In a place filled with nothing but red, little Ambrosia sat on the wet floor while hugging her knees as red tears flowed from her eyes. The scene of the Templar Saint impaling Yongseo with his sword played in a loop in front of her.

Ambrosia desperately struggled to look away from witnessing the painful memory, but the image of Yongseo's blood-filled smile followed her gaze. She screamed and wailed as her heart ached upon losing another mother. Her eyes saw Yongseo's figure slowly overlapped with another woman with black hair and blue eyes, while the Templar Saint's image slowly turned into a man with silver hair and red eyes.

She felt her heart tear itself apart as she clutched her chest tight. Her cries echoed throughout the place, screaming and pleading for someone, anyone, to save Yongseo and the black-haired woman from their murderers.

Just as she was about to succumb to the pain, she suddenly felt warmth wrap around herself from behind, covering her eyes that stopped her from reliving her painful memories.

'Hush now, my child. Mother is here.'

Ambrosia worked hard to remember who the owner of the voice was. After 'meeting' her upon waking up, this version of herself hadn't shown itself until now. Recognizing this warmth, Ambrosia cried harder as she turned around and hugged her 'Mother.' She buried her face in her Mother's embrace and mourned Yongseo's death.

'How about Mother chase all the bad guys away while you sleep and take a rest in here? It will only take a moment.'

The girl in front of her spoke in a comforting tone. She wore Ambrosia's face, had Ambrosia's body, and talked using Ambrosia's voice. But Ambrosia could never see herself being the same person as her Mother.

She looked at her Mother, who was brushing her wavy platinum-grey hair with her fingers, with red stains tracing the side of her face.

'You, you can do that?'

'Yeah, why not? I'd do anything for you, my child.'

'Th-then. . . hicc. C-can you bring Yongseo back?'

'I may be the devil, Love, but even I can't perform miracles.'

'B-but-!'

'But I can make the bad guys go away so that they won't bother you anymore.'

'O-okay. . .'

'Sleep well, my child, and everything will be over by the time you wake up.'

'Mm.'

Alter Ambrosia princess carried the sleeping version of her as the objects emerged from the wet ground. Red eventually morphed into a comfortable room as Alter Ambrosia laid the sleeping her down on the bed. She then placed a soft kiss on Ambrosia's forehead and tucked her in before she left the room as quietly as possible.

After covering a considerable distance away from the room, Alter Ambrosia's body began to tremble. She held her stomach as she bent forward, eventually failing to keep her laughter in check as her chuckle slowly turned into an ominous cackle that echoed throughout the plane.

------

"NOONA!"

Seonchim screamed as she desperately traversed the dense, red fog that covered the entire area. She tried to grab ahold of the thick mist to activate her quirk but to no avail. She could only run aimlessly through the fog despite barely seeing anything three steps ahead of her. Her eyes darted around her surroundings, hoping and wishing for any sign of her beloved Noona.

A few steps later, her eyes met with another woman who bore the church's crest. As if she was a robot, Seonchim immediately lunged towards the confused enemy. Data lines emerged from her arms as she grabbed the woman's arm and sent her palm straight to the enemy's face.

"Overload."

Seonchim murmured. The woman's eyes widened as the lines from Seonchim's arms traveled to the woman's face. Just like that, the woman started convulsing in Seonchim's arms before imploding two seconds later. Like in a practiced motion, Seonchim stood up as the lines from her arms receded, flicked her arm to whisk away the blood from her hand, and wiped the trickling red liquid down her cheek. She then looked around, hoping to see anything else aside from the thick fog, but to no avail. And in a quiet tone, she whispered.

"Yongseo, please be okay. . ."

---

"No! Gongju-nim!"

Gun-in screamed as he took his quirk to its limits. He released most of his nanobots and created a massive photon cannon that blasted away the surrounding spirits at the expense of his increasingly dwindling health. He leaned on his weapon, using it as a cane to support his barely standing body. He heaved heavily as his sight started to blurry as green liquid trickled down his mouth. He internally cursed at his fragility as the photon canon slowly broke down and formed into another machine that looked like a vacuum. Unfortunately, before he could even take a step forward and operate the device, he stumbled and fell face-first on the ground.

Gun-in weakly tried to raise himself off the ground only to fail epically and let go of his gear. His eyesight slowly blacked out as he attempted to retract some of the nanobots and circulate them back in his body.

---

"You fucking son of a bitch!"

