to extract their blood and drank it. It could make us as powerful as the Fiends, but it was uncontrollable. According to the Order's records, the first people to consume Secret Blood were all disposable test subjects. They could remain sane for only a few minutes before plunging into darkness and becoming one of the Fiends."

"The side effects were tremendous, but at least we won one battle against the Fiends. Then came a long period of experimentation. The test subjects were locked in iron cages, with dozens of people pointing iron spears at them. If the experiment failed, they would be pierced and killed immediately..."

"That's... insane!"

Just hearing Lorenzo describe it made Eve feel the dark despair of it all. She huddled on the sofa like a frightened little animal.

"You could accept all that?"

"Compared to humanity no longer living in fear, those costs were very cheap."

Lorenzo spoke calmly. No one could judge that dark history lightly.

"These experiments went on for more than a century, until the first stable subjects appeared. They could control the Fiends' power while keeping their sanity. They were compatible with Secret Blood, and they became the first Demon Hunters. For the first time, humanity had the power to fight the Fiends head-on."

Lorenzo raised his hand. The wound on his arm was slowly healing. He smiled at Eve.

"Sabo died simply because he wasn't compatible. His body couldn't withstand the strain of Secret Blood. But you're different, Eve. I think you became compatible a long time ago. You just never knew it."

That was what Lorenzo believed had happened. Eve, too, was compatible with Secret Blood; she had simply lived all this time without realizing it.

"How is that possible!"

Eve screamed. She couldn't understand how she could have anything to do with something like this. Memories of her past flashed before her eyes. It was all so familiar, yet now it seemed cloaked in illusion.

"It's the only possible result. Like a mathematical equation: no matter how outrageous the answer, the equation doesn't lie. There's only one correct result. Just like you: you have Secret Blood, you're still alive, and you've lived a healthy life for all these years. If not for everything that happened tonight, your Secret Blood might have remained dormant in your body forever, never awakening until the day you died."

The great detective laid out his reasoning, as if describing a cruel, predestined fate.

"At some point in the past, you must have come into contact with it. From then on, you and the darkness were connected..."

He spoke, then abruptly stopped. Cold sweat trickled down his skin. Lorenzo raised his head and gazed at the patterned ceiling, his eyes seeming to pierce through it and reach the heavens above. He tried to see that person—the one who controlled fate.

Some unknown being seemed to exist. Perhaps it was a god, or perhaps something else. It controlled the threads of fate in secret. Eve had been connected to the darkness long before, and the darkness had never let her go. It was only now that the inevitable had finally caught up with her.

In a sense, it wasn't Lorenzo who had found Eve and set this mad night in motion. Rather, it was that ancient connection that had led him to her. Like fate's Gungnir, it had been hurled with Eve's destiny upon it who knew how many years ago, and only today had it pierced through this mad night.

This was fate, ordained long ago.

I've gone out for an interview. There'll probably be another update; I'll do my best.