The Testimony of Blood
"I expected as much, but you’ve revealed your scheme quite quickly."
Kyle sat on the snow-covered ground, his gaze lowered to the trembling soldier before him. The man was shivering uncontrollably, fear etched into every line of his face. Yet beneath that fear lay a deep reservoir of resentment and hatred.
“You harbor a grudge against me?”
Todd flinched at the calm question. The moment he’d lost the letter, he had already accepted that his life was over. With his secret mission exposed, survival was impossible. If that were the case, he might as well ask the devilish man directly.
Todd ground his teeth together and spoke, his voice cracking with fury.
“Do you remember the name Phoebe?”
Kyle paused, recalling his memories from before he had regained his memories from his previous life. Back then, while lost in drunken revelry, the memories of a worthless nobleman held little value.
“The maid I spilled the remaining wine on, then took a beating for?”
“……!”
“The maid I hit, who ran off crying and, after leaving her lover, ran around with another man while drinking and cheating, only to be killed by that lover?”
The indifferent answer twisted Todd’s face into something grotesque.
“Don’t lie!”
Anger swallowed the fear whole. Todd now hurled formal titles aside, spitting venom.
“You killed her! You killed my little sister while she was drunk, trampling her to death! Are you trying to insult the dead as well?!”
It was a cry of despair. Yet Kyle looked down on Todd without a trace of emotion. No anger. No surprise. Only a cold mockery that spread across his face, as if finding him pitifully pathetic.
“There was that rumor for a while. Those maids back at the castle whispering nonsense. You still believed it as truth?”
Kyle casually pointed out the truth. Phoebe had indeed been struck by Kyle. Since he had spilled the wine, he had wielded his hand as punishment at the time. But the one who had killed her was not Kyle.
Phoebe had died from a clandestine meeting with another man. In the end, it was a banal clash of emotions—love, betrayal—culminating in murder. That was the truth.
The slap Kyle had given. Phoebe’s death. Kyle’s infamous name. Those maids had once woven those three elements into sensational lies that circulated among the castle.
‘There was someone still believing that nonsense.’
Leina had remembered the rumor too. But it was so absurd and full of contradictions that it had faded quickly once the true culprit was caught.
The problem was the Todd in front of him.
‘Used as a wonderfully crafted chess piece.’
Enora and Karon had known Todd still believed the rumor. They had used the truth to discredit it as well.
‘I see the pattern.’
A vague comfort, a meaningful silence, and a casual mention of the Grand Duke’s power would have fanned Todd’s sense of victimhood. The true culprit had already been quietly dealt with.
Back when Kyle had been a worthless nobleman, he had known of it but overlooked it as insignificant. Yet Todd seemed to have no idea the true culprit existed. What remained for him was a meticulously manipulated grudge by someone else.
“No….”
Todd violently shook his head, eyes reddening with denial of reality.
“It’s a lie! Young Master Karon and Lady Enora definitely told me….”
“You only heard what you wanted to hear.”
Kyle cut him off coldly.
“You saw only what you wanted, believed only what you wanted. Without the courage to seek truth yourself, you simply surrendered to the hatred fed to you and found solace.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Todd roared like a beast.
“You killed my sister! Now you dare insult her honor and my revenge?!”
Kyle listened to the cry and laughed lowly.
“I accept those who seek revenge.”
The crimson light beneath his green eyes flashed menacingly.
“But.”
Kyle’s voice turned as cold as ice.
“The true enemy is different. I won’t accept even a moron with a stupid, narrow mind who mistakes him for the enemy.”
Todd’s body jerked as if struck by a whip.
Kyle stepped forward. His long shadow enveloped Todd’s entire body.
“You threw away the chance to be a true avenger yourself.”
At that moment, thick crimson energy rose from Kyle’s fingertips like mist.
“So this time, I’ll use you more usefully.”
“W-what are you going to do?!”
Todd’s eyes filled with instinctive terror as he tried to speak. But the crimson energy from Kyle’s fingers pierced Todd’s brow.
[Blood Soul Induction Art.]
