Karahan (final)

"Lord Kuran, they will arrive here in ten minutes."

"Their status?"

Inside the headquarters of Red Scorpion, surrounded by ash-gray walls.

A gaunt man, Kuran, stood at the forefront of a group of 31 people.

"Mariel seems to have handled the task more cleanly than expected. As expected of your daughter, Lord Kuran."

Kuran's face contorted.

"She's a worthless harlot's child. On top of that, she even exposed the artifact. There's no more idiotic wench than her."

"Haha... Still, she did cut her own abdomen to embed the artifact, didn't she? Though, of course... it was because you forced her to, Lord Kuran."

"If she hadn't done that, I'd have killed her on the spot. Enough. How about shutting that mouth of yours, I know full well you want to fuck her, but I've already told you—she must be sold intact."

The man called Mute bowed his waist.

"...My apologies."

Mute's apology was met with silence, and the room fell quiet.

Amid the tense atmosphere, punctuated only by the heavy, excited breaths of the gang members, Kuran closed his eyes and recalled the events of four days ago.

The black knight who had suddenly stormed into their headquarters.

The black knight who had severed the heads of 300 members without even drawing his sword.

They couldn't track him with their eyes.

They couldn't sense him with magic.

There wasn't even time to chew the 'drug'.

Even as the boss of Red Scorpion, he could do nothing but helplessly watch his members die.

When only a tenth of the organization was left, the black knight handed them a small slip of paper.

The contents of the paper were shockingly simple.

Kill the pink-haired smith named Hephaestus.

The note detailed everything from how to lure her out to her expected movements.

It was a command to deal with one mere woman, but it was a command they had to obey.

It was an order given by the strong to the weak.

"Huu..."

A deep sigh escaped Kuran's lips.

Though the Red Scorpion had recently been elevated to platinum rank, they were an organization that had crushed no less than three platinum-ranked adventurers.

Two of them had been personally killed by Kuran.

Yet.

To be utterly defeated by a single knight who hadn't even used his main weapon.

Though the casualties didn't include their core forces, the losses were not insignificant.

It was then.

A voice echoed from the stairs leading down from the fourth floor, shattering his thoughts.

"Only 800 meters remain! But... there are two unidentified individuals with them."

"Women?"

"Yes. Both are women."

"Good."

Kuran slowly opened his closed eyes and stood up.

"Perhaps—"

Mute cautiously spoke up, watching Kuran's expression.

"Yes. If you can subdue those two as well, feel free to fuck them or boil them alive as you please. However, the one with the largest chest is mine first."

Kuran's permission lifted the spirits of the group.

"Kuhuhu... Understood. Thank you for your generosity, Lord Kuran."

"Didn't you say you were into Mariel?"

"Ahem, I consider the main dish and a special treat to be separate matters..."

"You idiot."

"Th-thank you."

Already, several of the men were trembling with anticipation, clutching at their trousers.

Kuran, too, began imagining the women squirming beneath him, feeling the heat rise in a certain area.

At that moment.

"You bastards! Come out, now!"

Mariel's frantic voice pierced through the crack in the door.

Simultaneously, the man standing at the forefront swung the door open.

Crash—

Beyond the opened door, the sound of something splitting, like a pumpkin being cleaved, echoed as Mariel collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

"Kill the pink haired one first!"

At Kuran's command, the man at the front hurled an axe at the pink-haired woman.

The axe, wielded by a man who had taken the 'drug', flew with a fierce gust of wind.

If it were an ordinary person, their skin would have been shredded by the wind, their body torn apart by the axe.

However.

Clang—

The small girl standing beside her lightly flicked the axe away with the hilt of her sword.

The deflected axe veered off course and slammed into the floor, creating a small crater.

"Wh-what...?"

A voice filled with disbelief escaped the mouth of the man who had thrown the axe.

Kuran's expression also darkened.

An attack from a drug-enhanced member was powerful enough to tear through even the famously tough hide of a Minotaur.

Yet she deflected it so easily.

Kuran examined the girl who had deflected the axe.

Black hair and blindfolded eyes.

A small frame that seemed mismatched with the... greatsword?

Kuran recalled the rumors circulating in Ursphere.

The tales of the red-eyed demon who had single-handedly torn through the tens of thousands of beasts in Roholan, drinking their blood.

And if that wasn't enough, the nightmare of the east.

The one who had slit the throat of the Karpeng and drank the blood that poured forth.

The blood drinking demon.

"Lord Kuran... That adventurer... could it be—"

Splat—

Mute couldn't finish his sentence.

