Crimson Core

It was already late before Darcy woke up from her short coma. “How nice of you to wake up.” Kai’s voice was heard, but he was no where to be found.

Darcy looked around to see where Kai’s voice was coming from. “Do not stress, I am near,” Kai said as he walked out of the dressing room. “How do look?”

To say that Kai looked stunning was an understatement, he was simply devilishly breathtaking, to say the least. The blackness of his clothes was only matched by the luster in his eyes.

Darcy was taken aback for a moment. ‘Did I just fall in love with him again?’ She asked herself.

“By the way, I dressed you up for the occasion.” Kai said with half a grin.

The meaning of what Kai said dropped on Darcy like a bomb. ‘He…he saw me naked?!?’ She wanted nothing more than for the ground beneath her to open up and swallow her, whole.

“Do not worry I did it with my eyes closed… For the most part.” Kai was already cracking up within himself, the look on Darcy’s face was simply hysterical.

“Ahh! You have violated me!!” Darcy was on the verge of crying.

“Hahahahaha… Sorry about that,” Kai said to Darcy with a faint smile.

“You…wait what is happening to me?” Darcy was truly confused. ‘My fire essence is already 35 per cent pure, it was 30 per cent the last time I checked…and I haven’t done any training since then. What did he do to me?’

‘Her magic essence purity went up by a little bit, it will keep growing but she would need a bit of your blood now and then.’

“Now it’s time to keep your end of the bargain—”

“I don’t know what you did, but it worked. So what do you want from me?” Darcy asked cutting Kai off.

Darcy had forgotten all about the fact that Kai had seen her naked body and was now overtaken by joy.

“I see you are happy.” Kai said with a smile. “… its rather simple, I need you to kill someone for me.”

The request from Kai sounded unreal to Darcy. “What did you say?!” She wanted to know if she heard him well.

“I need you to kill two people.” Kai walked from the place he was to the bed where Darcy sat.

“Two people?!! You can’t be serious!” Darcy was still trying to assimilate what Kai had said and he dropped another one on her.

“Darcy, my dear, I could have done it myself but you owe me one right?” Kai said as he drew her closer and patted her head.

Darcy wanted to resist him but something stopped her, she could only conform to his whims. it felt unnaturally peaceful the way he drew her closer, she wanted to disagree so much, but she didn’t feel the need to.

“Right, so who…who do you want me to kill?” Darcy said in a tone so low it was almost a whisper, the thought of her taking someone else’s life seemed to make her stomach churn.

“Wonderful… I want you to kill Nelson and the owner of this place, We will meet her today.” Kai still held her head close to his chest.

“But I thought he was your friend?” Darcy was confused.

“Yes, but he owes me. So we are taking it back…”

“But…” Darcy was about to say something but was stopped by Kai’s index finger to her lips.

“Shh… You know all that you need, no more questions.” Kai kept at caressing her head as though she was an animal of some sort.

“My curiosity is not yet satisfied…” Darcy pouted her lips in a restricted defiance.

“I know.”

—Knock, knock—

Darcy was about to say something else when they heard someone rap at the door.

“Come in!” Kai called out.

The door opened and a server came into the room. “The madam sends for you.”

“That was quick.” Kai stood up and brought his hand forward for Darcy to take it. “Let’s go.” Darcy took his hand and followed the server out of the room. The server led them to the highest part of the blue pavilion.

“Please wait here, and I shall inform my madam.” The server stopped in front of a huge door guarded by two burly men clad in unusual knight like armor.

After some time of waiting the server came out and bowed. “You may come in.”

They walked to the room through the enormous wooden door into a chamber that could only be described as magnificent. Guards were positioned inside the chamber as though they were decorations, nonetheless, the chamber was big and it was beautiful; of course not to compare to Marshall Manor but it was incredible no less.

“Please do come and join us.” A familiar voice called out.

Kai followed the voice to see Master Nelson and a beautiful purple-haired woman sitting on his legs. Her skin was fair as a result of intentional care, her breasts were full, and her eyes seductive. She was stunning.