Jeonsa struggled to pull herself out of the bushes against the spirits still holding her down as she screamed on top of her lungs. She didn't need the condensed red fog to fill her view with red. Her eyes filled with rage as she ingrained the scene of the Templar Saint plunging his sword in Yongseo's chest.

Despite her red-filled sight, she could see how the Templar Saint took her Mother away from her. She could still vividly see the last expression Yongseo made and the final words she uttered before the Templar Saint held her lifeless body.

It wasn't until a bright light lasered through in front of her that she was able to stand and make her way towards the Templar Saint. She was too angry to think about the photon beam or the dense fog that she dragged her body to the Templar Saint's last known location without faltering while creating the sharpest blade her limping body could muster.

It wasn't until a bright light lasered through in front of her that she was able to stand and make her way towards the Templar Saint. She was too angry to think about the photon beam or the dense fog that she dragged her body to the Templar Saint's last known location without faltering while creating the sharpest blade her limping body could muster.

But before any of them could do anything significant, the condensed fog rapidly thinned as it gathered at one place.

---

Surrounded by flesh and blood, Ambrosia stood with her tattered clothes. Although she looked the same as earlier, she now carried herself differently. Instead of her usual curious but stoic atmosphere, the pressure of a predator replaced the air around her. Remnants of the dense red fog and the big red ball that hovered above her hand added to her murderous aura.

"Gongju-nim."

The Bam family whispered amongst themselves upon seeing Alter Ambrosia's figure. Although they hadn't witnessed the Blood Tyrant in their prime, they could imagine how terrifying he was through his daughter.

The red liquid morphed into a featureless mask as Ambrosia brought it to her face with an ominous grin. She turned to look at the people in her surroundings with her red, blank face that dripped and swirled like blood. From the stunned Seonchim, unconscious Gun-in, and surprised Jeonsa. Alter Ambrosia surveyed her surroundings, seeing that only a few survivors remained from the Bam family. Despite being outnumbered, most casualties belonged to the church, immensely entertaining Alter Ambrosia.

Alter Ambrosia's gaze finally landed on the Templar Saint. The Templar Saint still held Yongseo in his arms with his back turned towards Ambrosia.

"Are you regretting it, oh Templar Saint?'"

Alter Ambrosia quipped as the blood mist that surrounded them slowly thickened at the casualties on the ground.

The Templar Saint didn't respond. He quietly laid the motionless Yongseo on the ground before wiping the blood on his cheeks. He then looked back at Alter Ambrosia with calm eyes, piquing Alter Ambrosia's interest further.

"Hoo~ I'll take that as a 'no' then."

"Blood Tyr--"

"NOONA!"

Seonchim wailed upon seeing Yongseo's corpse behind the Templar Saint. She rushed towards the two, preparing both her arms as data lines trailed from her shoulders, aiming to eliminate the Templar Saint in one fell swoop. Unfortunately for her, before Seonchim could even get past Alter Ambrosia, the moment her foot stepped onto a puddle of blood from jumping over a corpse, the blood grabbed hold of her foot and immobilized her.

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"He's my kill, kiddo."

Alter Ambrosia commented with an amused look. Seonchim, on the other hand, only had Yongseo in her mind and making the Templar Saint pay that she almost used her quirk on Alter Ambrosia.

It was then when she saw Alter Ambrosia's red featureless mask showing a wide excited grin, daring her to go against Alter Ambrosia, that she got ahold of herself and finally snapped out of her raged stupor. A shiver ran down her spine as she gazed at her dangerous smile and obediently placed her hands down and dared not to meet her princess's eye.

"G-Gongju-nim. . ."

The Templar Saint didn't let this opportunity pass. He had been continuously ordering his spirits to apprehend ever since the red fog lifted, but Alter Ambrosia seemed unhindered in her actions. Having no other choice but to result in close combat, the Templar Saint rushed towards the church's enemy and aimed for her heart. But before his sword could reach his opponent, the red mist surrounding them suddenly solidified and received the brunt of the Templar Saint's attack.

"Isn't it quite rude for the Templar Saint to interrupt our conversation, kiddo?"

Alter Ambrosia asked Seonchim with the same blank red mask, acting as if there wasn't anyone trying to kill her from behind. Although she's had her fair share of taking care of Ambrosia during her younger years, similar to what the twins were doing, she hasn't met Ambrosia ever since she woke up. But Yongseo always described her as a sweet girl who's curious about the world. Never would she have imagined that the first time she would interact with her family's true savior would be the day Yongseo died.

"Y-yes, Gongju-nim."

