Chapter 20: Mistress of Coldblood

Rewinding back time a single day earlier. 

Beyond the protective walls of Allan Fort, amidst the desolate wasteland of a ruined neighborhood, a sizable group of enigmatic figures combed through the area. Clad in gleaming silver plate armor and equipped with cutting-edge ManaTech battle gear boasting high-tier Advanced rank Weapons, they represented some of the elite Magic Knights of the Fortress.

These formidable individuals were shrouded in cloaks crafted from synthetic fibers designed to withstand extreme heat and force, while also providing regulated body temperature control for their wearers. 

The knights scoured the ruined buildings with beeping readers and meters displaying a variety of readings, concerning the dense accumulation of "Mana" surrounding that region. The tempered steel of their armors remained silent despite all of their movements, only the sound if the incessant mechanical beeping reigned. 

"The readings...every sign here indicates a Rift definitely opened in this area," said one of the Knights, a young man in his mid-twenties with short platinum greyhair and a pair of brown eyes hidden behind a pair of lenses, as he observed his meter.

"That's obvious. But the signatures we're picking up are all over the place and completely through the roof. The rift that opened up in this place, it definitely wasn't a normal one. I have to admit, even my senses are irked from all this concentrated Mana, and it's supposed to be three days since the Dimensional Rift opened up," his colleague next to him responded with unease.

The young man nodded and fixed his glasses.

"We can only imagine the radiation when the Rift newly opened up then. Most Magic Knights would even struggle to withstand all of the pressure."

His colleague lingered a little before slowly shifting his gaze towards the distant.

"Yes but...that one did."

A short distance away, a peculiar figure stood in front of a freshly excavated area on the ground. This individual stood out from the other Knights present, wearing a specialized battlesuit adorned with special-grade armor and a spotless flowing white cape. Their demeanor radiated cold precision, with gear that surpassed the standard. The long sword hanging from their waist, complemented by silver armor accented with gold, truly embodied the essence of a true 'Knight'.

It was a young lady. 

A striking woman with cascading locks of golden hair, each strand shimmering with an unsettling radiance akin to stardust falling in a mesmerizing cascade. Standing at an impressive height of 184cm, she exuded an air of regal grace. Her complexion boasted ivory skin, flushed with the rosy hue of vitality, while her delicate features included a straight, petite nose that lent an ethereal charm. 

However, it was her otherworldly blue eyes that captivated onlookers, possessing a ghostly hue that seemed to pierce through the veil of reality. In every aspect, she was undeniably stunning. Her captivating beauty held an immovable, cold aloofness that left a lingering impression on all who beheld her. There was a certain chill in the air whenever her gaze fell upon someone, her piercing blue eyes subtly glowing with an unsettling intensity.

As a female Knight, she stood resolute at the edge of a vast expanse of unearthed earth. Before her lay a scorched, sizable crater, its blackened surface marred by a network of deep cracks that extended like veins across the desolate landscape.

Eventually, her thin brows furrowed slightly, and her voice turned icy as she spat out, 

"What a revolting sensation, this 'Mana' is." Her cold expression twisted slightly before reverting as she shifted her weight and turned around. 

Her ghostly shimmering blue eyes drew an icy gaze toward an underling just behind her.

"The Rift, are you certain you saw someone step out from the other side?"

The figure, shrouded in a dark cloak, cowered and quivered. Startled by the lady's inquiry, he lifted his hooded visage, stammering in response.

"Yes, Milady! I swear it! From the Red Rift emerged a figure... a being that slaughtered them all! I barely escaped with my life."

This hapless individual was the blond-haired knight (see Chapter 7 and 8), though he seemed markedly altered. Sickly and frail, his once vibrant blond locks now thin and pallid. His countenance marred by a grotesque scar, as if half his face had been consumed by fire. His posture was slumped, his spine disfigured and his back rising with a hump underneath his dark robe. 

Further inspection brought the state of a damaged "Mana" core. 

"I still find this story to be far too implausible, Milady," remarked a different male Knight, his voice steady with reproach. Clad in all-black leather armor and an enhanced overcoat, James had olive skin, almost as pale as a sheet, and deep black eyes obscured by thin lenses. His black hair, slicked back all the way down his neck, possessed an otherworldly dark sheen, framing a long oval face with a pointed chin.

James, with his slanted, cold eyes and passive expression, possessed a hauntingly steady voice, and a chilling faze. Standing at a towering height of 186cm, he served as the second-in-command, right-hand man, and personal advisor to the party's leading Commander.

His long face remained stoic as he leveled a reproachful gaze at the blond knight.

"It's unimaginable for a person, an actual human being, to emerge from a Rift. The implications of your claim are severe. Tell me, young man, are you certain you didn't merely flee from a particularly abominable Elder God?"

The blonde knight trembled, his disfigured face lowering as he involuntarily relived haunting memories. "An abomination? Yes, indeed. He was a true monster!"

