Only a few seconds had passed since Bellum received his orders. He had his mission, and would carry it out to the letter. His lord told him to rescue any survivors and to keep them alive. He would do that even at the cost of his own life. That was why he was a crownguard.

  The two magicarriages that were ahead of the prince’s didn’t hold many civilians, unlike the one following behind the prince’s, Bellum was pleased about that. He didn’t want to see any more large groups of civilians slaughtered. When he arrived at the carriage, it was devoid of life. Two lifeless corpses with agony etched onto their faces stared up with vacant eyes.

  The blood that flowed from their bodies was dyeing everything in the carriage with red. Rivers of blood ran along all of the supplies and the walls. Bellum wrinkled his nose at the scene.

  Despite the constant snowfall and heavy winds, Bellum heard a finger snap from somewhere outside of the carriage. Immediately, the blood that covered everything burst into crimson flame, setting the carriage alight. Bellum was able to back out of the carriage before he too was reduced to ash.

  The carriage sizzled in the snow, causing steam to rise from it, thickening the dense fog of the snow swept mountain. Bellum looked around for the person who snapped, causing the inferno. All he saw was the visual equivalent of white noise all around him.

  His senses alerted him to an attack that was headed his way. He held up his sword and blocked the ranged attack that he didn’t recognize. It was an arc of blood. When Bellum’s sword hit the projectile, the blood spattered all over him.

  “Good reflexes, boy. You were able to react to one of my attacks and block it in time. I can see why you were selected to be the bodyguard of the crown prince.”

  Bellum rushed towards the speaker, only to find a dead man in black robes.

  Behind him, two more arcs of blood flew towards him overlapping to create a cross. Bellum gritted his teeth and held his sword across the cross to block the stronger attack. The weight of the blood was enough to make Bellum feel his arms strain under the pressure, but he managed to block it, causing more blood to cover him.

  “Very good! To remain standing after blocking one of my cross attacks shows your potential! If I had the choice, I would have loved to take you in and raise you as a blood fiend, but orders are orders. You and your master have to die.”

  From every direction, projectiles of blood flow towards Bellum. Some were spears, some were arcs again, and some were droplets. Bellum managed to block a blood spear racing towards his position and jumped back, hoping to get away from the whirlwind of wicked weapons.

  When the blood missed Bellum and smashed into the snow, it returned to simple pools of blood, before they quickly reformed into different lethal shapes and took to the air once more.

  “Damn it!” Bellum yelled.

  An explosion rocked one of the carriages on the half that Nux was taking care of, but Bellum couldn’t spare any attention to it.

  He infused his aura into his body and stomped down with his foot, causing the snow that had piled around him to rise up and block the blood weapons. Some were blocked, but the majority of them maintained their shape to approach the crownguard.

  Bellum released the full power of his aura, an area the size of a house around him felt the effects. Every weapon of blood, and every clump of snow fell apart, as if they were cut with a magic knife. The area around Bellum was no longer white, as only the black stone of the mountain remained.

  Steam rose from Bellum’s body as he felt the effect of using the full power of his aura. He took shallow breaths and took stock of the area around him. At the perimeter of his presence’s power lay numerous dead assassins. All of them were pale, and incredibly skinny.

  They were exsanguinated.

  “You use your own troops as fuel for your power!? How vile!” Bellum spat.

  “Of course not. I have class. I would never sacrifice my own men. My soldiers are like my children. These were prisoners of war under my control.”

  A man with red robes and black detailing walked into the area that had just been purged. He was tall and aged, with long white hair and white beard, like an evil version of Helios Saint Aldren. A red tattoo covered his left cheek and eyes with an abstract and asymmetrical pattern.

  A judging expression crossed the old man’s face.

  “You seem very drained despite only using your aura twice. How could that be?”

  A knowing smile crossed his face. He looked like he was about to eat Bellum alive.

  “I see. You're one of those aura users. One of those who focus on maximum output rather than sustainability.”

  “Shut up!”

  Bellum rushed forward with his sword. He slashed downward towards the blood master who did not launch any more attacks.

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  Instead, the blood master simply redirected the attack with his hands. When his hands moved, red light trailed behind.

  Bellum launched more and more attacks, but each and everyone of them was expertly countered by the blood master's hands. The area between them now looked like a messy painting.

  “Let me show you how masters use their aura.”

  The blood master threw a palm strike toward Bellum. It easily bypassed the amateurish guard of the tired crownguard. When the master's attack landed, Bellum's armor crumpled like paper and he was launched several meters backward, coughing up blood.

  This was the first attack that actually caused damage to Bellum. The blood projectiles were merely tests to gauge his strength, so all they had done was splatter him in blood. Even in the brawl just now, the blood master had only blocked attacks.

  Until now.