The technique that had plunged the orcs into civil war. It widened the cracks already forming in the heart with sheer force. It forced doubts that had been ignored into view. It twisted suppressed grievances and betrayals into something explosive.
Kyle had no intention of permanently dominating Todd’s mind. With his current body, he could not maintain such refined and long-lasting brainwashing. At best, only a few hours. But that was more than enough to use right now.
Todd’s eyes shook madly.
‘Did Young Master Karon really deceive me?’
‘Was there really a separate true culprit?’
The truth he had desperately tried to ignore and deny was now forcibly confronting him. The grievance and betrayal were being forced to explode by the crimson energy.
Kyle looked down at the panting Todd and smirked.
Karon had prepared safety measures after all. He had prepared a disposable pawn burning with revenge, handed the letter to that pawn’s hand. If something went wrong, he would claim it as the mad soldier’s solo rampage.
Todd was already dead, and no more direct testimony could follow from him. But it didn’t matter.
“Anyway, even if that guy survived and spoke, it would be hard to take as evidence. Karon could easily have called it the madman’s nonsense.”
Kyle’s eyes flashed coldly.
“However, with both orcs and humans watching publicly, the cry of a man who slashed his own throat will carry far greater credibility than a living witness’s words.”
“That’s true.”
“Yes. The cracks remain.”
Kyle said with conviction. That alone was enough.
Kyle watched the Great Orc Warrior read the letter and smiled with genuine pleasure.
‘He seemed to want to throw me to the Great Orc Warrior and kill me.’
Fighting the Great Orc Warrior was not a trap Kyle needed to avoid at all. Rather, it was a welcomed arena for battle.
A strong enemy nurtures the Blood God Sutra. The blood and death of the battlefield, and the duel, would nourish his body. And tomorrow, if he survived the duel against the Great Orc Warrior, or even better, defeated him,
the name Kyle Hartvalt would be carved into the true Hartvalt of this northern frontier.
‘Karon. Even if you hadn’t schemed, I would have gone to the duel. You’re making a cute move.’
Above all, Kyle had no intention of killing Karon right now. The real target of destruction could not be killed in a moment. Take away what the opponent values most, one by one, and drive them to utter despair.
‘For example, for Karon, it would be Elena Verdin.’
That was the proper way of the Blood Cult Leader to treat enemies. Kyle turned his gaze from Todd’s corpse.
‘First, I need to prepare to defeat the Great Orc Warrior.’
Fighting strong foes would also be in the Blood Cult Leader’s way.
Shortly after. Before the transport platform. Tension crackled in the air on the outskirts of the orc encampment when suddenly Todd sprinted toward the orc camp.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
The soldier commanding the transport platform panicked and shouted urgently. Human soldiers instinctively reached for their weapons. The orc warriors raised their massive axes and hammers in response to the sudden human action.
“Stop, human!”
“Krrk! I’ll kill you if you come closer!”
But Todd did not stop. His eyes were already bloodshot with rage and betrayal. He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. And in a voice that tore at his throat, he cried out.
“I was deceived!”
In the shocking cry, both humans and orcs froze. Amidst the silence, Todd’s accusation erupted.
“Karon Hartvalt deceived me! The true enemy was separate, but he made me believe Kyle the Grand Duke was the enemy! He hid even the existence of the true culprit and used me!”
Todd pulled the letter from his bosom and held it high above his head. The evidence of Karon’s dirty conspiracy that Kyle had returned.
“Young Master Karon commanded me! To deliver this letter to the Great Orc Warrior! To beg him to kill his half-brother Kyle Hartvalt in the duel tomorrow!”
The commander’s face paled like a sheet of paper.
“What nonsense! Are you mad?! Stop immediately!”
The soldier drew his sword and approached, but the orc warriors swung their weapons to block him.
“Krrk! Let me hear your story!”
“Wait, human!”
With the orcs’ help, Todd bought time and did not stop. His voice, edged with fury, rang out.
