You'll Have to Kill Me First
You'll have to kill me first.
Leaving behind the Golden Lion Knights' waiting room, which reeked of blood, Kyle strode out with casual indifference. His uniform hung in tatters. Crimson lines scored his entire body. Blood soaked his hair and face. His appearance told a far grimmer story than the relaxed rhythm of his steps.
As he emerged, he noticed a figure waiting along the corridor. It was Reina Garyen. The moment she saw him, she dropped to one knee and offered a flawless, respectful bow.
"I have carried out the command my lord bestowed upon me."
Her voice remained perfectly calm as she reported the mission's completion. Kyle gave a slight nod.
"Well done."
Following his orders, Reina had first delivered the news to Valgrim, then reported the full truth to the current Grand Duke, Roderick. The scene inside the waiting room stood as silent proof of how faithfully she had performed her duty.
"Did the hunt satisfy you?" she asked, eyes lifted toward him.
Kyle looked down at her—specifically, into her eyes. Those once-clear brown irises now carried a spreading crimson glow that had begun in their depths and was slowly bleeding outward. By now, a vivid blood-red light flickered unmistakably within them.
The corner of Kyle's mouth curved upward.
"It made for an excellent warm-up."
Blood Mist Spirit Soul Art. The cultivation method Reina practiced was not one Kyle had invented. It was an advanced mental technique passed down through the Blood Cult for generations, a power reserved only for those with the rare talent to rise to elder rank.
Naturally, it exacted a brutal toll. The pain was nearly unbearable for ordinary people. Mere genius was insufficient; what it demanded was the venomous resolve to endure that agony.
Eyes that hunger for blood.
Anyone who had suffered so much to obtain such power would naturally crave the chance to test it in battle. Her bearing had hinted at exactly that from the start. And now, seeing him covered in wounds, her sword clearly thirsted to taste more.
Kyle found the look in her eyes deeply pleasing.
"The fake knights of the Golden Lion." He jerked his chin toward the blood-drenched door behind him. "Or rather, the traitors—they've been cleaned up."
Reina lowered her head in silent acknowledgment.
"I'm about to go deal with the rest of them," Kyle said leisurely. "What will you do?"
Reina raised her gaze.
"Would it be acceptable for me to accompany you?"
Her tone stayed composed, yet an unmistakable thirst for blood bled through it. Kyle caught it at once. Her eyes were asking whether he would leave any prey for her.
She's wondering if I'll grant her the chance to personally witness the blood of those who insulted her and mocked her lord.
A cruel smile carved itself across Kyle's lips.
"There's no reason to refuse."
He looked straight into her eyes.
"That look on your face tells me you'd appreciate it if I left some game for you."
Reina's shoulders shifted by the smallest fraction. She did not deny it. Instead, she bowed her head once more.
"If my lord permits it, I will accept with gratitude."
"Good." Kyle smirked. "I'll start by slaughtering the fake knights of the Blue Tiger. You watch from inside."
"Understood."
"And one more thing." Kyle's voice dropped to an icy register. "While I cut them down, guard the door. Not a single one escapes."
The blood-red gleam in Reina's eyes burned brighter.
"I shall obey."
She answered in a cold, steady voice, barely containing the surge of savage joy threatening to break free.
The Blue Tiger Knights' waiting room, located in the western annex of the Northern Duke's Castle, remained eerily peaceful. Word of the massacre that had consumed the Golden Lion Knights had not yet reached them. They still had no idea they stood on the edge of annihilation.
All they needed was the safety of numbers. All they needed was to invoke Roderick's name. No matter how insane Kyle might be, he would never dare move against an entire knight order. That was what they firmly believed.
Creak.
The waiting room door swung open.
"Hm?"
"Who the hell—"
The chatter inside died instantly. Knights seated at tables, knights leaning against walls, knights adjusting uniform buttons—all of them turned their eyes toward the entrance at once.
Kyle Hartvalt stood there. Reina Garyen waited just behind him.
Kyle's condition was horrific. The black uniform that symbolized the Grand Duke's heir had been shredded in multiple places. Deep gashes marked his shoulders, forearms, and sides. Dried and fresh blood mingled across the fabric. Clotted blood also clung to his face and neck.
The Blue Tiger Knights exchanged glances. They assumed Kyle had been beaten by the Golden Lion Knights. Or perhaps he had suffered a severe scolding from Valgrim and Roderick and fled in disgrace. No other explanation seemed possible for such a wretched appearance.
One upper-grade knight crossed his arms and spoke, his tone dripping with mockery despite the polite words.
"Well now, who do we have here? If it isn't the Grand Duke's heir himself."
"What brings you to our humble quarters?"
The others snickered at the sight of his blood-soaked form.
"Looks like someone took quite the tumble."
"Coming all this way in that state? How very diligent of you."
Kyle listened to their ridicule and stepped inside without hesitation.
"You want to know why I'm here?" He tilted his head at a lazy angle. "I'm here because you ignored my orders."
The room fell momentarily silent.
Kyle continued.
"I clearly demanded a duel at the Grand Drill Hall over the matter of insulting me and my knight. I also made it known that refusal would be treated as treason."
The Blue Tiger Knights looked at one another, then burst into derisive laughter.
"There appears to be a misunderstanding," the upper-grade knight said, lifting his chin arrogantly. "We did not flee. We simply determined that the justification for such a duel was lacking."
He spoke with absolute confidence.
"Furthermore, without a formal command from His Grace the Grand Duke, you cannot brand our entire Blue Tiger Knights as traitors. That would be a blatant overreach of your authority."
Kyle regarded him in silence for a moment.
"Overreach of authority, is it?" A low chuckle escaped him. "There's one thing that's rather convenient about all this."
The knights' eyebrows twitched.
"And what would that be?"
