Blood Apostle's Feast

I really just wanted to call it a day and rest.

Resting is directly tied to managing my HP, isn't it?

Whether I fight or not, I'm screwed either way, but I could die from exhaustion.

- Kyaaah!

It's the dead of night right now.

- Kyaaaah!

"Fuck."

I dragged myself out of bed again, grabbed my sniper rifle, and cracked the window open to check outside.

What the hell is that?

A woman glowing bright red all over was hovering in the air with pitch-black wings spread wide, gathering 'blood' from every direction.

"......"

I was wide awake now.

I pressed my eye to the scope.

Seoul

- Baaang...

Right in the heart of the city.

Traffic was backed up in an eerily long jam.

"......What the hell is that?"

The reason was smack in the middle of the road:

"A statue?"

A massive statue shaped like a bat had been placed in the middle of a Seoul street.

"Move aside. What is this shit?"

A menacing-looking driver got out of his car, shoved through the crowd, and approached the statue.

"What the fuck is this? Who the hell put this here?"

The moment he touched the statue,

- Crack...

In an instant, all the fluids inside the man's body drained out.

His corpse turned into a husk and flopped to the ground.

"Kyaaah!"

A gruesome sight too horrific to behold.

The people on the road screamed and fled in all directions.

Meanwhile, a trickle of blood dripped from the mouth of the bat statue blocking the road, and

『Aaaah...』

A sharp groan pierced everyone's eardrums.

- Flap!

It had clearly been a statue moments ago, but now it had transformed into a dark red bat.

The field-type gate warning appeared without any prelude.

Kim Chun-gyu returned to the Hunter Management Bureau and decided to station himself in the emergency operations room from now on.

Because the Cartibes egg situation had gotten a bit more complicated.

'The five apostles have left the pedestal, each pursuing their own goals.'

The analysis was still ongoing, but this part seemed certain.

At that moment,

"Seoul—field boss has appeared!"

As the urgent report came from the monitoring staffer, the field boss message popped up in front of Kim Chun-gyu too.

'Blood Apostle... A hundred percent.'

One of Cartibes's five apostles.

Field-type monsters weren't common.

'Field type' meant the gate clear had completely failed and the area had been conquered, leaving the monster on this world without returning to its realm.

There weren't many gates where humanity had utterly failed to conquer them in the first place, and Korea hadn't had any cases like that yet.

So if a field-type appeared in Seoul at this point, the connection could only be Cartibes.

"Casualties so far: 12 confirmed."

The damage kept climbing even as he received the report.

'It's here.'

Casualties like this right from the start.

Cartibes and Necrophilia...

They weren't going to let this end easily.

"Nearby hunters are engaging now."

Unfortunately, most high-rankers were tied up dealing with the erosions.

"Tell them to hold it as long as possible. I'm sending one guy first!"

Just as Kim Chun-gyu ordered, real-time control commands went out to the licensed hunters.

There were still four more apostles left.

They'd definitely strike simultaneously.

'Can't afford to waste a single bit of manpower.'

Korea was a hunter powerhouse.

Yet here they were, backed into a corner like this.

Thanks to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cartibes egg, not just the apostles but the gates themselves were acting unnaturally.

They needed power.

Desperately.

...Someone came to mind, but it only made his chest tighten more.

『Still not enough... To offer to the Sovereign...』

The dark red bat.

Clutching two dead C-rank hunters in its hands like snacks,

it slurped their blood alternately.

"Damn... fuck!"

From behind, a B-rank hunter unleashed his sword aura to the max, stabbing into Murcielago's back.

- Slash.

But Murcielago's tough skin barely got scratched; it didn't even react, like it was annoyed.

『Not enough... Need more blood.』

It just kept repeating that, sucking dry the hunters' corpses.

This time, an A-rank hunter charged in fast from nearby, channeling his energy to the limit into his massive warhammer.

"Haaah!"

He smashed the earth-shaking warhammer down on Murcielago's head.

- Kwaaaang!

'Got it!'

A massive boom.

Murcielago's head was crushed deep.

But

- Crack crack crack.

With the sound of bones knitting and flesh regrowing,

Murcielago regenerated.

"......Unbelievable."

What kind of monster was this? The pressure that there'd be no way to take it down anytime soon.

Beside him, five C-rank mages cast Fireball in unison.

- Kwaaaang...!

A huge fireball erupted,

but flames like that didn't faze Murcielago at all.

『You look tasty.』

It fixed its gaze on the A-rank hunter who'd swung the hammer.

It tossed aside the husks and

- Vrooom...

blitzed toward the A-rank hunter at a speed too fast to track.

'This... is definitely not just [Advanced]. We're in deep shit.'

The A-rank hunter, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠armored in duty, swung his hammer to defend,

but the bat's claws gripped the hammer, halting it with insane strength,

and

- Grab!

its other hand seized the hunter's torso.

"Gaaah!"

The hunter's scream of cracking ribs echoed through Seoul,

『Perfect.』

as Murcielago licked its lips at the trembling man and went to take a bite—

- Slash!

Murcielago's arm was severed.

A speed invisible to the eye. As the bat lost its grip,

the fainted hunter hit the ground,

and

- Splurt!

the bat's arm regenerated in an instant.

At the same time,

Countless sword auras swirled in a floral pattern, engulfing Murcielago's body.

The bat was instantly covered in sword wounds from head to toe.

"Looks like you've eaten your fill."

Cheon Seung-hyuk, who had arrived at terrifying speed the moment he grasped the situation, shook the blood off his holy sword in disgust.

Then,

- Splatter!

Murcielago's body, shredded into dozens of pieces, rapidly regenerated and turned to face Cheon Seung-hyuk.