"Gongju-nim. . ."

A weak Jeonsa approached as she pulled out her bladed arm and returned it to her bloody and wounded arm.

"Jeon--!"

"Yes, my dear, Jeonsa?"

Alter Ambrosia asked as the red mask split from the middle and exposed the same childish face that the twins have been serving for the past two years.

"Omma. . ."

Jeonsa weakly muttered as she wiped the trailing blood from the edge of her mouth and turned her less injured arm into a cane to support her weight. Both anger and despair filled her eyes as exhaustion overtook her expression. It was quite a pitiful sight, in Alter Ambrosia's opinion.

For the first time since her appearance, Alter Ambrosia adopted the warmest and gentlest smile she could muster to comfort the grieving girl in front of her.

"I'll take care of her, my child. I'll take care of all the bad guys and Yongseo. Trust in this big unnie, okay?"

Both Jeonsa and Seonchim were taken aback by how Alter Ambrosia called herself but could say nothing as it wasn't the right time for them to comment on such matters.

""Y-yes Gongju-nim. . .""

The red liquid reformed to its usual dangerous featureless mask as Alter Ambrosia giggled upon seeing two's unusual meek appearance. Jeonsa had always been a confident girl ever since Ambrosia's known her. She's also heard Yongseo talk about the other members of the family that her little Ambrosia hadn't met. Based on the girl's impatient temperament and protective nature, the unknown woman in front of her should be Yongseo's head-strong sister-in-law, Seonchim.

"You don't have to be so scared, kids. Take the other kids and go patch yourselves up, especially the twins. Just leave the rest of these big bad guys to me."

"By your will, Gongju-nim."

Seonchim bowed and turned away from her princess while supporting Jeonsa. Just as she was about to reflexively raise her empowered hand to defend herself from an incoming attack, a red wall emerged out of thin air, protecting her.

"Don't make me repeat myself, kid."

Alter Ambrosia warned in an authoritative tone just as another red wall appeared out of nowhere beside her. Seeing that, Seonchim immediately princess carried Jeonsa, who had passed out due to her injuries at one point, and rushed to cornered family and helped them. With a smile, Alter Ambrosia turned back to the ever aggressive Templar Saint who had been catching his breath for a few seconds now after his last attack.

"This can't be it, right Templar Saint? I mean, your invisible people are barely anything at this point, and I don't even have to lift a finger to kill you."

The older girl mocked as a red spike pierced the Templar Saint's foot as he was about to rush in once again with his short sword. He gritted his teeth from the pain as he slashed the spike with his sword and rolled to the right to dodge another one.

A wide grin formed in Alter Ambrosia's mask as she watched the Templar Saint cover his wound on his thigh while glaring at her.

"We're only after the Blood Tyrant. Leave the rest be."

The Templar Saint commanded as he wore his headphones for the first time today. Hearing their commander's order, the rest of the church's men shifted their attention to the family's princess and ignored the rest. The rest of the Bam family survivors were about to take this chance to attack the church, but Seonchim stopped them. She immediately led them out of the battlefield with their injured. She looked one last time behind as her princess manipulated the blood mist around her to morph into different objects to defend and attack the armed priests around her. She wanted to head towards her sister-in-law but knew she'd have no way to do so without risking her princess' ire and her life.

Alter Ambrosia's gaze never left the recovering Templar Saint who's eyes changed a few moments after he wore his headphones. She slightly tilted her head to the back as she dodged a water blade that came from the side. She then raised her hand and extended it to her opponent, grabbing him by the neck as her nails stabbed through them and tore his throat out.

"Are you finally going get serious?"

Alter Ambrosia asked with an excited smile as she swiped her red-clawed hand through the last brave priest that rushed in across their chest. Similar to how Ambrosia became her alter in a blink of an eye, the Templar Saint became someone else in mere moments as the light in his eyes vanished.

The Templar Saint sheathed his sword back as he placed his left leg far behind his right while leaning forward as if preparing a quick-draw attack. Seeing her opponent change also changed something within Alter Ambrosia. With her ever-present smile, she gathered enough blood in her surroundings to create a ball as big as a human head and had it float beside her.

The Templar Saint rushed towards her, his dominant hand hovering over its handle as he went past his people to get ahead. Just as she was about to be in range with his spirit-extended blade, Ambrosia morphed the ball of blood into a military pick and just in the nick of time to block the incoming spirit-bladed sword that would've cut her head otherwise.

