... What a cruel world it is...

Manta is dead. General Litharin Fanine is dead. Franz Reinhard is gone. Rabbit is gone. And Keasius has betrayed us.

At least I still have Fin, Frelhr, Sting, Pikaia, Rika, Rintan, and everyone on the Hero's Party on my side, right?

The gloomy red skies were devoid of the sun. The Blood God's revival is imminent. Even Den, the Hero, wouldn't be able to defeat them. Not to mention the fact that the old Hero and the Baphomet are also against us.

Are we really going to succeed..? Hope is not lost yet, for we still have a potential solution to all of this. That Salmon Shark may just be the only way to win this almost unwinnable war.

... It's been a few hours of sitting on this plane now. Though, I was beaten pretty badly back in the ant nests, another strange interference was in the air, not electromagnetic magic interference, but something else. It must've been the reason why I was severely weakened, and why I passed out that quick. It may be faint and slight, but bloodlust was always following us around back there. Normally, my regenerative abilities would've prevented me from going unconscious, but during that time when I was about to fall asleep, that faint bloodlust, grew significantly stronger...

What in the world even happen back there..?

"Hmmm... By the way... I've been thinking about it for a while now... Captain Cantaloupe, what is that huge thing around your neck?"

Says Feradon, looking at the huge collar- or whatever that thing is on Cantaloupe's neck. It's similar to that of a collar, but it's too large and thick to be called one. It looks like a small object could fit in that thing.

"Meow meow? This? Oh, it's just a small lil portable grill! I use it to cook some fish or something, and eat it! Hahahaaa!!"

"P-Portable Grill?! You mean-... That thing can be opened, filled with charcoal, and then heated up to cook food?!"

What an odd portable grill..! Not even that existed in the old world-! Or maybe it does exist? It doesn't look like it uses any magic... Though, the average person would burn their necks. It could've been some cruel device back in the old world actually...

"Yes, of course... What else did you think it was? Fishes are common around here, but I do eat other food as well!"

"But in this situation... Fishes wouldn't even be in the waters anymore... The Blood God has ruined the beautiful ocean, what will you eat now?"

"Do you really want to know that badly? I eat anything, of course. Anything that fits in this grill! Once it's ready to eat, I just bite!"

"Anything? Really..? Is that really the only way for you to eat?"

"Well. It can be taken off, but I can't seem to reach the lock..! Not that I even have the key anyways!"

"Who has the key? And why not just break it down?"

"Are you mad?! Grr!! Who would want to destroy this expensive, and very useful grill?!"

"Woah woah. I'm sorry, but why won't you take it off? Most small creatures will die soon, and use of that thing will decrease."

"Hah... Meow meow. Mind your own business, this isn't just for food, you know? I can also put drinks in it."

Eh..? What an odd device. It's pretty useful though. It would be a bit heavy to wear, such a huge piece of metal, but I guess it's not a problem for Cantaloupe?

The flight went on for a while. Looks like we can confirm it now, the red sky is everywhere. What did the Blood God even do? What does this have to do with their revival anyways? I thought they were just collecting souls?

Suddenly, an unexpected slash cuts through the plane.

God... I almost forgot about it again...

"You mustn't worry-- Sundown Lighter-- Holy kingdom--"

The Tale of the Great White gave me important information, but for me to waste it by forgetting....

"W-what?! The plane's going down!! Meow meow!! Rintan, what's happening?!"

Cantaloupe yells, as they fall, separated from us.

Everyone screamed, as we went down into the ocean. It would've been terrible now if we touched the red waters, but what can we do? Where even is the enemy?!

"AAAAHH!!"

"Oh no... We're falling... Guess I only have one option left. With this broken arm, and weakened body, physical abilities are rendered useless."

"What are you even talking-?!"

We then began floating. Is this [Fly]? No... It's [Fly II]. For such a spell to be used at this scale... It must be from Rintan- wait. it's not Rintan?! This magic energy is different... It's Sushi? Did they switch?

"Woah!! I'm levitating!?"

"What's going on?!"

Everyone panicked. But Rintan- or Sushi, remained calm. Looks like this really is her work.

"Sushi?! How dare you steal Rintan's body again!!"

"Relax, Captain. Rintan woke me up. Spatial Investigation."

[Spatial Investigation]? Is she searching for the enemy, Sundown Lighter? I've already casted [Spatial Investigation], yet I still can't seem to find them...

"There you are. Abyssal Magic: Divine Light. Abyssal Magic: Shadow Dragon Resonance."

[Divine Light]?! It's been a long time since I've heard that. [Shadow Dragon Resonance] is a well-known Abyssal Magic spell though. Still, it's really impressive that Sushi can actually use them.

