The stone walls of the palace trembled. Crimson light descended through the shattered stained glass of the throne room, mingling with the blood on the floor and creating a sinister shimmer. The throne's door had long been broken, thick oak splinters scattered across the blood-soaked floor.
Seated on the throne, the man, Blood Emperor Aras Veyran, slowly opened his eyes. His breath was foggy, his gaze icy cold. Dark red hair fell across his forehead, his beard streaked with blood. In his right hand, he held a spear; in his left, a half-torn flag. The symbol on the flag was unrecognizable; it once belonged to the continent's greatest empire.
At that moment, a light appeared before him. A glowing system window hovered in the air, opening with a familiar but ominous voice:
█████████████████████████████
| LAST PLAYER: BLOODY EMPEROR |
| Player: ARAS V. (OFFLINE) |
| Level: ——— | Title: BLOOD EMP. |
| HP: ????? / ????? |
| BLOOD METER: ██░░░░░ (12%) |
| STATUS: ON THRONE, CONTROL LOST |
| OPTIONS: [1] OBSERVE [2] EXECUTE [3] RESET [4] SURRENDER |
| WARNING: Game rules are in effect. "Last Player" rule active. |
█████████████████████████████
Aras lifted his head. Before him stood four kings — loyal guardians, once commanders of the continent's most powerful armies:
Shield master Torgan, silent assassin Yelmar, barbaric sorcerer Savaen, and spear master Ruun.
Each knelt, awaiting orders. Yet the air in the room smelled more of betrayal than loyalty.
Across the throne appeared other figures:
Two demon kings — Zaroth and Malrien, emerging from the shadows in black cloaks, accompanied by their three sons. At the front, the eldest, Varun, eyes glinting with greed, spoke:
> "Father, enough… You have grown old.
This continent will be ours. Resist — and you will receive a painless death. Your people will be spared, and you will find peace."
Deathly silence fell in the throne room. Aras said nothing.
He merely closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of blood was as familiar as ever.
Then, one of the four kings, Diel, stepped forward.
The symbols etched across his armor seemed to ripple as if breathing in the darkness. His voice was calm yet sharp:
> "My king… you cannot win here.
No matter how strong you are, this will be your path to death."
A silence followed.
Then the system window trembled once more:
> > ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "BLOODLINE AWAKE" (0.3s)
SYSTEM: 'SELECT' (GAMEPLAY ACTIVE)
The emperor's lips parted but no sound came.
Only his thoughts echoed:
> "Was this a game?
Or was I inside the game?
If every choice is death, then… death is also a choice."
Aras pressed his fingers to the arm of the throne.
Blood oozed onto the wood, the ancient symbols glowing red.
The floor cracked, the stones groaned.
The system window warned:
> > SYSTEM: EXECUTE? [Y/N]
NOTE: EXECUTE will consume 50% BLOOD METER. Final strike may be irreversible.
Varun smirked.
"Playing your last card, father?" he said mockingly.
Diel remained silent, knowing the emperor's blood was no ordinary blood.
The throne room's silence was the sharp stillness before the approaching storm.
The Blood Emperor's eyes glimmered like a faint flame.
Without a word, he said "Yes"—only with his thought.
---
The walls of the palace cracked as silence, like the breath of death, descended.
The Blood Emperor, still seated, measured the demon army with his gaze.
No one moved—until Diel's voice cut through the silence:
> "Then… let's begin."
Diel's armor dimmed, then Zaroth stepped forward. The stone floor shook under his step.
They advanced with lethal determination.
The target was clear: the man on the throne.
But Aras did not move.
His spear rested against the wall to his right, its ancient engravings mixed with dried blood.
Though he knew the attack was coming, he remained seated—until one of his guards fell, breathless, to the floor.
Varun sneered mockingly:
> "Finding you rotting on your throne… will be ironic, father."
At that moment, Aras slightly turned his head.
A red glint flared between his hair. He slowly raised his right hand and grabbed the spear beside the throne.
A hum was heard.
Even the air seemed to withdraw.
Diel's instincts screamed, but it was too late.
Without a word, Aras swung the spear in a single motion.
The sound of the strike was like thunder. The spear hit Diel — even though he blocked it.
Steel clashed with steel, but the force… was inhuman.
Diel, holding his sword diagonally, tried to resist, but the pressure sent him flying.
The massive king was hurled dozens of meters back, crashing into the stone wall—and pierced the three-meter-thick palace wall.
Stones shattered, dust enveloped the throne room.
Even one of the demon kings held his breath.
Diel's armor cracked, his arms trembled.
The only thought echoing in Diel's mind:
> "You… are an unimaginable monster…"
The only one still seated in the throne room was a man.
