The Umbra Forest was a place of suffocating shadows, now pierced by the frantic breathing of two humans in tattered rags. Their skin was slick with sweat, and their lungs burned with every desperate gasp.
Behind them, a low, guttural growl vibrated through the trees. The pair gritted their teeth, pushing their failing muscles to the limit as they burst through the undergrowth.
A wild bull, an uncommon-grade beast with eyes ignited by frenzy, thundered after them. Its massive horns were leveled, ready to impale the fleeing prey.
One of the runners let out a sob of relief as they reached a clearing - the designated trap. As the bull charged into the open space, ten militia members in crude leather armor sprang from the darkness, their spears leveled in a jagged circle.
The bull roared, thrashing wildly as steel pierced its hide. It nearly broke through the encirclement,
Until a massive iron hammer crashed down on its skull.
THUD.
The beast collapsed in a twitching heap.
The man holding the hammer straightened, breathing heavily. He was tall, broad-shouldered, his presence oppressive even among his own men.
Ironjaw.
A Lord blessed with a C-rank talent: Fear Influencer.
It was a predatory ability; his strength scaled directly with the terror of those around him. However, the talent was a double-edged sword; if Ironjaw himself succumbed to fear, his power would wither. This was why he ruled through intimidation, using his own summons as expendable bait to keep his strength peaked.
He absorbed the corpse into storage, then tossed two pieces of dry bread toward the exhausted runners.
"Move," he said flatly.
No thanks. No acknowledgment.
The humans scrambled after the food like animals.
His party consisted of fourteen souls: ten spearmen, two scouts, and two workers. Spurred by the recent global announcement of the Crimson Lord, Ironjaw had decided to push further into the forest than ever before, eager to close the gap. But as the shadows deepened, the silence of the woods became heavy.
"L-Lord… the scouts haven't reported back," a spearman whispered, his voice shaking.
Ironjaw's face contorted with rage. ''Deserted, have they? I'll find them and peel their skin back just like the last one. And the rest of you better stay in line if you want to keep your heads.''
The militia recoiled, their terror feeding Ironjaw's muscles. But as they rounded a massive, blood-veined oak, the group came to a dead halt.
''What are you idiots stopping for?'' Ironjaw snarled.
The line of spearmen parted slowly, revealing a figure that didn't belong in the wild woods. A knight clad in crimson-veined armor stood in their path, one hand resting casually on a longsword.
To the common militia, he was a terrifying vision of martial perfection. Ironjaw caught a glimpse of the knight's eyes through the visor, glowing like dying embers, and his heart skipped a beat.
'A high-class warrior? Here?' Ironjaw stumbled back, his confidence evaporating. He had read the chats; this was a beginner zone. A monster of this caliber shouldn't be wandering the outskirts. Fear, cold and sharp, began to bleed into his heart, and he felt his strength beginning to drain away.
''You! All of you! Stall him!'' Ironjaw screamed, turned, and sprinted back the way they came.
The spearmen cursed their fate. The workers dropped to their knees, begging incoherently.
Huh... huh...
Ironjaw's lungs burned as if he were inhaling shards of glass. He sprinted until his legs felt like lead, driven by the absolute certainty that the red knight was looming behind him. When the sound of metal on stone failed to follow, a pathetic, flickering hope sparked in his chest. 'Maybe that monster didn't think I was worth the chase.'
"Now, now. The bully becomes the prey, huh?"
The voice was light, almost conversational, coming from the shadows to his left.
"Who's there?" Ironjaw roared, his voice cracking as he swung his iron hammer in a blind, panicked arc.
"I can hear your heartbeat from a mile away, dude. Take a breath, will you?"
Leo stepped from behind the thick trunk of a blood oak. His black trench coat moved like liquid midnight, swallowing the dim light of the Umbra forest. He leaned casually against the bark, watching Ironjaw with a smirk that failed to reach his predatory, cold eyes.
