Empress Marie.

The mother of the 4th prince, she had the ambition to place her son on the imperial throne. After Empress Aria’s death and captivating the emperor’s heart, she built up a strong relationship with the nobles and reorganized the Red Knights into her own limbs.

At one time, the Red Knights were judged to be weaker than the Red Knights of the previous generations. But now? Quite the opposite. The current knights receive the instructions of the enlightened Sword Duke Limit and had the power of a great swordsman. It was no surprise that the Red Knights of the modern world were judged to be much better than the past knights.

Thanks to that, Marie’s position increased further. Whatever her intentions, she brilliantly trained the Red Knights, making the emperor more favorable towards her.

Originally, Marie should’ve been happy. However, it was actually a headache. Ever since the Five Pillars were obtained, the emperor recognized the Red Knights as ‘usable tiles’ again. The number of tasks the Red Knights received from the emperor gradually increased, causing frequent gaps in Marie’s armed forces.

‘Juander... I know that you love me, but it’s impossible for me to control you.’

He wasn’t the emperor of an empire for nothing. It wasn’t easy for him to be deceived by his heart. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t completely get him under her thumb. She felt a sense of crisis since Asmophel was kidnapped by someone, and created a new group as a defensive instinct.

She would use dogs that were only loyal to herself, out of reach of the emperor and other nobles.

***

Once every four months, two full moons would overlap in one night. When the coastal waters of Brinichi experienced a low tide, a secret path would be revealed. A purple road leading into the deep abyss of the sea. It headed towards Siren. That’s right. Originally, Siren was a place that could only be entered once every four months.

However, since it was released by Euphemina, numerous players visited there and succeeded in finding several new paths. Now Siren became a place that could be visited at any time.

“Is it really there?”

Rab. Based on the speed of the wyvern, it was a place that could be reached by flying for two hours from Reidan’s desert. Katz gulped as he confirmed the gigantic whirlpool swirling in the centre. They had to fly into that whirlpool to enter Siren? Katz couldn’t understand it.

“If we fall down there, won’t we 100% die?”

Surely these guys weren’t trying to kill him because they disliked him? Katz didn’t trust his colleagues because he had just joined the team. He couldn’t believe people due to the environment that he grew up in. He fought against his blood brothers and sisters over who would become the successor.

For Katz, trusting humans wasn’t easy.

“I don’t know why you’re so timid.”

As a descendant of an independent fighter, Peak Sword hated Japanese people who made racist remarks like Alexander of Russia. Fortunately, Katz didn’t mind his tone. He didn’t forget his mistake of ignoring and criticizing the Korean people in the past. Katz might have a selfish personality, but he wasn’t the type to deny his mistakes.

"I understand why you hate me. I want to apologize for my attitude and remarks in the past.”

“...Eh?”

Peak Sword was embarrassed by Katz’ unexpected reaction. The Katz that he knew was a bastard. He didn’t show such a mild attitude in the past.

‘Isn’t he a bad guy?’

How should he respond? Katz kicked the butt of the worried Peak Sword.

“Why aren’t you apologizing?”

"Ah, this X!”

Peak Sword fell into the whirlpool that was the entrance and Katz checked to see if he had died or not. Pon and Regas laughed like they found it funny. Huroi watched the four crazy people and realized again.

‘Normal people are rare in Overgeared. I should stay alert so that Grid isn’t damaged.’

Huroi was someone whose specialty was talking about parents. Looking at it objectively, he was the most garbage person in Overgeared.

***

Water clan. Their physical characteristics were very similar to humans. They looked like humans apart from the gills on their shoulders and arms, as well as the sparkling scales on their thighs. It was easy to think of them as humans who could live in water.

However, their strength and magic power were several times higher than normal humans and the possibility of development was high. If they didn’t have the fatal weakness of low fertility and not being able to live long on land, they would’ve built a civilization that would’ve surpassed humanity.

“I found a means of harnessing the magic power accumulated in their hearts. Go to Siren right now and obtain as many hearts as possible... No, take them all.”

White was one of the best users of Blood Carnival. Half a year ago, she joined the Rose Knights who served Empress Marie and had been loyal to Marie ever since. Marie was one of the few people who could satisfy her desires.

“It’s bad luck not being pretty.”

White reminisced about Marie’s explanation and command while looking around Siren. She noticed a sand castle rising in the center of the beautiful underwater kingdom.

Escente laughed at the sight of the water clan being killed as they fled.

"It’s rare to have beauty. Do you think the water clan are stupid because they’re fish? Why build a castle with sand?”

Escente was a member of Blood Carnival like White. But he had nothing to do with Marie or the Rose Knights. He could participate in this expedition because White shared the quest with him.

“One heart is 80 gold... 100 hearts can be converted into 7,000 dollars.”

“It’s 70,000 dollars if it is 1,000 hearts! Kukuk! This isn’t a triple S quest! It’s a very lucrative quest!”