"Now... Looks like the problem's gone."

"W-what even happened?! The plane just randomly got cut in half and then we began floating..!"

"A strange man attacked us. Don't know what's going on in the world right now, but seems like you guys are going through tough times. May I help?"

The strange bloodlust, and magical interference in the air is gone. Was it because of Sundown Lighter? If that's true, then that would mean that Keasius already began his attack on us not too long after we entered the salt mines.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Rintan- no... Sushi... Alright, we'll get all the help we can..."

"Good. Rintan probably wanted to save you guys, so let me just.... Fly."

Sushi then took us out of the ocean. A small ship was sunk in the shallow red waters, so she put us on what we're able to step on.

It's difficult to keep balance, but it's better than falling into the waters.

"Hah... I doubt Rintan would let me roam for a while, so this'll be the most I can do for now."

Not to worry. My Magic Energy has been replenished after Sushi took out Sundown Lighter. I could do something to get us out of here now.

Oh wait. What about that one spell that she told me about? [Blood Reformation] or something? It'll be the first time that I'll use it, but it's the only way to get out of this situation right now.

"Blood Magic: Blood Reformation."

Luckily, there's a pile of corpses beneath us. Good way for trying out a spell for the first time. It's not lucky for them, but at least their death won't be in vain now.

"Woah! The ocean is freezing..?! Vixen, I didn't know you could do that..!"

"Meow meow? Is this Blood Magic? Are you a vampire? Rintan has told me about your Blood Magic already, but it would be impossible for just a human to use Blood Magic at this level..!"

Well. Let's just say that I'm not just an ordinary human.

"Let's talk about that later. For now, we need to get out of here before the water rises. It'd be bad if we even get touched by the water. Considering Lare's reaction to it...."

"It hurt a lot... Felt like my entire body was burning..! Let's not talk about that again, just remembering it makes me sick..."

We proceeded to walk down the frozen blood path I made using the fallen people's blood. It's hard, hard enough for us to run on at least.

A thick red fog always surrounded us. I cast [Spatial Investigation], and it seems that the nearest land is a bit too far away... This blood from the corpses on that ship won't be enough. We need more. Maybe fish will work? There's a ton of dead fish under the shallow waters. I guess I'll use them.

"Blood Magic: Blood Reformation."

"More path? Let's go!"

"You know... It feels kind of wrong to step on the blood from many corpses as a road..."

Well. It's the only option we have right now. Rintan has switched, Sushi is now sleeping again. Without Sushi, we won't be able to fly, since she's the only one here who can use [Fly]. I'm a powerful mage, but even [Fly] is an exception, or maybe I'm just suited for Blood Magic.

Huh? There's a huge creature walking behind the fog. It must be difficult for everyone to see it, but I have [Spatial Investigation]. I can see that it's a "Blood Dweller", rare monsters that can only be found deep in the ocean. They must've been showing up now because of the Blood God, and their curse.

"What is that?! It's huge..! I'd rather not get close to it..!"

"What are you so scared of? It might just be a random lil fishy cursed by the red smoke!"

"A cursed fish? Yeah. More reason to stay away from it. If you've been in the ant nests with us, you'd see with your own eyes, how a 'little' ant became an abomination that almost crushed everyone."

"Pfff- pffwahahaaha!! You guys got knocked out by a tiny lil ant?! How weak does one have to be to get beaten by an ant!?"

"Hah... Why do non-human have such high egos..?"

Hmmm... It seems that Lare is right. Pikaia, Lide, and Cantaloupe are really confident about themselves, is this common for talking creatures that looks like humans, but are not?

"Vixen, that weapon of yours... It looks like a ranged weapon. Isn't this a good opportunity to use it? We have a good target here too. My arm is still broken, so I won't be any help for now. Please forgive me, until we return."

No need to apologize, Rintan... I was already planning to, but now, one thing is for sure.

Rintan can only use physical attacks, and that Intestinal Break thing from earlier. Meanwhile, Sushi can use Magic spells, and at such a high level at that. Perfectly balanced, don't you think?

I aim Divine Intervention at the Blood Dweller. The red clouds are blocking most sunlight, but this should still be enough to destroy that monster.

Bang!

I shoot the enemy with Divine Intervention, but unexpectedly, the damage is way too strong..! An explosion occurs, blowing up the monster, and the area around it. Water is launched towards us, giving us no time to escape.

"AAAHHHHH!! DO SOMETHING!!"

Without a way to escape, I simply cast [Holy Barrier], big enough to protect everyone from the incoming wave.

"Phew... That was close... Who knows what might've happened if we got hit by the red waters..."

"I-Im sorry everyone, and Vampire... I should've told you to use something else other than that extremely powerful weapon..."