"Wow, it's like you're an entirely different person! Not to mention an invisible blade? Not too shabby for a religious dog."

Mocked Alter Ambrosia as she took a step back with another swing with her free hand, drawing more blood from the unfortunate priests that got caught up with her blood-coated claws.

The Templar Saint didn't falter. He sent a horizontal slash which Alter Ambrosia tried to block with her red claws, only to get them cut off. She took another step back to dodge another attack from the Saint, only to duck at the last minute while doing a leg sweep that followed a red blade and sliced two pairs of legs at the same time.

Not caring about his falling comrades, he took another step forward and held his sword above his head with both hands before bringing it down to cut the tyrant in half. Alter Ambrosia tilted her body and dodged the incoming blade by an inch as a spike appeared behind a priest who was gunning for her in a short distance. She brought up her pick - which now had an extended handle - and hacked onto the priest's leg behind the Saint and sent another spike straight to his head as he was about to fall on the ground.

The Templar Saint focused on Alter Ambrosia's excited grin that reflected on her foreboding red mask. He became increasingly frustrated at how Alter Ambrosia continued to play with him as she killed each priest one by one while dodging or blocking his blows.

'Master, we have to kill her! There's barely anyone left!'

'If I continue to push your body further, you'll lose yourself to me more and more. You know how this works, Saint.'

'I don't care what happens to me! Just kill that menace!'

The Templar Saint swung his sword upward one more time and aimed it at the clawed hand that targetted one of the last three priests. Alter Ambrosia merely glanced at him as she retracted her arm from the priest and sent a clenched fist towards the Templar Saint's side.

The Templar Saint's eyes widened as he felt the full strength of the Blood Tyrant's punch. He slid a few meters back from the force as he desperately gripped the handle of his sword and positioned the blade in front of him. He heaved and coughed saliva and blood for a few moments before he could orient himself back to the life-and-death battle in front of him. But by the time he looked up, all he could see was a girl half his size, wearing a tattered hanbok painted with blood, carrying a priest by the nape on her left and a red military pick on her right. The Templar Saint felt the fear his people felt towards the Blood Tyrant just by looking at her.

Seeing the Templar Saint fight against the fear that's slowly creeping up in his mind, Alter Ambrosia let out a disappointed sigh as she dropped the priest and slowly made her way towards the Templar Saint while licking her wet fingers.

"Haa. . . What happened to you, Templar Saint? Aren't you the strongest Templar the Church has to offer?"

'Master! Do something! The rest are dead!'

'Any more than this, and you won't be able to use your body for at least a week!'

'If we don't end her now, who knows how much stronger she'll get in the future!'

'No! Listen to me, Jinsoo. We have to escape. You're no match for her as you are right now.'

'If I go now, then a lot more could die, Master!'

The Templar Saint struggled to take a step back, away from the approaching monster. Alter Ambrosia tilted her head to the side as she stopped in her tracks.

'If you won't, then I will!'

'Jinsoo! No! Don't be stupid! JINSOO!'

After a slight tremble, Jinsoo took back his body from his Master and removed his headphones. Alter Ambrosia observed Jinsoo with interest as the light in his eyes returned and turned back to the same Saint who fought him earlier.

Jinsoo glared at Alter Ambrosia and rushed towards her with a roar. He brought his sword above his head and slashed it down as fast as he could. On the other hand, Alter Ambrosia twisted her body to the side to dodge the attack before sending a right hook straight to the Templar Saint's jaw. Now getting bored with the Templar Saint, the little girl followed her punch with a spinning kick using her momentum and sent Jinsoo to kneel on the ground.

"Haa. . . I'm getting bored, Templar Saint. You know what, let me tell you a story."

Alter Ambrosia began with a lazy tone as she watched Jinsoo get up from the ground and ready his weapon once more. The glare in his eyes never faltered as he placed one foot ahead of the other and recklessly swung his sword towards Alter Ambrosia.

The girl received the Templar Saint's short blade with her red military pick and stabbed her clawed hand in Jinsoo's side, burying it deep. The Templar Saint coughed up blood as he tried to shove the red-faced girl in front of him.

"Alarick Braeden, the Blood Tyrant, got his moniker, not because he's the most powerful in the clan, but because he had the keenest nose. He could smell how your blood would flow, which nerve it goes through, and which organ it powers."

Alter Ambrosia lazily explained as she pulled her hand out of Jinsoo's body and kicked him away.

"As his daughter, I could naturally smell your blood. You were too fast at first, a little unpredictable even that I enjoyed it. But you eventually burned out that I could see through your actions from a mile away. Disappointing."

