My Demons

The girl cast a quick glance at me, my expression blank, before shouting and hurling a glass bottle from her waist pouch.

“Snap out of it, you fool!”

“Ah, uh!”

I managed to barely catch the glass bottle, filled with a crimson liquid. The iron-coated container and its contents were all too familiar.

It was a healing potion. In other words, a potion.

Lost in a daze, I stared at the glass bottle until the girl, who had stealthily approached me, kicked my shin with the back of her foot.

Thud

“Ugh.”

“If you don’t want to die, get up now!”

Awakening from my stupor, I hastily unscrewed the bottle cap. As I gulped down the potion, the pain coursing through my body subsided, and the bleeding noticeably slowed.

“Urgh…”

Despite still having three arrows lodged in me, whether it was the potion’s effect or my inherent resilience, I managed to rise to my feet.

In the midst of falling, my belt had loosened, allowing me to retrieve my shield.

“Hoo, hoo!”

Although the shield was no larger than my head, it inexplicably boosted my confidence.

Having witnessed bloodshed and teetered on the brink of death, fear no longer gripped me.

The blood flowing from my wounds heated my entire body, igniting a fiery determination within.

Regaining my composure, I observed the Elemental wizard wielding a wind blade in front of me.

“Eek!”

The girl gritted her teeth and swung her wand, but to no avail.

Had she exhausted her mana already? But she hadn’t even used it ten times, it seemed.

Wind Blade was a rank 2 skill, known for its relatively low mana consumption as a wind-based spell.

If she was a level 15 Elemental wizard, she should have been able to comfortably cast it at least ten times, right?

My doubts were short-lived as pirates, who had concealed themselves behind cargo piles, masts, and orc barrels, cautiously emerged.

“Is it over?”

“Yeah, it’s done!”

“Charge! Kill them!”

Despite the Elemental wizard having dispatched nearly ten pirates, many more remained on the ship.

The girl, biting her lower lip, retreated towards me and shouted.

“Buy us some time! I’ve dealt with the archers!”

“What?”

As I echoed her question with a vacant expression, the girl frowned and yelled once more.

“Pull yourself together and earn that potion!”

…Did this girl give me the potion to use me as a human shield?

But could I even fulfill the role of a shield properly?

“Hoo, hoo.” I exhaled, pushing aside my negative thoughts.

There was nowhere to run, after all. Survival meant fighting, and there was only one path ahead.

So, suppressing my urge to retreat, I steeled myself.

Glancing at the girl’s back, my thoughts drifted to my niece, Ji-won. That thought propelled me forward, enabling me to take a single step.

With the pride of an adult, the pride of a man, I took another arduous step. It was the second step.

The fact that the pirates were much smaller than me also bolstered my courage.

Three steps later, I stood before the girl.

“Argh!”

I bellowed, seeking to bolster my resolve, though it may have come across as a scream.

Nevertheless, the shout cleared my mind and made my heartbeat reverberate louder. The blood coursing through my veins asserted its presence in my senses.

Feeling this, I recalled the abilities I possessed.

‘Right. I was a Blood Knight, wasn’t I?’ 

With that realization, instinct usurped my will. With eager anticipation, I focused on the instinct derived from blood.

Blood surged from my heart, pulsating under my command.

A peculiar sensation spread throughout my entire body, as if every inch of me sprouted fingers. It was an indescribably experience.

At my will, the blood flowing from the point where the arrow had struck began to coagulate, resembling flesh as it writhed and squirmed.

This animated blood reached out, latching onto the potion I held. Crimson tendrils wound around the glowing white blade, enveloping it as though coating it.

The blade seemed to absorb the light, emanating a faint hue. Gradually, the edge turned a vibrant red while the back darkened to black.

A blade of blood.

The Blood Blade, a Rank 1 skill, was the most fundamental offensive skill of a Blood Knight.

Initially an active skill, as its level increased, it became an instinctive trigger akin to a passive skill.

Its effects were no more and no less than those of a Rank 1 skill, but at higher levels, it synergized with various advanced skills, amplifying its power and providing diverse effects.

It stood as the emblematic skill of the Blood Knight.

Although the explanation was lengthy, the Blood Blade was completed in an instant. The pirates, who approached with a menacing aura, hesitated upon seeing me wielding the peculiarly radiant blade.

“Damn, what is that?”

“Is it magic?”

The pirates, momentarily taken aback, were jolted back to action by the shout of a larger figure.

“Didn’t you see him crying earlier? Don’t be scared, just kill him!”

It appeared that my embarrassing display from before had left a lasting impression.

Extending my shield, I sensed an unusual feeling, as if my senses extended throughout the blade.

BANG!

The pirate’s sword collided with the iron bulge at the center of my shield. Startled by the unexpectedly light impact, I swung my blade.

SLASH!

The weighty blade, drenched in the blood-infused potion, sliced through the pirate’s chest as if it were tofu.

Where the breastbone should have been, there was no resistance.

As if enchanted, I withdrew the sword, feeling a queasy sensation creep up my hand along with a squelching sound.

“Hoo…”

Shivering at the unfamiliar sensation, another pirate charged at me.

Swiftly, I swung my blade like a flickering flame, parrying his axe and delivering a kick to his solar plexus.