"Forty-nine." Kyle's gaze swept slowly across the room. "The exact number of people here."
A blood-red light flared across his green eyes. The battle fever that had already burned hot from the slaughter of the Golden Lion Knights flared even higher.
"It's quite convenient that I can cut you all down the moment I confirm your attitude."
"What kind of nonsense—"
Before the man could finish, Kyle's foot slammed against the floor.
His figure vanished.
Before any of them could track the movement—
Slash.
The head of the nearest middle-grade knight spun into the air.
Blood erupted in a crimson fountain. The body remained standing for several seconds, rigid, before it finally toppled. The severed head stared up with eyes still wide in utter disbelief. The man had never even considered the possibility that he would be the one cut down.
A deathly silence swallowed the waiting room.
In that quiet, Kyle flicked the blood from his blade with a casual snap of his wrist.
"Clean."
The single word shattered the stillness.
"Y-you madman!"
"This bastard's actually lost his mind!"
"Draw steel!"
Swords flew free in every direction. Rage and terror exploded together.
An upper-grade knight shouted, face flushed crimson.
"When His Grace the Grand Duke learns of this, he will never let it pass!"
Kyle didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"His Grace the Grand Duke?" He laughed softly. "The oh-so-noble lord you all place your faith in cannot intervene."
He adjusted his grip on the sword.
"My grandfather has already issued an order in the name of Hartvalt to eliminate every last traitor."
The Blue Tiger Knights' faces went rigid.
"What?"
"His Grace the former Grand Duke…?"
That was tantamount to a death sentence.
"It's a lie!" someone screamed in denial. "There's no way His Grace would order the destruction of a knight order!"
"Don't listen to that lunatic's drivel!"
They rejected reality because they had to. If Valgrim's command was genuine, the shield they had trusted had already crumbled. The moment they accepted it, their end would be certain.
Kyle listened to their desperate denial and gave a faint smirk.
"Believe it or not."
Thick, viscous blood-red aura coiled along his blade.
"You're all going to die anyway."
The next instant, he moved.
His foot slammed down again. Blood-red aura blazed along his sword.
"Stop him!"
"Coordinate!"
Two upper-grade knights and four middle-grade knights charged at once. Blue aura spread like a net, trying to ensnare him.
Kyle slipped through the gaps. He angled the frontal blade away, used the momentum to drop low, let a thrust from the left graze his shoulder, and deflected a slash from the right with the flat of his sword.
A middle-grade knight left an opening.
It was more than enough.
The sword tip punched through the soft spot beneath the man's throat.
Kyle never paused. He ripped the blade sideways, freeing it, then swung it in a wide arc.
Slash.
Another middle-grade knight's throat opened in a spray of arterial blood.
In the space of a breath, two men fell. Kyle's sword continued its deadly dance, carving through knight after knight. Blood fountained across the room.
Terror flooded the eyes of the remaining Blue Tiger Knights.
"Aaaagh! Run!"
"We have to warn His Grace!"
"To the door!"
Several abandoned the fight and sprinted for the exit. Informing Roderick mattered more than killing Kyle.
But their decision came too late.
Reina stood before the door, back pressed against it, hand resting lightly on her sword hilt. Her expression was ice. Her breathing remained perfectly even.
"Reina!"
A bloodied, staggering middle-grade knight reached her. He screamed in desperation.
"Move aside right now! Unless you want to be punished alongside that lunatic—"
Shing.
Her sword cleared its sheath.
Slash.
The knight's neck split open in a single clean cut. No scream escaped. His body pitched forward. Blood from the severed arteries sprayed across Reina's face and clothes.
Crimson streaks ran down her pale cheek. Dark stains bloomed across her neat attire.
The woman once called the Northern Continent's greatest beauty showed not the slightest flicker of emotion at her blood-drenched state. Instead, a cold blood-red light burned deep in her brown eyes.
She stood guard before the door, watching the knights rush toward her.
The Blue Tiger Knights' faces hardened. Hearing such words from Reina—of all people—burned like humiliation.
"You arrogant bitch!"
"Graaaagh!"
Yet with Kyle's merciless slaughter continuing behind them, reaching her proved nearly impossible.
With Reina sealing the only exit, the door to the slaughterhouse had slammed shut.
Kyle watched half the Blue Tiger Knights already dead at his blade and twisted his lips into a savage grin.
"Excellent."
His voice carried open satisfaction.
"There's real pleasure in killing traitors."
Slash—!
He cut down from behind a middle-grade knight attempting to flee toward Reina's position.
At that moment—
"His back is exposed!"
One upper-grade knight drove a lethal thrust at Kyle's spine. The strike carried enough aura to end the fight in a single blow.
Kyle didn't even glance back.
Shouting your intentions before you charge? Pathetic.
He seized the nape of another wounded upper-grade knight who was staggering beside him.
"W-what are you—"
The words never finished.
Kyle lifted the man like a shield and spun.
Squish.
The sword meant for Kyle's back punched straight through his comrade's heart.
The attacking knight's eyes bulged in horror. His trembling hands released the hilt.
"S-such cowardice…!"
He spat blood with the accusation.
"Using such a filthy trick against fellow knights! Have you no shame, no matter how depraved you are?!"
Kyle shoved the impaled knight to the floor. The corpse landed with a wet thud in a growing pool of blood.
He raised his sword toward the man who had called him cowardly.
"A traitor has no right to lecture me."
Blood-red aura traced a lethal line through the air.
"You talk too much."
Slash!
The upper-grade knight's head flew free. Blood sprayed. The severed head rolled across the floor.
Bathed in fresh gore, Kyle continued forward.
The Blue Tiger Knights' waiting room was no longer a waiting room. Reina sealed the door. Kyle stood within. This place had become nothing more than a one-sided hunting ground.