It was a Unique Skill. Quartz had heard of it before. He had even witnessed it in battle once before— used by Overlord Arcadius of Suprus. However, it hadn’t been an offensive Skill used for battle. Instead, it was used to reverse the damage that Quartz himself had caused in Suprus.

He had never seen anything like it before. Even though Quartz had ravaged an entire continent, burning it all to the ground, Arcadius had reversed it all. The destruction to the landscape— the deaths. It was all turned back to what it was before.

And just like that, everything Quartz had worked for his entire life had been for naught. His vengeance against Suprus. For how they had treated him. Born into the life of a lower caste, forced to be a slave as an adult.

In such an unjust world, he had burned it all down. He didn’t care who it was, whether they were of the higher caste or lower caste. He slaughtered them all, defying the System.

Before he had been cast away as a heretic, surrendered to the Judge, and turned into an Inquisitor. A forever slave.

Regardless, none of that was relevant any longer. What he had to focus on was what he saw around him.

And it was an unfamiliar world. A dark world. Where the sky was an inky black, and the landscape was devoid of life. There was no grass, no trees, no bushes. The soil was barren and dry. Even the undulating shadows of the mountains in the distance lacked the color of the white snowcaps.

There were only two things that stood out in this colorless world. A decrepit white castle stood a few miles away from the Inquisitor. Its walls had fallen, crumbling to the ground. And up above, in the sky, a black sphere floated where the sun would be. A crimson ring circled the sphere, pouring out a waterfall of blood onto the ground below.

“Just what is this place?” Quartz asked as he glanced around with narrowed eyes.

“Why are you asking me that question?” Lapis replied from the side. “I am as lost as you!”

“I wasn’t asking that question to you, you idiot!” Quartz spat, before shaking his head. “This has to be some sort of pocket space… but I’ve never seen one this large. It is almost like it’s its own world.”

Quartz gritted his teeth as he looked up at the black sphere floating overhead.

“I do not understand— how could a random human from Extim have a Unique Skill before me? This is ridiculous!” Quartz exclaimed.

And Lapis spoke up next to him. “Wait, what’s a Unique Skill?”

“It’s—” he started as he turned towards her.

But then the ground rumbled beneath her. He stumbled back as he looked up, hearing a bellowing voice boom all around him.

“FOOLS!”

“What is going on?” Lapis asked as she caught herself, steadying herself on her broom.

Quartz’s brows snapped together as he lowered his broadsword. “That voice is coming… from the world itself?”

“YOU HAVE HURT MY BABY, AND FOR THAT, YOU SHALL SUFFER AND DIE!”

The voice screamed, and the ground broke open beneath them. Both the Inquisitors leapt into the air as they watched a deluge of blood pour out of the ground, filling the earth. It was a torrent unlike anything they had ever seen before.

It began to fill the world as even the castle and mountains were flooded with this dark crimson liquid. Lapis hopped onto her broom, grabbing onto Quartz so he wouldn’t fall in.

“What is this…?” Lapis asked as she looked down at the sea of blood.

“I don’t know. But we need to be careful of it.” Quartz shook his head, staring down at the pooling crimson liquid.

It began to rise higher and higher as he stared down at the crimson abyss. But nothing else happened. And he pursed his lips.

He had seen enough blood in his lifetime— spilled enough blood to know for certain that it was just blood. That it was nothing toxic or noxious. That it was not acid that would melt his bones. So he made a gamble.

“Lower me down,” he said, looking up towards his companion.

“Excuse me?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“It’s blood. It’s nothing dangerous. We’re worried over nothing.” Quartz spoke insistently.

And Lapis hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Quartz rolled his eyes, before shoving her hand off him. She blinked and dropped him into the sea of blood. And just as he said, all he did was float there.

He looked up at her with a grin. “I told you.”

“That’s…” she started.

But suddenly the blood beneath Quartz rippled. He blinked as he looked down, watching as the wave split open. And something grabbing him by the foot.

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“What in the—” Quartz’s eyes grew wide as he squirmed in the blood.

There was something in the ocean. Something massive. Something that dwarfed him in size. He tried to break free from the grip of whatever it was, before swinging down with his broadsword.

And his attack cut open the surface of the blood, revealing the creature down below.

It was—

A whale. Far larger than any whale he had seen. Its body was covered with bone-like spikes. And it glared at him with a single red eye.

“What are you?” he asked, staring at the monster biting onto his leg.

His broadsword had struck its hard skin, barely leaving a small cut there. Quartz cursed as he tried to break free. He swung down again and again and again. And the monster barely recoiled from his attacks. He could not break free.

But that was not all.

The surface of the sea of blood rippled, showing more shadows lurking underneath. And the realization settled in as Quartz swept his gaze over his surroundings, seeing the dozen or so whale-like creatures circling him— drawing closer to him.