Well. Nothing bad happened, so let's just continue our way back to land.

We walk past the defeated Blood Dweller. It's remains are scattered everywhere, another horrible sight to see, but at least the ground is clear from red water now.

I use the blood splattered everywhere to turn them into another bridge to protect us from the red waters. Later, we stop to rest at a small island. I can't sense any bloodlust around, so this should be a safe place to sleep for tonight.

"Are we going to sleep here..? On this island..? On this sand..?"

"Of course, but for rich people like you, you probably wouldn't even know how to make a campfire, so you can just go and dig into the ground or something. You're a cat aren't you?"

"Cats don't sleep in a pit in the ground! And besides. I'm not even a cat. What made you think that? Meow meow?"

Cantaloupe is not a cat? Well. It might've been obvious since they didn't even have cat ears, or a tail, but why do they keep saying 'Meow Meow'? They're not even trying to imitate a cat, just literally saying 'me-yaw, mi-yaw'.

Later, we built a small camp for everyone to sleep in.

"The sun is setting. Not that I can see the sun anyways, but the clock here says that it's time to go to sleep. I'll be guarding all of you, so rest well."

"Rintan? Come on. You need sleep too, right? I can be the guard, just-"

"Shhh shhh..! I don't need sleep, and I mean that literally. I have a mechanic that allows me to stay awake for 10 years without sunlight."

"Sunlight? Why sunlight? Are you going to die without sunlight?"

"Kind of. Besides. I need to repair my broken arm anyways. It's how I get sunlight as well."

Sunlight? Why does she need sunlight? Does she have a solar panel or something, that gives her electricity? Or is she a plant?

... Wait... Since we can finally rest, isn't this the perfect time for me to speak with Sushi and learn more about my abilities?

I place Divine Intervention somewhere safe before walking up to Rintan.

"Hey, Rintan. What are you doing out here? Everyone's asleep now."

"Oh. It's Vampire. I'm just watching out for enemies. What about you? What do you need? We don't have coffee, or tea around here. If you want to eat some snacks, save it for once we return."

"I'm not here to talk about that... Actually, can you switch with Sushi for maybe an hour? She's pretty strong, and powerful, why do you always keep her sleeping anyways?"

"That is-... You see... It's a long story, one that can bring fear to those who listens. Would you still open your ears?"

"Yes... Is it going to be like, 'Sushi awakened and killed everyone, oh no..!' Or something?"

"Wow. Good intuition, Vampire, but it's a bit more than that. Ahem ahem. One day, while I was asleep on the garden, a strange mosquito bit my foot. That's when memories began flooding into my brain. It hurt pretty bad, so I carved out a chunk of it."

"Eh..? Really..? How does one even carve out a chunk of their brain..?"

"Who knows. My hand just reacted on its own. Anyways. Since blood was leaking out of my brain, doctors took me to the nearest hospital to get treated. Magic wouldn't work, neither did physical treatment. That's when, a spark of hope shined from the windows... A girl opened the windows above my bed, carrying a bowl of brain soup. Though disgusting, 'it was the only way for me to survive', she said."

"What..? Why is there just a random girl carrying a bowl of brain soup..? This story doesn't make any sense."

"You may know her as Heart. Heart then immediately poured the brain soup on the hole in my brain. 'Death was beside my bed, so why not do everything in a desperate attempt to survive?' She said. Not only did the brain soup actually recover my injured brain, but it also gave me everything inside that brain, and I mean everything. Memories, information, and everything."

"So that's how Sushi Sand became part of you..? How did you even fuse with that brain anyways? People shouldn't be able to do that."

"Who knows. Now, back to the story. Sushi Sand was a talented person living somewhere in my hometown. Heart killed her, and took her brain. Later, she told me that Sushi wasn't dead yet, and that she continued to live within my Heart. Figuratively..... Now for some strange reason, after a group of bandits hunted me down. I was knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, everyone was dead. Both my guards, and the bandits."

"I see... That's a reasonable reaction for someone who has died. If I were to be killed, and then revived with a large group of enemies surrounding me, I'd do the same."

"Well. That's a normal reaction. Which is also the same reason why, I rarely awaken her."

"So? What happened to Heart? And what was that about the system, that Sushi has?"

"Who knows. Heart suddenly disappeared after I fully recovered. Sushi kind of calmed down now, since she isn't doing much damage over these years, whenever I wake her up."

"Hmmm... That's good. Well. Can I talk to Sushi now?"

"Very well. I shall be sleeping for the night. Please tell Cantaloupe to repair my arm while you're still talking. Now then. Bye bye."

Rintan falls down. Standing up again, with that same look that Sushi had.

Time to learn more about my abilities now..!