A Fate Worst Than Death

Count Vlad fell on his knee, clutching his chest where his core already started breaking down into pieces. The moonlight streamed through the window and shone towards him, revealing his hideous and bloody face.

His appearance already resembled a hideous creature, not like the overly handsome vampire. This is the repercussion once a vampire slowly lost his core.

Crack—, crack—, crack—

"Arggghhh!!!" Count Vlad screamed.

Veins popped out on his head before bursting for unknown reasons. The mark on his forehead which signified his position as a Vampire Count began to lose shape.

Under the eyes of the moon, the mark slowly diminished into ashes.

"Arggghhh!!!"

His cries alarmed everyone who heard the Count's howls. Although Count Vlad doesn't want someone barging into his room, his unpleasant screams were enough for everyone to ignore this rule.

Patter—, patter.

The servants together with other vampires stationed around hurriedly rushed towards the Count's room. They passed through the large balcony and then a grand hall.

Precious items polished into brilliant gems were displayed on the walls. However, not one of the vampires bothered to glance at it.

Soon, the servants galloped into the narrow corridor and reached Count Vlad's exclusive and private room. The moment their ears eavesdropped on the wooden door, heavy panting and deep breathing entered their ears.

Pant—, pant—!

Everyone exchanged meaningful glances and nodded. Their lives are basically at stake here if it turned out that Count Vlad is fine but if he's not, then their lives will still be finished as well.

Either way, this is basically jumping into a pit.

Gulp—!

They gulped their saliva as one vampire grabbed the doorknob.

Kacha—!

With a slow push of a hand, the door stretched open. The first thing that entered their vision was the white chandelier constantly flickering as if it malfunctioned.

"Close it, Gura."

After the lights temporarily closed off, their eyes restlessly scanned the room.

As soon as they turned their gazes away, they saw a scene they never thought they would witness. Under the large crystallized table, a man twitched and whimpered in pain.

Their pupils shrunk.

"C-Count Vlad!!? Is that you!!?" Everyone said in unison as they stared at an unrecognizable man twitching on the ground.

.....

Swish—

"Hans!" shouted Gab as he leaped through one rock after another.

"Hans!"

His eyes restlessly turned left and right but all he could see was the black smoke and the ground which seemed toasted by the explosion.

'What the hell happened here?'

After teleporting for over a thousand miles away, he immediately switched with Amador and hurriedly escaped.

However, as soon as he left, a loud boom caused him to stop. With Hans on the line, he hurriedly returns and eventually decides to help Hans after the explosion stops.

But as soon as he returned where he previously left, what he saw surprised him.

The Baru Empire was flattened. No living things existed without being scorched by the flames. The unpleasant scent of mana lingered in the surrounding air as it continued to burn even the ashes.

'Fortunately, I evacuated those people.'

He placed his hand on his hips and sighed. Based on the area of the explosion, surviving here would be short of a miracle. Even if it's Hans, he might not even get out of here alive.

'Well, I still have no proof if he's dead.'

At that moment.

Gab felt a sense of dread. It sent cold shivers down his spine. Recognizing what was happening, he hastily opened his stats.

[Name: Gabriel Collins / Reaper Amador

Age: 19 / 85068 Level: 93 / ???

Race: Human / Reaper

Potential: S-class / SSS-Class

…]

[Health: 28%]

After a mere 5 seconds…

[Health: 27%]

It decreased to 15% until it eventually stopped. Without hesitation, Gab immediately gulped several health potions to prevent him from being vulnerable once a sneak attack came his way.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Even then, his guard did not lower.

'Amador, do you know why my health decreased?' Gab asked.

"Probably, a debuff. I'm not sure." Amador calmly answered.

"A debuff? Could it be Hans?" Gab said before his eyes swept around the vicinity. Looking at it now, there's almost a 0% chance of survival.

Only…

Crash—, crash—

At that moment, Gab sensed a faint presence under the pile of rubbles a few meters away. His muscles tensed.

Rumble—

The piles of burned stones moved. As it shook slowly, some debris poured down.

'Is the vampire still alive?' Gab thought.