In addition to Escente, many Blood Carnival players participated in this expedition. As many as 30 people. Around one third of Blood Carnival was gathered in Siren. Blood Carnival was a group specializing in combat and slaughter, so the capabilities of 30 of them gathered at once was beyond the imagination.

They’d also hired mercenaries or gathered colleagues, so there were close to 1,000 people. The average level was 233! The seven guilds? Overgeared? Those groups of people couldn’t even give them business cards. The Blood Carnival people were proud and strong.

The water clan soldiers who weren’t used to war were just prey in front of them.

Seokeok!

Siren City.

After killing an elderly man shivering on one side, Escente laughed as he defeated two soldiers who ran over aggressively in succession.

"Easy, easy! Really easy! Their levels are too low! Instead of 1,000, I will catch one million!”

The average level of the thousands of citizens were around 100, while the soldiers had an average level of 180. One variable was being able to use water attribute magic, but that had already been expected. It wasn’t much of a threat since they wore items to increase resistance to the water attribute as much as possible.

Water clan. They were weak and easy prey worth 80 gold each.

Blood Carnival and their army were filled with excitement as they started the slaughter. The Siren Kingdom’s beautifully made city of water and sand became tinged with blood instantly.

3rd Prince Gulong arrived at the battlefield late and cried out.

“Wicked humans...!”

The water clan weren’t aggressive. They knew satisfaction and didn’t easily covet things. For them, the human race who didn’t care about deceiving, stealing, or killing others was a target of disgust.

“Why? Why do you come into the depths of the ocean to invade and slaughter us? Even the women and children who can’t resist...!?”

Gulong swung a scimitar at Escente. Escente was surprised as he blocked the attack. It was because after the sword exchange, Gulong leaned forward and knocked against Escent with his rock-hard shoulder. He wasn’t merely a fighter, but a warrior capable of tactics.

“Ugh.”

Escent was hit in the chest and flew far away, but got up immediately. His mouth twisted in an ugly manner.

"Does it really mean anything to catch a fish? This damn fish!”

“Disgraceful person!”

Gulong’s movements became more aggressive as he was provoked. It was stronger and quicker due to maximizing the effects of fast swordsmanship, but it also left gaps. Escente counterattacked with a shield and struck Gulong’s jaw.

“Aha! It is easy to go against a stupid bastard!”

Gulong was a named NPC. If Escente could catch this NPC, wouldn’t he receive at least 100,000 gold? The greedy Escente started to push at Gulong. However, Gulong was stronger than he thought. The third advancement Escente couldn’t knock him down and was eventually driven to the defensive.

“Somebody help!"

Escente belatedly realized and shouted urgently, but there was no one to help him. The Blood Carnival was merely a group created to share information that was beneficial to one another. There was no desire to help each other. If there wasn’t the minimum of rules, they would’ve already stabbed each other in the back.

"Block with your shield before you die! That’s what you get for being too greedy!"

“Kyakyak! Look at that unseemly form! Pathetic!”

Escente’s companions mocked rather than help him.

“Son of a bitch...!”

After passing through this crisis, Escente wanted to pass on the aggro to the others. But this damn Gulong showed no gaps. At least three third advancement classes working together would be needed to raid him.

‘Why am I facing this monster...?’

He had only collected 27 hearts. He only got 2,160 gold and the loss would be too big if he died.

‘I’m ruined!’

The moment Escente was feeling frustration.

"Kyaaack!”

“Aah! Mother! Father!”

Blood Carnival and their army started to increase the pace of their slaughter. They entered the locked houses and killed the people hiding inside, irrespective of gender or age. Screaming women and crying children. They didn’t care about the pain and sadness. They wouldn’t have joined Blood Carnival or accepted this quest if they worried about such things in the first place.

“Stop! Stop right now!”

Gulong couldn’t bear to see the innocent people being cruelly murdered. Escente stabbed a sword in Gulong’s side and shouted.

“Hahat! Looking away during a battle!”

"Ugh!"

Gulong realized that the situation was desperate. The number of his soldiers was ten times more than the number of humans, but numbers had no meaning, considering the strength of the humans. One of the strongest warriors of the water clan couldn’t help because he was tied up by one human.

‘Brother...!’

1st Prince Paong was isolated among humans and seemed to be in a crisis. As the prophet Miong said, was god abandoning them? The moment that Gulong closed his eyes, waiting for the human to hurt him...

Kwajajajak!

A flash fell from the sky like a lightning bolt and struck Escente’s head. It was an unexpected blow. The skill ignored defense, and Escente, who fell into a stunned state, turned his eyes in the direction it came from. Then he saw a man.

“A beautiful river of blood.”

Ssik.

The ID of the laughing man was Katz. His smile was tinged with insanity. Compared to Escente and other members of Blood Carnival, he seemed the most insane.

“Blood Warrior...?”

Kuoooooh!

The blood of the water clan on the battlefield slowly rose into the sky, a strange, cruel, and beautiful sight that enchanted people.