"What..."
A look of utter disbelief shadowed rlin’s face.
He looked around, only to see mangled corpses strewn everywhere and streams of blood flowing through the underbrush of the forest. Here and there, several trees had been decimated as well.
No matter where he looked, all he could see was blood, corpses, and utter carnage.
rlin’s heart grew cold.
"What the hell just happened?" He muttered under his breath, his tone laced with incredulity.
The perpetual smile that always hung on his lips was nowhere to be seen. Not even a shadow of it remained.
Complete and utter shock.
That was the expression rlin wore on his face. He was terrified by what he saw before him.
Hundreds of Mana Liqefaction-level beasts and countless more Mana Foundation-level beasts now lay dead. Not a single one of them had a complete corpse.
It was almost as if... a murderous typhoon had just swept through the clearing, slaughtering anything or anyone that dared to stand in its way.
And the most shocking thing was, the murderous typhoon in question—rlin the Mad—had no idea how all of this even happened.
A chill crawled down his spine.
Did I do... all of this? He thought to himself.
He rembered casting the Great Crimson Barrier. After that, he also rembered getting into a brutal lee with the blood beasts around him.
rlin’s plan was to use guerrilla warfare and take care of the enemy one by one, ensuring that they didn’t put abnormal pressure on the barrier.
But sowhere along the line, he had beco so engrossed in the Phantom Dance that he had lost track of ti, lost track of space, and lost track of... self.
It was almost as if soone else had taken control of him while he remained subrged in an ocean of oblivion.
No, it would be more precise to say...
His body sohow moved on its own, animated by sheer instinct and an insatiable will to murder, driven by a sole purpose - to understand the Phantom Dance.
So while his mind struggled to comprehend the elusive battle art, his body—guided by the very struggle—danced on its own.
A savage, spectral rhythm!
Each motion etched the technique deeper into his being, not through thought, but through blood and instinct.
But this doesn’t make any sense at all...
His frown deepened.
Was my state of trance so deep that I didn’t even—
His thoughts ca to an abrupt halt when he suddenly winced. Lowering his head, he saw that his body, which had been enhanced several tis in the past, was now littered with scars big and small.
His tunic had been shredded into pieces, and all that remained of his garnts were a pair of tattered trousers that were stained red by fresh blood.
Of course...
How could he co out of the bloody crucible unscathed? It was the first ti he was going against such a large army of monsters. It was also the first ti he had killed so many beings in one go.
There was no escaping the consequences.
Although his mana reserves hadn’t depleted yet, his stamina and strength had. Greatly so. Furthermore, he was grievously injured. His body ached all over, and his vision was slowly starting to darken.
rlin shuddered.
If at this point, soone sneaked on him and landed so much as a single hit on him, he would be knocked out cold. That’s how tired and weak he felt at the mont.
But how did I even get to this point? He wondered.
It didn’t make sense. And to make matters worse, he couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that he was on the verge of sothing...
Like he had already grasped the basic fundantals of the Phantom Dance and was only half a step away from mastering them.
Yet it remained just out of reach... as elusive as a fleeting dream.
He conjured a Potion of Healing. With trembling hands, he brought the vial to his lips and consud the magical potion.
Slowly, he felt his body repair itself. But the damage was far too great to be solved with re potions.
rlin felt that he needed deep rest and several rounds of recovery inside dicinal baths.
THUNDER!
A booming sound erupted from the crimson barrier, making him flinch. He turned towards the clearing of the forest, his eyes narrowing.
The space inside the barrier was illuminated with a blinding, blue light. When the light faded, rlin was finally able to see what was going on inside.
His lips ford a faint smile.
"Ah, what a wonderful sight," he said softly.
The Mother of Flesh lay motionless at the center of the barrier, its countless eyes having already lost their luster.
In so places, its body had begun to rot; in others, its blood had violently overheated. Certain parts of its flesh had mutated and collapsed, while elsewhere, its soft tissue had exploded from within.
Thanks to the various barrels of alchemical potions, each containing volatile and unique properties, the Mother of Flesh had been significantly weakened.
Its tendrils sagged, its body crumbled in places, and its resistance faltered. And in that fleeting mont of vulnerability...
Edward struck with everything he had, landing the final blow that brought the abomination to an end.
They had done it.
Through ticulous planning, grim determination, and unwavering courage, they had slain the monstrous entity that once ruled over the blood-soaked secret plane.
And now... it was ti to reap the reward.
The mbers of the four parties looked at one another, their faces etched with overwhelming exhaustion, yet lit by the unmistakable glow of hard-earned triumph.
Their sense of accomplishnt was magnified many tis over by the fact that not a single life had been lost.
"...We did it," Eleniey murmured as she knelt on the ground, gasping for air.
Suddenly, the towering walls of the crimson barrier trembled. The red barrier flickered for a few monts before dissipating into countless motes of light.
The Great Crimson Barrier had been deactivated.
All the young Magi had gathered together in the clearing, standing before the humongous corpse of the Mother of Flesh.
When the walls ca down, they turned around, their gaze landing on the person without whom none of this would have been possible.
But when they caught a glimpse of him, they involuntarily shuddered.
Amidst a sea of countless corpses, only one man remained standing. Drenched in blood, he seed like a devil that had clawed its way out of the depths of hell.
How could one man go through so much carnage?
How could one man be capable of such bloody murder?
These were the thoughts that swirled in the minds of the young Magi, until the familiar voice of their eccentric companion pierced through their reverie.
"Ah, it was indeed a beautiful day for a bloody massacre."
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