"Hurry up and execute the harvest of the kingdom! I have a premonition! Soon! Soon! I'll be able to truly control this divine artifact!"
"But Your Majesty, we haven't had time to cover the entire kingdom with Blood Scythe's mark. If we harvest now... the quantity might not be enough..."
"Not enough?"
"Then fill it with your own life! Use our own soldiers! Civilians! Even nobles! If you can't do it by today, you can go die!"
"Yes! Your Majesty! I'll do it immediately! Immediately!"
Watching the old man who was probably some kind of minister flee from the Emperor's palace in an almost running manner, Olesha was already used to such scenes.
The Empire's Emperor Modrek had been completely robbed of his sanity by that evil weapon. The country and people he might have originally cared about were now unimportant to him. He was single-mindedly obsessed with gaining Blood Scythe's recognition.
But in Olesha's view, this was utterly delusional. Even if the true ancestor of the blood clan was really gone, this weapon had no possibility of being controlled by mortals.
The Empire's Emperor was just turning himself into a puppet, a puppet increasingly unable to resist Blood Scythe.
"Tch! A bunch of useless fools! Olesha! Call your clan members here!"
"What are you going to do?"
Olesha turned from her previous attitude of watching from the sidelines. The madness on the Emperor's face already showed he wasn't lucid.
"What else could it be! Since the quantity isn't enough! Then we need to find other things to fill it! Heh heh, you dragons have such massive bodies, you must contain quite a bit of blood."
"You! We clearly agreed! As long as we serve you loyally! You wouldn't harm my clan members anymore!"
"Agreed? Don't you understand yet? I've already been magnanimous enough to grant you so much time. Now it's time for you to repay me! This is my command! Go immediately!"
"You! I! I'll fight you to the death! I absolutely won't let you harm my clan members!"
Black scales on Olesha's body pierced through that luxurious evening dress. Dragon horns grew from the top of her head, and wings and a long tail burst through the air behind her.
"Oh? The restrictions I placed on you have actually been lifted? Seems you're not as weak as I thought."
"Modrek! Aren't you afraid of divine punishment for slaughtering living beings like this! The war has already killed so many people! Still not satisfied?!"
"Divine punishment?! Once I obtain that demon's power! No one in this world will be able to stand above me! Those who are already dead?! They should feel honored by their deaths! They should be grateful to have contributed to my hegemony!"
Olesha frowned deeply. This beast in human clothing had long gone mad.
"Come on, see my current power!"
A thick bloody smell suddenly overflowed around Modrek. Crimson magic power like flowing blood coiled around his entire body like vines. His skin became even paler, and his originally black hair was also tainted with an inch of crimson.
Although still far from it, he had indeed achieved it—he had taken that step, becoming more and more like that legendary demon.
"You really don't understand, Olesha. I gave you so many chances to preserve yourself and your kind, but now I've figured it out. How about..."
"Your entire clan becomes the foundation of my hegemony!"
"You! You bastard! Damn monster! You're no longer human!"
"Human? Such a weak identity—I no longer need it!"
"Heh, die, Olesha. Let me taste what Dragon King blood is like!"
"Tch!"
Thick blood extended from Modrek's arm. It continuously coiled and spiraled, finally forming a spear as if made from congealed blood.
That heavy, pungent bloody smell made even a dragon like Olesha find it unbearable.
Honestly, she was afraid. That power—she wasn't experiencing it for the first time.
Last time, her chest was pierced and she almost died. If Modrek hadn't intentionally spared her life, she would have become dry bones already.
This time wouldn't be any different. Probably... really going to die...
"Calm down, calm down, you two."
"Who?! How dare you disturb me at such a time!"
Wait! Who is this?! When did they come in?!
A mysterious black-robed woman had somehow approached behind Olesha.
"Heh heh, your cheeks are quite soft, little Shasha."
"Don't! Don't touch my face! You! Who are you?!"
Completely unable to understand the other's behavior, at such a tense moment, this outsider chose neither side to support, but instead used her finger to press bit by bit on her cheek. Olesha urgently wanted to know the other's identity.
"How boring~ We were just discussing how to deal with this dog Emperor together~"
"You are! Heh?!"
Olesha's breathing became trembling. Beast-like hissing sounds came from her mouth, and she even felt a sudden moisture appear in her lower body.
The woman lifted her hood, then threw off that black robe entirely, her movements leisurely as if in her own garden.
Her pink hair seemed to reflect some kind of bewitching red light, with the ends of her hair covered by a red that seemed to flow.
It was an extremely cold face, so cold it seemed to despise all things. It looked almost exactly the same as the one in Olesha's memory.
Catania's face, especially that kind of temperament.
"Heh, what? Don't recognize me, Olesha?"
But in the next moment, an exaggeratedly large smile immediately tore apart that arrogance. Her mouth contained fangs, and blood-thick pupils reflected Olesha's face that was so frightened it was about to shed tears.
"Never mind, never mind. I didn't expect you to recognize me anyway."
The other patted Olesha's cheek, and an extremely obvious sound of flowing water broke the silence. Olesha, who had made that sound, didn't even have the spare energy to feel ashamed.
Demon King... the demon of blood...
Why... why would she think that...
Impossible... impossible... she's just a blood clan member, it must be so...
But why... would she show that exact same expression as Your Majesty...
Impossible... impossible!
How could it be! Could it be!
Your Majesty really has... passed away...
And this guy is just! Just borrowing that face!
Deceiving herself?
Olesha collapsed powerlessly to the ground, her entire face in a strange convulsive trembling, even her tongue stiffened at an odd angle.
"You! Who are you! Some blood clan member?!"
Emperor Modrek deliberately stepped forward with one foot, as if trying to appear less afraid.
"Me?"
The pink-haired woman lifted her foot in a stroll-like manner, the crisp sound of high heels touching the ground echoing throughout the entire space.
"I'm just here to take back what belongs to me."
As she raised her hand, from the depths beneath the Emperor's palace, a red light shone from the lightless darkness.
Boom!
"What?! How is this possible!!!"
Modrek roared. He witnessed with his own eyes that divine artifact—which he could never touch no matter how hard he tried or how much he abandoned his human identity—naturally returned to that pink-haired woman's hands.
Now, her identity was clear enough.