The bartender grabbed Zay's glass before pouring water from the crystal-clear pitcher as he placed the pitcher down and went over to another patron, pulling out a small notebook from his pocket and beginning to write down their orders.
Zay inhaled the scent of booze and food, and he looked around as he took in the scene of everyone having a good time. He didn't smile at seeing this. Instead, he looked uninterested by the sight.
'These people don't even look like... even somewhat of warriors. They sit around and drink, play cards, sing without a care all day. Not knowing how it feels...' he thought to himself before chugging down the glass of water, placing the glass down onto the wooden counter with a heavy sigh.
'If I wanted to—no, it doesn't matter,' he added before standing up from the stool, pushing it back slightly against the floor, causing a slight creak.
Zay's eyes shifted across the bar after the slight creak, and he noticed someone walking toward him.
It was a large man—easily over eight feet tall. Each step he took came with a strained grunt, the sound of joints and fat colliding under the weight of his massive frame.
'…How much does this man weigh?' Zay wondered, turning around and taking a few steps.
Suddenly, a heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder like a vice. Zay turned his head and saw the giant looming above him, sweat rolling down his flabby jaw.
"What?" Zay asked, tone dry. He wasn't in the mood. He just wanted to leave the bar and finish whatever the next task was for this Sequence.
"You made… a loud noise. I didn't like it," the man replied, voice thick, his golden-brown eyes dull and drunk with irritation.
Zay blinked a few times in disbelief before sighing.
"Listen… don't start some shit unless you can handle the fallout. That's the only warning I'm giving you."
The man scoffed—and threw a punch.
Zay ducked beneath the meaty fist and in one fluid motion, unsheathed Evershade. The katana hissed through the air, slicing deep into the man's forearm. Flesh split like wet fabric. A sickening snap echoed as bone gave way. The severed limb spiraled to the floor with a wet thud, blood spraying like a geyser across the bar.
"SHIT!" someone screamed.
Chairs scraped back as several patrons leapt to their feet. Daggers flew through the air toward Zay, their hilts glinting under the bar's flickering lights. Others rushed to the massive man now screaming on the ground.
"OTTER!" one man roared, sprinting over. He tore off his shirt, frantically wrapping it around the gory stump, but blood poured through his hands like water through cloth.
Zay exhaled, eyes narrowing and he activated [Soundless Wind]. A whisperless current surged through the bar—silent, invisible.
The flying daggers suddenly froze midair… then curved violently backward, reversing course. They found their original senders in an instant. Metal slammed into flesh. Crack.Thud.Gurgle.
One man's dagger buried itself into his chest, piercing his lung. Another screamed as his blade embedded in his thigh, shattering the bone underneath. The room erupted in chaos.
"AH—DAMN YOU!" one of the wounded men howled, yanking the bloodied dagger from his stomach. His other hand reached for the blade at his hip.
Zay's aura surged and violet aura flared around his legs as he shot forward, disappearing in a blink. In the next instant, Evershade was already in motion, its edge screaming through the air.
The katana sliced through the man's neck as if he was made of butter.
A single soft shhhk—and then silence.
The man's head toppled from his shoulders, eyes still blinking in stunned confusion as it hit the floor with a hollow thump. His body collapsed soon after, blood pooling beneath him like a spilled offering.
Patrons rushed forward, blades drawn as they all had the same goal; to kill this bastard.
Six minutes passed by, and the door to the bar swung open. Zay walked out, his clothes completely clean of blood as he flicked his wrist, removing as much blood as he could before looking down at his left hand. He raised his left hand that held a tight grip on one of the shirts from the lifeless corpses inside and cleaned the blade off. He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair before sheathing Evershade into its sheath.
[Sequence Task]
Second Task: Survive the night of Blood-Moon Bargains while eliminating anyone you come into contact with that mentions a contract.
"Night of Blood-Moon Bargains..." Zay repeated the name under his breath, over and over. No matter how many times he said it, nothing came to mind.
"Hm... I don't think I've ever heard of that," he muttered with a heavy sigh.
He lifted his gaze and saw the sun slipping beneath the western horizon, casting long shadows across the landscape. The orange glow painted the sky in hues of rust and crimson. As the final rays vanished, Zay tilted his head back, staring into the darkening sky.
"I'll go out on a whim and assume tonight is the so-called 'Night of Blood-Moon Bargains,' right?" he asked aloud, voice dry with sarcasm, though a quiet unease threaded through his tone.
To the east, the moon began its slow ascent—its pale light blooming like a silver wound in the heavens. It wasn't full yet, but its color had begun to shift... deepening toward red.
Zay turned his eyes forward. At some point, the marble path beneath his feet had changed. In its place stretched a dirt road, cracked and lined with tufts of brittle grass. He exhaled sharply through his nose.
"Damn Sequences."
Without wasting another moment, Zay adjusted his sheath and began walking. In the distance, past twisted trees and the soft shimmer of crimson moonlight, he spotted a towering tree with red bark. As night took hold of the world, his [Night Vision] activated, the darkness peeled away—revealing the landscape in perfect clarity.
Thoughts began to take shape in his mind—images flooding in as he suddenly recalled the details of his deaths. His heart being crushed, his spine slowly frozen over the course of nine agonizing hours, each bone turning to ice one by one, starting from his toes and ending at his heart. The spear thrusts... and so much more.
He felt his heart burn slightly before taking a deep breath, forcing the thoughts and vivid images down as far as he could. He began to walk toward the large tree. His eyes scanning his surroundings. Every few steps, he glanced to both of his sides and behind him, making sure no one—or nothing—tried to leap at him from the cover of night.
Several minutes passed before he reached the threshold where the path met the forest of twisted trees. Zay glanced around once more before stepping into the forest. The crimson glow of the moonlight had intensified, casting deep red shadows over everything. The trees twisted into strange, unnatural shapes—some intertwined with others, some broken into pieces yet flowing around one another as if moving through calm water.
The forest was silent—unnaturally so. No rustle of wind, no chirping insects, no crack of twigs beneath unseen feet. Just Zay's footsteps and the rhythmic beat of his own breath.
The crimson moonlight filtered through the twisting canopy, draping the world in blood-red hues. The trees loomed above like petrified giants caught in mid-scream, their branches gnarled into claws that reached for him from all directions. The air grew heavier with every step, and the scent of damp bark and faint iron made the back of his throat itch.
Eventually, he reached it—the massive tree with bark the color of dried blood. It towered above all the others, its surface veined with black streaks that pulsed faintly, almost like it was breathing. Its roots stretched far and wide, splitting the ground in jagged veins of earth and moss. He paused at the edge of its shadow.
Then his eyes widened as he saw a woman.
She sat there, leaning with elegance against the tree's trunk. A long black cape clung to her form from behind, cascading over her shoulders and falling past her knees. Beneath the cape, she wore a blackened coat, its fabric dense and fitted with four oversized wool buttons that ran in two vertical rows. The buttons started just above her chest and ended near her stomach. The coat itself was long, concealing half her thighs.
Underneath, she wore black leggings that hugged her form all the way down to her ankles. Tall, sleek black boots rose just shy of her knees, gleaming faintly under the red moonlight.
Her hair was long and silver, flowing like mercury down her back and across her shoulders, gently swaying in the wind that had picked up the moment his eyes landed on her. She lifted her head, no longer leaning, and her eyes locked with Zay's.
Amethyst. Deep, haunting. With a symbol embedded in her irises—a fang mark.