Chapter 49 Death’s Honor (1)

Chapter 49 Death's Honor (1)

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Chapter 49: Death's Honor (1)

It wasn't a voice.

It wasn't an image.

Yet, Hunter could somehow understand what the blood drop had been conveying to him through the drums of madness, which were literally singing into his soul, body, and blood the origin of its potent emotion and the story of the far past.

It all began with the incompetent sharing their secrets with mortals... but who were those incompetent people?

For what reason did they share their secrets with mortals?

That Hunter couldn't find out as the madness grew stronger within him, even though it was a foreign emotion he had never personally felt in his life.

He was getting furious at people he never saw or knew... and even at mortals — the entire universe.

At the same time, the black altar was stirred by the blood drop. A few seconds later, a lot of blood seeped outside from its crevices, flooding the entire cave, leaving the blood with golden sparks floating above the deluge like an omen of the end... or perhaps the beginning.

[The incompetent's schemes were soon noticed by the servants of the highest. To cover their mistake, those foolish idiots spilled the blood of the innocent... until the highest caught on their scheme. The purge began! The war began! And the blood of the highest and incompetent washed over the worlds, drowning mortals and evolving them! Mortals' adaptive bodies developed flawed blood, with a new energy soon to be known as mana!]

Which meant that Hunter's blood was like the highest grade of mana.

As he understood it, his lips curved into a wild sneer, and possibilities he hadn't thought of before blossomed in his mind. So many opportunities flooded his head that Hunter momentarily had forgotten about the real flood endangering him...

He was, after all, standing close to the black altar from which blood kept oozing out.

However, he wanted to know more! Wasn't he that close to see through his inheritance, and who wielded that power before him?

[Oblivious of all that was happening above... I tended to my duties... only to be disrespected by everyone!]

The red ocean's temperature instantly plummeted, sealing Hunter and his smile. Soon, he was like a block of ice floating on the blood, unable to even think straight...

...for the madness became so chilling that he began to understand the respite and thrill he felt upon killing a living being.

'I am heavily connected to the inheritance... and this thrill... this excitement I feel while killing my enemies isn't just because I'm progressing and becoming stronger while dealing with them! The blood within me, and my heart rejoices at the thought of those mortals dying! But... there has to be more to it!'

More questions flooded Hunter's head exactly at the same time the entire cave drowned in cold blood. And now, Hunter couldn't even think of one word as the madness within him drummed louder and louder.

He couldn't breathe, open his eyes, hear anything else other than those drums of madness, and even feel anything.

It was like he was in the embrace of madness and its chilling embrace.

[Kill! Kill! Kill!]

[Do not give them any liberation like you had done to that mortal man!]

[Kill! Kill! Kill!]

[Let them wander endlessly throughout the worlds!]

[Kill! Kill! Kill!]

[Burden the worlds with dead souls!]

[Kill! Kill! Kill!]

[Take back what's not theirs!]

[Kill! Kill! Kill!]

As the madness became a will akin to an order, Hunter's head was literally getting ripped apart by them, for he didn't want anyone to carve his path. Even if it was the inheritance he was born and heavily weaved to.

He refused to kill everyone at sight, to not liberate the souls of people that deserved liberation or a second chance, to have a world of nothing but souls, to just mindlessly kill... and that last one...

'What's mine... and meant to be mine... will be mine.'

It was the only thing Hunter and the madness could agree on. Other than that, there were naturally disputes, as Hunter would never kill women he became close with and their families.

He'd never want to live in a world with nothing but dead souls, let alone force his loved ones to live with him there.

It seemed pointless... and so insufficient in opportunities!

But that wasn't what madness dwelling within the drop of blood wanted.

'This is!'

As Hunter felt changes in his right arm, he forcefully opened his eyes, momentarily getting blinded by the red world before him. But as his eyes adapted, he turned his head to the right to confirm the madness' scheme.

'It's using the skill I received from the inheritance on its own! The newest skill that dwells within me — Death's Honor!'

Which was a skill that turned Hunter into a Dullahan.

In this case, however, he saw his right arm changed into a line of bones, with a bony hand twitching and clinking at the end, meaning he was partially turned into a skeleton.

Such a transformation was too advanced for Hunter, who could only transform into Dullahan because of his experience in the yearly exam... and for a short amount of time, at that!

But this madness... seemingly possessed a knowledge of every type of undead creature... and to be such a creature was only possible after receiving an honor from Death itself.

And it was far from over.

Hunter's eyes stung, then casually rolled off his eyesockets, tumbling before his frozen face. Since it was a partial transformation into a zombie, Hunter could still see himself and the changes occurring in every part of his body.

His head casually parted ways with his neck, leaving behind a golden streak of a soul.

On the left, his other arm became rotten with a grayish disease that elongated his nails, turning them black.

Sullied bandages coalesced from the blood, turning into dirty white bandages wrapping around his torso.

As for the legs, they became nonexistent, replaced by a thick stream of pale blue light.

Which was not really the worst transformation.

For as Hunter noticed his face getting rotten by the zombie's blood, he was also stupefied by his teeth turning yellow.

'My teeth! You fucking bastard!'

The madness of the Deathless billowed in the blood ocean, creating a whirlpool of fury.