“Hahaha, my good friend I see you are enjoying yourself.” Kai laughed as though he was indeed friends with Master Nelson.

“Truly…truly, please do come join us for a feast,” Master Nelson called out heartily. “I see that your wife is looking as beautiful as ever, yes?”

If eyes had hands Darcy would have been naked as a result of the way Master Nelson looked at her.

“Hahaha, my friend thank you for the invitation, and I see that your woman is very beautiful as well.” Kai led Darcy to the place where master Nelson and the woman sat.

“This is Lady Belisha, she is the owner of this place.” Master Nelson took pride in introducing her to Kai and Darcy.

“I am happy to meet such an industrious lady, Nice of you to have us.” As Kai said Those words to Lady Belisha, his gaze looked even more perverted than that of Master Nelson.

Kai sat down and they talked for a little while. During that time Kai hardly took his eyes off Lady Belisha. Master Nelson, on the other hand, did the same to Darcy, never letting his eyes move away from her for more than a few moments.

Lady Belisha had noticed Kai’s gaze. ‘I think I might get my revenge on Nelson, is she really that good-looking, hmmph!’

This went on for what seemed like hours before Master Nelson decided to make a move. “Kai could we talk alone.”

‘Finally…’ This was what Kai was waiting for. “Alright,” Kai stood up and followed Master Nelson to another room.

“Kai, I have seen the way you look at Belisha,” Master Nelson said to Kai trying to look serious.

“He-he…is it really that obvious?” Kai tried his best to look embarrassed as he scratched his left eyebrow.

“I don’t condemn you, Belisha is truly a beauty to behold. I have a proposition I am sure you would like~” Master Nelson grinned so wide it looked creepy.

“Please do tell me of it.”

“Listen, you find Belisha attractive right?” Nelson asked.

“Yes, I do.” Kai answered, without much hesitation.

“And I find your wife attractive, so I want us to swap.” Master Nelson looked so serious as he spoke those words.

“Swap?… I don’t get it.” Kai was all joy within himself as he feigned confusion.

“Hahaha, my friend, I know you want to get it on with Belisha, and I also want to do same with Darcy. So we swap…do you get it now?” Master Nelson’s face was all smiles as he explained to Kai with his hands gesticulating like a teacher in a lecture.

“Oh… That’s just it? I think my wife would agree to it, but she would not like to do it with all the guards present.” It was clear what was about to happen.

“Then it is settled!” Master Nelson walked out of the room with Kai behind him.

Master Nelson and Kai walked to their previous positions with the women, who had been in a conversation when they left.

“Just play along and follow my lead,” Kai whispered into Darcy’s ear. “Now giggle and look seductively at Nelson.”

“Tee hee…” Darcy gave it her all to make the giggle look real as she locked eye contact with master Nelson who was whispering something into Lady Belisha’s ears.

Lady Belisha’s eyes lit up as Master Nelson continued to whisper in her ears. She snapped her fingers and the guards were gone. It seemed like this was normal for them.

‘What an adulterous couple…’ Darcy did her best to hide her utter disgust and scorn for the couple before her.

“Let us go my dear,” Kai took Darcy’s hand and followed Master Nelson and last Belisha into a room with two large king-sized beds on opposite sides of the room.

Master Nelson was the first to make a move he left Lady Belisha and clung to Darcy. Leaving Lady Belisha alone, but luckily Kai came to the rescue.

Picking her up from the ground, Kai carried her to the bed, Before Lady Belisha could organize herself she felt a hot breath on her face and her mouth being violated passionately by Kai’s tongue.

Lady Belisha was on the verge of letting herself go when Kai stopped. The next moment, Kai, on top of lady Belisha asked, “I want to see you naked, can I undress you?”

“ Oho! You like to jump into the action, huh? Of course, these clothes were becoming a hindrance~” Lady Belisha said with a sultry smile.

Kai went on to take off her clothes which were surprisingly easy to remove. ‘It seems she was preparing to do this all along, this is so... Exciting!’

Darcy tried her best to be as abashed as she could. “I… I want—” Darcy was about to complete her act when master nelson cut in.

