Lord of The Red Planet

A pitch-black sphere suddenly appeared in the air above Rintarou's corpse. The sphere pulsed slowly, emitting an aura of negative energy so strong that the air around it felt cold and heavy. A gust of wind instantly radiated throughout the room, centered on the black sphere.

The sphere then fell onto the freshly dead corpse. Upon touching the headless body, the black sphere shattered. The jet-black liquid collected inside spilled out and began to crawl, covering the entire corpse like a living cloak of darkness.

The corpse's body began to tremble violently in its own pool of blood.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The horrifying sound of bones breaking and re-knitting was heard. The black liquid seeped into the flesh, causing it to rot and dry out in an instant. Its skin became as pale as a corpse, clinging tightly to the bones beneath.

Then, from its back, two bone protrusions forcibly burst out, tearing through skin and flesh. The bones elongated and widened, sprouting black feathers that were mostly fallen and tattered, forming a pair of broken and terrifying angel wings.

A new head began to form from its severed neck. Not a human head, but a rotting skull, partially covered with flakes of dried skin. There was no nose, only a black hole. No lips, only a row of yellow teeth in a grin.

And in its dark eye sockets, two red dots glowed.

The humanoid creature slowly rose, standing unsteadily. It looked at its master with a vacant stare, awaiting orders.

"Only Level 40?" Arthur was slightly disappointed with the result of his creation.

Although the numerical system indicating levels was gone, he could still feel and differentiate the magical power of each individual. And this Undead Angel before him… its mana energy felt very weak, no more than Level 40.

Even though I know the strength of an Undead Angel depends on its host body, isn't this too low? In the game, even the corpse of a farmer NPC, who could be considered the weakest, could produce a Level 52 Undead Angel. Is… this because the physical quality of humans in the real world is so weak? Incomparable to humans who live and breathe magic every day?

Arthur reached into his inventory and pulled out a shiny, purplish-black crystal.

"For now, just sleep inside this Sealing Crystal," he said flatly. He extended his hand, holding the crystal, toward the Undead Angel.

The Sealing Crystal was a mid-tier magic item that was quite common in Avalon. Its function was simple: to seal a magic spell or a living creature inside for later use. This crystal could store one magic spell up to Eighth-Sequence Magic or one living creature with a level below 80.

As the crystal approached, the Undead Angel did not resist. Instead, it bowed obediently.

The crystal began to glow with a faint purple light. The body of the Undead Angel slowly dissolved into particles of dark light, which were then sucked into the crystal like dust swept by the wind.

The process only took a few seconds. After all the particles were sucked in, the light in the crystal dimmed, returning to normal. However, now within its core, the faint silhouette of a rotting angel with tattered wings could be seen, frozen in eternity.

Arthur stored the crystal back in his inventory, then turned to leave the now-silent room, which was left with only the stench of blood and death.

He faintly heard an angry shout from the next room. He glanced from behind the door and saw Betta brutally beating a man in a suit until his head was crushed.

"You bastard! Lowly creature! Insect!" Betta then stood up and stomped on the motionless corpse. "Because of you, I have embarrassed Lord Arthur and almost foiled the Grand Plan created by the Supreme Beings! Dying a thousand times wouldn't be enough!"

Betta was furious with the people who had almost destroyed her master's plan.

Seeing Betta's treatment of the corpse, Arthur, who was hiding behind the wall, pretended not to see what was happening. But Betta's words made him realize something.

"The NPCs are fiercely loyal to me. I cannot disappoint their trust," he murmured to himself.

Arthur walked out of the luxurious house. Occasionally, as he passed a room, he heard someone scream, but he pretended not to hear it.

Soon after, Belial, Betta, Octavia, and Emma came out of the house and, one by one, knelt respectfully before him.

"Is it done?" he asked in a flat tone. The night wind blew through his hair and clothes.

"It is, My Lord. Now, there is not a single disgusting insect left in that house." Emma took off her helmet and smiled happily.

