The Crimson Duke of War: Historian In Another World

"M-Maria...?"

Justinian woke up, finding himself still in the snowy forest, lying on Maria's lap. It was clear to him that the wretch's mental attack had managed to incapacitate him.

And he couldn't help but feel disappointed, after just ascending into a demi-god, his preparations were still not enough to endure the derailment of the story.

But what was even worse... more factors foreign to him had begun to move.

Like Jiang Chen and the void, they weren't supposed to appear this early at all.

"What happened...?"

Justinian grunted, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, feeling disoriented after having his mind literally turn into a battlefield for a quick minute.

"I manage to free the souls... but the beast escaped, and as for the stranger... it seemed like he was planning on chasing it."

Justinian was silent.

Not because he didn't understand.

But because everything was spiraling out of sequence.

First, the draugr.

Then, the shrine.

Now, a soul wretch that shouldn't arrive until the third arc, and a protagonist from a future spin-off.

This world… was no longer following the novel.

It was bleeding into something else.

Something unstable.

Justinian looked at his hands.

They were trembling.

Not from fear.

But from anticipation.

From the Book's words still echoing in his mind.

[He is out of order.]

'All the more reason I need to get this ring to Mithral...'

***

As the two of them returned to the village, what met them was a road of dead militia, each one mangled to pieces, but after Maria took a quick look at them.

They still had their souls intact.

Which meant the creature had stopped trying to gain power for now and instead chose to regenerate by eating only flesh.

But that also brought its own pair of problems... It's the fact that the wretch is now more aggressive than ever before.

"Is it still there!?"

Lyram exited the inn, holding a sword to defend himself.

"No..." Justinian shook his head, despite the literal piles of corpses on the main road of the town.

The citizens exhaled a sigh of relief... at least they weren't the victims.

"Did you see someone with a green sword passing by?"

"Y-Yes... he was following the beast, not only that, it seemed like a few natives were following him."

'Natives?'

It... it couldn't be the same people who were following them from the waterfall, could it? Did they decide that killing the beast was more important than continuing to observe?

Because if it did... it meant a massacre was soon going to happen, other than Jiang Chen, the rest were meat bags.

[The Book of War Responds]

[Trait Granted]

- Void Immunity: Self-Explanatory

"Are you going to go after it...?"

"No."

"J-Justinian!"

Maria protested, weren't they supposed to help the townspeople? Why was he backing down now?

"Relax... staying here is better just in case it returns. If we chase it down now, the rest of the town will be left undefended."

Maria calmed down after Justinian's explanation, apologizing for her outburst. She was far tenser than usual, and it wasn't something you could just scratch off by saying it was due to the wretch.

No... instead, it seemed like something else within her was responding.

A side of her that had a total hatred for the void.

The gods.

'If she were to be pushed just even slightly more...'

Justinian thought, if the void even dared to harm her, even accidentally, there was a huge chance that her amulet would completely break.

Because it wasn't just a channel for divine energy, it was more like a limiter.

CRACKLE!

The sudden sounds of a thunderstorm rang out, and from the distance, a huge wave of dark clouds had begun to approach the town.

A blizzard was coming, and its timing couldn't have been any worse, but it was better than having to face the wretch once more.

But a town that had lasted centuries in a climate like this shouldn't even budge from a simple blizzard.

"Lyram."

"Yes...?"

"Tell everyone to be prepared..."

***

As for Jiang Chen, chasing the wretch was going to be the worst decision of his life.

"Come back here!"

He yelled out, weaving through trees and rocks as it continued to chase the wretch while it was in its misty form, making it nearly impossible to catch up to it.

But Jiang Chen was anything but a quitter; just because his enemy was quicker didn't mean he wouldn't catch up.

If it even got slower for even a second, he considered it a small victory.

[Jade Blossom]

He held onto his sword's hilt, and in a burst of energy, the ground below him detonated, sending him flying towards the wretch with his sword drawn.

SLASH!

His sword managed to deal damage, cutting open its side as it briefly returned to a more physical form, now slowing down enough for him to be able to catch up.

"Not so strong without your souls now, are you?"

Jiang Chen laughed.

SLASH!

SLASH!

Two cuts to its legs, but surprisingly enough, it still kept moving, irritating Jiang Chen as it continued to chase him, his legs starting to give out. The longer he followed it, the more void presence he was absorbing into his body.

And even with his resistance to it, eventually, he'll end up just like Justinian.

"You fool..."

The wretch chuckled, stopping abruptly.

"W-What...?"

SLASH!

Jiang Chen's dominant arm was separated from his body with one swift swipe of its claw... while it may be weaker... it was still powerful.

And Jiang Chen didn't know yet... but the only reason why he even managed to push it back, along with Justinian, was due to Maria's presence.

But now...? He had no such miracle.

"Did you really think someone like you could harm me!?"

The wretch screamed once more, but Jiang Chen was prepared for it this time, his mind enhanced by his techniques.

"Nice try!"

[Jade Reconstruction]

His arm regrew; he was ready to fight once more.

At least... that's what he had hoped.

"W-What...?"

That was odd. Why couldn't he grab onto his sword...

And the moment he looked for answers on why...

His arm was still gone...

His techniques were somehow nullified...

"I'm screwed..."

He looked at the wretch again, and it was just there... smiling at him, its entire face replaced with a huge humanoid smile; it was mocking him.

"F-fuck..."