Notice:
【Blood Sacrifice】: When you take a hit, 【Bathed in Blood】 is triggered, causing your combat skills to improve based on the severity of the damage (stackable); when you lose combat advantage, your mobility increases greatly; when you receive a critical hit or are struck at a vital point, you enter an invincible state for 1 second.
Temporary toggle enabled: Detection begins after combat starts. If emotional level is too high, too low, or if you are willing to fight, 【Ruthless】 is triggered (only enabled in Serious Mode and above); if you are unwilling to fight, 【Friendship】 is triggered first; if your emotions stabilize, detection repeats until 【Ruthless】 or 【Friendship】 is triggered.
【Ruthless】: (Viewable in Serious Mode)
【Friendship】: If the target is not in a “near-death” state, attacks cannot kill the target; attack power is reduced to 1/2 of original; every attack, dodge, or defense raises your “Gratified” level; attacks are more likely to stun the target; attacks additionally steal the target’s stamina; when you suffer severe damage and cannot recover in time, 【Friendship】 is canceled and you enter an invincible state for 5 seconds. When the invincible state ends, 【Ruthless】 is triggered (Serious Mode enabled).
——–
I knelt on the ground, silently gazing at the dark figure fading away with the wind, and a strange sadness welled up in my heart.
In the battle just now, I clearly shouldn’t have desired anything, yet a kind of craving appeared in my heart—”I crave blood,” “I want to see rivers of blood.” But that was impossible for me. It should have been a hallucination, yet it was genuinely affecting me.
I think that if not for it, I never would have had it so easy in that battle—it would have taken at least some time.
“Sister, are you okay?” Kalimel’s voice came from behind me. Hahaha, to think I’d be comforted by a child. Still, that feeling isn’t bad… but I hope this never happens again, because it means I’ve done quite a few foolish things.
I shook my head and put away the katana formed from [Patience], snapping myself out of the boiling blood.
This attribute really is an excellent combat talent for a warrior.
Unfortunately, I don’t particularly like it—at least, I don’t want to become a bloodthirsty killer because of it.
“No, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Though I could already guess the answer, I still wanted to ask.
He’s still a child. He can’t and shouldn’t have to see such things…
Kalimel didn’t answer. He just touched his two index fingers together, looking very troubled. It seemed the scene from earlier was still vivid in his mind—
I reached out to him, wanting to take him back as soon as possible. It was already very late. At the very least, I should get him back to his family… Right, his family.
After everything they’d done, if they weren’t family, then what were they?
I smiled bitterly to myself, then changed the bitterness into a smile.
“…Come on. You should go home.”
This time, he finally took my hand. Through the contact, I could feel him trembling with unease.
Well, of course. Standing next to an incarnation that seemed to kill like cutting hemp—anyone would hesitate.
“Oh, this way.” It seemed I wouldn’t be hearing him call me “sister” anymore—not even if I were about to die.
…
…
Riqii Village was dead silent once night fell. No lights could be seen in any of the houses. Perhaps it was because the undead preferred darkness and regarded light as the enemy.
Kalimel clutched my hand tightly. Compared to me, this scene seemed to frighten him far more.
“I-I’ve never been out at night before.” Oh, so it wasn’t fear of the dark—his fear was of the unknown that night represented.
Well, that made sense. At night, monsters that “prefer darkness” become even stronger—a classic game setting.
Soul Detection was already active, but no soul reactions came from nearby. Inside the houses, however, souls were present and well…
Still trembling. Was it because tonight was the blood moon?
I continued leading Kalimel toward his home. The familiar path changed completely at night—everything underfoot was muddy and walking itself was a problem.
“Kalimel, about the blood moon—has your sister ever told you anything?”
“No. But Big Sister Ilise told me that at night, everyone becomes very strange, so they all hide at home.”
Everyone? Becomes very strange? Hide at home?… It seemed there was a big secret here.
We walked on and soon arrived at Kalimel’s front door. The door was shut tight, with no light inside at all. Well, this was my first time here—I didn’t know whether they had a habit of turning off the lights to sleep at night…
Heh, that’s not my business.
“Hold my hand tight, Kalimel.”
I walked up to the porch and reached out to knock—but forget knocking, the door swung open at my touch.
Of course, there was no one inside. Otherwise, my Soul Detection would definitely have picked them up—unless they were already dead, inorganic souls. That’s a bit hard to explain. Let’s just judge by what we see with our own eyes.
