Sanguine Paradise

Chapter 203: [Day 219] – “The Hunter and the Hunted”

Day 219

A dark shade cut through the cold air high above. Its large black figure obscured against the night sky. Up here, it was calm and still. Only sparse clouds floating about. But beneath, on the forested ground below, havoc was being wrought. Dozens of lords fought desperate battles of life and death all across the earth.

Some were prey - others were hunters.

But all were powerful.

When I was dropped in this place, night came fast. So instead of doing anything reckless, I decided to sit back and survey the situation, stalking whomever caught my eye. I've yet to actually fight anyone, and I was itching to reap the experience from those I found as easy prey. But then again, I wasn't the only one still staying back and prowling the darkness in wait for the most opportune moment.

Even though I've remained passive, I've gathered a lot from this situation so far. My hunch from the get-go had indeed been correct. We were dumped here to duke it out with our fellow lords in pursuit of each other's heirlooms. And with a requirement of three heirlooms to complete this trail, at least a third of all the lords here was ensured to end being culled. But I knew better than that because many - many more would die than just a third.

This place was an island, a rather large one. But in scale to how many lords there were here, we were forced to eventually run into each other, quite evident by the multiple fights going on down there. So far, I've already seen a couple of lords flee this death trap as they either fought tooth and nail for the first heirlooms that they laid eyes on, or they picked up the scraps of some of the real powerhouses as they carved a path through the island.

Truly, some of these lords and ladies were forces of nature as they slew people left and right. Then again, I knew that much more powerful individuals had to still be lurking in the shadows like I was.

So far, I've only laid eyes on two individuals who truly gave me pause and a sense of dread. Whether or not I would come out on top if we were to fight it out was up for debate, but one thing was for sure. They hadn't the faintest reservation or worries about those who might come after them as they openly fought their way through the island.

But I hadn't been completely idle during all this time, and I didn't plan on staying in the darkness. There was simply too much experience to pass up running around down below. And already, I've been stalking one certain individual for the last two hours.

One I believed to be the perfect first addition to my heirloom hunt.

It was a human woman. She wasn't tall or short, pretty or beautiful from what I could glean, nor did she really have any discernible or distinguishing features. The only thing to set her apart was her grimy armor and her sword. The metal plating across her thin frame had obviously been put through a lot as blood, dirt, and much else covered them.

But the most eye-catching thing and what stood out in comparison - was her sword. Sleek and elegant, double-bladed edges, and no handguard, the weapon especially stood out because of not only its silvery gleam but also the fact that it was the only thing she possessed that remained spotlessly clean. It actually shimmered against any light as it was just that glossy and clean.

From the start, she apparently hadn't even given the thought of staying hidden and surveying the situation even in the slightest regard as she immediately started slaughtering any that were unfortunate enough to be caught by her attention. And so far, I hadn't seen a single thing that she wasn't able to cut through effortlessly with that odd blade of hers.

I needed no one to tell me that her sword was in fact her heirloom, but the sheer power of it did marvel me.

I had followed her to a creek, watching with bated intent from high above as I long spotted the individual who had also been stalking her alongside me.

He clearly hadn't realized that I too was stalking her, up high upon my wyvern familiar as she carried me through the sky. But this was mostly because his stealth skills were quite mediocre, and I could sense other presences along with him. And I wasn't the only one that had long discovered his existence.

"Come out coward, I can smell the wet cur on you," The woman announced, contempt dripping off every word. "Or I will cut you down where you stand."

The armored woman had also figured this out apparently, and as she stared into the dark forest, movement started rustling the underbrush.

Out came what appeared to be another human, but he wasn't alone. Trailing behind him and stalking out to the sides as they walked out into the moonlight, a dozen beasts made their appearance known. Some of them were massive wolves, but most of them were large black cats, looking more like tigers than panthers with their bulky frames. But the scorpion-like tails swishing about behind them, a full set of three on each cat, with stingers and all, proved them to be nothing like the felines I knew from back on Earth.

A low growl came collectively from the beasts, and as one particularly large one came out shadowing behind the human man, I used Codex on the beast.

-Codex!-

[Appraisal - Faen]

Name: "Faen"

Race: Morslythe

Sex: Female

Rank: C

Level: 65/75

Health: 2732/2732

Stamina: 1588/1600

Mana: 0/0

[Attributes]

STR - 220

VIT - ???

AGI - 282

DEX - 211

INT - ???

CHR - ???

WILL - 34

MAG - ???

[Trait, Titles, and Skills].

Skills - ???

Traits - ???

Titles - ???

[Resistances]

Phy. Resistance - 26

Mag. Resistance - 12

Men. Resistance - ???

An impressive beast, especially considering that the rest of them were all C- ranked monsters.

"A beastmaster?" I pondered to myself thoughtfully.