“Tell me my lady what is it that you want?” Master Nelson’s smile was so greasy that Darcy almost threw up everything she had eaten.

“I want to do all the work, just lay back and relax~” Darcy’s act of being abashed turned Master Nelson on.

‘She is such a slut! I love it!’ Master Nelson’s heart was swollen with joy. “Hahaha, is that all? Of course you can do all the work, I do not mind.”

‘Here goes, this his plan better work…’ Darcy took initiative this time to kiss master Nelson, her tongue violating master Nelson’s mouth.

‘Oh…! This is good!!’ Master Nelson was lost in the act.

Darcy broke off the kiss and proceeded to undress him. “Let us get serious…” Darcy said with a flushed face.

“Ooh… I like this, please do go on,” Master nelson was on cloud nine at this point and they hadn’t even started anything yet…

After some time the huge room became silent. Lady Belisha and master nelson were naked and out cold. Both bound, hands and feet to their beds.

“Are you sure you bound him well?” Kai asked Darcy as he stood up from the bed.

“Yes… Brr!” Darcy shuddered. “I can’t believe he wanted to have sex with me… Yuck!” Darcy walked towards Kai. “What next?”

Kai smiled a bit before giving his answer, “We will wait for them to wake up, it’s bad luck to die in your sleep you know.”

“You are twisted, you know that?”

“I try my best to impress.” Kai got in a more comfortable position to wait for the adulterous couple to wake up.

Although Kai’s heart was beating wildly in his chest, he had to remain cool. Nonetheless, him being cool at the moment was the result of the soul corruption going on; eating him up by the second.

“But how did you do that? I mean how did you make him go limp like that?” Darcy was sincerely curious, the look in her eyes was proof.

“That’s a funny story…” Kai said with a smile, if only he had a glass of wine in his hand— then this scene would be complete in all ramifications.

Three days ago…

Kai was in his makeshift chamber thinking about how to make this mission a success without any jeopardy of any kind when the deity suggested, “There is a pill, Morpheus arrow, made to knock out normal humans and low-level mages as well as render them immobile after they wake up.”

This was exactly what he needed at the moment. “Where can I get it?” Kai asked, feeling very curious.

“Ask the official if she should have it or know someone who has. So you know, it has a drawback, the pill must be administered through a kiss.” the deity spoke so matter-of-factly.

“Alright then,” Kai walked out of his chamber walked to the missions unit and walked straight to the official. ‘But I can not kiss master nelson now, can I? This would be tough… Sigh.’

“Same place, same time tonight…” That was all Kai said when he got to the front desk. ‘I wonder if I sounded convincing enough?’ Kai’s mind was occupied with such thoughts as he walked out of the missions unit.

Later that night Kai came to the death ring early to make the same impression he made the day before but…

“I see that you came earlier than yesterday,” The official was already there waiting for him. ‘She is so desperate, this is good.’

“You said I should come here, Do you need anything?” The official asked with wide eyes. “Tell me and I will get it for you.”

She was desperate. Kai had to use this to his advantage. “Do you know of a pill that knocks out low-level mages? I want you to get that for me.”

“I would be hard to obtain but I will get it for you, Anything else?” The official asked.

“No, you can go, remember to meet me here two nights from now.” Kai walked out of the Colosseum and headed back to the mountain tiger house.

Kai’s mind was occupied with this thought. ‘How do I get to kiss master nelson? I don’t like men and neither does he. This is tough!’

That night, when Kai got to his bedroom he saw Darcy lying on one side of the bed again. ‘Why did I not think of this before, She is perfect!’

The next morning after Kai woke up and went for his daily training, Darcy followed him.

“We are going to see that friend of mine today.”

Kai walked to his chambers hand in hand with Darcy after his training. Kai was about to open the door when he got to his chamber but found a large brown envelope on the ground.

A note came with it that read;

The most I could obtain is two and they are in the envelope.

Back to the present day…

A few moments ago, when Darcy was still out cold. ‘This is unplanned but makes my plan perfect.’ Kai thought to himself as he walked to the cabinet drawer where he had previously hidden the pills.