Prey or hunter—pick one.
“…This is a trap. The blood moon affects all monsters, even friendly monster girls.” Bringing Kalimel along wasn’t a solution. I needed to keep him somewhere safe.
The house wasn’t safe. Who knew what abilities those monster girls had? Maybe keeping him by my side… No, I couldn’t split myself. There was no way I could protect him and fight at the same time.
“Kalimel, could you use your combat technique again?”
“…If it’s training.”
“This isn’t training. It might be a fight where we bet our lives.”
“…Do I need to defeat my sisters?”
I froze for a moment, then realized Kalimel had used the word “defeat” rather than “kill.” I felt a little relieved. I reached out and patted his head.
“Maybe. Leave everything to me… Don’t worry. This time, I’ll be careful.”
Kalimel hesitated for a moment, then nodded, but his gaze kept drifting to the side. This was clearly his way of showing fear toward me. Ah… let’s not worry about that for now.
I summoned [Patience] and, relying on memory, conjured that Windflow Sword. It was quite useful to me, though it was a pity the original wasn’t mine. Weapons mimicked by [Patience] only possess the properties of the original—they can’t replicate its special traits. That was fine, though, and I didn’t care.—As long as I had something in hand to defend myself, any iron weapon would do.
It looked heavy, but with a little force it was easily carried along—far more agile than an ordinary iron sword.
“Is this really the kind of thing that can protect you?”
I was about to launch into a long sigh of lamentation, but reality forced me to brace myself. We had barely stepped off the porch when something felt wrong…
One, two—there were about three or four soul reactions on the surrounding buildings, and even denser ones in the center of Riqii Village. In contrast, there weren’t many toward the shrine. Maybe that was safe?
I told Kalimel to run toward the shrine and followed behind him to guard. The quiet surroundings were completely shattered by the noise of that cluster of souls rushing toward us.
Do not take lives. Be careful.
Thinking this, I planted myself in place, the Windflow Sword in my right hand, my left hand ready to adapt.
“Don’t look back, Kalimel. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Looking at the monsters almost piled together in the distance—yes, that was a group of monsters that could no longer be called “girls.”
Believe in this. Don’t be impulsive. Don’t be careless.
In that instant, I didn’t notice at all—the expression on my face—
…
“Are you kidding me? Don’t mess with me about this!”
(Oh my, when have I ever joked with you? It’s all because of that potion you made before! Now nothing can stop her.)
“…Tch! I get it, I get it. I’ll go think of a remedy now.”
(What do you mean, ‘remedy’? What I want is a way to perfect all of this.)
“Don’t you think I want to turn everything back to the beginning? She’s already drunk that potion. At this point, even the Administrators can no longer change its physical properties!”
(You’re blaming me? Yelling at me? Heh… I’ve already dealt with the “parasites.” As far as this world is concerned, they can already be considered normal existences.)
“…Well, your ability isn’t rewriting—that’s a bit troublesome.”
(…All in all, we need a way to suppress it.)
“I understand. To be able to normalize things when an ordinary person couldn’t endure such a scene—you really are impressive. Cognitive obstruction…”
(You have no right to say that, “Doctor.”)
…
“Hmph~ She seems to have found her old feeling again. Not bad, not bad.”
【Tch. What exactly are you trying to do? It’s already been 104 years since the “Struggle” ended.】
“This struggle itself never contained those shallow competitive meanings. I’m simply carrying out my duties according to the Administrator’s will.”
【Roar~ I’m actually looking forward to the result of the struggle. But both of you had better go easy—after all, you were once colleagues, and you’ll continue walking the same path in the future.】
“No, there won’t be a future. ‘Harvest’—do you still remember the whole process of how the Executor was sealed back then?”
【Of course I remember. She was my former close friend and colleague—how could I forget the day she pushed me down into the core?】
“That was the Core Incident. What I mean is ‘Twilight.'”
【You mean what happened after the Core Incident? I was still reorganizing back then—I didn’t have time to pay attention to her.】
“Hearing you say that, it’s hard for me to imagine you two were ever close friends.”
【If she hadn’t pushed me into the core back then, we gods probably would have risen already! And she left me neither human nor ghost. If the Administrator hadn’t helped me, I’d probably still be in the old place, in my old state.】
“Hmph~ What kind of past was that? Why not tell me about it?”
【Don’t come near me, “Girl.”】
“Well, if you won’t say it, then forget it.”
