The Castle
"Take him away from my sight. He will be executed in seven days for breaking the law."
Okays looks back and shouts, "I won't give up now! I'll survive this, just like I've survived everything before!"
He begins resisting the soldiers, fighting them even though his hands are tied. But the number of soldiers is too great, and he is completely surrounded by them and many strong warriors.
In a moment of despair, everything vanishes before his eyes. The world around him transforms into a sea of blood, with his legs submerged in it.
A sinister voice comes from behind him. He doesn't know who it belongs to, only hearing the words: "Do you want help?"
Okays turns around.
Okays: "Who are you? Where am I?"
The mysterious voice: "That's not the right question. The real question is, who are you?"
Okays: "You brought me here, and now you ask me who I am?! I need to get out of here—my friends are in danger!"
The mysterious voice: "Do your friends matter more than yourself?"
Okays: "Yes. I wouldn't be where I am now without them."
The mysterious voice: "(Laughs) Then it's fine. What if I take your soul in exchange for saving your friends?"
Okays: "That's fine. If that's the price to save them, I'll pay it. I was the one who put them in this danger."
The mysterious figure smiles and steps closer to Okays, standing before him and gazing into his desperate, pleading eyes.
The mysterious voice: "(Laughs) I will help you, but you must sign a contract with me. I saved you before so that you wouldn't die prematurely, but this time, you must help yourself and make your decision. Sign a contract with me, and you will gain power."
Okays: "Who are you? And when did you help me before?"
The mysterious voice: "I am your power, your demon. I am Bloodot. Have you forgotten that you used me before?"
Okays: "Were you the one who helped me on the hill? Then why didn't you help me on the wall?"
Bloodot: "(Laughs) Because I knew you wouldn't die. So, do you want power this time? Sign the contract."
Okays: "What kind of contract do I need to sign?"
Bloodot raises his hand, revealing a rolled-up parchment and a dagger. He hands them to Okays.
The Contract
"You will gain my power in exchange for selling me your soul. I will be your servant, at your call whenever you wish. You will not die young like other humans and beasts. You will suffer alone in this world, and when you finally give up, I will devour your soul. The stronger you become, the more of your humanity you will lose. In the end, you will be empty inside, like a puppet."
Bloodot: "If you want power, just cut your palm with this dagger and place your blood on the parchment."
Okays: "I don't care—just give me the power. Take my soul whenever you want."
Okays cuts his palm and presses his blood onto the parchment. The moment his blood touches it, the parchment vanishes, and everything returns to normal.
The Castle
Okays stops resisting. The guards grab him again and force him to his knees.
He hears Bloodot's voice in his head whispering: "If you want me to kill them, just say my name."
Okays calls his name, and his body begins to change. A horn emerges from the middle of his forehead, his eyes turn red, his pupils become pitch black, and strange markings cover his body. He has taken on the form of a demon.
In an instant, sharp chains burst from his hands, slicing through the guards like paper.
After killing them, he draws their blood and shapes it into a barrage of arrows, launching them at the remaining guards until every soldier around him is dead.
Only the king and the four royal guards remain.
White steps forward, saying, "Not bad, kid. Where did all of this come from? Where were you hiding it all this time?"
Bloodot: "(Laughs loudly) If you're talking about the boy, he's asleep now. How about you entertain me for a while? It's been so long since I fought someone strong."
White: "I don't know who you are, but you seem quite confident. My lord, do I have permission to kill him?"
Minelost waves his hand, signaling, "Go ahead."
White removes his cloak and steps toward Bloodot, forming a sword from his own blood before charging at him with incredible speed. He slashes at Bloodot, but Bloodot doesn't even flinch—he blocks the attack with his bare hands.
Bloodot: "Is that all you've got?"
White: "(Smirks) Not bad. You blocked my attack, but that was just a warm-up."
Bloodot: "(Laughs) I expect much from a royal servant."
White: "You talk too much. I don't know who you are, but I'll cut off your head and hang it in the middle of the city."
White pulls out another sword and unleashes a flurry of attacks, but Bloodot blocks them all effortlessly while smiling.
Bloodot then draws a strange sword and attacks White. The sword cuts through everything as if everything were mere paper.
White steps back.
White: "(Sighs) You're persistent. Do you think standing there without moving will make you win?"
Changing his fighting style, White forms blood shields around his body and moves faster than before. He launches a powerful strike at Bloodot, and for the first time, Bloodot doesn't block it—he is pushed back.
White: "What happened to your arrogance?"
Bloodot: "(Laughs) That's the least I expect from a royal servant. Is that all you've got? Let me show you what it means to face a demon."
When Minelost hears him call himself "the demon," a memory resurfaces—the demon Bloodot, the power of the first Beast King.
White: "Are you the last of your kind, or what? It doesn't matter. You'll disappear now."
Bloodot begins gathering the blood from the surrounding corpses, shaping them into countless swords floating around him. He then launches them all at White.
White blocks the swords, but there are too many, and they begin to wound him all over. While White is preoccupied, Bloodot darts between the flying swords and lands a devastating blow, sending White flying backward.
To be continued…