Arthur nodded in satisfaction. "But… it's a bit of a waste of those corpses."

"In that case, what if Lord Arthur allows me to take all their flesh and blood for you to use as material to create a Blood Angel?" Betta suggested with a respectful tone.

A Blood Angel, huh? That's one of my favorite familiars, besides the Undead Angel.

"Alright. I'll allow it."

"Thank you, Lord Arthur!" Hearing her request was granted, Betta looked very happy.

She immediately stood up, faced the luxurious house, and activated her skill again. "Entity Absorption," Betta said.

A faint gust of wind spread from her body.

Then, from inside the house, the sound of tearing and bones cracking was heard. All the corpses inside the house began to twist, as if being squeezed by an unseen hand. Their flesh was crushed, ground into a thick red paste, as if they had just been put into a blender.

The paste of flesh and blood then began to float and fly, streams of thick red liquid crawling out of the windows and doors, then flying toward Betta.

The streams of flesh-and-blood paste began to gather above Betta's raised index finger, spinning and compacting until they formed a slowly pulsating, large ball of flesh and blood.

Betta's expression was filled with a satisfied smile.

Arthur observed the pulsating ball of blood and flesh above Betta's finger. The sight, though gruesome, didn't make him feel nauseous in the slightest. Instead, his mind worked quickly, analyzing what he had just witnessed.

Entity Absorption, huh? If I remember correctly, that's one of the common racial skills possessed by high-level demons. Almost all high-tier demon races have a variation of this ability.

In the game Avalon, a skill like this wasn't actually very useful in high-level combat. Its ability to attract and unify organic matter looked terrifying to low-level targets, but its effect was very easy to counter. Players above Level 60 could resist it with just their physical strength, and even a Level 30 player with the right status-effect-resisting item could completely ignore it. This skill was basically the weakest Instant Death spell in its class.

But this skill was indeed the best option for cleaning up corpses or gathering them for rituals or creating Undead.

And in this world, Arthur thought, looking at the ball of flesh in Betta's hand, where "resources" are so abundant and unprotected… this skill I once dismissed… might become very, very useful.

"Alright. Hand over that ball of blood and flesh to me, Betta."

"Wait a moment, My Lord. I still have another one." Betta quickly opened her inventory. a space large enough to release a large balloon suddenly opened in the air. From it, a ball of flesh and blood, the same as the one she had just created, emerged. Betta quickly closed her inventory and took the floating ball of blood.

"This is…?" Arthur was a little surprised to see Betta had another ball of blood and flesh.

"This is the ball of blood and flesh I got from the lowly creatures who tried to attack me earlier, My Lord," Betta explained.

"I see," Arthur nodded in understanding.

Betta immediately tried to merge the two spheres. The balls of flesh and blood fused into one, its size becoming much larger.

With a size this big, I should be able to get a Blood Angel of Level 70 or higher, right? Arthur thought as he pondered, looking at the large ball of blood now floating above Betta's index finger.

"Lord Arthur, please use it." Betta approached him with a happy smile, offering the ball of blood and flesh to Arthur.

Arthur took a small step back. It stinks. A foul, disgusting smell. He pressed his index finger to his nose to block the unpleasant odor. "Alright. Thank you, Betta," he said with an awkward expression.

"In that case…." Arthur shifted the Staff of Avanheim to his left arm. His right hand extended toward the ball of blood and flesh floating in the air.

"Seventh-Sequence Magic: Create Blood Angel," he said in a loud voice so Betta and the others could hear him.

His eyes looked coldly at the ball of blood and flesh.

Then, a black magic circle appeared, surrounding the sphere. The sphere slowly began to spin, faster and faster, until it was enveloped in a dazzling white light. The magic circle continuously pumped magical energy into it.

The white light grew brighter, so dazzling that Arthur and the others had to squint. Then, from within the cocoon of light, a wet, tearing sound was heard, followed by a spray of thick blood that splattered in all directions.

SPLAT!

The ball of flesh and blood burst.

