The Night of Soul Massacre

"I have finally found you~~~," the voice sang gleefully as a tall and beautiful figure rode the rising tide toward the hate reader.

"Black-haired wanderer, please come with me to Atlantis. I promise that you will be treated like royalty."

"Fuck, not another one," Jason whispered under his breath as a plan began to form in his mind. His eyes flickered back to their innocent shade of black, and a smirk grew widely on his face.

"Oh, thank you, kind mermaid!" he whimpered pathetically, waving his hands helplessly in the air. "Please help us! We have lost our ship, and we are sinking. Spare us stranded adventurers, you savior sent from Poseidon."

Hastily biting his finger, he formed dozens of mini blood spikes and concealed them under his sleeve.

His eyes dilated, and he puckered his lips to form the cutest begging face he possibly could.

"Eww, disgusting," Eve whispered into Jason's ears with a chuckle. "Don't ever do that again."

"Shhh. She'll fall for it," he grumbled.

A high note reverberated with a hint of confusion.

"Ship, hmm~~~" the mermaid sang.

"Ah! That's the metal monster that floats above water, right?" she screamed excitedly as her sapphire blue eyes sparkled with admiration. "I knew it! I knew it!"

Throwing caution to the wind, the little mermaid followed her curiosity and swam over rapidly, splashes of seawater trailing behind her.

Jason paused for a second and furrowed his eyebrows.

'Metal monster? What, there are no ships on the Isles? Then how does she know?' he thought to himself quizzically as he scratched his head.

"Whatever," he murmured to himself before screaming aloud. "Please help quickly! We're sinking!"

With a dramatic display, Jason ceased to tread water, descending nose-deep into the sea. The stunning mermaid approached near with a few swift strokes, and Jason immediately tossed the blood spikes at the mermaid's face.

As she moved to block the sudden surprise attack, her sapphire tail reflected the blood orange hue of the sunset, and Jason snapped his fingers, igniting the flames with an explosion.

"I won't fall for it twice," the hate reader sneered as he swiftly peddled backwards. "Fuck off, you ugly fish. You won't even be sashimi-grade in my world."

"OUCH!" the mermaid princess screamed in pain. "WHAT THE TURTLE POOP! ARE ALL YOU OTHERWORLDERS THIS VIOLENT?"

The hate reader pushed toward sea level and shrugged his shoulders. In a fit of rage, he began to tread water and circulate blood around his palms like a proficient blacksmith.

First, a shaft. Then, a curved blade. Last, a pointed edge at the end. Particles of blood formed rapidly together, fusing the most ominous weapon seen to date.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Hate Counter: 499

Hate Counter: 498

Hate Counter: 497

Jason blinked indifferently as his lives fell one by one and pointed his deadly blood scythe, adorned with skulls toward his foe. Neris raised her hand defensively and began to form an orb of water, but the hate reader's sleek staff slashed through her barrier with ease.

"Why do you guys keep talking about this otherworlder crap?" Jason retorted, the anger building in his chest. "Your pink and blue friend over there just stabbed my friend to the verge of death because of this, but you really should've stabbed me instead."

A sharp hint of sarcasm seeped into his words.

"Oh, but I guess you mermaids really are fish-brained, huh?"

The mermaid scooped a handful of water from the sea and splashed it on her face, immediately recovering her facial structure to the natural beauty it was. With a quick dive, she retreated to safety and resurfaced several meters away.

"No…" she said hesitantly. "No one else should know about the otherworlder part except…"

Her voice trailed as the realization hit her cold in the stomach.

"Mother sent someone to kill you? If it's pink scales, t-then it's probably Nami. Hold on. Let's make a truce. I just want to learn more about your world."

"The only world you'll be seeing is the Underworld," Jason replied chillingly.

Droplets of blood streamed from his eyes, and guttural roar filled the air. The thought of Karl's lifeless body burned deep into his mind.

"I've had enough," he screamed in anguish.

Immediately, a wave of pressure, sharp as a thousand knives, spread across the sea, strangling the mermaid by her throat.

Jason's eyes gleamed in a dark purple hue, and the hate reader lowered his register to a clear and commanding tone. With the imposing presence of a demon from hell, he growled as red petals of blood floated gently to the sea beside him.

"Nemesis and her curse conditions. Hades and his trials. And now Karl and these stupid fish."

Neris shivered at the sight of his demonic figure and undulated backwards in a rush. She raised her hand to create a water prism, but the hate reader's deep and soulless voice sent chills down her spine.

"Don't fucking push it, fish. Never again will you bind me in your trap again."

He played with his fingers, tangling them amongst one another as he stared toward the evening sky.

"Karl will not die at your hands," he said with a sneer. "No, even if he does die…"

"I can just MASSACRE your town and give your souls to Karl, right?" he screamed hysterically.

His voice trailed as a sinister smile spread across his face.

At last, the final piece of the puzzle clicked in the hate reader's mind, and his consciousness vanished from sight within an instant. Succumbing to the warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest, the black-haired vampire surged with a horrifying and disgusting power as a sharp notification buzzed loudly in his ear.

"Necessary rage requirement fulfilled."

"Fusion commencing: Eagle eye of the archer, Perception of the Soul"

"Ding! Failed. Please try again."

"Ding! Failed. Please try again."

A veil of blackness enveloped the sky as grey streaks of lightning struck the ocean with rage. A single spike of obsidian black shot from beneath the ocean's surface and pierced the hate reader swiftly through the heart.

Ding!

Hate Counter: 496

"Success."

"Ability acquired. Soul gaze of the Death Monarch."

Jason opened his dark violet eyes and gazed regally at the crashing waves. The sun had fallen, its blood orange hue gone from sight, but as the moon began to rise toward the apex, thousands of little purple dots flooded across his vision.

He formed a staircase of blood and walked delicately toward his magnificent throne, modelled after Vlad's very own. As the blood and water merged together, the black-haired vampire continued to rapidly circulate, refresh, and recreate the steps and platform, cutting deep into his life force.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

His hate counter dropped ten at a time, ringing non-stop, as he churned step after step for minutes on end. Glaring at the frightened mermaid beneath him, the hate reader sat on his crimson red throne with a crooked smirk.

Within an instant, hundreds of blood spears materialized like a punishment from Nemesis herself, and he menacingly froze the weapons in the air.

"Time to harvesttttt," he shouted playfully.

Dropping his right hand in an orchestral motion, the blood spears fell in rhythm toward the sea, piercing one red dot after another. Shrieks of agony filled the air with beautiful dissonance, and pleas for mercy rose in a crescendo across the waves, but their cries fell heavily on deaf ears.

Jason repeatedly gathered, formed, and released blood spears into the sea, aiming straight for the souls of the dirty fish monsters that had harmed his dear friends before.

"Retribution is relentless, and revenge is long-lasting," the black-haired vampire roared, recalling a familiar saying. "Not even the sweet embrace of death can save you now."

The fledgling death monarch continued this assault for hours until the brilliant white moon backlit his eerie figure, reigning from above the sea. With the moon's fuzzy hue peering over the horizon, Jason's shadow reflected onto the water with the harrowing gleam of death.

As the soul-shaking scene etched deep into the minds of the mermaid race, the daughters of Poseidon silently cursed the otherworlder and wept. The waves crashed in harmony with the various screams, and thus, the Night of Soul Massacre carved itself into the history of the Isles.

Hate Counter: 402