Chapter 413: Blood Demons
"Crap. Crap. Crap."
Marcus cursed inwardly, clutching Serah close as his gaze remained locked on the distant crimson spike that pierced from the like a bloodstained fang.
He grit his teeth.
’I stayed out too long after using that much dark myst... should’ve retreated right after the job. Damn it... I’m still too close to Caelmoor. I thought I was far enough out just get to the outskirts—but of course I got traced. I should’ve known better.’
Two centuries had passed since the third Demon War, and in that long, bitter aftermath, dark mages were no longer seen as humans. They had become myths twisted into monsters—demonspawn wearing human flesh. It started subtly: whispers, suspicions, minor exclusions. But it escalated into open hatred once the Crescent and Solara Kingdoms signed their infamous decree—declaring dark mages as threats to all of mankind and vowing to purge them completely.
The Tempest Kingdom had tried to oppose this cruel decision, urging diplomacy and restraint. But their pleas fell on deaf ears. Crescent and Solara moved forward with resolve, and the hunt began.
But humans weren’t the only ones who desired the extinction of dark mages. From the abyssal horrors of the third Demon War, a new predator had emerged—one born and bred for the hunt: Blood Demons. These were not mindless beasts. They were precise. Efficient. Perfected through centuries of carnage.
After the war’s end, the Blood Demons had spread across all of Amthar like a red plague. They didn’t discriminate. They didn’t hesitate. They simply followed the pulse of dark myst—and killed. Their pursuit was relentless, and over time, the number of surviving dark mages had dropped to a number so small, it could be counted on one hand in some regions.
With both humans and demons thirsting for their blood, the dark mages fractured. Some, desperate to survive, betrayed their own kin—using them as bait to escape Blood Demons. Others chose cowardice, hiding in caves, forests, or ruins, waiting for death to come quietly. A few, broken in spirit, surrendered outright to Crescent or Solara, willingly walking into their graves.
But not all chose to cower. Some fled from humanity altogether, taking the fight to the Blood Demons themselves. It was through these brutal clashes that one grim truth was uncovered: Blood Demons were uniquely suited to track and eliminate dark mages.
They could sense the very essence of a dark mage. Every myst affinity left a trace—but dark myst was unlike any other. It infected the blood, made it pulse in an unnatural, syncopated rhythm, like a second heartbeat. To Blood Demons, that strange pulse was as bright as a flare in the night, allowing them to trace a dark mage from miles away.
And tonight, Marcus had made that signal burn like a bonfire. He had unleashed a high-tier spell—Hollowing Veil—to wipe out the Bleeding Smile, the sadistic cult of murderers and slavers. The plan had been clean and quick with no witnesses and no trails.