Kai opened the drawer and pulled out two red boxes each holding a blue pill, the Morpheus Arrow. The pill was so small, almost the size of a cumin seed, only that a cumin seed was bigger than the Morpheus arrow

After changing Darcy into her new clothes, Kai slid the pill into her mouth, and it dissolved in her mouth. ‘Now I do hope you are a great kisser.’

“Now this pill, I wonder if it would be bitter or not?” Kai was still contemplating if he should take the pill or not. “It can not be that bad, even Darcy did not react to it,”

The next moment the pill was in Kai’s mouth. “It is not half bad. Hmm it’s having a change of taste… Argh…” Kai had tears in his eyes. “…its so bitter!”

Back to the present time…

“You DID WHAT?!!” Darcy was on the verge of screaming her head off.

“Don’t shout, it hurts my ears,” Kai looked disgusted at her ugly behavior.

“Sorry…”

Kai was about to say something when he saw that Master Nelson’s eyes were moving, he was about to wake up.

“It’s time for payback,” Kai said to Darcy.

“Mm-hmm… What just happened to me? Why am I tied up? Ngh…” Master Nelson struggled to move but discovered he had lost control of his limbs.

“Ahem…!” Kai cleared his throat, catching master nelson’s attention. “… I would not struggle if I were you.”

“Kai, what did you do to me?!” Master Nelson was visibly shocked.

“Oh…! I did nothing, it was all her handiwork,” Kai said, pointing at Darcy with a sinister smile.

“What… What do you want from me?” Surprisingly master Nelson did not struggle any longer. He seemed to have the calm of someone who had been in this situation before.

“Oh my, I was expecting you to struggle and tell me who you are, trying to threaten me. Sigh… I did not expect you to be this wise.” Kai smiled; a smile of mischievous cruelty and sinister nature was plastered on his face as he walked towards the Master Nelson.

Kai hit his hands twice, activating the gauntlet of the gods, giving off an even more suffocating aura.

The air was simply not enough for all in the room.

‘This is not normal, I knew he was weird but this is beyond even my father The Fire Lord has never casually given off this kind of pressure!’ Darcy was in shock her legs could not carry her body any longer as she leaned on the seat next to her for support.

Master Nelson was scared out of his wits. “Please…please what do you want from me?!!”

“Humph…” Kai chuckled. “Since you asked so politely… Does the name Samantha ring any bells?”

“Sam… Samantha? No! it means nothing to me!” Master Nelson’s body trembled as he spoke.

Kai ran his now-clawed fingers on master nelson’s face, in a way that screamed of the threat to cut it up. “You know… It is very bad to lie~”

The fear of Kai was deep in Master Nelson’s heart or so it seemed. “I promise I am not lying!!” Master Nelson screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kai was visibly pissed at the mad screams of Master Nelson.

“Keep….QUIET!” Kai’s voice had changed, it was unnatural, it was scary, it was profound. It was demonic, burrowing fear deep into all that heard it.

After noticing the change in Kai’s voice, Master Nelson decided to take the quiet path. Seeing that Master Nelson was no longer screaming Kai’s countenance changed.

“This is the last chance to redeem yourself, what about the name Georgia? What does it mean to you?

The horror was visible in his eyes, “She was my wife… Please!…Please!! Don’t kill me!!! I will give…”

—slit, Pft Pft—

Kai had slit open Master Nelson’s throat. “… Simply too boisterous, unforgivable.” Kai was still angry but then the fact that he had killed someone sunk in.

‘What did I just do, I was not ready for this.’ Although Kai panicked in his mind his face still showed a deadly calm, of course, because of Darcy.

Meanwhile, Darcy was still trying to recover from what just happened. ‘Did…did he just kill him because he was noisy? Just who am I moving around with?!’ Darcy was visibly distraught.

Above all Kai still had his pride, he could not just let Darcy see him in a state other than perfection. it was a negative trait that had not long been brewing in his soul.

“Darcy…” Kai called out. “…go check if she is still alive,” he said, pointing at Lady Belisha’s limp body.