Not even breathing.
Eyes glowing with blood, expressionless.
From the tip of his spear, Diel's blood still dripped.
And the system window opened once more:
> > EXECUTE: 1 TARGET IMPACTED
DAMAGE OUTPUT: 13,200 / MAX UNKNOWN
BLOOD METER: ██░░░░░ (23%)
SYSTEM NOTE: POTENTIAL OVERDRIVE DETECTED
Zaroth's eyes narrowed in anger.
> "If he hits like this from where he sits… what happens when he rises?"
Aras slowly began to rise from his throne.
The palace floor trembled, not from his weight, but from the force of his power.
---
After Diel disappeared through the wall, the hall fell into a momentary silence.
Debris still fell, stones rolled, and the demons dared not breathe.
The Blood Emperor remained standing before his throne.
The tip of his blood-red cape brushed the blood pooling on the stone floor.
His eyes turned to the two demon kings opposite him: Zaroth and Malrien.
Malrien's lip curled.
Dark vein-like lines across his armor began to glow.
All the demons recognized the glow.
It was the active state of the title, "King of Curses."
> "You won't die easily this time, Aras Veyran," said Malrien.
"I once used this curse to wipe out an entire army alone.
Now… it will consume only you."
Even Zaroth took a step back. He knew —
When Zaon, one of the four curses of the King of Curses, is activated, reality itself bends.
The air grew heavy.
The flow of time fractured.
The palace's stone walls seemed to shift forward and backward in an instant.
Aras suddenly lost his balance.
His breath constricted. Everything before his eyes appeared either impossibly fast or unbearably slow.
Even Zaroth's step passed like lightning, while Diel's fall continued—
time had been warped.
> "This… isn't speed… it's perception…"
"You are bending time for me."
But before his thoughts scattered, a pain struck his shoulder.
One of Savaen's axes had pierced him.
Blood spattered.
Even through the warped time, Aras felt the reality of the pain.
Next, a spear struck his chest.
It was Ruun's blow.
The spear's shaft vibrated; a crimson light bled from Aras's chest.
At that moment…
The world froze.
The system's voice echoed:
> > CRITICAL DAMAGE RECEIVED
BLOOD CORE ACTIVATED
HOLY BLOODLINE: REAWAKENED
STATUS: CURSE PURGED
POWER BONUS +7%
His holy blood… had awakened.
Zaon's curse dissolved within his blood.
Aras's eyes refocused.
Time returned to normal.
As Ruun tried to pull back his spear, Aras grabbed him by the throat.
With a single hand, he lifted the massive man into the air.
Ruun's helmet fell to the floor, his eyes reflecting pure terror.
Finally, Aras's voice echoed—cold, wordless fury:
> "You didn't wait your turn."
With a single motion, he broke the man's neck.
The floor cracked. The body hit the ground.
Amid the dust and stone piles, Diel reappeared.
His armor shattered, sword trembling in hand.
His eyes were filled with darkness.
> "Sword Arts King — Awakening of a Thousand Cuts."
Diel vanished in an instant.
Only the marks of nearly a thousand strikes remained, all aimed at Aras.
The air shattered, the palace trembled.
Unable to counter the blows, Aras's body was slashed.
Shoulder, ribs, thigh, back — each pierced simultaneously.
Blood spurted; the system shuddered.
> > DAMAGE: 73,800
HP: 27%
Aras knelt for a moment.
In his eyes burned a glow where red and black merged.
Once more, he gripped his spear with both hands.
> "Enough."
Instantly, the entire hall fell silent.
The power radiating from Aras's spear shattered air pressure.
Stones were torn from their places.
The spear swung with a force that shook the entire palace.
Diel tried to resist—but it was futile.
This power had long surpassed the limits of a player or a human.
At the moment of impact, half the palace was destroyed.
Light swallowed everything.
The shockwave hurled the demon kings, guardians, and all beings hundreds of meters away.
The palace built atop the ocean began to collapse.
Diel's final thought, echoing in his mind before annihilation:
> "This… is why… you had to be stopped…"
Then, silence.
Stones, throne remnants, and broken columns fell into the sea.
Aras remained in the midst of the cracking floor.
He stepped forward—the floor could not hold and collapsed.
His body slowly sank downwards.
The Blood Emperor Aras,
along with the falling remnants of his throne,
was buried in the cold waters of the dark sea.
And the system's voice followed him like an echo:
> > PLAYER STATUS: UNKNOWN
BLOODLINE SIGNAL: ACTIVE
CONTINUATION PROTOCOL: INITIATED
The body disappearing into the waters still emitted light.
💀 To be continued…
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