When the Red Rift descended upon the Den, its shockwave and pressure dispersed chaos with howling winds and raging "Mana." Among those closest, the blonde Knight suffered a fate worse than others. The implausible pulse of "Mana" ruptured his Core, melting his skin and face off, dealing fatal damage to the rest of his body.

The only reason he survived without his entire body being exploded or crushed was due to the passive augmentation of his physically enhanced body as a Knight. Yet even that proved fatal, delivering a lash to his back.

Overwhelmed by insurmountable pressure, the knight suffered under the shockwaves, enduring endless pain and torment from his damaged core to the vertebrae of his spine. His world had been dyed in red, and ever since he watched that 'man' walk out of the ripped fabric of reality, his mind suffered and shattered under the pressure.

From a safe distance under a crushing pile of rubble, with a hand pressed to his slit-open stomach, pushing back all the innards threatening to spill out, his feverish, bloodshot eyes filled with painful dread. He watched his first comrade fall and become a mangled corpse before he could even get close to the monster, and the other obliterated.

The man felt his already crumbled mind shatter further at the memories. Two days ago, fear struck him in a way he had never imagined, leaving him with barely half a mind and an enduring trauma.

"Knight, can you describe what you saw for us?" The female Knight, questioned, observing the blonde man deteriorate further into despondency.

Despite his fracturing mind, the man recognized Sonia's question amid his fragmented thoughts and involuntarily recalled something. He stopped, then shook furiously. His lips trembled aggressively as tears of blood streaked down his face.

He mumbled and prattled unintelligibly about something, prompting questions, concerns, and doubts from his two superiors. 

He kept saying...

"Red... red... red..." The abomination's red eyes... those lifeless gaze, and the mindless chaos a single swing of the ominous black onyx sword spread... If that thing... whatever it was... If that thing got out, Mankind was over.

Unconsciously, the blonde Knight let out unintelligible moans and screams, grabbing his head in both hands and falling to the ground. "He's coming! He's coming... It's all over... everything is done for! Aaarrgh..."

James watched the sight with repressed disgust and sighed, adjusting his glasses.

He redirected a skeptical glance at Sonia and said, "Surely not, you truly believe what this madman is prattling on about, Lady Sonia? I've said this already and I will say it again: it is inconceivable for a human to come out of a Rift." He spoke sternly but was interrupted by an icy statement.

"And if it was true, James?" Sonia glanced at him from the corner of her ghostly blue eyes with a cold expression. "You were there that day. You saw the readings. The rift this time around was something entirely unheard of since the first invasion. A Red Rift is nothing we have ever come across, and certainly, you can also feel the twisted radiation three days after the descent of the gate, " she paused and looked forward, her chilling gaze peered through the diatant.

"If what this... 'madman' as you call him...says is true, then Elder Gods might not be the only thing the rest of humainty will have to worry against." If a person truly came out of a Rift, it could mean the remnant of mankind had also themselves as enemies.

If the person described, as mindless, cold-blooded, and abominable as he is, an Elder God at this point might be the least of their worries. If one like him could come through a Rift, then how many more were there? What was on the other side?

Or perhaps this was just a different species of Elder Gods that had managed to acquire a humanoid form, and indeed, the blond knight was merely prattling on from trauma. Whatever it was, a Red Rift couldn't mean anything good for humanity. A regular Rift never did.

James repressed a sigh then looked away, replying with his usual steady voice. "I admit you have a point. In fact..." He clicked his fingers, and two other knights in cloaks and devices quickly approached them.

"We found... something." The knights approached, holding a tubular container resembling a vial, containing a single strand of black hair.

"Forgive me, Milady. I wasn't going to say anything about this until we could ascertain the real truth behind this happening so as to not jump to conclusions. Our forensic equipment uncovered... something among all this mindless destruction.

"What is it?" Sonia turned her head and peered at the vial incredulously.

James bowed only slightly and gestured. "See for yourself."

Sonia leaned in to examine the container. Then her senses tingled as vibrant red streaks of radioactive energy ran across the single strand of hair. Her eyes widened, and her guard instantly sharpened.

James nodded at the expected reaction and continued. "By my calculations, this single strand of hair contains enough 'Mana' radiation to power an entire district for years to come, if I had to guess. We haven't had time yet to study the DNA and other aspects of it, but it is clear the amount of power and residual energy held in it."

He paused and looked back at the vial with deep shadows cast over his white expression. "Something did step out of the Red Rift leaving this behind, and it was a monster."

Sonia lingered, then let go of the hilt of her sword she had reflexively grabbed onto before nodding and turning to leave.

"I understand. Regroup the others; we will continue with our investigation to find that thing and hunt it down before it proves an immediate treat to Allan Fort."

"As you command, Milady," James gave a bow with one arm behind his back.

At the same time, one of the knight soldiers among the two uttered a thoughtless question.

"Milady?"

His colleague to his left shot him an admonishing glance and refuted.

"Hey, what the fuck? You really don't know the Commander?"

"Uhmm..." The soldier hummed thoughtlessly in response, earning an even more admonishing gaze from his

colleague. With restraint, he uttered,

 "That's Sonia Blade. Mistress of Coldblood."