Pow.
Pow.
Bam Bam.
Two bullets. Then another two.
Klaus gritted his teeth.
"What only two shots? Damn it…"
He reached quickly into his pocket, hands trembling, and found only one more round.
"One bullet left? I need more time… just a little more time before backup arrives."
He loaded the last bullet and fired.
"No no, no, no! That was the last one… damn it!"
He slid across the ground and scrambled back to his feet as the Chaos creature expanded grotesquely. Its body extended outwards like monstrous tentacles, tearing the stone floor apart.
Klaus didn't look back; he sprinted, dodging each whipping limb.
The monster was a horror part woman, part man, part writhing abomination. This was the inevitable result of using the forbidden art: Alchemy of Souls.
Klaus felt terror grip him.
"This isn't right… what in the hell is going on?"
He swallowed hard.
"I've only just become Tier Two… I don't even know how to properly channel energy yet. But if I don't do something I'll die here."
He turned, trying to regain distance, but a tentacle slammed him into the wall.
"Hngh !"
Blood trickled down his side. The pain burned sharply.
He grasped the corner of the ruined pillar, holding himself upright as the monster closed in.
He stumbled back a step, dragged his dagger free, and hurled aside the empty gun.
"If I die now… what was the point of ranking up?" he whispered.
This was his only path.
A shortcut to becoming a Beyonder.
Even though the Court of Order also known as the Iron Order strictly forbade sorcery, he was desperate to live.
He recalled a spell he had once overheard.
Klaus raised the dagger and cut across the centre of his palm. Blood spilled freely.
As the monster's limbs reached for him, he shouted:
"To the human, chaos is a monster.
To life, divinity.
To forgiveness, peace.
But within chaos lies glory,
And within glory lies shame.
From the shadow arise…
Crimson Lullaby!"
His blood surged like liquid fire, shaping itself around his hand forming a long crimson blade. The Crimson Bloom.
The blood pooling beneath him began to pulse, and he felt his strength twist unnaturally through his veins.
Sorcery dangerous, forbidden, but powerful.
His blood loss would shorten his lifespan, drain his strength, and leave scars on his soul.
But it gave him a chance.
Klaus charged.
In one hand, the blood-forged blade.
In the other, a small pistol formed entirely of hardened crimson energy.
He fired repeatedly as he ran each shot costing him more of his own blood.
The monster shrieked.
He swung the blade, slicing through the writhing tentacles one after another.
The Chaos reeled backward, dragging its twisted frame from the courtyard into the open street.
They burst into the moonlight just as the Holy Knights assembled.
Tier Two knights, archers, casters, and elite guards all stood ready.
But when they saw a newly-ranked Tier Two fighting a Chaos alone, they had no choice but to intervene.
The battle was brutal.
The monster convulsed violently, its body swelling like a grotesque sphere.
Then it burst its flesh dissolving into an unstable, unfamiliar shape.
A Chaos should not be able to transform once the soul-shift was complete.
Once the rose mark died, the form they became was permanent.
Yet this one was mutating.
Jäger Frost scowled.
"What madness is this? Why is it changing form?"
Helena raised her voice with the authority of a commander.
"Evacuate the area! All Tier Zero and Tier One units fall back immediately!"
"Iron Holder forces secure the perimeter! Summoners, seal this building. Create a field that blocks outside view. Only Court personnel remain inside!"
A shimmering veil formed around the Court Hall as summoners intertwined their magic, shielding the chaos within.
Jäger Frost, Helena Morrow, and Klaus pressed forward to confront the abomination.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Court…
Edin wandered aimlessly through the locked corridors. He had no idea of the battle raging outside.
He heard shouting, the pounding of feet
officers fleeing the building.
He tried to follow, but the Transmigration book slipped from his hands and distracted him.
He picked it up again.
"What's happening…? Why am I the only one still inside?" he murmured.
Then the wall behind him exploded inward.
The monster still shifting burst into the building.
Edin froze.
The nightmare had come for him.
The entire building had been sealed, leaving the Chaos within as it continued to transform, its dissolving flesh reshaping into yet another figure. A vast shadow swelled through the room, accompanied by a deep, feminine voice that echoed across the walls.
