Carrying the young girl in his arms, Ritter strode through the crimson mist like the Grim Reaper himself.
Wherever he passed, Piruka soldiers collapsed in droves. Their life force was drained dry in an instant, becoming fuel to sustain this blood-soaked hell.
Just as he casually crushed the skull of a finely dressed man who appeared to be some high-ranking official, he suddenly paused.
"Wait..."
His crimson eyes blinked as realization struck him.
"I've been so busy fighting and stuffing myself that I almost forgot the real reason I came."
He looked down at the girl in his arms and grinned.
"Since we're already here, it'd be a waste not to pay Piruka's treasury a visit."
"Imu promised me seventy percent of their wealth, but I can't exactly expect him to haul it out for me."
"If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself."
With that, he changed direction.
Ignoring the scattered remnants of fleeing soldiers, he spread his Observation Haki to its limit.
Almost instantly, he locked onto an area deep within the royal capital where energy signatures were unusually concentrated and security was significantly tighter.
The Royal Treasury of the Kingdom of Piruka.
To be fair, they had hidden it well.
There were even special materials capable of interfering with Observation Haki.
That was only natural.
If the treasury couldn't resist Haki detection, the Allied Army would have stripped the kingdom clean long ago.
Unfortunately for them...
Ritter's mist seeped through every crack.
His perception began with his mist.
Observation Haki merely expanded upon it.
His figure became a streak of crimson as he raced toward the treasury.
A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Hehehe... treasure, I'm coming."
The young girl looked at Ritter.
Then toward the path ahead.
Then back at Ritter again.
"Heh... heh... heh..."
She puffed out her cheeks slightly and tried to imitate his laugh.
"Hee... hee... hee..."
Ritter blinked.
"...?"
The girl blinked back.
"...?!"
...
Just as he approached the massive alloy doors guarding the treasury, the dense blood mist ahead was suddenly forced apart by a powerful force.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Heavy, synchronized footsteps echoed through the mist.
A fully armored elite force clad in streamlined silver armor emerged from every corridor.
Each soldier carried advanced energy weapons, forming ranks before the treasury gates with flawless discipline.
Even as the kingdom stood on the brink of collapse, they had never left this place.
That alone spoke volumes about how priceless the treasury's contents truly were.
Standing at their head was Kaf, the commander who had previously guarded the city walls.
His massive mechanical body towered like an iron fortress before the entrance, his electronic eyes locking firmly onto Ritter as he stepped from the mist.
"Ritter!"
"This is the sacred treasury of the Kingdom of Piruka!"
"Halt immediately!"
His voice boomed with unquestionable authority.
In simpler terms...
He was putting on quite the intimidating act.
Unfortunately...
Nobody got to show off in front of Ritter.
Kaf's enormous gravity gauntlets lit up, twisting the surrounding space with distorted force fields.
Apparently, they used the same technology as Galvin's.
Ritter stopped.
Looking at the defensive formation before him, he simply let out a dismissive laugh.
"Heh."
"Fast response."
"But..."
"You think you can stop me?"
Strong?
Perhaps.
Compared to ordinary people.
Compared to Ritter...
They were nothing more than small fry.
He didn't even bother drawing Black Tide.
He merely raised a hand lazily.
At that moment...
The surrounding blood mist erupted violently.
Then...
To the horror of Kaf and every elite soldier present...
Figures began stepping silently out of the rolling crimson fog.
One after another.
Each wore battered blood-red armor.
Each carried a condensed blood blade.
None of them roared.
None of them screamed.
Only suffocating silence remained.
Scarlet soul flames burned within empty eye sockets.
Thousands upon thousands of Blood Warriors emerged until the entire plaza before the treasury was packed solid.
A crimson army faced a silver one.
These Blood Warriors were created by combining Ritter's Calamity power with fragments of fallen souls across the battlefield.
An extension of the Blood Prison Scroll.
Creatures that knew neither fear nor exhaustion.
Born only to kill.
A Shadow Army?
No.
This belonged solely to the Lord of Mist.
The Blood Skeleton Legion.
Normally, Ritter rarely used this technique.
These warriors were little more than blood mist shaped into soldiers.
They possessed only basic combat instincts.
The truly powerful didn't fear them.
The truly weak couldn't overcome them.
Still...
When it came to looking overwhelmingly intimidating...
Nothing did the job better.
Besides...
He wanted to browse the treasury in peace.
No interruptions allowed.
After all...
What kind of emperor had no personal army?
Without another glance at Kaf or his elite guards, Ritter continued walking toward the treasury.
"Hold them."
Just two simple words.
The Blood Skeleton Legion moved.
Like a crimson flood bursting through a broken dam, countless Blood Warriors charged fearlessly into Piruka's silver-armored defenders.
Blood blades clashed violently against energy weapons.
The entire plaza exploded into battle.
Kaf roared.
One swing of his gravity gauntlets crushed over a dozen Blood Warriors into clouds of blood mist.
But before the mist could even settle...
More warriors were already reforming from it.
This...
Was the world of blood mist.
Here...
As long as the mist remained...
The legion would never truly disappear.
Ritter paid the battle behind him no attention whatsoever.
His footsteps never slowed.
As though the fierce slaughter happening behind him had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Protected by countless Blood Warriors...
Amid earth-shaking battle cries...
He calmly walked toward the sealed alloy treasury door.
An emperor...
Never looks back at the explosion.
"Stop him!"
"Whatever it takes!"
Kaf roared with bloodshot eyes as he watched Ritter casually approach the entrance.
Ritter didn't even bother figuring out how to unlock the door.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly toward the enormous Blood Dragon floating behind him within the mist.
"Open it."
The dragon's blazing crimson eyes stared coldly at the gate.
Then...
Instead of unleashing a breath attack...
It simply opened its colossal jaws...
And bit down.
BOOM!!
No techniques.
No tricks.
Only overwhelming force.
The massive alloy gate, strong enough to withstand heavy artillery bombardment...
Was ripped apart by the dragon's bite.
A gigantic hole was torn straight through the treasury doors.
Beyond it...
A deep chamber shimmered with dazzling treasures.
Ritter nodded in satisfaction.
Still carrying the young girl, he stepped forward.
"Bastard!!"
Seeing the treasury breached, Kaf let out a roar of despair.
Ignoring the Blood Warriors hacking into him, he overloaded his gravity gauntlets.
Brilliant light exploded from the devices.
A massive gravity wave capable of warping space itself shot toward Ritter's back.
The young girl quietly murmured,
"...That might hurt a little."
Ritter didn't even bother turning around.
Though inwardly...
Black lines appeared across his forehead.
Behind him...
The enormous Blood Dragon swung its massive tail.
Bang!
The gravity wave vanished soundlessly.
Completely erased.
The Blood Dragon slowly withdrew its tail.
Its scarlet eyes continued looking down upon the battlefield with cold indifference.
As though it had merely swatted away an annoying fly.
Its gigantic body drifted through the blood mist, radiating an overwhelming pressure that crushed all hope.
This path... is closed.
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