I had noticed the beasts' presence too, but I hadn't expected all that much from this human because of his lackluster stealth abilities. I had to admit I had underestimated him a bit, and now I really didn't know whether or not this sword-wielding gal could pull it off. I wanted to also take a look at his status, but compared to the beasts, that might be a risky venture as it could reveal my presence if I was unlucky. It was hard to know if someone had something to counter divination abilities or not, so it was always something I had to be careful about using when attempting to keep a low profile,

"Coward?" The man mused to himself. "Now, I've been called many things - but a coward, never."

"You hide in the shadows and let dirty animals fight for you - no honor, no respect, nothing of esteem." She said curtly, raising her blade, pure detest in those blue eyes underneath her metal helmet.

Another collective growl came from the beasts as if they had just understood clearly of the insult being thrown their master's way. But the beastmaster's brows just rose in surprise at the woman's hateful words and intense fervor.

I understood his surprise as I too had been when I first witnessed her cruelly cut down another lord. This woman was beyond zealous, and anything she perceived as cowardice and lack of honor was apparently something of the greatest affront. I also believed this to be the exact reason why she was acting as reckless as she was.

"I see, you're batshit - aren't you lady?" The man asked, a smirk tugging at his lips. "What exactly happened to you to turn you into this?"

I thought the same thing, knowing that this individual was so far gone in her belief and clutching to it, that'd if she'd ever allow herself to be disgraced in her self-perceived version of 'honor' and 'righteousness', I didn't doubt for a second that she would end her own life. After all, I've seen her done and say so far, it definitely proved she had a screw or two lose inside her head.

Though, I didn't really care. I was only here for her heirloom and experience.

"Enough with your insolence - prepare for your death so you can at least die with some dignity." She spat, the imperiousness bleeding through on every syllable.

She exploded into motion, and I could practically feel as the shiny blade became even sharper in the face of cutting her enemy down like the disgraceful cretin she believed him to be. But it was that exact conviction of hers that made her blade so fatally keen. She wasn't infusing her blade with any magic, but it seemed almost like the heirloom itself fed on her inane belief, allowing it to part anything it touched.

She was fast, but the beastmaster's pets were even faster.

They lunged at her, dodging her swings and swiping at her whenever they got an opportunity. The man just hanged back, watching the scene with a furrow ever so slowly creeping back up onto his face.

The beasts easily dodged the woman's assault as she simply wasn't all that fast. But a problem quickly formed itself as neither could they land a hit onto the ardent woman. Within her blade's range, nothing could get past her defense, and anything caught up with her sword would be cut in two as if it was air.

The beastmaster grew more pensive, as she slowly gained momentum and caught one of the beasts, slicing open one of the wolves' legs. The beast quickly fell afterward to a masterful execution of moves that completely cut off the beast from the rest of the pack.

A vein pressing at his forehead, the man could only grip his fist tightly as he witnessed one of his monsters being slain and another one after that. Seeing that he could not keep the large feline called a morslythe which shadowed him to protect himself as he was undoubtedly unsuited for combat, he sent it out to hopefully put an end to the bladed whirlwind of a woman.

"Faen, go." I hissed through clenched teeth.

She was momentarily pushed back by the powerful C-ranked monster as its power came to bear, its stingers clinging off barely parried swings of her weapon.

But soon, a third beast died. Then another, and another.

The situation was looking grim, and by the time that she had put down more than eight of the beasts, she had only taken a single stinger to the shoulder. The wound was obviously poisoned by some terrible poison from the morslythe that slowed her ever so slightly, but her momentum as she drew on swing about didn't halt at all but only kept growing.

By the time that the beastmaster realized he was fighting a lost fight, already having lost so much, he tried to retreat with his only remaining beasts - a single wolf, two felines, and the large Faen. But he only had time to cry out with true heartache when the armored woman activated what appeared to be a skill that made herself and her blade almost disappear from sight.

Only a heavy thud and the man's outcry could be heard as the giant feline monster was cut in two. The three other monsters suffered the same fate as if all of them were simultaneously slashed by the sword.

She didn't waste even a breath as she was just about to end the beastmaster's end. But the instant she closed the distance and let her blade descend on the man who had now eerily fallen silent and deadpan, she froze, then tried desperately to create some distance between the slumping man and her.

An explosion of gore and blood erupted from the man. Eyes wide, she tried to block the attacks. But without her momentum and from such close distance, the spikes of blood were much faster than her blade as they flew right past her defense and impaled her - riddling her body with a hole.

The only one she managed to parry with that pristine sword of hers was the one headed directly for her head. But even so, another spike ripped her blade from her grasp as it continued onwards to punch directly through the frail links of armor that connected her chest plate to her helmet.

A gurgle was the only sound she could make as her throat was punched through by a thin blood spike, one directly formed from my own blood.