“Cough!”

As the pirate doubled over, clutching his stomach, I brought my sword down upon him.

The swung blade plunged about an inch into the pirate’s throat, emerging from beneath it.

He collapsed, a geyser of blood spurting from his neck, never to rise again.

“You bastard!”

Another pirate bellowed, thrusting his spear towards me. Instinctively, I leaned my torso back.

CLANK.

Despite my evasion, the clumsy spear tip scraped against my chestplate, stubbornly refusing to relent.

“Kuh.”

The spear, grazing and climbing up my chestplate, came dangerously close to impaling my neck. Yet, I managed to turn my head in time, feeling a searing heat across my cheek and ear. The sensation of being sliced was quite distinct from that of being struck by an arrow.

Reacting on instinct, I crouched and extended my shield, unwittingly creating an opening. The pirates, capitalizing on this vulnerability, swarmed upon me all at once.

Realizing my mistake, I suppressed my pain and lunged forward. Three weapons converged on me simultaneously, and I swung my sword and shield to parry two of them.

CLANG!

Thanks to the strength of a level 10 Blood Knight, the two swords I deflected flew from their wielders’ grasp, aimlessly spinning through the air.

I successfully warded off two assailants, but another closed in on me. In a hasty response, I kicked out at him.

CRUNCH.

“Kah!”

My foot connected with his abdomen, but he retaliated by swinging his axe at my leg.

“Eek”. 

For a moment, I caught sight of the bone beneath my knee.

No, more than that, it was excruciatingly painful.

The agony surpassed that of the spear’s scrape by severalfold, causing me to scream in a mix of rage and torment.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

My vision momentarily turned crimson as I summoned all my strength into my lower body, swinging my sword with all my might.

A crimson arc traced its path, ensnaring the throats of two pirates.

In the wake of the gushing torrent of blood, two heads thudded onto the deck.

“Huh!”

Pain coursed through my body, but the surge of adrenaline or whatever hormone had numbed my senses.

Even as their grotesquely contorted faces rolled across the deck, spewing blood, I felt no concern.

I pressed on. It was as if the boiling blood within me dictated my every move.

“Ugh, bleh!”

I seized the filthy hair of a pirate who was retching from my earlier kick.

With my sword pressed against his throat, the pirate began pleading, his words intermingled with vile remnants.

“Huh, wait, please wait! Spare me! Spare me, urgh!”

As his pitiful whimpering turned into a gurgling stream of blood, I clenched my teeth and severed flesh and bone.

“What… what the hell is he?”

“Damn it! Someone shoot an arrow!”

Observing the panicked pirates, a sudden amusement overcame me. How foolish I had been to fear these men, despite possessing this body and its supernatural abilities.

I flung the head of the pirate, his eyes rolled back, towards the remaining crew.

BANG-

I propelled myself forward, as if intent on shattering the very deck beneath my feet.

And so, I began to swing my sword recklessly among the pirates.

“Argh!”

“Fight, stand up, and fight… cough!” With each swing of my sword, emanating a threatening glow, flesh and bone were rent asunder, unleashing a chorus of screams.

The pirates screamed, their eyes filled with terror, while an uncontrollable power surged through my veins. It stirred within me an intense pleasure that licked at every fiber of my being.

Unable to contain this pleasure, this sense of superiority, this feeling of liberation, I let out a primal roar.

“Whooooooagh!”

The pirates were utterly petrified by my deranged, unhinged actions.

The surviving few swiftly scrambled back onto their vessel.

And fled.

The remaining crew and passengers joined forces to address the aftermath. Well, addressing it simply meant gathering weapons and tossing the lifeless bodies overboard.

And what did I do, you ask?

“Ugh!” I leaned over the railing, retching at the sight of intestines strewn across the deck.

With every heave, blood spurted from the arrow wounds that pierced my body and the knee where the axe had lodged, revealing a glimpse of bone.

“Shit, f@ck, f@ck.”

Curses escaped my lips with each breath as I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

I tried to avert my gaze from the rolling heads and the lower halves stained with excrement while tending to my wounds.

Then, a crew member approached and offered me a piece of cloth suitable for bandaging. The simple act of kindness stirred a profound gratitude within me. Sir, I will remember your face. I will repay you, without fail.

I plucked the embedded arrow from my body and fashioned a makeshift tourniquet to staunch the bleeding. I tightly bound it around the wound, folding the cloth to secure it in place.

It was agony incarnate, but I knew that if I allowed the bleeding to persist, death would surely follow, my vision already starting to blur.

“F@ck…”

Tears unexpectedly welled up.

I had fought for my life, driving those pirate bastards away, yet there was no one to aid me. Well, except for the old man who had provided the bandage.

The same could be said for the magical girl, no, the elemental wizard. After unleashing a storm of blades and seeking refuge behind me, she remained unscathed, her pristine attire untouched by a single drop of blood.

She sat upon some fur she had found, draped over a log. Observing me, she appeared to revel in the tranquility, detached from the chaos around her as if she were an audience member at a theatrical performance.

Struggling with my uncomfortable body to stem the bleeding from my shoulder, I mustered the strength to address the elemental wizard, my voice trembling.