However, after considering many possibilities, that vampire must be severely weakened now.

'Let's see…'

Gab took a step forward and peeked through the small gap. And from the small crack opening of the gap, one arm came out.

"!!!"

Instinctively, Gab pulled himself away; however, the hand was too fast to avoid.

Grab—!

"Shit!!!" Gab cursed in frustration. He hoped that the person who survived was Hans but it seemed like the vampire was still alive.

Snatch—!

Crash—!

The hand grabbed his head and slammed him to the ground.

"Cough, cough, you're still alive after being hit by that?"

Hans pulled himself out of the rubbles and stared at the man, whose head was plunged into the ground. Brushing the dust off his shoulders, Hans patted his clothes.

"Damn it, my clothes are ruined again."

As Hans's blurry vision became clearer, his eyes suddenly caught something strange. Inspecting the man he slammed on the floor, Hans murmured.

'Did Vlad change his clothes?'

His velvety clothes have now become something like leather armor. Additionally, his build seemed different as well.

'Strange…'

Nevertheless, Hans shrugged his shoulders and pulled 'Vlad' out of the ground.

"To think that you're alive desp—" Hans who was in the middle of his speech, suddenly halted. He leaned closer to 'Vlad's' face and his pupils constricted.

"Gab?" Hans calmly asked the man with a bleeding face.

Only…

"Y-you stupid motherfucker." Gab stuttered as he stared at Hans with hostility.

"Oh, my bad." Hans let go of Gab and scratched the back of his neck. Embarrassed, he turned his gaze away and whistled as if nothing happened.

Gab fell with a thud. However, as soon as he inspected Hans's body his brows furrowed.

"Are you alright?" Gab asked.

"Huh?" Hans turned back and pointed to himself, "Me?"

"Yeah, can you walk?" Gab asked again.

"Oh come on, I'm fine."

Gab frowned. He was concerned about Hans's current condition. From head to toe, he was covered in blood. Blood also gushed out from his stomach and head. His arms were almost crushed and some parts of his body have small concussions.

The most worrying was Hans's head. If his eyes are not mistaken, Hans's right ear is gone. Also, he staggered so much that he might fall anytime.

Certainly, this guy is not fine at all.

"Tch. I won't die. This is just some… small injuries." Hans assured Gab. However, as soon as Hans raised his hand, all he saw was his burned hand. The flesh was sticking out like some pinkish meat.

Although his body seemed out of shape, Hans could feel his cells working their ass off. The regeneration is slow but surely, it's beginning to heal the small cuts.

'Still, this is some painful shit.'

Fortunately, he managed to kill the vampire but for some reason, he didn't get any exp or skills.

He speculated that it might be because that wasn't the real Count Vlad at all. Just like when he killed the Drudges, he didn't get anything because they were just skills.

Count Vlad could be the same; he was just summoned as a consciousness.

'But this is Ocula's body right?'

Could it be that he was killed by Count Vlad?

'Yes, that's the only reason.'

Hans then swept his eyes around. His mission to invade the empire and kill the royals has finally come to an end.

Well, he just has no idea if destroying the Empire will affect the mission's reward.

"Sigh—"

Quickly, Hans opened his stats and saw several messages blinking.

Tri-ring—!

[The title 'Ruined King's Envoy' has expired.]

[Your skill 'Ruination Domain' is being stripped.]

[Your skill 'Absolute Ruin' is being stripped.]

[All buffs will now be nulled.]

In the end, only one message remained.

[Title: Ruined King's Envoy > None.]

Hans felt his body heavier and lightheadedness struck his subconscious. The abrupt loss of strength took a toll on his body, prompting him to take a seat which eventually led him to fall completely to the ground.

Crunch—

As soon as Hans closed his eyes, his million lives flashed before his eyes. Like a scene straight out of a movie, it played.

Even then, at the end of it, those memories gradually faded until all Hans could remember was him being rebirthed a million times. However, the memories in those rebirths have all become nothing but darkness.

'If only I could, remember even just a life…'

As Hans was immersed in the dark world of sleep, somewhere, a faint streak of white light hovered in the air before floating around his body as if inspecting Hans.