“If things went wrong, I was prepared to take all the blame and become a traitor! I was a disposable pawn from the beginning! But I thought it didn’t matter! Because I believed Kyle the Grand Duke was the enemy who killed my only sister!”
His voice cracked miserably.
“But it wasn’t! I was deceived thoroughly! For half a year! Even the fact that there was a separate true enemy hidden, Young Master Karon used my grudge as a mere tool for the power struggle!”
Deep in the orc camp, a murmur rose. Soon, the earth trembled with the thunderous footsteps of an overwhelming presence. The Great Orc Warrior, radiating an aura that brooked no challenge, revealed himself to investigate the commotion. He looked down at Todd, the human soldier, with curiosity.
Todd stretched the letter toward the Great Orc Warrior with trembling hands.
“This is evidence! The letter from Karon Hartvalt to you orcs! If you kill Kyle Hartvalt, you will become the new successor, take control of the Hartvalt Duchy, guarantee the orcs’ safety, and open paths for food and southward migration!”
The Great Orc Warrior’s eyes narrowed with interest. The faces of the human knights and soldiers showed panic at the sudden major incident. Todd looked back toward the walls one last time. With a bloodcurdling smile as if facing Karon hiding somewhere there, he said.
“Karon! I am not a disposable pawn for your dirty ambitions.”
He drew his dagger from his waist. No hesitation. And he immediately pointed the sharp blade at his own neck.
“If I survived and spoke, you would dismiss me as the mad soldier’s nonsense and bury me! So I will prove my sincerity! The weight of these words I spit! With my own life!”
The next moment.
Thrust!
Todd plunged the dagger deep into his own neck without hesitation, ending his life. Crimson blood gushed across the snow. His body convulsed a few times before going cold.
Both humans and orcs watched the shocking scene in stunned silence. And the Great Orc Warrior, intrigued by the human’s attempt to prove the truth even in death.
“Bring the letter.”
He ordered the shaman beside him to retrieve the letter fallen on the snow. He unfolded it with his massive hand and read the content. Unlike his rough appearance, the Great Orc Warrior could read.
* * *
A short distance from the transport platform and the orc camp, Kyle watched the entire scene. Leina, Wulfran, and Lumia stood quietly beside him.
“My lord.”
Leina asked in a low voice.
“Will this deliver a huge blow to Young Master Karon?”
Kyle chuckled.
“Not that much.”
Karon had prepared countermeasures as well. He left no evidence. If something happened, he would call it the rampage of a mad soldier. Todd was already dead, and no more testimony could follow.
But it didn’t matter.
“Anyway, even if that guy survived and spoke, it would be hard to take as evidence. Karon could easily have called it the madman’s nonsense.”
Kyle’s eyes flashed coldly.
“However, with both orcs and humans watching publicly, the cry of a man who slashed his own throat will carry far greater credibility than a living witness’s words.”
“That’s true.”
“Yes. The cracks remain.”
Kyle said with conviction. That alone was enough.
Kyle watched the Great Orc Warrior read the letter and smiled with genuine pleasure.
‘He seemed to want to throw me to the Great Orc Warrior and kill me.’
Fighting the Great Orc Warrior was not a trap Kyle needed to avoid at all. Rather, it was a welcomed arena for battle.
A strong enemy nurtures the Blood God Sutra. The blood and death of the battlefield, and the duel, would nourish his body. And tomorrow, if he survived the duel against the Great Orc Warrior, or even better, defeated him,
the name Kyle Hartvalt would be carved into the true Hartvalt of this northern frontier.
‘Karon. Even if you hadn’t schemed, I would have gone to the duel. You’re making a cute move.’
Above all, Kyle had no intention of killing Karon right now. The real target of destruction could not be killed in a moment. Take away what the opponent values most, one by one, and drive them to utter despair.
‘For example, for Karon, it would be Elena Verdin.’
That was the proper way of the Blood Cult Leader to treat enemies. Kyle turned his gaze from Todd’s corpse.
‘First, I need to prepare to defeat the Great Orc Warrior.’
Fighting strong foes would also be in the Blood Cult Leader’s way.