Different from the bored reaction earlier.

『Impressive. Even without others' blood, yours will delight the Sovereign.』

"Ah. So you're the statue from that pedestal, the one babbling about 'blood this and that'? I'll send you right back home."

At Cheon Seung-hyuk's words, the bat's skin darkened redder, its face twisting as it lunged at him.

『Come try it.』

Terrifying speed, but Cheon Seung-hyuk's eyes didn't waver,

- Craaaash!

A mountain-sized sword aura came crashing down to bisect the bat.

『Kuh...!』

Even for Murcielago, this was unexpected power.

- Squeeze

It crossed its arms, hardening its skin instantly to block the sword aura.

"Oh. You can do that too? Gotten disgustingly tough."

Cheon Seung-hyuk looked mildly surprised that it had actually blocked it, then spun and delivered a back kick to Murcielago.

- Thwack!

Murcielago was launched skyward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in an instant, spreading its massive wings to hover and survey the city from above, but

"Right here."

Cheon Seung-hyuk was already behind it, condensing red killing intent into his fist

and punching straight into Murcielago's back.

- Kwaaaang!

『Gaaah...!』

The shockwave shattered nearby building windows as it exploded in Seoul's sky,

Murcielago's hardened body cracking massively before exploding into unrecognizable chunks.

- Burst!

"......"

He'd definitely killed it.

But Cheon Seung-hyuk couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

'As expected.'

His gut feeling had been off.

He was certain that sword strike earlier wouldn't end it so easily.

But it had vanished from sight. Exploded, after all.

'Where'd it go?'

- Whiiiish...

At that moment,

a tiny red gem, the size of a grain of sand,

shot away from the exploded Murcielago's remains.

- Splat.

The gem flew far before embedding itself somewhere in the city center.

『You're more impressive than I thought. I must have your blood...』

With an unintelligible voice echoing from somewhere,

- Sluuuurp!

blood from nearby citizens was sucked into the gem.

It devoured over ten people in seconds.

"Kyaaah!"

Shocked citizens panicked and ran,

and where the gem had been,

Murcielago had already revived, eyeing them like snacks.

Its grotesque beast form was gone;

『......』

a slender woman stood there.

Her entire skin was red.

More like a lump of coagulated human blood shaped like a person.

Two large horns on her head were darkening.

A devil incarnate, with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the earlier 'red gem' beautifully embedded in her forehead.

『It's been ages since my true form...』

- Flap.

She spread her wings.

Hovering in the air without flapping.

In the distance, a man charging at terrifying speed.

『Good. That strong one from before. Fine blood after so long. Time to get serious.』

Arms outstretched,

- Suuuuck...

she sucked in blood from surrounding humans.

Stockpiling as much as possible before he arrived.

Blood to offer Him.

She'd gathered a decent amount already,

but

'I want that blood.'

The other apostles would take time anyway.

She could play with that kid a bit before heading back.

- Gurk...

- Guuuh...

Screams and groans of agony from all sides.

As the chorus intensified, Murcielago's vitality swelled enormously.

She inhaled far more than needed from the surroundings.

- Rumble rumble...

Even buildings cracked from the suction.

Debris and dust rushed toward her.

- Crash!

Shattering glass flew at Murcielago, but

she filtered out everything but blood with mana, continuing her violent feeding.

『Haaaaah...』

This was it. Perfect.

Now she could unleash power beyond her original.

Her body glowed like a blood-red moon, dyeing the city's night crimson.

Especially the red gem on her forehead shone like a star.

『Come... You're in a hurry...』

That guy from before was closing in fast. He'd arrive soon.

Excitement at the prospect of real fun.

Play with him awhile, then drain that hot blood and offer it up.

『Worship... The Wielder of Death's Power descends...』

Loud enough for all to hear.

Proclaim His name soon to descend.

『Worship... Cartibes...』

Then,

『?』

Something was off.

A massive aura she'd never felt even from Him. Overwhelming killing intent.

『What is this...』

No such power should exist.

『What! Who! Show yourself! Now!!!』

- BOOM!

Murcielago exploded.

It was a shot for the ages.

Only surging rage and desperate will for survival enabled such precision.

"Hoo..."

My breath came ragged.

I wasn't just pissed anymore; I was boiling from head to toe.

I lay down to sleep, but the screams wouldn't stop?

Fine, whatever. Not even mad about that now. No mental bandwidth left anyway.

I even considered ignoring it and holing up to sleep.

But the important part was,

That bright red bitch had damaged my shelter.

I peeked out the window: rumbling as she hovered mid-air, greedily sucking in what looked like blood,

her suction wreaking havoc on nearby buildings and draining my shelter barrier in real time.

"Hooo..."

After killing her, the shelter barrier slowly recovered.

'Dodged a bullet.'

Almost had the shelter collapse, turning me into one more blood droplet—providing my HP 1 as a single shot.

Peace of mind returned.

Though that red thing looked scary as hell, my heart was still pounding.

Then,

I'd cleared the gate.

Looked like that thing was the boss.

Either way, gate clears were what I needed.

All for the hope of hitting level 30.

Along with a notice about system limits,

Level 31.

'......This is good.'

- Ding!

A tiny ray of hope for my survival.

"!!!"

- Thud!

Kim Chun-gyu shot up from his seat.

"......You're helping us?!"

The unregistered had stepped up on their own

and killed Cartibes's apostle.

One shot again.

The system confirmed it.

'Fighting alongside Korea! Can I take it that way, Unregistered?! From now on, that's how I'm seeing it!'

Kim Chun-gyu's face lit up brighter than it had all day.

A massive hope.

The Unregistered joining the battlefield meant that much to him.

End