He couldn’t escape unless he got out of the ocean. He screamed in pain as the monster chomped harder into his leg. Another one swam up to him from the side, biting onto the side of his shoulder.

Looking up, Quartz called out to Lapis as she hovered above.

“Save me!”

And Lapis, staring at him as he was ripped apart by the monsters… only shook her head.

“Who’s the idiot now? I’m not the one who told you to jump in.” She gaze at him callously.

“What…?” Quartz could only look at her in disbelief.

Lapis flew back, flying further away from the sea of blood. And she left Quartz behind by himself as he was surrounded by the whale-like beasts.

“Y-you—” Quartz whispered as he felt another maw clamp down on his other leg. More and more of the monsters took bites out of him as he still struggled to break free, only to fail. “YOU BITCH!”

His voice echoed, only to be immediately silenced as the whale-like beasts pulled. And his body was torn apart in all directions.

***

Lapis never liked her human companion. She always found him annoying. But unlike her twin sister— who wore her emotions on her sleeves— Lapis learned that pretending to not care about anything was the best way to avoid conflict. So it brought her no greater joy to leave Quartz behind as he was torn apart by those monsters.

Her eyes flickered as she looked down at the sea of blood below.

No longer was there any ripple or disturbance on the surface of the ocean. Those giant beasts had resubmerged into the crimson depths once Quartz was killed. And now, the sea was continuing to rise in height, filling this world in its entirety.

Lapis flew on, higher and higher, not sure where she was going. But she just knew she had to get away from the sea of blood.

Otherwise, she would be killed like her companion.

“But where can I even go?” she asked herself as she looked around.

And that was when she spotted that black sphere. It floated there, at the top of the dome-like sky encasing her. It continued to pour out its blood into the world, filling this world with death.

“However, if that’s where the blood is coming from… that could be my escape,” Lapis realized as her eyes lit up.

So she flew upwards, heading for her newfound destination. For the black sphere that filled this world with blood. It was her only possible route of escape.

Unlike that idiot Quartz, she actually thought ahead. That was why she asked questions. And that was why she was not going to wait around until the blood filled the entire world and she was killed like him.

Lapis eventually reached the black sphere. And just as she expected, it was not just a sphere, but it was like a hole in the world. A hole that filled space itself, with an entrance from all sides.

She flew in with a grin plastered on her face, heading into a dark tunnel. “Yes, I can get out of here—”

But she was cut off by a rumbling whisper.

“You truly are a fool…”

Lapis blinked. And that was when she realized the tunnel was not just a dark tunnel. Along the walls were spikes. No— teeth. Jagged teeth that linked the tunnel from all sides.

And quickly, the teeth began to close in around her.

“Oh no…” Lapis whispered.

And she closed her eyes as the walls of teeth clamped down on her.

***

“It’s over…” Lena whispered, before letting out a burp.

The two Inquisitors were dead. She knew they were dead. For she had sent them to her inner world and consumed them before they could break free. Perhaps if they were fast enough or strong enough, they could have escaped.

But Lena knew they were weaker than her, even from the brief battle they fought. Their levels were closing in to hers, however not enough to pose a threat to her life. After all, the only reason she couldn’t kill them with regular Skills was because she was not normally a combatant.

However, with her Unique Skill, she could deal with almost anyone within the vicinity of her level. Even those who were a few dozen levels above her.

Whatever the case was, she no longer had to be concerned with those Inquisitors. Instead, she had more pressing issues to attend to.

Lena shook her head as she glanced back at the little Demon girl lying on the ground. And she rushed over to her daughter’s side immediately.

“Aria, are you ok?” Lena asked as she checked the little Demon girl’s pulse.

Weakly raising her head, Aria stared up at her mama. “I-I’m fine… I’m just—”

“Yes, Aria?” the Leviathan asked worriedly.

And Aria paused. She looked past Lena with a glazed-over gaze. “Is that papa?”

“Damien’s back?” Lena blinked, before glancing back. And her eyes went wide at who she saw there. “That’s—”

A beam of purple light shot out and struck Lena in the shoulder, piercing through her skin and bones. The Leviathan stumbled back as blood poured out of the wound on her shoulder.

“Oops, I missed,” the figure standing there chuckled.

Lena cursed as she looked up, staring at another Inquisitor standing before her. He wore the same purple armor as the others. Except, his was far more ornate, with jewels encrusted onto its surface. He had red skin. A forked tail. And he had a goatee growing out of his chin.

He was far stronger than the other Inquisitors. When neither of them could hurt Lena earlier, he managed to injure her with a single— albeit a sneak— attack.

He swung a pitchfork around his back as he shook his head.

“Well, no matter, I won’t miss the next shot,” he said as he took aim again.

And Lena could only grit her teeth as she watched his pitchfork glow with the same purple light as before.