  Bellum’s vision blurred from the power of the attack. He tried to look to where the blood master was, only to find him missing.

  He didn't see the old man appear behind him with a pair of blood red odachis. The blood master's aura expanded and flowed into his arms and weapons, and the odachis grew to five meters long each. The edges of each weapon now had an evil serrated appearance.

  With an upward slash, Bellum was launched once again. This time, he flew much faster and much farther than before, and crashed into the Prince’s magicarriage. He was launched with enough force to crash through it and land on the wooden floor.

  Pain filled his entire being. Crashing through the wooden structure left him looking like a porcupine as splinters covered his entire body. He groaned and looked up at the hole he left in the carriage, which was now filled by the blood master's form.

  “Your aura was better when you used the snow to your advantage. It was focused into a part of your body. Refined, unlike your burst.”

  The blood master leapt to the ground and crouched next to the defeated form of Bellum, who was staring hatefully at him.

  “You have potential. I see a future where you become polished jade. Unfortunately, you will die an unrefined stone.”

  In a hail mary, Bellum summoned every last piece of power inside of him to force himself up and lunge at the blood master. It was for naught, as the blood master with his flowing hands and fluid close quarters technique directed Bellum's attack towards the locked door at the far end of the carriage.

  For the second time in as many minutes, Bellum felt his body crash through the carriage. He opened his eyes and fear gripped his heart.

  He saw the monster servant, now no longer bothering to masquerade as human. His skin was pale. There was a gaping hole in his chest and tunic, a mark left by the prince, that had signs of an abhorrent infection and yet dripped no blood. Dried, frozen blood surrounded his mouth and stab wound. Hatred dripped from the monster's red eyes that appeared to glow in the dark cabin. It could have been paranoia, but Bellum could swear that he saw the beginning of horns protruding from his forehead.

  The monster slid out from under the girl's body and stood on the floor, his gaunt figure on full display. His pale skin almost had a blue shade to it, like a frozen corpse.

  ‘How did it get through the cuffs!?’

  Bellum noticed a finger missing from the monster's broken left hand. He glanced at the cuff from the corner of his eye and saw the chewed, masticated finger sticking out of the keyhole. Most of the skin was gone, leaving only bone. The monster chewed off its own finger to fashion a key out of it.

  Bellum remembered an old folktale about people who succumbed to hunger and cold in the mountains, who become monstrous beings after indulging in cannibalism. Bellum trembled.

  ‘Did we create one?’

  The blood master watched from the other room with interest. With his superlative control over aura, he could see the fluctuations in Bellum's. As aura was an extension of one's self, emotions could be read from them. And the blood master could see the fear in Bellum's soul.

  “Interesting…”

  ***

  Arden stood over the trembling Bellum and felt bliss. He never thought himself as a sadist, but seeing one of the people who put Arden through physical and mental hell cower before him was truly euphoric. He could see the appeal.

  “Interesting…” came the voice of the blood master.

  Arden’s head glanced in his direction. Complete apathy covered his face, a stark contrast to his expression when facing Bellum.

  “Don't mind me,” the blood master said. “Feel free to do whatever you want to that guy. Killing him would be doing my job for me.”

  Arden turned away from the blood master. He knew that the master was strong. He was able to completely trounce Bellum, if the crownguard's injuries and exhaustion were any indicator. Strangely, despite being one of the people who had attacked the expedition team, Arden felt no hostility from the man.

  Arden looked back down at Bellum and noticed that his sword was missing from both his hands and scabbard. After a quick glance to the hanging body of Vera, he spoke.

  “A great woman once told me to never let go of your weapon in a combat zone. She was beautiful. Powerful. She helped me when I needed her most, and was killed when she needed me most.”

  The blood master grinned. The person in front of him had such a tremendous bloodlust. Even with all of his years, he had never seen anything like it. It seemed ready to devour the crownguard completely. Possibly the entire world.

  “What the hell are you?” Bellum whispered.

  “According to you and your master, I’m a monster.”

  A sword surrounded in red energy suddenly flew in front of Arden with its hilt directed at him. Arden didn’t hesitate to grab it. He glanced at the blood master who sent him the sword then back at Bellum.

  Arden inspected it and grinned. It was fitting for Bellum to die with his own sword. Like all of the swords Arden had come across so far, it was a broadsword. This one, however, had special attention given to it, as was necessary for a crownguard’s weapon. The material of the blade was almost white, as opposed to the silver blades Arden was accustomed to. The groove running down the blade was golden yellow, with the depiction of a star just above the hilt.

  “The new star, huh?” he muttered. “What a load of crap. If anything, you and your prince will be remembered as fallen stars cast out of heaven. Even that's being generous.”

  “You dare belittle the-”

  Those were the last words Bellum spoke before his head was cut off with his own sword, being wielded by the monster he had inadvertently helped create.