Darcy who was still trying to comprehend all that was just going on, flipped when she heard her name. “Ye—yes…alright,” she responded to Kai in a shaky tone.

Darcy was still standing so it was easy for her to start walking towards Lady Belisha where she lay.

‘There is no pulse, she died? Surely not from the pill…’ Darcy was shocked to see that Lady Belisha had died, that is before ever knowing what killed her. ‘Such a dishonorable way to die…’

“She is dead,” Darcy announced to Kai. “What should we do with their bodies?” She asked.

“…” There was no response from Kai, Darcy turned to see Kai still sitting down beside Master Nelson but he was not responding, She took it as he didn’t want to respond.

Some moments ago…

“Darcy… go check if she she still alive.” Kai asked.

‘Kai it is time,’ Kai heard the deity speak to him. He was confused about what it was time for, ‘For what?’ He asked.

The deity replied in two words, ‘Your… Meal.’

Back to the present time…

The moment the deity said those words, something snapped in him. His fangs grew, his pupils glowed a red hue and the aura he gave off was no longer that of a great man nor sinister, it was of a bloodthirsty beast.

—Gwack, gobble, chomp, chomp—

The scene in front of Darcy looked so surreal. Sounds of flesh tearing and bones breaking filled the formerly quiet room.

Darcy’s mind was a mess because of what she was seeing, her mind was filled with one thing. ‘Kai is eating him!?!’

While all these things were going on, one thought occupied Kai’s mind. ‘What am I doing? Why can I not stop? Why am I enjoying this?’

The deity laughed at Kai’s shocked expression. ‘Hahaha… Don’t be shocked.’

Although Kai and the deity were in a conversation, his body still moved on its own. Confused and shocked at the same time Kai asked the deity, ‘What do you mean?’

‘Remember that you are an elevated being; humans are food for you… At least not all of them,’ the deity explained.

This went on for some time up until Master Nelson was all just bones, save a complete head and a complete shaft. Kai had stopped feasting almost automatically. The previous white sheets on the bed had been dyed red with Master Nelson’s blood.

Kai still under the control of the deity raised his head from the mess he had made with Master Nelson’s body. ‘How could I forget their heads?’ Kai asked himself.

—Rip—

Kai pulled master nelson’s head as it was held in place with tofu. Holding the bloodied head with one hand, he put his hand out in the air and pulled out a black bag from a crack in space, which he put the head inside.

“Eeek…” Darcy shrieked as Kai turned around and started walking in her direction. Keeping eye contact with her, Kai walked slowly as his sinister bloodthirsty aura kept rising. Darcy could not feel her legs any more, she wanted to leave that place, at least run for her life but her cursed legs would not let her.

She was tearing up at the moment, she felt like a hunted animal being cornered. ‘This is where I die? Fate what a cruel joke this is… Father…mother…I have failed you, I guess I am an unfilial daughter, aren’t I?’ She asked no one in particular as she waited for her demise.

‘…Please, let my death be painless,’ she begged, to no one in particular with her eyes closed as the sound of Kai steps grew louder as he inched closer.

Soon Darcy stopped hearing Kai’s footsteps, he was in front of her. ‘Why do I like this feeling? She is afraid of me and I like it?’ Kai’s mind was in awe of the sensation of being feared. ‘It is exciting~ I could get used to this.’ Kai’s expression unconsciously contoured into a grin.

Darcy felt her heart almost burst out of her chest. The fact that she had stopped hearing his foot steps made her thoroughly uneasy.

Darcy still waiting for her death with her eyes shut, heard Kai’s footsteps walking away from her. ‘Have I been saved?’ Darcy opened her eyes to see Kai walking towards Lady Belisha’s dead body.

—slit, slit, slit, slit, rip, rip—

He slit her viciously, ripping her skin open in multiple places. Tearing her skin apart, with the precision of a wild beast. Kai was ferocious yet delicate with the bloodied corpse, giving off the vibe of an eccentric artist.

The scene in front of Darcy made her drown in fear of Kai. ‘He is vicious! Is he keeping me for last?!’ Darcy’s thoughts were getting distorted.