From within, a creature fell, landing on one knee on the cold asphalt.

The creature slowly raised its head. It had long, blood-red hair that flowed like a liquid cloak, contrasting with its pale, almost transparent skin. On its back spread a pair of large, pale red wings, like a bat's, but made of a veined membrane of flesh.

Its face… was a nightmare. Half of its face had been destroyed, revealing the bare skull beneath. The remaining flesh looked melted and rotten. There were no lips, only a row of sharp teeth in a grin. And in its dark eye sockets, two blood-red orbs of fire burned with an infinite hatred.

It wore tattered and damaged black-and-red European fantasy-style armor, as if it had just been through a hellish battle. In its hand, it gripped a large knight's sword whose blade was a dull red, as if forged from frozen blood.

The creature, a Blood Angel, stood stiffly, then looked at its master.

"Level 74, huh?" Arthur looked at the Blood Angel before him, then turned to Betta. "Thank you, Betta. You have given Avanheim another additional strength," he said with a smile.

"It is my duty as a maid serving the Supreme Beings." Betta bowed, her expression filled with a happy smile.

Emma, who saw this, narrowed her eyes slightly. "Lord Arthur, what shall we do with this Blood Angel?" she asked.

"Just store it. Use it for Avanheim's future needs, since the materials for creating magic items in Avanheim are becoming limited." Arthur then turned to Belial. "Belial, what is the progress on the search for magic item creation materials? Have you found a solution yet?"

"I apologize, My Lord. I have failed you. To this day, I have still not been able to find any metal that can contain high-level magical power, other than Mithril, Orichalcum, and Adamantium," Belial replied, his expression full of regret.

Hearing that, Arthur sighed inwardly. I expected as much. It's not that easy to find a substitute for those three special metals. These three metals are original from the game. Since it's fiction, of course I can't find them in the real world.

"In that case, what about magic scrolls?" he asked. Magic scrolls were one of the methods of storing spells in Avalon, useful for storing important spells without having to sacrifice a learnable spell slot. Back in the game, non-mage players would sometimes store one powerful spell in a scroll for emergencies.

"My Lord, that too… I have not yet found a leather material that can store magic above Fifth-Sequence Magic," Belial once again apologized.

Emma, who heard that, finally couldn't hold back. "Belial! As the Head of Intelligence and a Floor Guardian of Avanheim, how can you continue to disappoint Lord Arthur?!"

Arthur waved his hand. "That's enough, Emma. Besides, we've only been in this world for two days. Let Belial continue his information gathering."

Emma looked slightly reluctant, but she replied with a clearly forced expression, "Fine. Understood, My Lord."

"Octavia, how are things inside? Is it a mess? I don't want the police to come and find our traces shortly after we leave." Arthur looked at Octavia, who was kneeling beside Betta.

"Everything has been finished and returned to its original state, as if we had never been to this house. The difference is, this time the house is empty. So, even if the police come one day, they won't suspect that a murder has taken place here," Octavia explained, her right hand on her chest. "Besides, I had already set up a Barrier spell while we were cleaning up, so the humans outside wouldn't hear or know what was happening."

"I see. Good. In that case, our business here is finished. Let's return to Avanheim. Oh, before that, Emma, who is the person who will accompany Betta tomorrow?" he asked.

"That would be Epsilon, My Lord," Emma answered.

"You hear that, Betta." Arthur turned to Betta, who was still kneeling. "You and Epsilon will oversee the Red Lotus Organization. If there are any signs of resistance or rebellion… just kill them, even Ayato," he said in a flat tone.

"Understood, Lord Arthur! I will definitely not disappoint you!" Betta looked at the figure before her with a serious and determined gaze.

Arthur nodded. He took out the Sealing Crystal again, and after successfully sealing the Blood Angel, he opened a Gate portal and stepped inside. The others followed behind.

Before Octavia fully entered, she snapped her fingers. The transparent Barrier spell surrounding the luxurious house slowly vanished. She entered, and the portal closed.