Ironjaw's jaw dropped. The accent was sharp and familiar- the unmistakable cadence of someone from Earth. "You... you're a Lord?"
"No, I'm a celebrity," Leo replied, his smirk widening.
"You bastard! What do you want?" Ironjaw barked, his eyes darting frantically toward the dark path behind him.
"Well, you see, big bro, our territories are a bit too close for comfort. We were fated to clash eventually," Leo said, stepping into the open. "I just decided to clear the obstacle before it became a real problem for me."
Ironjaw ground his teeth together. "I don't know where you get the audacity to stand in front of me like that, but I guess there is always an idiot who thinks he's the sky," he roared. He hoisted his hammer and swung it with everything he had at Leo's skull.
Leo didn't even draw a weapon. He simply stepped back, the heavy iron head whistling past his nose by a fraction of an inch. 'With my enhanced senses and combat experience, his moves look like they're in slow motion. I can see the trajectory before he even commits.'
"Put a bit more effort into it, will you?" ' Leo said, his voice dripping with boredom.
"Shut up!" Ironjaw screamed. He swung again and again, but his strength was failing. The fear of the unknown was draining his talent, turning his heavy weapon into a burden.
Gasping for air, Ironjaw felt his muscles turning to water. The bravado vanished, replaced by the desperate whimpering of a cornered animal. He let the hammer thud into the dirt.
"Listen... I don't know who you are, but I can help you. Please, don't kill me. I have people... resources... I can be your subordinate!" he pleaded, his voice trembling.
Leo stopped the mocking. He had seen enough to gauge his own growth. There was no longer any satisfaction in the game.
"I'm sorry, but I really hate bullies," Leo said coldly. He stepped forward and placed a steady hand on the man's chest.
'Drain,' Leo commanded.
The Mythic-rank chain reacted instantly. Ironjaw didn't even have the chance to scream. Blood was violently extracted from his eyes, ears, and mouth, pulled by an irresistible vacuum. The crimson liquid spiraled through the air and was absorbed directly into the links of the chain.
[Blood Storage: Updated]
The new function, unlocked by his rank advancement, pulsed with dark energy.
[Ding] [First Blood: You have slain a rival Lord] [Reward: 150 Sanguine Essence] [Reward: Ironjaw's Territory coordinates have been added to your map] [Reward: Random Item Seized - Fear-Stained Iron Hammer (Uncommon)]
'It's becoming easier to do this,' Leo mused, looking at the shriveled husk at his feet. But the thought was fleeting, replaced by the new coordinates flashing in his mind.
"Vespar."
From the twisted shadows of the trees, the scout materialized and knelt.
"Did anyone escape?" Leo asked, casually wiping a stray drop of blood onto Ironjaw's tattered clothes.
"No, my lord. The scouts have been eliminated."
"The human militia has been imprisoned as instructed, my lord," Malphas added, emerging from the darkness behind them.
"Good. Vespar, escort the prisoners back to our territory. Keep them under tight watch for now," Leo ordered.
"As you command." With a shimmer of shadow, Vespar was gone.
The journey to Ironjaw's territory took thirty minutes. Without a living Lord to sustain it, the protective shield had dissolved, leaving the settlement hollow and vulnerable. Leo walked straight to the heart of the camp, standing before the celestial guardian statue that housed the core.
[Do you wish to add the core to your guardian?]
[Note: Linking a sub-core requires you to defend both locations to maintain your authority.]
"No thanks," Leo muttered, hitting the decline option. He had no intention of stretching his defenses thin this early.
He struck the core. It shattered like glass, and the guardian statue crumbled into a pile of grey ash. Around him, the entire settlement began to dissolve, the structures turning to dust as the Origin reclaimed the land.
[You have destroyed a Lv 1 Territory Core] [You gained: Guardian Essence x5, Territory Chest (Uncommon)] [Enemy storage materials transferred to inventory.]