As the daughter of Noble and sister to her Baron-level half brothers, she never saw any form of violence this gory. Her eyes had seen more blood from these two bodies than she had ever seen in her entire life. Kai stopped slashing Lady Belisha and looked at Darcy making her heart skip once more.

The next moment what Kai did caused Darcy to question all that she knew about mage capabilities. Kai placed the bag on the floor and took off his footwear, the next moment his feet got shorter and grew claws, his feet had transformed into the feet of a wild beast.

Conflicted as to what had happened to his feet Kai asked the deity, ‘What is happening to my feet? Don’t tell me this is permanent…’ Kai was hysterical. ‘…and why did I eat that man? Give me a clear answer!’ At the moment, He had lost control of his body to the deity in his head.

‘I thought I already told you that he is your food!’ There was a trace of irritation in the deity’s voice. She sounded like she was a teacher scolding a pupil who could not get the answer right no matter how much effort she, the teacher put in making him understand the concept.

Kai was irritated as well. ‘That is not an answer!’ It was clear that he wasn’t a student, nor a pupil.

‘You are too loud, you drank blood when you were your father’s successor now you have to eat the flesh and drink the blood of your enemies, because you are a DEMON! Get that in your head, enjoy it while it lasts!’ The deity had just shut Kai’s mind’s mouth.

Meanwhile, Darcy was in a world of her own, ‘His…his feet! What happened to his feet? What is happening to him? Is this real? Am I beginning to see things?’ Darcy was curious and more not less dumbfounded and awestruck at the weird phenomenon going on before her.

With Kai’s question to the deity out of the way, the deity could do as she wished without any further questions. Kai’s foot was raised and planted inside Lady Belisha’s body… And the second foot went as well. It looked like a writer dipping a quill in an ink pot.

—RIP!—

Kai ripped Lady Belisha’s head off after dipping his now-monster-leg inside Lady Belisha’s corpse and put it in the black bag he carried. He closed the bag and put it back where he got it from. From where did the deity get the bag? Only the heavens and the deity has that knowledge.

Darcy’s eyes were thrown wide open as she witnessed the scene in front of her. ‘Such cruelty, even for the dead…oh…what is he doing?’

—Step, step…step, step—

Kai’s feet moved peculiarly making two diagonal steps and then another two diagonal steps in front. He stopped when he got to the large window on the wall, and then cleaned his legs with a piece of clothing.

Kai’s body turned around and started walking towards Darcy, this time when he got to her he spoke in a voice that did not belong to the body. “You have seen too much, I am supposed to kill you. But you have two choices. One, I let you go or two, you join my cause. Choose wisely.”

Darcy was in a dilemma, this was not the Kai that she knew. ‘Did something happen to him or did he hide this part of himself?’ Darcy’s thoughts had been distorted deeply, she had all touch with being logical.

Thinking that Darcy was still thinking about the choices placed before her, the deity spoke again through Kai. “Choose wisely.”

‘What was I thinking? I am about to die… if I choose the first option there might be a clause to it, as well as the second option,’ Darcy thought, before she asked, “What are the clauses?” The courage that got into Darcy to say those words came from heaven knows where.

“Hahaha, I see that you are a wise one. The clauses are: for the first choice, if I get annoyed or pissed off, I will kill you. For the second one, there is no clause except that you will become my subordinate, to answer my beck and call.”

Darcy was quiet for the first few moments before answering. “I take the second choice.”

Kai’s lips formed a wide grin. “Great choice!”

—slash, slit—

Kai used his now-claw-fingers to cut Darcy. “Ahh!!… What did you do that for?” Darcy was confused, this version of Kai was not what she pictured him as.

—Slash, slash—

Kai smiled then he cut himself as well, in an even more gruesome manner. His facial features were unrecognizable at that moment, he had severely battered himself by himself— such cruelty was too much for Darcy to assimilate.

“I want you to scream monster with everything you have; it’s time to leave this place, don’t you think?” Kai asked her with a smile etched on his lips as he held Darcy’s hand and led her to the entrance of the room. “Now scream.”