Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 99: Bloodline

Dead!

They're all dead!

"Uuuak!" The soldier choked on her blood as she stared in disbelief at the impossible scene. Her feet shuffled through ankle-deep pools of blood as she backed away till she felt the wall behind her. The woman still pressed against the wall, in a vain hope that if she tried hard enough, she would be able to blend into the wall.

Tears and snot marred a once beautiful face as she fervently shook her head. No, this had to be a dream. Yes, a horrible dream. She would wake up, and it would all be over. But no matter how hard she bit on her lip, the nightmare refused to end.

"Arara~ seems we have a survivor. Sloppy, sloppy."

The woman's knees buckled under her nightmare's progenitor's sweet, mocking voice. Every step he took towards her was like decades shaved from her life. The mad man still had a pleased, almost amiable smile as he closed in on her, eyes shining with perverse delight. His hair was dyed a very deep tinge of dark red, same as the blood that pooled the earth. Little streaks of white choked for survival in the mass of red as if to signify the last vestiges of innocence that remained in the demon's soul.

A pair of bright yellow eyes emphasized the blood-splattered face as the demon crouched in front of the soldier. He reached for her face, but to his surprise, her eyes rolled back to show the whites, then she collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Well, I have to admit, this is a first even for me." Syèl's laughed as he clenched his fist. The woman's body exploded before it could return to the circle, adding her blood to the red pool.

"Needlessly cruel," a slightly familiar voice rebuked.

"Huh?" Syèl turned around to see Rider observing him with a neutral expression. "Oh, it's you. What you want, uh..."

"Rider."

"Yeah, Rider. Got a problem with me?"

Rider looked from the pool of blood their feet were submerged in, to Syèl's yellow eyes. "You inherited the blood magic."

Syèl raised a brow. "Doesn't sound like a que—"

"A pale imitation of the blood arts," Rider continued. He glanced at Rider's blood-soaked hair and shook his head. With a flick of his finger, all the blood droplets in the hair strands floated out, leaving only a single streak of red. "The blood tome. Where was it found this time?"

Syèl frowned. He hated people who acted like the whole world was in their control. "Why should I tell—"

"He found it in Mònòch," Shoko interrupted as she walked up to them. She sheathed her sword then bowed politely to Rider. "It was being worshipped by a cult."

Rider smiled at her and returned her gesture with a grateful nod. "The cult in Mònòch. I do recall coming across them a few centuries past. They are an outer branch of the Chaos Order. Hmm, so they were the ones who stole the book." Rider nodded as if he had finally solved an annoying mystery. "Ah, do they still have the tome? As weak as it is, it still should not be in the hands of such people."

Syèl and Shoko shared a look as Kira, Hektor and Jade walked up to them. Syèl frowned, but Shoko shook her head. "Fine," Syèl clucked his tongue and took out the Book of the Damned from his inventory. The book, which was almost as tall as he was, slammed vertically onto the floor. Oddly, not only did it stand straight without aid, the blood had parted and flowed around the book. "I have it."

Rider's eyes showed genuine interest for the first time. Strangely, his gaze was not on the book, but the halben that held it. "I do not believe they just let you leave with it?"