After a short pause, the light shit through Hans's chest.

.......

Slam—!

"I don't care who they are!!! It's your fault!!!" Britain's Prime Minister, Willy Johannes, slammed his hands on the table top. His reddened face was fuming in rage as he glared at Italy's Prime Minister.

After receiving the unfortunate news of Freya Taylor's abduction, Willy didn't waste any time and immediately flew to Italy.

According to Miguel Silva, the group who abducted her seemed to be members of the rising organization called 'Illuminati'. Although they weren't notorious to all countries like the Slaughter Brotherhood, their threat levels were rapidly rising at an alarming rate.

But… Now that they could even abduct an SS-Class Awakened with ease, this group would already be the Earth's most wanted organization once the news is leaked.

Just a week ago, Urs died and now another SS-Class Awakened is in the enemy's hands with no certainty of her well-being.

However, this isn't the only thing that's bothering Willy. Once the monsters from the borders know that Freya is gone, an invasion might happen.

By then, the United Kingdom will be plunged into endless chaos.

"Freya volunteered Willy. I am not at fault here. What's more, even if I want to help, what can I do? If even an SS-Class could be abducted like that, how strong do you think their leader is!" Italy's Prime Minister, Emmanuel, explained.

The moment he received Miguel's report, his legs turned to jelly. Fortunately, he was sitting on his office chair, or else, he might have fallen to the ground already.

The bodyguards of both sides tensed at the sudden shift of mood. Their eyes glared at each other as if ready to kill anytime. However, in their minds, once these two leaders of each country fought… all hell will break loose.

"They are humans for God's sake! It wouldn't surpass an SS-Class, Emmanuel!" Willy retorted.

"Then how many people do you think they have!? How advanced are they compared to us?! Haven't you heard of the undocumented Awakened!?" Emmanuel quickly took him down with a barrage of questions.

Silence reigned upon the room. The increasing tension gradually diminish as a soft grunt escaped Willy's mouth.

"Haah—"

Willy sighed in defeat. The moment he heard the undocumented Awakened, his eyebrows scrunched together.

The public only knows that there are only 16 SS-Class Awakened, including Urs, but the higher-ups of each country's government know a deeper story than what was told to everyone.

There aren't only 16 SS-Class Awakened. No one knows what the exact numbers are. Even if they speculate, they wouldn't have enough material to back up their claim.

The Undocumented Awakeners, also known as the Unknown.

They are people who have high potential but decided to keep it a secret. Usually, they are children of a high-status family or part of those groups hiding in the shadows.

Sometimes they are from slums who accidentally awakened their powers with no chance of scanning their potentials.

That's why no one knows how many SS-Class Awakened are currently living on Earth.

"What should I do now? My country…" Willy murmured as his sight shifted at the window.

"Miguel told me they'd be holding a meeting with others. They were speculating that the 'Illuminati' seemed to take an interest in the Ruined King's Tomb. They assured me that they'll do anything to stop them so…" Emmanuel quickly said.

Willy shook his head, "That's not really a good assurance." He took a deep breath and helplessly chuckled, "... but still, what can we do? It's not like there's anyone we could ask for help other than them right?"

In the end, they could only pin their hopes to those SS-Class Awakened once again and wait like a good little boy on the sidelines.

After all, in this Era, the weak have no place. Only the strong can decide what the true future of the Earth is…

…not the civilians, not the politicians, and more importantly not the leaders of the country.

In their eyes, those SS-Class Awakened are the ones who're deciding for the world.

This is… the untold truth of the apocalypse.

...…

Inside a local inn.

"Baru Empire? It's not far from here." A man covered in a brown robe whispered as he listened to the news being gossiped about by other customers.

On the back of his robe, the insignia of the Bloodbane race were engraved. On his side, a long spear wrapped in a white cloth stood. Seeing this, no one even wanted to approach.

Tick—

The man lifted the bottle and took a sip in the glass of beer.

Thud—

The bottle fell to the wooden table with a thud and the man's eyes darted towards the location of the Baru Empire.

With his eyes narrowed, he murmured.

"Should I… go there?"