As told before, the Crimson Mages were undying who looked like humans. It wasn't hard for them to blend in with the crowd and live a normal life. Unless a special method was used, they couldn't be differentiated from normal humans.
Still, that didn't mean they could move freely in the empire, as the strongest man, in order to deal with them, created a special department right after becoming an emperor.
It was called WK. The ones who hunted them down were called knight-errant, aka wandering knights.
They had two jobs. The first was, of course, hunting down the crimson mages that had snuck into the empire and eradicating people who had accepted Chaos before they could cause mayhem. The second was to accept a student every three years and pass on to them their teaching, train them until they become so capable that they are able to track down crimson mages, differentiate them and Chaotic beings from the masses, and hunt them down.
Dying in the field of work wasn't at all uncommon for the wandering knights, and they lived harsh life. Unable to defy their superiors, they were continuously on the move for their next target. Because the death rate was a hundred times more than being a casual hunter and the pay was only a hundred times more than being a palace guard, there were not a lot of them. However, all of them were masters, as a single one could challenge an undying. It was confidential, but the strongest among them is said to have slaughtered a priest of Chaos with a swing of his sword.
Because of existence like them, it wasn't easy for chaotic beings and the undying to make a big movement in the empire.
The undying took a great risk to smuggle crimson mages into Baldwin County. It was the second closest County to the border between the empire and the uncharted land.
Even after reaching it, it wasn't an easy task for the crimson mages to get close to Damien as he was looked after by a deity and a Dragonkin at the Realm Lord Stage. They were his parents, and they were really amazing. Just because they were around him, the crimson mages who could annihilate teams of aura masters didn't dare make a move before thinking twice.
After three years of secretly observing them, they made a plan to abduct Damien. Unlike the rebels, they didn't plan to brainwash him. They had the bloodline extraction technique, which was left to them by Voss. They planned to extract what made him special by using it and giving it up to their King. Once their king had his bloodline, he would undoubtedly grow stronger and might even become as strong as the Glorious Sun Emperor. Then there would be nothing stopping them from waging a full-out war against the empire.
On a full moon night, they put their plan into motion.
Their plan was pretty simple.
It was to attack the weakest link among them.
Thus, they schemed against the weakest people surrounding Damien.
Ever since he was born, he didn't lack anything, and there were many who served him wholeheartedly, always at his beck and call.
One by one, they were replaced by the Crimson Mages.
They ruthlessly took their place in order to come close to Damien, their target.
How did that happen?
The crimson mages were masters of twisted spells, and they utilized their specialties, the first one being the human skin mask and the second one being the body transformation technique to shapeshift into the people serving Damien after killing them when they were alone. To not leave behind any traces, they ate their victim. The corpses vanished in thin air, and no one seemed to be missing. So no one became suspicious.
The most handsome and beautiful of the crimson mages seduced the servants and maids to secretly step out of the third heavenly knight's manor before assassinating them so as not to arouse any suspicion. Realm Lords have excellent senses. They can smell blood from ten thousand feet away.
Damien didn't realize that the servants he barely interacted with were getting switched with Crimson Mages behind his back as he was too busy getting trained by his father in the morning and then getting taught magic by his mother in the evening. At night, he could do whatever he liked, and he liked to spend it playing with his childhood friend in the huge rose garden behind their manor.
They were the closest of friends and had promised each other that they would marry each other after becoming adults.
But that promise could never be fulfilled.
Once the Crimson Mages, who had snuck into the Manor by disguising themselves as servants, found out that she was close to Damien, they killed her too, replacing her with one of their men.
This was done in order to realize the last step of their plan.
But they didn't know that it was their biggest mistake.
Although they could shapeshift into others by using their techniques, they couldn't steal their memories or behave perfectly like them. The servants didn't have a close relationship with their masters because well they were servants. They didn't arouse anyone's suspicions after replacing them. But replacing Damien's best friend was another thing.
When his childhood sweetheart tried to talk him into sneaking out of the Manor with just her, Damien's suspicions were aroused. Did she not know about his situation? He had clearly told her about his predicament. She knew he was being eyed by the rebels who were hiding like rats, yet she wanted him to go out without his parents. She was pretty sensible. A smart woman was what he liked even when he was a child. That's why he was confused by her words and became suspicious that something was wrong with her.
He, of course, refused to go out with her, and that made her cry. So like a sensible child, he soothed her and promised to do anything for her except for that. Only then did she, aka the demon in disguise, stop crying and smile. How easy it was to fool a child! Just shed a few crocodile tears, and they will give in!
So she demanded to have a sleepover to deepen their friendship. Damien reluctantly gave in to her demand. As the two kids insisted, the adults allowed her to stay with Damien for the night.
'It's impossible to finish the mission. And our cover can be blown at any time. Since we can't bring him to our king, I will have him for myself!' The undying was crazy. She had a few too many loose screws to think that was a good idea. 'Tonight, I will devour him and escape by myself! His bloodline will surely bring me to greater heights. Maybe I could lead a coup to overtake the kingdom? Hahahaha!'