The body of the man standing at the door burst apart.

And not just him; the lower half of the man next to him was ripped to shreds as well.

The squelching sound of flesh filled the room.

"Shit...!"

Cursing under his breath, Mute bit into a drug, and red mana surged from his hands.

The power of the drug-enhanced mana was more than double his normal strength, burning his own hands as it shot forward.

The target was the girl with the greatsword standing in the lead.

Seeing the flames shoot forth at a speed difficult to follow with the eyes, Mute grinned wickedly.

But that grin quickly vanished.

The flames, which he had unleashed with all his strength, were blocked by a silver-white barrier, and the girl's greatsword cleaved through the remaining gang members.

Swallowing another pill, Mute gathered his mana once more.

Stronger, more violent flames flickered at his fingertips.

Boom—

The explosion roared forth.

The target this time was the robed mage who had summoned the silver-white barrier.

The response of the barrier was slower.

This time, it would hit for sure.

Even if she was burned, as long as she was intact enough to sell, it would be fine. A grin spread across his lips.

"Haha! You damn wench, how dare you... Wait, what the hell?!"

But.

Again, his grin vanished.

The girl with the greatsword threw a crawling gang member into the flames, blocking the attack.

The flames, which had cost Mute all of his fingers, incinerated an ally instead and disappeared.

Mute cursed at the reality before him.

And at that moment.

The girl suddenly closed the distance and punched toward Mute's abdomen.

Mute inhaled sharply, channeling mana to his abdomen.

The mana layered into a thick barrier around his torso.

However, the girl's strength exceeded the barrier.

"Gah—!"

A normal punch, devoid of any magical reinforcement, shattered Mute's magic barrier, which had been strengthened several times over, and completely crushed his ribs.

However, the girl's hand did not escape unscathed.

Breaking through the magic barrier bare-handed caused all her fingernails to be ripped out, and her fingers twisted unnaturally. Blood dripped from her dangling wrist.

Kuran, sensing an opportunity, turned to create distance.

But.

He couldn't move.

"Ah, it's done."

A voice, soaked in elation, echoed out.

Creak—crunch—grind—snap—scrape—scrape—scritch—scritch—snap—crack—grind—

The sound of skin being peeled away.

The sound of bones being ground down.

The sound of tough flesh being chewed.

The noises bound his feet and stole his breath.

Cold sweat ran down his spine. He forgot to swallow, and drool trickled from his lips.

His instincts screamed in alarm, warning him not to turn around, pleading with him to stay still.

But his body didn't listen.

Slowly, his head turned.

His body, his legs, his entire being moved to seek the source of the sound.

And then.

He saw it.

The figure tearing its own skin apart.

A hand, stripped down to exposed bone, gripping the blade of a greatsword.

Breathing not air, but blood.

And finally, as it yanked out the neck of one of his men—

It laughed, as though it were overjoyed.

The blood drinking demon.

He saw it.

His teeth clattered against each other with a chatter-chatter sound.

His trembling legs dragged his body down to the floor.

His terror-stricken mind could no longer deny reality and instead came to a complete halt.

Glinting with madness, blood-red eyes scanned the room.

"So... this is what it feels like..."

The demon's mouth opened.

"It's... better than I thought..."

"A-aahhhh!!"

A subordinate rushing at it from behind exploded into pieces with a splurt.

"B-boss! Please... run!"

The head of another fallen subordinate cracked open with a crunch.

"You bitch!!"

The body of a subordinate swinging an axe from behind was split apart with a tear.

"Ahh... better... than I thought... it feels so good."

The demon tore apart the remaining subordinates.

Its lips curved into a blissful smile as it licked the blood splattered on them and began walking toward Kuran.

"D-don't come closer..."

Kuran raised his hand and shot ice magic.

The ice embedded itself in the demon's arm.

But it smiled.

"Stay away!"

He fired ice again.

This time, it struck the demon's leg.

But still.

It smiled.

"A-aaahhhhhh!!!"

Ice. Fire. Wind.

The demon's abdomen was pierced, its skin scorched, its flesh shredded.

But still.

"Heh... heh-heh... ha... doesn't hurt..."

It laughed.

Step—step.

The demon moved forward, one step at a time.

Crunch—snap—crack—

It continued slaughtering his men without pause.

Until, at last, there was nowhere left to retreat.

Squelch—

The demon stopped in its tracks.

"Heh... why are you trembling so much? Could it be..."

Then, it sat down in front of him.

"Are you cold?"

Meeting his eyes—

"Should I tuck you in?"

—It smiled shyly.