Chapter 316
Chapter 316: Heavenly City (6)
"My heart."
Medea's gaze pierced through Kim Minwoo's inventory.
Her crimson pupils slowly shifted to Lee Seokjun.
"What are you looking at like a rat?"
It was a languid voice.
A voice devoid of emotion, as if looking down at a bug on the side of the road.
Lee Seokjun's face turned pale.
"B-Blood Witch. Our Demonic Cult has no intention of making an enemy of you—."
Medea closed her hand.
Udeudeudeuk━!
A blood-red hand soared in the empty air.
It was massive.
A hand the size of a building swept over the entire Demonic Cult group.
"Keuaaak—!"
"S-save me—."
It was before the screams could even finish.
Kkwajik.
Like squeezing dried filefish, the blood-red grip tightened.
A red mist bloomed.
Dozens of elite martial artists disappeared without a trace. Neither bones, nor flesh, nor even screams remained. Only the blood-red mist filled that space.
Just a single blow.
That was the end of it.
"Keuhaak—!"
Lee Seokjun, the sole survivor, struggled in the empty air.
Caught between the blood-red fingers, his entire body was being crushed.
"Blood Witch! Do you think you'll be safe after daring to touch our Demonic Cult—."
Eudeuk.
The fingers tightened.
The sound of ribs breaking.
The sound of internal organs bursting.
Lee Seokjun's eyeballs bulged as if they were going to pop out.
Medea completely closed her hand.
Peok.
The two factions of District 8.
Red Flag and the Demonic Cult.
Their elites were annihilated in just a few minutes.
A blood-red shower poured down.
The remains of what used to be Lee Seokjun scattered in the empty air. Flesh, bone fragments, and pieces of internal organs fell, following gravity.
However.......
They did not touch the ground.
The red liquids bent toward Medea.
As if she had become a giant magnet.
The drops of blood pouring from all directions changed their trajectory and were sucked toward her.
Seueup.
Her pale skin inhaled the blood.
It didn't wet her clothes or her hair.
The moment the red liquid touched her, it disappeared as if seeping in.
Veins flushed red beneath her skin, and then became pale again.
Silence descended.
Medea slowly turned toward Kim Minwoo.
A pale face without a single drop of blood on it.
Her crimson pupils stared at him.
"Lady Ananke returned it."
It was a calm voice.
"Right?"
Kim Minwoo nodded.
"That is correct."
The Sealed Heart in the inventory was beating madly.
As if it had found its owner.
"She told me to deliver the heart to you."
The corners of Medea's mouth slowly went up.
"But, the delivery fee isn't free."
"Then?"
"I would like you to keep the pact you made with Lady Ananke for me."
“A pact, huh…….”
As if recalling a fond memory, Medea's red pupils temporarily blurred.
Soon after, she spread three fingers.
“Good. If you hand over the heart, you can ask three things of me.”
Kim Minwoo recalled the story he had heard from Leruje in the past.
―However, the pact is not an unlimited wishing ticket. There will be limits to the requests. For example, if you tell her to die, she wouldn't just quietly die for you.
So, it meant he had to choose his requests well.
“Will you, give me the heart first?”
Greed lingered in Medea's eyes.
“I will give it to you.”
The dynamic of making requests without giving the heart was not very good. How far and how actively she would listen to the three requests was up to Medea's freedom.
The lower her favorability, the higher the chance she would mess up the requests.
‘If that's the case, it would be better to give her the heart and just raise her favorability even a little bit.’
Kim Minwoo took out the Sealed Heart.
Thump―!
The heart standing before Medea beat wildly as if it had found its owner.
Just like meeting a lover separated long ago, Medea's eyes had also long since fallen into ecstasy.
“Come here.”
Medea's chest opened wide.
There were no bones, nor flesh. Only an abyss where red blood swirled.
The floating heart was sucked right into it.
Clack.
The ribs closed.
“Ah…….”
Thump―!
A massive heartbeat shook the entirety of District 8.
Veins traveled up beneath Medea's pale skin. A red net starting from her neck, spreading to her face, arms, and entire body. As if water seeping into dry land, something that had been sleeping for a long time was awakening.
Her crimson pupils grew deeper.
It wasn't blood-red.
It was the abyss itself.
“……I waited a long time.”
Her voice changed.
The languor disappeared, and a sticky weight was loaded into it.
Kugugugu―.
The sky of District 8 began to be dyed red.
[One of the Seven Lords, ‘Blood Witch’ Medea has regained her complete physical body!]
A message dyed deep red popped up.
District 8 turned into hell.
Swaaa―!
A downpour made of blood poured over the city.
One trainee fell to his knees.
No, he didn't kneel.
His legs lost strength from the overwhelming momentum, and he slumped down. The comrade next to him twisted his body to run away.
Cheolpeok.
His foot slipped on a blood puddle.
He smashed his face into the floor.
The sound of his nose bone breaking.
But he couldn't even let out a scream. Because he felt like he would die if he opened his mouth.
“Get down!”
“Don't make eye contact! Please!”
It was instinct.
