Two days... Sirus had been staying in the Red Swamp for two days without any food or drink.

Kneck deep in blood red mud he stalked his prey, waiting for it to show itself, not letting his guard down for even a second.

[Hey! are you still alive?]

A voice resounded within his head. It was the familiar voice of a girl which annoyed him to no end.

Continuing to wait for the appearance of his prey, he continued to stay quiet and motionless... completely dismissing the girl's voice.

[Ey! Stop ignoring me! We have been here for two days straight now! The thing you're hunting is probably long gone or dead by now!]

Nagging as always... he never did understand how an artifact could be so talkative.

For the first part he knew his prey was still there, since a faint mana signature can be felt deep in the dark abyss in the middle of the swamp. He also knew that the thing was also aware of his existence... and right now, it was only a battle of patience, and he who strikes first dies.

But in reality he had already won.

[Is he about to come out know? Maybe you already killed it with the poison and is already lying dead in the bottom of the swamp.]

"It's alive I can feel it, the poison is strong but it will take time to actually force the beast out of it's hiding place, it's not an idiot like you."

[Who are you calling an idiot!?]

"Shut up, I can feel it getting closer."

A dark figure appeared in the middle of the crimson swamp quickly growing in size before suddenly launching out of the water's surface, it was a six foot long eel-like demonic beast covered in countless tiny little needles all over its body.

Opening its gaping maw wide revealing several rows of sharp serrated teeth, the three-eyed demon beast shot out a torrent of blood red acid.

Sirus quickly disappeared from the demon beast's vision and instantly moved at the beast's side. With a simple slash with his longsword the beast's iron scales were easily broken through---a plume of blood shot out as its head was severed from the body.

Now laying dead, the needle like spikes on the beast's body retracted back into its flesh.

After catching the demon beast's carcass in mid air, Sirus landed back onto solid ground.

[You dealt with it with one blow why couldn't you just have swam into the swamp and killed it instead of waiting for it come to us for two days!?]

Hearing the loud complaints within his head while putting the demon beast carcass into a sack, Sirus sighed.

"Only an idiot would jump into enemy territory without thinking, individual power isn't the only thing important in a battle. If I were to fight in the demon beast's territory the swamp water would have slowed my movements, the beast would be able to move faster in water, and the small space would be a disadvantage for me."

[Sheesh... alright, alright, you're the tactician, lets just get back to town already... it's smelly here.]

After the voice in his head finally resigned, for the time being at least... he picked up the sack and hung it around his shoulder to set off back into the town he was staying at.

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Without much problems except the ocassional dire wolf which would be baited by the smell of a demon beast carcass, Sirus was able to safely return back to Greywood.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

It was an poor old town by the border of the Blood Saint Empire. A backwater town where thieves, murderers, whores, mercenaries, bandits and all other kinds of shady people converge. Most the townspeople and even the empire's guards stationed here are corrupt. It was basically a town dedicated to sin, the best place for Sirus to stay low as long as he had enough money to pay all the 'curious' folk.

After giving the guards a few silver coins they opened the city gate despite his obviously suspicious looks wearing a black cloak stained by blood and mud with a sack dripping with blood on his back.

Sirus walked the town's streets... drunkards, beggars, criminals, mercenaries, and prostitutes was all there was to behold other than the run down houses and buildings.

He stopped for a moment and looked up at the darkened sky, a series of memories played inside his head...

'Pathetic humans...'

He continued on his way...

It was an unexpectedly uneventful walk back to the inn he was staying at---a rare occassion for such a place.

"Welcome back kid, I was almost sure you had died in the Red Swamp but what do you know, you even return here with the corpse of the Blood Eel."

The one who originally gave Sirus the job to hunt for the Blood Eel was the woman who owned the only inn of Greywood. Mama Hem, a big woman with short curly hair the color of flames. Once hailed as an A-class adventurer known as the Blazing Lion, she was now managing the only inn of a backwater town after being discharged when she killed a young female adventurer who had an affair with her ex-husband who was now also six feet deep in the earth.

After Mama Hemmy had fully inspected the kill, she gave Sirus a small pouch with fifteen gold coins inside. Finished with counting his pay Sirus walked upstairs to his room and overheard a group of drunk mercenaries on the way.

"Did you hear that the empire's Blood Knights are actually here? They say the Soul Collecter had been spotted near the town."

"Hah, bullshit rumors! Who would believe in such a thing? Soul Collecter my ass!"

"But the stories are true I tell ya!"

[Looks like they're talking about you...]

'We're leaving this town tomorrow.'

Entering his room Sirus decided to take his long awaited sleep and threw himself at the bed.

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Augustin Redd, the current leader of the Blood Knights. A group of some of the empire's best soldiers dedicated to the containment---or in some unavoidable circumstances--the eradication of all mysterious beings or phenomena that may prove harmful to the empire. He is one of the empire's most promising warriors of the current generation, the first born of the noble Redd family that was known to bear sword masters ever since the birth of the empire, but Augustin was even more special as he was personally trained by a hero for some time.

Stength, status, merits, and even a fiance he loved with all his heart... he had it all. That was until his fiance, the former leader of the Blood Knights had come into contact with an unknown enemy that had reportedly caused the destruction of a few of their encampments and even a fortress---the Collector of Souls. It was the only reason he took up the position as the Captain of the Blood Knights... to get revenge.

Unlike the rumors would like to exaggerate, he believed that whoever, or whatever the Soul Collector really was, it wasn't some death god who had come to punish men, but a mortal that can bleed himself, and it would be a mortal he would kill.

After being on the Soul Collecter's trail for more than a month without any reliable findings, a supposed sighting in which was arguably the empire's worst town came up.

Wether reliable or not, it was his only lead.

"Captain! Is it really true that the Soul Collector can kill a person just by looking them in the eye?"

The youngest and most energetic of his squad members, Abigail Grimm, codenamed 'The Crimson Vortex', asked him with her trademark carefree smile stamped on her face.

"Actua-"

Before he could even reply someone else raised their voice.

"Bullshit! I heard he was actually the old lord of demons himself and could actually split a mountain with ease!"

It was another one of his subordinates, a big burly man with a physique that would put an ogre to shame, 'The Hands of Reinzen', Andre Ax. He used to be a gladiator in the imperial city, but after a while, no more worthy opponents could quench his thirst for a challenge... of course that was until he was completely beaten by Augustin who he swore to follow until he becomes strong enough to beat him.

"You two are wrong, the Soul Collector is surely nothing more than a mortal, nothing our leader could not handle."

Again another one joined the conversation. It was the usually timid Edina, 'The Shadow of Death', a slave that Augustin had rescued a few years ago, which turned out to have talent with the sword comparable to even the sword saint himself. She was the closest one to him out of them all, and Augustin saw her as a younger sibling in his eyes.

"Heh? Is that so but actually I heard-"

All of his subordinates argued about the Soul Collector on the road, except for Diane, 'The Howling Reaper', the most mysterious of all his squad members. She rarely spoke, even more so than Edina. And her face would always be covered by a mask and not a patch of skin would not be covered by her thick leather gartments. The only thing really visible was her long and slightly curly jet black hair that would peek out the hood of her cloak.

Augustin could only sigh as he saw the Town of Greywood coming closer into view from the horizon.