NOVEL WEB Chapter 111: Death Envoy
[You have died.]
[At which point of time do you wish to return?] Death asked.
"Same as last time," Kaden decided quickly.
He had managed to arrive inside the cells and stay there for a few minutes before Selene came, so he believed he had the right amount of time to save his sister before anyone could notice him.
Besides, he touched the bar when he tended his hand to pat Daela's head, and with his perception, he instinctively knew that he could destroy it pretty easily with his new level of power—without suspense.
And also, while he had been muttering that he would save her, gently patting her head, his perception had scanned her whole body to find something. Some runes, or traps, or deeper locks but,
'There are none.'
'There were only those shackles that blocked her mana, and that's easy to bypass with my flame.'
Kaden thought inwardly, calm and cold.
After making sure this was the best possible decision, he confirmed it again with Death.
"Yes, the same as last time… and also for the type of fragment," Kaden said, pondering slightly.
Should he go like last time and choose an Origin fragment… or something else?
'I should be careful about what type of Origin I integrate with Reditha. She's alive—I don't want her to be filled with so many things that she loses her original identity.'
'She is blood, she is death, she is war.'
Let's not forget that and keep improving her in that direction.
'And as for that big-brain woman's Origin…'
"Tell me, Death. What's the origin of this bitch?" Kaden asked bluntly. He didn't really expect an answer and was already ready to negotiate, but—
[Answer will cost 100 Death Coins.]
"Do it."
[Origin: Seductress of the Mind.
Type: Conceptual
Rank: Unique
Description: An Origin that grants the wielder power over the mind. With enough mastery and rank-ups, she can attack the mind, peer inside it, and control the thoughts of her victims.]
Kaden looked at the description and clicked his tongue.
"I don't need Reditha to be like this. And how could my beautiful, bloodthirsty sword want to manipulate? That's not her way."
"I choose a trait fragment," he finally decided.
[DING! Confirmed.]
[You have been killed by Selene Cerveau, Master-ranked being. You have obtained a trait fragment: Mind Eyes.]
[Mind Eyes: You can see the memories of anyone up to one rank above you.]
Kaden nodded softly. Then,
"I have 235 stat points left, right?" he asked rhetorically.
"Take 100 and put them into Mana, and the other 100 into Intelligence," he ordered, planning something that needed both stats to be higher for maximum effect.
"And put the remaining 35 into Will."
[Confirmed.]
Death responded and showed Kaden his current stats:
STR: 201
AGL: 301
MANA: 301
INT: 301
WILL: 236
PER: 201
He glanced at the panel, nodded once, and closed it, satisfied with his current progression.
Then suddenly, his face hardened, his eyes focused and cold.
"Death, revive me."
[Cost: 400 Death Coins.]
Tick!
…
Kaden reappeared just behind the strange tree that was a fusion of wood and steel.
He looked at the big gate in front of him, the two steelbeasts guarding it.
He was very tempted to just brute-force everything and kill them but he didn't have the strength to face Laye, and even less so, Goremaw himself.
So he swallowed that burning desire and decided to go for the type of kill he was now far more accustomed to.
He closed his eyes softly and exhaled in a long, steady breath that calmed his nerves and sharpened his focus.
Then he opened them slowly, and with a burst of speed that didn't even make a sound—he moved.
He did the same process with the bunnies, made them explode, and entered the City of Steel.
The sole difference was that this time… Kaden left his blood everywhere—at the gate, along the walls, at the corners of every shadowed street.
Something neither of the guards even noticed.
Once inside, he repeated the same, each step soaked in deadly intent. Everywhere he passed, he made sure his blood fell—on the stone, on the metal, on the air itself.
He even went to places he didn't need to go just to leave his mark. But this time, he was far faster than before.
He had mastered the cloaking technique easily after two attempts, and so Kaden walked steadily, quietly, methodically—leaving his corrupted blood on every construct inside the city.
Walls. Ground. Houses.
Everything.
And he wasn't worried about blood loss as Reditha made sure he always recovered it.
But he didn't just leave his blood. He laced it with corruption. He imbued with with every drop his trait Soulbrand along with every place it touched.
And soon, he stood once again in front of the black door leading to the underground prison.
He repeated the same process—burned the mana from the runes with his flame of blood, entered, restored the runes to perfect luster, and blurred into motion again.
This time, faster than human thought, he arrived in front of Daela's cell.
She was in the same state. The same mutilation. The same pain.
Kaden clenched his jaw so tightly it looked like it might snap in half.
He placed his hand on the bars, activating Soulbrand he lowered their durability, then slicing clean through them with Reditha.
Daela, who had been half-dreaming, raised her head immediately and saw a face she never expected to see.
Her eyes widened in shock, but before she could even speak…
"Sleep, sister," Kaden said softly, knocking her out with precision and care. He didn't want to waste time arguing.
He had work to do.
He activated his flame and melted the shackles binding her mana, then picked her up gently, carrying her in a princess's hold.
'Now… I just need to get out the same way I came,' Kaden thought, urgency buzzing beneath his skin.
And he did exactly that.
As he traced back his steps, he made sure—never forgetting—to drop his blood in every cell he passed.
Even the beasts inside the cages received his corrupted blood, even if they didn't know it or maybe simply they didn't care enough to react.
When he reached the final path, he looked back at all the imprisoned beasts and whispered,
"That's all I can do for you."
Then he left, coating himself and Daela in his invisibility technique.
He reached the big gate. The guards were still there, distracted by the sight of the still-rotting bunny flesh, absolutely clueless about their surroundings.
Kaden slipped past them.
Silent. Unseen. Unfelt.
Once outside the walls, past the tree of steel and wood, Kaden activated Slothful Steps, making him completely untraceable.
But just when he was far enough… he stopped.
He slowly turned his head toward the City of Steel.
"This is only an avant-goût. Next time, I will kill all of you face to face," he said in a cold voice that left no room for doubt.
He chose this method because he was weak.
But next time?
Things will not be the same.
He tightened his grip around Daela's unconscious body and turned his back to the city, but not before channeling every drop of mana in his body to awaken every piece of blood he had left behind.
Every drop that was corrupted.
Every drop that was branded.
"I hope you enjoy this present of mine," Kaden muttered.
And vanished into the woods.
…
Meanwhile—
Selene walked calmly toward the underground prison, humming softly, feeling happy and confident about finally making Daela speak today.
She arrived at the black door, entered it directly.
Nothing felt wrong. Nothing seemed off.
But the deeper she walked, the more her expression began to shift. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"…What's this feeling?" Selene whispered to herself as she arrived at the bottom floor and stopped in her tracks.
Her eyes scanned the prison.
"…Blood?"
Everywhere.
On the floors. On the walls. On the beasts.
Alarms exploded in her head as she sprinted toward Daela's cell and what she found there made her heart drop like a stone in a void.
The bars were destroyed.
The shackles were gone, burned.
Only blood remained. But this blood… was not meaningless.
It had formed words.
Selene stepped forward instinctively, eyes narrowing as she read.
"The Envoy of Death was here."
And as if those words were a curse…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM—!!!
The underground exploded.
The city above followed.
Everywhere Kaden left his blood—walls, cells, gates, rooftops, beasts—all of it erupted into deep crimson flames laced with black stars that devoured everything.
Mana burned.
Buildings melted.
Blood boiled inside steelbeasts' veins.
Their bloodlines burned next.
The screams came next. They were loud and desperate.
A crimson fog covered the ruins of the city. It was corrosive, relentless and toxic to the soul itself.
Just like that in seconds…
Half of the City of Steel became a ghost town.
Only blood, flame, and poison remained.
—End of Chapter 111—