Chapter 4:The Prologue [4]

Like an arrow, my arm was pierced through the body of the soldier in front of me.

Reeling my arm back in, I watched as the soldier, with a bloody hole in his neck, dropped to the ground, lifeless.

However, even as blood flooded out of the corpse's body, the red carpet retained its exact same color, and the blood seemed to blend in.

At that moment, as the rest of my stained sleeve came into view, my eyes widened.

The color I had been missing...it had been right in front of me this entire time.

Raising my head and looking around, I found myself at the back of the army and surrounded by about ten soldiers, who were all yet to come near the staircase.

Seeing them shiver while shakingly pointing their swords at me, I almost burst into laughter.

Maybe...the world wasn't so bland after all. I had just been missing the thrill.

And now that I had found that thrill... I was addicted.

Raising my blood-covered sleeve, I shook my head and watched as the ten soldiers simultaneously charged at me.

Before their swords could even reach me, multiple tentacles appeared from my back and charged forward.

Unlike arrows, these tentacles had a mind of their own as they pierced through one soldier before stopping and aiming at another. 

Within seconds, ten more bodies had fallen onto the carpet below.

Raising my chin to the sky, I stared up at the seemingly endless abyss of darkness above me.

"I know a color you can't devour."

Darkness...I hated it so much.

As I continued staring upward, another group of soldiers charged at me; however, they were taken care of by my tentacles before they could even come within ten feet of me.

Ignoring them, I watched as the droplets of their blood splashed on the seemingly impenetrable marble pillars.

And instead of simply disappearing and being devoured, the crimson-red color remained on the glossy black surface of the column.

"HE'S BEHIND US!"

"WATCH OUR FLANK...RUN STRAIGHT!"

While the soldiers on the staircase desperately yelled out commands to their falling comrades, I marched forward toward the staircase.

As my tentacles promptly moved toward incoming soldiers, killing them before they could even raise their swords, the "hero" finally reached the top of the staircase.

And, as he confusedly turned around, I made eye contact with him, grinning and chuckling.

Raising my bloodied sleeve, I stepped off the carpet and onto the puddles of blood that had gathered up on the side.

Using the blood as a bridge, I crossed the darkness and marched up to one of the many columns in the room, staring at its now blood-stained surface.

As the hero hurridly barked out commands to his remaining soldiers in the background, my hand formed into a fist and barreled towards the pillar in front of me.

*BANG*

Making contact with the obsidian-like surface of the pillar, my hand bounced off, and my knuckles bled, staining the column further.

Now, on the clean surface of the pillar lay a crack.

Without any hesitation, I placed my fingers in between the crack and pulled until, finally, a fragment of the pillar fell out.

Behind me, less than two hundred soldiers stood on the staircase and gazed at me, too scared to move further and be killed by my tentacles.

Grasping the bloodied obsidian fragment of the pillar, I returned to the royal red carpet and strolled toward the staircase, basking in the fearful gazes of the soldiers ahead.

Then, like an angel descending from the heavens, the "hero" leaped from the top of the staircase, landing mere feet in front of me.

With an unwavering gaze, the blonde-haired and blue-eyed "hero" lifted his divine-blue sword and sprinted at me.

As my tentacles surged toward him, the "hero" simply cut through them like a knife slicing butter.

The current "hero" held the lineage of the purity god Astrea, so it seemed none of my devil-related abilities would work.

Bursting forward at an incredible speed, I watched as the "hero's" entire body became surrounded by not one or two but three light-blue hues.

Surrounding one's body with mana not only granted them protection against weapons but also increased the user's strength, stamina, and speed.

However, achieving even one layer of mana protection is close to impossible as one has to have complete control over their mana and body.

Even the protagonist, a prodigy and cheat code, took over a year to manifest one layer of mana protection.

Nonetheless, the current "hero" seemed to have surpassed all those limits and become the first human to manage three layers of mana protection.

There really was no reason for the "hero" to cut down my tentacles, as they wouldn't even come close to piercing through his second layer of mana protection.

Halting as he destroyed the last of my tentacles, the "hero" stared at me with a cold expression before opening his mouth.

"Charge."

Hearing those words from "hero," even I was dumbfounded.

Hadn't he seen me demolish hundreds of his soldiers easily, not even a minute ago?

He was the only one I couldn't take down within seconds.

Then, I realized it...the reason he had cut down all my tentacles.

On the staircase, the army of remaining soldiers looked at their leader with terrified expressions.

They had just watched me slaughter their comrades without even moving...and now their leader wanted them to charge forward...into certain death?

Not even looking back, the "hero" simply stared at me and shouted.

"Would you rather die a cowardly death after me or a noble death before me?"

"GO! CHARGE! RUN!"

"SPRINT TO YOUR DEATHS KNOWING THAT YOU ARE GIVING ME A HIGHER CHANCE OF KILLING OUR ENEMY!"

"OR STAY BEHIND ME AND WAIT FOR YOUR DEATH, KNOWING YOU MAY BE THE VERY REASON THIS FIGHT WAS LOST!"

The "hero" wasn't ordering his soldiers to charge...he was asking them to. He was giving them a choice.

...He was using his soldiers as bait to have a better chance of killing me.