Blood's Sorrow

In the winter night wind, a light rain began to fall slowly over the old city of Canfor. The faint drizzle was heavy with a fishy, sickly stench, carrying a trace of bitterness.

In Yetara's courtyard, the goblin Api and his brothers were cleaning up the severed limbs and blood dumped out of the teleportation array. Colorless rain mixed with yellow-green pus and seeped into the ground.

"Whooo—" An unidentified gust of wind swept across the courtyard wall.

"Lord Hero—Lord Hero—"

Yetara clung to Tiadam like a slug, his rough, long tongue licking Tiadam's wounds.

"Lord Hero's bloodline—" In his excitement, Yetara finally revealed his true form. Ancient curse inscriptions appeared across his ghastly pale skin. The Blood Contract had granted Yetara an immortal body, but it had also imposed an equivalent curse.

"Eternal life... undying..." Yetara's nails lightly wandered across Tiadam's face. With the slightest pressure, crimson blood rolled forth. "Lord Hero... to await your arrival... I... have spent quite some time..."

As candlelight flickered, dozens of blood-drained corpses lay stored in Yetara's basement. The lives of those boys had all been converted into the vitality of this undead monster, and Tiadam, pinned beneath Yetara, would become the next victim.

"The Hero's bloodline..." Powerful blood magic surged from Yetara's body. Life, vigor, and youth seemed to be waving to him. "No matter how many people I've eaten, how much blood I've drunk... the only ones who can compare to you, Lord Hero... are your descendants..."

The youth of boy after boy was imprisoned within his decaying body. This monster, who had lived for a thousand years, had endured era after era through slaughter, conspiracy, and flattery. Time meant nothing to him. The only thing worthy of his attention was his longing for blood and youth.

"What a disgusting monster—" An arrow pierced Yetara's chest, followed by the sound of gunpowder exploding from above.

"Boom—" The basement ceiling was blasted open.

"Hey—long time no see, old monster. My sister and I are back!" A sharp-eyed boy tossed a lit bundle of explosives into Yetara's hands.

"You again... you again..." Yetara slowly pulled the arrow from his chest, fury burning in his eyes. "Why do you always oppose me?! This time, I'll slaughter both you little brat and that little bitch—"

"Catch me first, old monster—"

"Bang—" Another bundle of explosives detonated beneath Yetara's feet.

"Where... where am I..." The explosion of the gunpowder jolted Tiadam awake from his unconsciousness. This man with the Hero's bloodline instinctively reached for his lower back. "My sword... my sword!"

"Forget the sword, hurry and go—" Taking advantage of the smoke created by the explosives, a masked girl grabbed Tiadam's hand and swiftly fled Yetara's basement.

"You little brats—"

The powerful explosives did not harm Yetara in the slightest. A black barrier covered the blood demon's body. Rage consumed this thousand-year-old monster. He did not notice Tiadam's escape, instead turning all his attention to the boy holding the explosives.

"Brat! I'm very angry right now! Let me tell you—you are finished! I'll eat every last bit of you!" Yetara condensed the blood around him into dozens of spears. Moments later, they flew straight at the boy holding the explosives.

"Hehe—old monster, you've fallen for it..."

The boy's figure faded away. The blood-forged spears did not strike him, instead embedding themselves directly in the mansion walls. Immediately afterward, Yetara's self-portrait became stained with black blotches...

"Where is he? Where is he?!" Yetara screamed hysterically. "This damned teleportation magic—"

The rain continued to fall beneath the pitch-black night, its pitter-patter like a dirge mourning the survivors.

"In the name of the High God—I summon your descent—"

Amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Latmimi fought alone with the broken blade of her axe. Though her sacred wings had already been broken and golden blood flowed through the ruins, she still wanted to fight...

Unease, wails, and fear coursed among the undead monsters. Yellow-green sludge mingled life and death together, vowing to swallow the land beneath Latmimi's feet whole.