Spikes emerged from the ground and impaled the Templar Saint's limbs upon raising him from the ground. Alter Ambrosia walked towards the church's last survivor, dissolved her weapons, and lifted Jinsoo's chin. She then extended her nails on her free hand and coated it with blood to sharpen it even more.

"Pity."

Just as she was about to pull his heart out after murmuring, the Templar Saint's arm suddenly phased through the spike and swung his blade across, aiming to behead Alter Ambrosia in one fell swoop.

Alter Ambrosia's eyes widened behind her mask as she took a step back and only managed a deep gash on her neck. The tattoos on her body faded to a darker hue as blood gurgled from her neck while coughing up blood. She held her neck with one hand as her mask reflected a deep, wide grin as her neck started to stitch itself back together.

"Da--amn~!"

Alter Ambrosia exclaimed with a hoarse voice as another spike plunged through the Templar Saint's stomach while another impaled his free arm, finally forcing him to drop his weapon. She picked up the short sword from the ground and played with it in one hand.

"I d-did not expect tha--at!"

Alter Ambrosia complimented as she felt her neck fully healed.

"Waaah! Who would've thought that you had that trump card, my Templar Saint! Hahaha! Well, as a reward for entertaining me until the end, I'll tell you one final story before I taste you. I've always wondered how the church would taste."

Alter Ambrosia licked her lips beneath her liquid mask before aiming the short sword straight at the Templar Saint's heart.

"The Saint you zealots eagerly pray to, the Saint that saved South Korea, and the Saint; you children claim to have ended the Braeden clan--"

Alter Ambrosia began, placing the blade on his chest and slowly but surely plunging it in as she continued talking coyly.

"Is--"

But before Alter Ambrosia could complete her thought, her eyes beneath her mask suddenly focused on the incoming object in a split second. She then tilted her head back as fast as she could to dodge, only to have her jaw blown off from the side.

Alter Ambrosia reflexively moved as she sent most of her blood mist towards the origin of the bullet. The tattoos on her body started leaking blood that colored her clothing as the red fog turned into thousands of small balls in an instant as they flew towards a building as fast as bullets. She ignored her sudden exposure to the setting sun and focused on exterminating the culprit. Her vitality fought against her burning skin as it regenerated her missing jaw and fixed her broken mask.

Little did she know, it was the perfect moment the church's backup had been anticipating. They couldn't enter the area because of the dense bloody fog, but they couldn't leave their only Templar Saint for dead either.

Making use of Alter Ambrosia's focus in toying with Jinsoo until the last moment to the point of dropping her guard, the church's marksman aimed to eliminate Ambrosia in one shot, only to miss. As Alter Ambrosia moved as the church predicted her to, the rest of the backup immediately went past the thinned mist and rescued their beloved Saint.

But not even that went their way.

The alter felt the spikes that held her prey and looked back. She morphed a portion of the mist behind her into tentacles and whipped its way to the Templar's retreating backs. Despite impaling most of the backups, Alter Ambrosia still failed to bring back her prey.

She clenched her incomplete lower jaw as she gazed at the dried-up bodies of her recent victims. The blood mist surrounding her thickened slowly once more as a portion of it entered the gaping hole on her face. Forcing herself to keep calm, she returned her bloody tentacles to her mist as she walked towards the only body carefully encased in an elegant red coffin.

'You like her that much, huh?'

Alter Ambrosia thought as the lid dripped open with a wave of her hand. Inside laid the motionless Yongseo, seeming to have only been sleeping peacefully.

With the dense fog blocking the sun from reaching her once more, her body slowly recovered from her burns. She gazed at Yongseo's pale figure, especially at the red patch on her chest, for a few moments before a voice came from behind that snapped her out of her daze.

"Gongju-nim."

Alter Ambrosia turned back and saw Gibyeong in full armor, kneeling in one knee with Seonchim behind him.

"Clean this place up."

Alter Ambrosia commanded as the lid reformed on top of the coffin with a wave of a hand. She then turned towards her house with the red coffin floating beside her.

"By your will, Gongju-nim."

Gibyeong and Seonchim answered before blending back in the red fog. Several women in red clothing appeared from the mist and walked behind Alter Ambrosia like a series of ladies-in-waiting.

The news about the day's events would eventually reach the public, stirring the country much more than the church, the government, or even the Bam family could have ever predicted - marking the beginning of Korea's unification.

But that story is for another time.