It was at that time that a wandering knight made his appearance in the County. He wasn't as powerful as Arnard or his wife, but he was a peak-level grandmaster, and he was like a dog. He could sniff crimson mages out. That's how he found out that Arnard's Manor had about 20 of them.
He didn't do anything to warn them, as that would warn the crimson mages, and they might run away.
Instead, he secretly erected a barrier around the manor, separating it from the outside world.
The empire's only soul mage, Vizards, was in the County, locked up in the workshop, busy with his research. It was common knowledge that the emperor had granted the Wandering Knight the authority to mobilize the experts of the empire and even the soldiers whenever they liked. Vizards was no normal man, and the wandering knight had to politely ask him to assist him in dealing with the undying.
They teamed up and burst into Arnard's at night, killing one crimson mage after another.
It was late at night. The adults had just put the kids into bed. The kids acted like they were asleep when they were asleep. After they left the room, they sat up and started playing and reading stories. The Crimson Mage's thirst was increasing. She wanted to have a bite of him. Damien, completely unaware of her intention, was reading a romance story to her.
It was quite similar to theirs and had a good ending.
After reading the story, when he asked her what the greatest similarity was between them and the protagonists in the story, she failed repeatedly to give him the answer he wanted to hear.
The protagonist in the story were children when they vowed to marry each other. They, too, had done the same thing. Damien's eyesbrows raised. How could she forget it?
Damien became extremely suspicious of her as she had forgotten the promise she had made to him and was being fake with him.
"Who are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Answer me! Who are you?!"
"Cecilia. I am Cecilia. Why are you acting like that? Did I do something wrong?"
"Don't lie. She never called herself that. She hated that name because it reminded her of the man who killed her mother. Whenever she was with me, she preferred to be called Sisi." Damien tried to call for her, but he was suddenly immobilized and couldn't even open his mouth.
"You are too intelligent for your own good." The Demoness laughed and took off her disguise, revealing an extremely old woman with saggy skin. "Since my cover is blown, this is no longer necessary." Her flesh was festering. Not to be rude, but her nose was bigger than Pinocchio's. She looked like a witch from a horror movie.
She pounced on the young boy, pressing him down in one move, and then opened her mouth, the skin on the edges of her mouth stretching and tearing apart. It was beyond what was humanely possible and extremely disturbing.
A circle of razor-sharp teeth was death.
"The God-Slaying Bloodline will be mine today!"
Just when she was a second away from eating him whole, a sword burst into the room. It was fast and powerful and blinked, piercing her temples and nailing her to the wall.
Before she could break free, the wandering knight's stomped on her face as hard as he could. As a result, she burst through several walls before flying under the moon like an arrow and crashing back first into a mountain at the back of the Manor. He gave the disgusting undying no chance to react before raining hell's fire down on her.
The undying was strong enough to hide the nose of a Realm Lord. Clearly, she could defeat a grandmaster. But the wandering knights were different. The requisite to become one was complex. They needed to be rank-1 or at least rank-3 soul herders. On top of that, they were taught the best swordsmanship in the empire. They were ridiculously more powerful than average grandmasters.
She wasn't able to put up a fight with him. Although he was stronger than her, he was playing dirty, using all sorts of traps. It was a one-sided beating, a pig slaughtering! Scared of death, she tried to take Damien hostage. And in her desperation, she took the disguise of his best friend, trying to fool him into coming close to her. But he didn't fall for it, and as she approached her, Vizards appeared between them. He smacked the shit out of her, annihilating her soul.
After that event, Damien went crazy looking for his childhood sweetheart. He wanted to see her if she was alive or collect her corpse if she was dead. But he never found her.
The wandering knight pitied him, seeing him so desperately find a victim of a Crimson Mage. Before leaving the County, he broke the news to him, telling him that she was most likely devoured by her. That broke him even further, and he became terrifyingly silent.
New servants were placed around him. Everyone thought the danger was over. But they thought wrong. Although they didn't let their guard down, danger still found its way to Damien.
The rebels, the undying and the chaotic beings, who failed to get their hands on him, teamed up in order to get rid of him.
"Since we can't have him, let's make sure no one else can."
"It's surprising to see humans teaming up with us."
"What's the difference between us? We are all the same. There is madness in all of us. Only hypocrites believe otherwise."
"Everything will happen as promised if we succeed in assassinating him. You will be accepted into our ranks and become our brethren."
"Chaos. We have wanted to serve him since long ago. It's only today that we found a way."
"When will the hunt start?"
"Tonight. It has only been a week since they killed the undying. Surely, they wouldn't be expecting uninvited guests after such a display of power. They will never see it coming."
When night approached, a bunch of people invaded the manor to assassinate Damien. They didn't mind dying as long as they killed him. If he grew up, he would become the greatest threat to their kind. They wanted to strangle the baby in the cradle and cut his breath short.
That night everyone around him except for his parents died. His mother had brought him a puppy to cheer him up. He was extremely cold. After Sisi's death, his face remained the same throughout the day. But at night, he would cry and the dog would lick his face trying to cheer him up. After Cecilia, the dog became his new friend. That night, the dog died protecting him, and Damien snapped.