"Six-winged angel born at dawn, Mi'erqila, who plays the song of the High God; four-winged angel born at noon, Lilaan'er, who serves the High God's body; two-winged angel born at dusk, Chuansa, who guides the lost..." Latmimi cried hoarsely. "Three great higher angels, please heed the devout call of your believers! Appear—descend—and protect everyone..."

After performing the miracle known as the Holy Wall, Sister Latmimi peacefully collapsed to the ground. The duty of defending Canfor was taken up by the three angels she had summoned.

Three sacred angels slowly rose from the earth. Just as Latmimi had chanted, they were powerful and valiant.

The six-winged angel Mi'erqila raised a horn and played a holy song, using sound to isolate the skeletons outside Canfor's walls; the four-winged angel Lilaan'er held a water jar and watered the ground beneath her feet, golden streams building wall after wall to block the ghouls' advance; the two-winged angel Chuansa carried a torch, guiding the undead into peaceful eternity.

The three higher angels delayed the approaching tide of corpses in their own ways, and the citizens within Canfoer City were temporarily safe.

"We're saved..."

The "refugees" beneath Canfoer City wept tears of joy and knelt before Sister Latmimi. They lifted the exhausted nun who had collapsed from lack of strength and carried her into Canfor as though presenting an offering to a holy child.

At that moment, Canfor's gates stood open. Yet what greeted them was neither cheers and applause for heroes, nor prayers and weeping for the dead and fallen, but... flames... scorching flames like those of hell.

The Church's martyrs held flame scrolls purchased from magic shops and aimed them at the southern residents carrying Sister Latmimi. These people, who could not use magic and lived outside Canfoer City, turned to ash in an instant. The flames devoured their bodies and souls. Having only just escaped disaster, they could never have imagined that they would be sacrificed like this.

The flames went out, and Sister Latmimi had turned to ash with them.

"Lackey of the new god... I told you long ago that you weren't the protagonist this time..." Eliyi watched Canfor beneath the miracle's shroud, considering his next move.

"Check—"

On the black-and-white chessboard, the rook and bishop had sealed off every path available to the king. The pitiful queen had become the first sacrifice in this game. Although losing such a useful piece as the queen so early would affect the later game, there was no need to be too sad. To claim the final victory, exchanges between pieces were always inevitable.

"I concede..." Brother Abelato said with a shrug. "The first piece to be captured was the queen. There's no need to continue this game..."

"Hehe..." The calculating Bishop Labrador put away the pieces and chessboard. "Don't you know that when a pawn reaches the opponent's back rank in chess, it can become any piece it wishes? What is there to regret over a mere queen?"

"So what?" Abelato leaned against the edge of the bench, the cold sneer on his face inspiring fear. "Pawns that can reach the end are too rare. Many are exchanged for the opponent's pieces the moment they step onto the battlefield..."

"Tap tap tap—" Hurried footsteps sounded outside the confessional.

"Lord Abelato... Bishop Labrador... the infected southern refugees outside the city have all been dealt with—"

"And Sister Latmimi?" Bishop Labrador asked softly.

"Sister Latmimi was taken hostage by the refugees and also became infected... so... she was cremated along with them..." the martyr Pansi answered.

"Oh~ How... how unfortunate..." Several murky tears were squeezed from Bishop Labrador's eyes, and he said in a choked voice, "Poor... poor... Sister Latmimi... Why... why were you, who were so kind, still taken hostage by refugees and monsters... Heavens..."

Bishop Labrador gently wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Was the High God truly so eager to summon you? Perhaps the sins of the Mortal Realm could not bear a saint such as you... my respected and admirable Sister Latmimi... I shall erect your statue in the center of Canfor. May the High God's radiance shine upon you forever, and may devout believers remember you forever..."

"Did you hear that... Pansi..." Abelato said softly. "Bishop Labrador is so benevolent... so devout... You mustn't spread this around. It would distract our merciful and kind bishop, preventing him from properly mourning... Sister Latmimi..."

"Yes..." the martyr Pansi replied with his head lowered, then slowly left the confessional.

Winter rain extinguished the flames from the scrolls, yet the people at the center of the vortex knew nothing. They merely knelt outside the church, silently praying for the High God's protection...