The Crimson Domain stained the sky blood-red, and countless shades of crimson reflected on the flowing water. The entire river turned the color of blood, as though the blood of thousands upon thousands flowed through it. A suffocating terror spread between heaven and earth. Birds ceased their cries, people fell silent, and all things grew still, looking up in horror as though witnessing the descent of an indescribable existence.
People gazed up into the night. Red clouds had already covered the stars, their ever-changing shapes drifting or lingering, deliberately or otherwise adorning the darkness. Looking straight across the night sky, they saw an endless, unbroken expanse of blood-red. At a moment like this, beyond terror and dread, they could scarcely find suitable words to describe it.
An oppressive aura seemed to come from every direction. Wisps of dark-red gas, almost invisible to the naked eye, drifted between heaven and earth, following the air currents into people's bodies through their nostrils. Once enough had been absorbed, the gas seemed to stir the evil deep within their hearts. Those whose resolve was weak were the first to develop bloodshot eyes and labored breathing. They looked at the people around them like beasts, vicious and merciless, no longer seeing them as fellow human beings but as prey ripe for the taking.
Unless something unexpected happened, allowing things to continue might well turn all of Heaven Dou City into a second Slaughter City. Everyone's mind would be corrupted, reducing them to butchers and executioners with blood-soaked hands, knowing nothing but slaughter from morning until night.
Just as many people began to lose control of their murderous urges and were about to commit bloody deeds, the ringing of a bell suddenly sounded without warning.
"Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong!"
The bell's