"Secure the perimeter. Block every corner. Ensure no one remains inside. No outsider must witness what I am about to do," Helena commanded sharply, her voice carrying the authority of a seasoned officer.
She turned next to Klaus.
"Klaus why are you in here? Who authorised your entry? And what, exactly, are you using? Is that sorcery?"
Jäger Frost, one of the Iron Holder's most formidable knights, stepped forward.
"Commander Helena, there is no time for formalities. We will discuss it later. If this abomination is allowed to continue, it will tear apart everything we know. Valhalla will collapse under the fear that follows."
Helena nodded grimly.
"Maintain a three-metre radius. Keep it distracted. Do not allow it a moment's breath."
Klaus rushed ahead, crimson blood-weapon in hand. He raised the gun formed from his own blood and fired before charging with the blade.
The Chaos creature continued to dissolve and reform, its flesh gathering unnaturally before unleashing a violent, focused strike that tore through the building.
Jäger Frost ran straight towards the monstrous limb and struck it with a blazing fist. Flames erupted across its surface as he shouted,
"Burn in shame!"
His aura expanded, the entire chamber blooming into a garden of fire.
Klaus shielded his eyes.
This is why he stands as the Iron Holder's reserve knight… the Shame of Flames.
He forced himself to move.
If I hesitate, I'll die.
The creature expanded again, its body shifting. It rose into the air, reshaping into a tall, slender, human-like silhouette
towering, elegant, and monstrous all at once.
Then it spoke.
A Chaos speaking was impossible. A former human who became such an abomination was meant to lose all sense of speech, emotion, and memory.
Yet its voice cut through the room:
"Run towards your doom."
The three froze.
Jäger Frost whispered, horrified, "It spoke… what madness is this? Chaos should not be capable of speech."
Klaus swallowed.
"Nothing about this makes sense. Everything we've been taught none of it applies to this creature."
Helena snapped at them, "Stop your foolishness and keep it occupied before we all die!"
Jäger Frost turned to her.
"What are you planning?"
"Just buy me time. Count from one to ten. I will be ready."
Without another word, Frost lunged forward. His fist ignited once more, and he struck the abomination.
"Return to despair, creature of ruin!"
The Chaos, now alarmingly fast, vanished and reappeared, its strikes far beyond its earlier strength. It possessed both the form of a woman and the distorted essence of an abomination.
Frost showed no hesitation. He grabbed the creature's arm even as it drove its fist into his stomach. He coughed blood but held firm.
"I banish thee to the flames!"
His aura erupted again.
The Garden of Doom an inferno blooming like flowers around him.
Flames gathered into his hand, forming a hammer of brilliant fire.
"Holy Knight of Judgement Flame of Grace!"
He charged.
But the Chaos moved with unnatural grace. Each of its blows shattered the flaming hammer. With a sudden surge, it seized Frost's wrist and, impossibly, laughed.
Then, with cruel precision, it thrust its hand into his chest.
For a Tier 3 Knight, his spiritual lifeforce was immense yet the Chaos devoured it greedily, drawing strength from it. Frost's body was thrown violently against the wall, collapsing with a heavy thud.
Klaus's eyes widened.
"Commander no… no, no! If it can kill a Tier 3… then what am I supposed to do?"
He forced himself forward, gripping his blood-forged sword.
Before he could swing, the Chaos appeared before him. Its fist struck his stomach, driving the breath from him. Blood spilled from his lips. It seized his head, slammed him into the floor repeatedly, and hurled him aside.
Klaus landed painfully, unable to speak.
The Chaos advanced again, lifted him by the leg, whipped him against the ground, and kicked him across the hall.
Then the abomination turned to Helena.
It smiled.
Its arm extended into a gleaming blade.
Helena stood unmoving because she had completed her chant.
The temperature plummeted. Frost spread across every surface. The room transformed into a kingdom of ice.
"Queen of Ice," she murmured, aura spiralling, "Beyond the snow… I command."
The walls, pillars, and ceiling froze solid. Razor-edged ice spears formed at every angle.
At the very back of the room, unnoticed by all, Quinn Morrow the vessel of Edin Shan trembled.
He had witnessed everything, yet none of them realised he was even present.
He slid back into the shadows, breath shallow.
He prayed the Chaos would not see him.]