Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Ocean of Blood [11]
Chapter 264 – Ocean of Blood [11]
War is the womb of blood and the grave of reason.
These words spawned out of nowhere inside Kaden’s mind as he witnessed the sight before him — an ocean of blood churning and gurgling beneath his knees, the dead bodies of both Steelbeasts and his House soldiers floating atop it like lost islands in a sea for the damned.
He couldn’t help but think...what was worth all of this? Was there any reason to create such carnage, such slaughter, such unfiltered violence?
No. The question he was truly meant to ask was... why were they killing these beasts when they knew the real culprits?
Why cause unnecessary death when all of this could have been resolved if they had simply slaughtered the Cerveau from the very beginning?
He wondered. But he also couldn’t help but notice how his blood was flowing faster, his senses sharpening, his muscles tightening, ready to move at any moment.
Why, in this realm of death, of blood, of cruelty, couldn’t he stop his body from shivering in delight?
Ah...
The realization dawned upon him. He slowly raised his hand, directed it toward his face, and noticed the curved upward line his lips were making.
’I... am smiling?’ Kaden thought, his mind swimming in a river of turbulent emotion as he basked in this place or rather... this graveyard.
All these deaths were unnecessary. All this blood spilled was unnecessary. Yes, they were.
But in a strange and deeply concerning way, Kaden found himself in a peculiar state of mind. And it was only then — when the taste of blood on his lips made him quiver in delight, when the scent of death soothed his restless mind — that he finally understood the influence of his Will upon him.
Not only in terms of power. Not only in terms of his standing among the worlds. But also in terms of mentality, in terms of perspective.
And there, his thoughts wandered back to a quote from his past life:
Nothing can be gained without losing. Even heavens demand death.
At that moment, those words struck Kaden like a speeding truck.
’Nothing is without a price. Nothing in this world is free. My master obtained the Undefeated Will, and he became the slave of the heavens for it.’
’And now here I am, holding the Will of the Harvester... what’s the cost? What’s the price of devouring the blood and souls of everything between heaven and earth?’
’Will I become a slave? Or will I become something else?’
These questions gnawed at his mind like relentless rats.
But Kaden didn’t know the answers. That was why, with a sigh, he set them aside, deciding he would deal with them when the time came.
For now, he raised his head toward the sky to witness the end of Goremaw, the Ironbound.
He watched as the heavens suddenly ignited with immaculate white fire, like dry wood catching flame, then cracked and splintered into millions of shards as the sky seemed to collapse inward, swallowing the fire with it.
Even from where he stood, he could feel the devastating power behind every clash of the two monsters above him. But he knew, his father would win.
Without a doubt.
And true enough, soon a body began to plummet from the heavens, falling at blinding velocity. The temperature still radiating from Goremaw’s corpse warped the very air around him, the heat making the space shimmer.
Watching the body descend, still wreathed in flickering white fire, Kaden felt a strange urge. The urge to take it. To claim it. To synthesize it with himself.
He instinctively knew he would gain something majestic from it, something that would empower his own flame, perhaps even push him beyond what he was now.
He took a step into the ocean of blood, intending to move toward the corpse. It should have been difficult to walk through, but he was the Lord of Blood. The crimson sea parted for him, clearing a path.
But then, he froze.
Because an unsettling sight appeared before him: a small yellow rat with red eyes, swimming effortlessly through the blood. Its gaze, two burning coals of eerie intelligence, locked directly onto him.
Despite swimming in blood, its yellow fur was immaculate. Not a stain touched it.
A cold shiver ran down Kaden’s spine.
For a moment, he didn’t move. His mind raced. He recognized this rat. It was the same one that had helped him escape that night... and led him to the Cerveau’s Nest.
’What is this?’ he wondered, but his legs were already moving toward it.
In the distance, Daela’s eyes followed him, confusion flickering in them as she watched her little brother walk away.
She didn’t see the rat.
If Kaden hadn’t been so entranced by the creature, he might have noticed that small, dangerous detail. But he didn’t.
He approached and just like before, the yellow rat vanished the moment he got too close.
At the spot where it had been, a tiny rune formation glimmered faintly. So small he might have missed it, if not for his sharpened perception.
Stiffly, almost instinctively, he reached out and touched it.
A searing flash of blue and Kaden disappeared.
Daela immediately stood, rising from Grandmaster Jeni’s corpse, her eyes wide as she scanned the blood-soaked expanse, searching for her brother.
Her heart pounded. Dread pierced her chest like a thousand shards of glass as panic began to claw at her mind.
Stumbling forward, she ran across the gurgling, splashing ocean of blood, straining with each step until she reached the spot she’d last seen him.
There was nothing.
Her body trembled.
Her twin swords materialized in her hands. Her eyes went dead, soulless, apathetic, ready for the unthinkable.
Then came her father’s deep voice, cutting through her spiraling thoughts like a blade.
"Where is the youngest?" Garros asked.
Daela turned and saw him, Goremaw’s massive body slung over his shoulder. He didn’t seem to care that white fire still burned across his skin.
She stayed silent for a heartbeat, then stiffly, she opened her mouth.
"I don’t know." Her voice was strained, shaking.
"What?" Garros tilted his head, his tone low, dangerous. Daela’s eyes turned colder, deadlier.
"I don’t know."
...
Kaden reappeared in an entirely new space, his body hitting the ground hard, his knees slamming against the cold floor.
He froze.
The ground beneath him was black, and as he stared closer, he realized what he was kneeling on though his mind refused to believe it until his trembling hand touched it.
His heart tightened.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze and took in the grotesque scene surrounding him.
He stood in a vast chamber with walls pristine white but streaked with blood, trails running like veins down their cracked surfaces.
The floor was shrouded in skin. All kinds. Pale white, dark brown, furred, scarred, burned black, smooth and hairless. It was sight to behold.
But not for the tender soul.
All around were massive tubes, wide enough to hold full bodies of humans, beasts, all flayed, all skinless. Others were smaller, filled with floating eyes and organs of creatures Kaden couldn’t begin to identify.
His gut twisted violently. His perception screamed alarms he had never felt before.
He slowly lifted his head towards the ceiling. Above him loomed a colossal blue brain, pulsing faintly, surrounded by arcs of blue electricity that danced around and within it. Thick liquid encased it, trailing down its form in heavy drips.
Kaden forced back a shudder as he looked further around the room and then he saw them. Dozens of tubes filled with people who had striking blue hair. People Kaden recognized immediately, especially one. He had killed him after all.
And at the center of them all, upon a throne shaped like a brain, sat a man with his legs crossed, dressed in a sharp blue-and-white suit.
’Ah, fuck...’ Kaden cursed internally.
Slowly, the man turned his head away from the tubes he’d been admiring and fixed his glowing blue eyes on Kaden. His expression was emotionless, yet Kaden could feel the faint trace of surprise.
"How did you come here?" he asked, voice flat, empty, yet somehow carrying warmth through a perfectly false smile.
The smile was so wrong, so humanly off, that Kaden instinctively recoiled in disgust. But deep down, something about that expression felt familiar.
Not knowing why, he forced a strained grin of his own.
"A rat guided me here. Maybe you’ve seen it?"
Silence. Then...
"No..." The man’s smile widened.
"But you can stay."
—End of Chapter 264—