Ascension Of The Blood Supreme

The open mountain pass leading toward Sector 3’s perimeter was jagged and barren.

In winter, the snow here was very heavy.

Blizzards whipped through the mountains. The mountains themselves were covered in thick white snow. The skies were very humid and the twin moons showed their light on all beneath.

Standard military transport vehicles were not allocated for blacklisted operatives. Aiden Vhorn actually preferred it this way. Vehicles could be manned and manipulated to trigger assassinations.

Aiden Vhorn traveled on foot. He moved manually in the mountains with swift speed which carried him across the harsh and snowy terrain.

Every leap covered dozens of distances.

His figure cut through the thin air like an arrow, his enhanced vision, smell, and sight fully operating.

Outpost 47 was located at the very edge of the Red Faults—the massive, monster-infested forest canyon that bordered Sector 3. The outpost acted as the final barrier keeping the chaotic beasts contained within the Faults, standing as a massive wall of reinforced alloy and defense against the unending tides of monsters.

To reach it, Aiden had to cross this unmonitored mountain pass, a stretch of dead space where military jurisdiction grew thin and long-range comms were routinely scrambled by the high mineral density of the surrounding mountains.

As he moved, blobs of blood appeared before him. The blobs of blood moved towards his body, turned into crimson armor which looked no different from a battlesuit, and encased his body.

Suddenly, an earth bullet snapped through the air, aimed at his head.

Aiden didn’t flinch. He was confident in his defenses. He had seen the assassins with his enhanced vision. They were Rank 2 warriors.

Clang!

The earth bullet hit the crimson armor covering Aiden and shattered. It dropped uselessly onto the snow-covered ground and caused the snow on the ground to scatter.

Aiden’s eyes remained completely flat as he calculated the situation. His momentum never slowed; his steps remained as even and methodical as a machine.

Four figures in battlesuits materialized from behind a rocky projection.

"He’s stronger than the intel suggested. Damn it, what kind of defenses does this guy have?" the lead assassin called out, drawing a pair of legendary Rank 2 blades. Lightning circled across the blades.

"Don’t give him room to maneuver! Encircle and kill!"

The four assassins in battlesuits bolted forward. Their weapons came down on Aiden as different lightning, flame, earth, and water arcs trailed ahead of their weapons.

Blobs of his blood appeared before him.

The blobs of blood transformed into a crimson bladed chain with sharp edges.

Aiden held the crimson bladed chains.

’It’s been a while since I fought actively,’ Aiden thought.

He moved. His figure twirled in the sky with uncanny precision. The attacks headed towards him hit air. The assassins saw no one at where he previously stood.

They looked up. He was above them.

He swung the chains. The chain came down.

Puchi...

The crimson bladed chain met the neck of the leader. The chain broke through his battlesuit, sliced through the neck and bone, and severed the neck from the head. Pain shot through his being for a moment. Then, his vision somersaulted. His head fell on the ground and rolled to a stop. He had a shocked expression on his face. Blood splurged across the place. His body fell near his head as a dull thud resounded across the place.

The others turned around to flee. Their boss was dead. He was the strongest among them and he had been killed with a single strike. Screw the bounty. Their lives were more important. This Aiden Vhorn really lived up to his reputation as The Crimson Reaper.

Without pausing, the crimson bladed chains arced unnaturally towards the retreating figures of the three assassins. They moved like phantoms, but the crimson bladed chains were faster.

Swissshhh.. puchi.. puchi..

A slash through the neck.

A slash through the waist.

A vertical slash through the shoulder.

Blood rained. Dull thuds resounded. Bodies fell apart. The snowy ground had turned crimson.

The entire exchange had lasted less than three seconds.

Aiden’s crimson bladed chains turned into blobs of blood and returned into him.

Aiden absorbed the blood essence of the corpses and moved forward.

’DeepSea and company leaked the route to speed up my death,’ Aiden thought.

His gaze narrowed towards the horizon.

In the distance, seated confidently on the jagged edge of the Red Faults, the towering, smoke-stained steel walls of Outpost 47 were finally coming into view. His gaze peered across the walls into the base. Numerous beasts crashed into the base walls facing the Red Faults, attempting to break through it. Eventually, some of them succeeded. Operatives leaped over the walls towards the beasts, crashing into them. Affinities and shockwaves flew across the place as battles ensued between the chaotic beasts and the base operatives.

Several base operatives lay dead outside the walls facing the Red Faults. Some beasts entered the base through broken walls, killing operatives and gobbling them up with animated glee in their eyes.

Aiden continued forward towards the base.

****

Meanwhile, inside the command center of Outpost 47, the red emergency sirens blared.

"Northern walls have been breached!" a communications officer screamed "The Rank 2 chitin-crawlers are flooding into the northern district of the outpost!"

Captain Miller stood at the center of the command room. His hand almost crushed the edge of the table.

His eyes were bloodshot from three straight days without sleep.

"Where is the reinforcement team?!" Miller barked in a hoarse tired tone. "Command logged our Distress Level 2 six hours ago! Where is the armored vanguard from Base C322?!"

The officer looked up. His face was pale. With despair, he read the incoming dispatch update on his screen.

"Sir... Command just updated the deployment status," the officer stammered, his voice trembling. "They... they have delayed the elite vanguard division. They said due to asset reallocation and transit recalibrations, they have dispatched a solo operative to help stabilize the base before a primary relief division is sent."

The entire command room went deathly silent. The officers and squad leaders turned toward Miller, their eyes wide with disbelief and growing fury.

"A solo operative?" Miller whispered. His voice trembled with a mixture of shock and rage. "We have over two thousand legendary Rank 2 chaotic beasts, three thousand Rank 1 beasts, and 13 beginner Rank 3 horde commanders breaking through our walls, and they sent a single soldier? Who? Which beginner Rank 3 captain did they send?!"

"It’s... it’s not a captain, sir," the officer read, swallowing hard. "It’s Private Aiden Vhorn. The Crimson Reaper. An operative recently blacklisted for rejecting the discipleship offers of four admirals. ETA for the primary relief division... is 72 hours."

Miller felt his stomach drop into a dark, bottomless pit.

Seventy-two hours.

They didn’t send help. Command had written them off. They had turned Outpost 47 into a graveyard, and sent a single blacklisted operative here to die with them!

Of course he knew who the Crimson Reaper was. News about his achievements had long spread before he came into the military. Also, he had singlehandedly destroyed the Ashen Wasteland. But... he was just a single operative... The threats Outpost 47 was currently dealing with were on another level compared to Ashen Wasteland. Whatever methods Aiden Vhorn had employed to deal with the threats there would not work here.

Before Miller could speak, a massive explosion rocked the foundation of the command tower, throwing dust down from the ceiling.

"Sir! Main gate sensors are registering a single biological signature approaching the outer perimeter on foot!"

Miller gritted his teeth, pulling his sidearm from his holster. ". Don’t attack him. Let the Crimson Reaper in. If Command wants us to die out here, we’ll make sure every beast on this mountain dies with us!"