Crimson Eternal - Book 6 - Chapter 36 (Patreon)

For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

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Table of Contents

Here's a new cover for Crimson Eternal Book 5 on Royal Road. I'll commission a cover for each book of the series once they go to Amazon, but this will be the temporary one for Royal Road. The scene is of when she was at that tournament back in book five.

Click the following link for the 1369 word chapter 36:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B41vtdPd5K1-fmCBmY1KKjJpbY92d7rf4r3Cdjr43Hc/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aria

I can’t help but smile as I head over to check on my Death’s Court located inside of one of War’s Hunter’s Spots. Specifically due to the latest level message I got from the deaths within it. One that appeared alongside a massive burst of death energy that rushed straight out of me and through the exit of the Hunter’s Spot.

User has leveled-up to level 1000.

User’s skill ‘Death’ will now be upgraded.

Assessing user’s accomplishments and actions… assessment complete.

User’s new upgraded skill is as follows:

Death

The personal skill of the Horseman of Death herself.

Her trademark skill.

And the symbol of her domain.

With this skill, the user becomes the origin of all death energy and obtains the ability to summon forth the Horse of Death.

Beware of Death, for she has finally fully bloomed.

I narrow my eyes at the message, but I don’t lose the smile splitting my face. Because I was already told a while back what would happen at level one thousand by the Grand Death Spirit, Zero.

At level one thousand, I no longer use death magic. Instead, just like the Death Spirits, I begin to directly control death energy.

I become the very embodiment of death energy.

Death energy itself will no longer be able to harm me. In fact, if someone tried to use it against me, it would just heal or empower me instead.

This includes other Death Spirits, not that they would ever try to harm me in the first place.

Overall, the description of the skill Death has two changes in it.

Instead of saying ‘the origin of all death magic’ it now says ‘the origin of all death energy’ being the first change. With the second change being it changing the words ‘finally blossomed’ into ‘finally fully bloomed.’

I didn’t really think about this back when I hit level one hundred and first got the Death skill. Flowers have never really been a passion of mine, after all. But a flower blossoming just means it is in the process of opening up and blooming.

It isn’t fully bloomed yet, but still spreading its wings, so to speak.

Spreading its petals, I guess.

But now the skill says I’ve fully bloomed.

Of course, I still have plenty of new skills to get after this, but now I’ve officially grown into being the Horseman of Death. According to the System, that is.

Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now.

I grin while raising my hand and controlling all of the death energy filling this Hunter’s Spot to converge down and slam into the mana creatures filling the armies below. Instantly making them decompose, almost like they’re experiencing necrosis.

Their flesh begins to die and flake off by the second, forcing death onto all the death energy I send touches.

Of course, the ones with more mana manage to hold off for longer. But, at this point, I’m amongst the more elite forces in the universe.

Absolutely nowhere near the top in terms of level, but my power alone is more than enough to compete with someone at Shirogane’s level now that I have this upgraded skill.

And Shirogane is around level eight or so thousand something hundred somethingety something.

I don’t remember the exact number.

Still. It’s nice to see, even if I don’t exactly fight much nowadays. Much less personally.

More often than not, I tend to just send off my Death Spirits to fight for me while I lay back watching the show. Sometimes, not often, drinking wine.

Yep.

Not often.

I firmly nod my head at that thought before trying out my death energy a bit more. Then I can go back to continue watching War and Pestilence’s battle later.

They’re just taking too long to fight. So long I got bored and used the excuse of my upgraded skill to come here.

Anyway, I wonder just how much death energy I can use at once?

Time to find out.

Back at War and Pestilence’s Battle

Both Victor and Lucius suddenly stop moving when they sense a powerful wave of death energy rush across their battlefield, along with the entire rest of the universe. Almost as if announcing the birth of a new power.

Or the maturation of a previously existing power.

While numerous other powers across the universe begin flailing, trying to figure out what the wave of death energy came from, Pestilence and War simply look in the direction of the Scarlet Crucible for a few moments before returning to their battle. Because both of them know exactly what just happened.

Aria reached level one thousand and finally matured as a Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Normally both of them, War especially, would go to her to congratulate her on the milestone. Even Pestilence would, albeit as just a fellow Horseman before leaving again.

Now is different, though.

Pestilence refuses to leave until the Horseman of War and his companion are dead and crushed under the weight of his plagues for what they’ve done. And even War is now angry enough that he no longer takes this battle as a mere duel. Not since Pestilence began targeting Little Rain with the clear attempt to kill.

That crossed his line.

War doesn’t care how hypocritical that line may be, it was still crossed.

So, regardless of the duel locking them into combat, neither of them are willing to end the battle. Leaving destruction echoing throughout the galaxy they’re fighting in. With numerous black holes appearing from stars and planets collapsing, destroying the fields of gravity all across the galaxy in the process.

Meanwhile the various forces of the universe begin cordoning off the galaxy in question. Blocking anyone from entry for their own safety.

The Grands, on the other hand, continue to watch the battle raging before them. Waiting to see if they can jump in.

All of them know exactly what War is doing, as War has taken skills from millions of people over the years through duels. And none of them want War to take a skill from another Horseman.

War is their next target, after all.

Lucius Octavio is the most dangerous and yet least threatening of the three Horsemen of the Apocalypse causing death and destruction in the universe. Simply because all he does is wage war endlessly, making him no better or worse than a regular warmonger. Just one that is the most powerful single individual in the universe.

He doesn’t harm or even look at the planets he has already taken under his flag, nor does he go out of his way to attack people unrelated to his wars. War doesn’t even attack civilians who aren’t participating in the wars outside of accidents.

Despite all of that, he still causes immense casualties and problems for the people of the universe thanks to his never-ending wars. Countless people and nations always feel worried that they’ll be his next target, and those who do end up as his targets have no hope since they realize it is impossible to defeat him. Yet they must fight despite that since there’s no other way.

War’s skills lock them into the war, making it impossible for them to run away.

So he is a target the Grands must deal with, just like Pestilence and Famine. All for the safety of the universe.

And if this target grows stronger through defeating Pestilence in their duel, it will make defeating him all the more difficult.

Because Lucius Octavio has long since been confirmed as the most powerful being in existence.

The apex predator of the universe.

Meanwhile, as the two Horsemen fight and the Grands struggle to make a plan to deal with the battle and stop War from slaying Pestilence, a single wave of death energy rushes up to the battlefield. Past the blockade. And that wave soon dissipates to reveal a single woman everyone recognizes as she hums to herself and places a brand new recliner on a large platform in space.

Acting completely at odds with the tense atmosphere filling every other corner of the universe when she begins reading while listening to music.