The long-awaited day arrived with a speed that mocked the prayers of the lords. This was the moment the protective veil would finally dissolve. Those who had grown complacent behind the shield were about to face a brutal awakening. For days, the Origin had coddled them, allowing development and bestowing unprecedented blessings. Why would such a ruthless system offer a helping hand? They were seconds away from discovering the cost.
Leo had spent the final hours of the night locked in combat with Vesper. His body was finally synchronizing with his new rank, his movements becoming fluid as he mastered his soul weapon. Vesper, a shadow assassin, was a relentless tutor, pushing Leo's dagger work and footwork to a razor's edge.
Malphas stood sentinel at the site of the Scarlet Crown barracks. As the first rays of dawn struck his armor, the Crimson Knight looked like a statue forged from blood and light. 'Should I reveal the fragments of memory that have resurfaced, or wait until the trial has concluded?' Malphas mused, his eyes fixed on the pulsating energy radiating from the obsidian structure.
Leo emerged from a cold bath, a ritual kept more for his mental clarity than physical necessity. As he made his way toward the construction site, he noticed Gleam hovering near the entrance of the undead barracks.
''Gleam, why are you loitering in there?''
Gleam turned and offered a deep, elegant bow. ''Ah, Master! Your presence is as radiant as the dawn. I am merely overseeing the stewards' penance.''
''Penance? In the undead barracks?'' Leo asked, glancing at the dark doorway.
Gleam's smile was sweet, yet sharp. ''The head maid has ordered them to scrub every skeleton until they gleam like polished marble.''
'Scrubbing skulls... Verdict certainly has a creative streak,' Leo thought with a chuckle as he moved toward his new epic barracks.
Gleam trailed behind him, a silent shadow of service. At the center of the camp, Malphas was already waiting.
''Malphas, are you eager to see the new addition to our forces?'' Leo asked.
The knight saluted, then reached up and unlatched his helmet. As he pulled it away, his silver hair cascaded down to his waist, catching the light.
''Oh my,'' Gleam whispered, her eyes wide as she took in his ethereal features.
Leo couldn't blame her. Even he had been taken aback by the knight's ungodly beauty when he was first summoned. Malphas rarely went unmasked, so his choice to reveal himself now signaled a weight of importance.
Malphas looked at Leo, his expression strained. ''My Lord, as my rank has evolved, so too have the locks on my past. I have remembered things.''
''That should be a celebration, shouldn't it? Why the grim look?''
Malphas hesitated. ''It concerns the House of Scarlet—''
A low-frequency hum drowned out his words. The veil of energy surrounding the barracks shattered like glass, revealing an architectural marvel. Four pillars of pure obsidian, eight meters high, anchored the corners of the site, their surfaces carved with glowing ritual runes. At the heart of the structure, a waterfall of liquid blood cascaded from an unseen source.
Leo felt a visceral pull. His own blood began to boil in recognition, and the Guardian Blood Statue nearby hummed in a deep, resonant harmony.
His system interface flared into life.
[The House of Scarlet Crown has been successfully constructed.]
[In an age lost to time, there was a warlord known only as the Scarlet Sovereign. He was a man who rose from the mud, carving a path through an endless sea of carnage. On a battlefield soaked in the lifeblood of thousands, he realized a forbidden truth—power does not vanish when a heart stops; it lingers in the essence. With the souls of the fallen, he forged a crown of living blood. When it rested upon his brow, whole nations knelt, and reality itself bent to his whim. His empire eventually crumbled, and the Sovereign vanished, but his power did not die. It was scattered, hidden in fragments. The House of the Scarlet Crown is one such shard of his legacy.
The Scarlet Crown did not field a simple army. It unleashed a hunger—an assault from the earth, the sky, and the shadows… all of it painted in the color of death.]
Available Units:
Scarlet Legionnaires (Rare): The backbone of the sovereign's power. Elite infantry with unbreakable discipline. — Cost: 30 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Veinbound Guardians (Rare): Living walls. These shield-bearers can link their life force to allies, redirecting damage through blood-barriers.— Cost: 30 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Bloodshade Archers (Rare): Marksmen who fire arrows of condensed blood that seek out their prey—cost: 35 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Veil Assassins (Rare): Ghosts of the mist. They utilize a blood-haze to vanish from sight, striking from the shadows.— Cost: 35 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Crimson Wing Riders (Rare): Terror from above. Fast, aggressive aerial combatants mounted on winged beasts.— Cost: 50 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Veil Bat Swarm (Rare): A living cloud of teeth and wings. Weak alone, but devastating in numbers— Cost: 50 Blood Essence, Corpse of Uncommon grade or higher.
Special Units: Blood Drakes: Lesser dragons forged from blood essence. Their breath carries the rot of a thousand battlefields— cost: 100 Blood Essence, Corpse of Rare grade or higher.
[Upgrade requirements: Another Shard of the Scarlet Crown, 1000x Blood essence, Corpse of Epic-grade C rank or above]
Leo gazed at the list of units, the potential of the Scarlet Crown sending a cold thrill through his veins. This was more than a mere building; it was a bridge to a lost age. He turned to his commander, whose silver hair caught the crimson light of the waterfall. ''Finish your sentence, Malphas. What is your connection to this house?''
''Do I have your permission to show you the fragments I have recovered?'' the knight asked. His voice was a hollow rasp, burdened by an ancient, heavy grief.
Leo gave a short nod. He trusted Malphas implicitly, and the curiosity was a gnawing itch in his mind. Malphas breathed out slowly, closing his eyes to activate the Sanguine Link.
Leo felt a visceral pull behind his eyes. Suddenly, the courtyard was gone, replaced by a world of nightmares. He saw a skeletal child kneeling in prayer before a monument identical to his Guardian Blood Statue—but this version was a titan, towering hundreds of meters into a sky choked by a dark, eclipsing sun. The sheer power radiating from the stone made Leo's mental image of the vision shake.
The scene flickered forward. The boy was older now, but his frame remained frail and broken. He collapsed at the foot of the titan, his life force flickering out. Then, a single, heavy drop of blood fell from the statue's face, splashing onto the dying youth.
The final vision was the most jarring. A shadow of a man stood upon a balcony of obsidian, a crown of living blood hovering above his brow. Below him, an impossible legion stretched to the horizon—hundreds of thousands of soldiers, soaring dragons, and mountain-sized giants. They were a sea of crimson and iron, waiting for a single word. The man raised a hand, and the dark sun was consumed by a weeping blood moon, turning the atmosphere into a thick red haze.
''The Creator will be born again,'' the warlord's voice boomed, vibrating in Leo's very soul. ''Until his birth echoes through the cosmos, we shall wait in the silence of death. He will call, and we shall rise to serve.''
The link snapped. Leo recoiled, gasping for air as sweat poured down his face. He stared at Malphas, who seemed just as haunted by the images. 'Who is the Creator? And is Malphas a fragment of that world-ending army?'
His questions were cut short by a violent tremor that nearly knocked him off his feet. He looked up to see the sky shattering. The golden-blue veil, the only safety they had ever known, dissolved into brilliant pillars of light. The shield was gone, and the raw, predatory energy of the Origin rushed in like a freezing tide.