Even though she had come down from District 1 and had a penalty placed on her, it was at this level.
Raising one's head in front of the Seven Lords was an act of suicide.
All the trainees in District 8 knew that fact to their bones.
Ureureu―.
They collapsed like dominoes.
Those who had been standing, those who had been running away, those who had been holding their breath.
All of them smashed their foreheads into the ground.
Bloody water soaked their faces.
The disgusting smell of iron pierced their noses.
Even so, they couldn't raise their heads.
Medea slowly looked around.
Prostrating ants.
Trembling bugs.
Those who didn't even dare to breathe.
The corners of her mouth went up.
"So, what is your wish?"
"This, I think you might be able to enhance it."
What Kim Minwoo took out was precisely the Blood Water Jade.
[Blood Water Jade]
[Grade: Special.]
[A round bead that traps blood.]
[Effect 1. Absorbs the blood of a desired corpse.]
[Effect 2. When the blood fills above a certain level, its structure can be changed to a ‘Blood Prison’.]
[Effect 3. Undead can be placed inside the Blood Prison to be enhanced. However, the amount and type of blood each undead can accept is different. (Applicable Undead: All)]
Its characteristic was that it could absorb an opponent's blood to enhance summons.
It was an item he had bought from the Achievement Shop and used usefully. However, its utility had become a bit ambiguous now.
The reason was simple.
Because as the level of the summons increased, from a certain point on, they became unable to absorb the blood of the Blood Water Jade.
‘Adult Dragon's Blood Phase 2.’
Roughly up to that level was the limit of blood the Blood Water Jade could trap. It was a structure that couldn't absorb the blood of beings higher-ranking than that.
It wasn't to the point where he couldn't understand.
It was an item worth merely 1,500 points in the Achievement Shop.
Because it didn't make sense for infinite enhancement to be possible through this in the first place.
"It's a fun bead."
Medea, receiving the Blood Water Jade, stroked its surface as if analyzing its inside.
"Do you think enhancement is possible?"
"It's possible. Is that what you want?"
"I want it."
"You could probably make a bigger wish."
"There's no guarantee you would grant that, right."
At those words, Medea smiled as if amused.
"You know how to control your greed."
"Well, delivering the heart wasn't a big deal, was it?"
"Hmm…… Good. The first wish, I'll grant it."
Medea wrapped the Blood Water Jade with both hands.
Chiiii―.
A blood-red pattern bloomed from her palms.
Cracks like capillaries spread across the surface of the Blood Water Jade.
They were not cracks.
They were being engraved.
Like living blood vessels, red lines covered the entire bead.
Wuuuung―.
The Blood Water Jade vibrated.
The bead, which had a murky red light, gradually became transparent.
Inside it, a dark red as deep as an abyss swirled. Just like a living heart.
Medea's brow furrowed minutely.
A drop of sweat flowed down her nape.
Her pale complexion turned even whiter.
Her fingertips trembled minutely.
‘……Huh?’
Kim Minwoo tilted his head.
One of the Seven Lords is sweating?
Is the Blood Water Jade an artifact of that caliber?
Or is she putting more effort into the enhancement than expected?
"Are you alright?"
At Kim Minwoo's question, Medea withdrew her hand.
"There's no reason I wouldn't be."
It was a calm answer.
She slowly reached out her hand.
Toward the empty air.
At that moment.
Eudeudeuk―!
Screams erupted from all over District 8.
"Keuaaak―!"
"S-save me―!"
The trainees who had been prostrating, those who had been holding their breath, those who had been trying to run away.
Hundreds of people were simultaneously dragged up into the empty air.
An invisible grip grabbed them.
Kkwajik. Kkwajik. Kkwajik.
The sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the entire city.
Bloody water poured down.
All that blood was sucked toward Medea.
Seueup.
Her pale skin flushed red, then soon returned to its original state.
Life returned to her complexion.
The sweat disappeared.
Medea smiled.
"Because blood is everywhere."
"Still, I would prefer if you didn't kill too many ordinary people."
"Why?"
"Because it is a place I will take over. Then they are the ones who will become my believers in the future…… if you do this, it becomes a bit troublesome."
"Believers……. You use a fun word. By any chance, do you possess divinity?"
"Who knows?"
"Hmm……."
Medea's eyes thoroughly licked over Kim Minwoo.
It was a look as if a spider was looking at its prey.
Kim Minwoo stealthily grasped his sword.
Behind him, the four Legion Commanders were summoned.
Plus the horde of Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
"I thought I asked rather kindly…… but the look in your eyes is a bit much?"
"Because divinity is a precious resource. But, aren't you going to make your second wish? Asking me to spare your life."
"Why waste a wish ticket?"
"You might die, though?"
"We'll know who dies once we clash."
Guidance of Destiny.
Descent.
The group of enhanced Legion Commanders.
And…… up to Mythical grade items including the Death Emperor's Crown.
He hadn't come up to District 8 for no reason, even knowing Medea could come.
It might be a different story in District 1 where there are no penalties, but within the lower districts…….
‘I might be able to kill her.’
At that sight, the corners of Medea's eyes narrowed.