Eyshan's lifeless corpse lay on the ground. The victors of the battle moved toward her to see it with their own eyes, perhaps only able to believe it that way. Only the Elite Ten's Number One and his guarding comrades stayed put; their sole goal was to contain the unleashed energy of the dead male Apostle.
"She's dead, right?"
"Look at her, there's a gaping hole where her heart used to be!"
"How funny, I always thought that hole was already there!"
The crowd gathered around the long-faced woman watched Mora slowly descending from the sky. Mora, inhabiting a female orc body, walked past them and headed toward her family. Abarran and Isabel greeted her with anxious eyes, but unlike them, Lareina lunged forward and threw her arms around her sister.
"Lareina, take it easy! I'm hacked to pieces over here!"
The young girl leaped back in panic, but Mora was smiling.
"Do you remember the last thing I asked of you?"
"Yes, I remember!"
"It's time!"
As the two sisters walked arm in arm to Eyshan's side, the crowd parted to let them through. Lareina pulled out a human-sized talisman paper and carefully began to wrap Eyshan in it. Mora helped her, and once the wrapping was done, the young girl with the uneven bangs said, "I need your blood."
Mora yanked Eyshan's dagger out from where it was lodged in her hand, and blood began to pool in Lareina's palm. Wasting no time, she drew symbols on the paper, while another hand joined in to help her.
"Mother!"
Isabel continued in silence, and working together, they covered the talisman paper in symbols in less than a hundred breaths. The female orc took a few small steps away from the duo; her gaze and her voice had completely changed.
"Brace yourselves, the true Queen of the Hell Realm is coming!"
That voice belonged to Nafız. The drops of blood falling from the dagger into Lareina's palms were the very last remnants of Mora's blood essence left in that body. It happened exactly as she said; the patterns on the talisman flared with a blinding light, and ten breaths later, someone entirely different stood before them.
"Mora, my daughter!"
Abarran, who had been watching from the back, lunged forward, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"It's me, Father!"
Abarran, Isabel, Mora, and Lareina; the family was finally back together. Some around them were crying, some were laughing, and a few were clapping hard enough to bust their hands. Even the sun began to rise to celebrate the joyous occasion, but this event alarmed the folks of the Other Realm.
"We have to go!"
"We need to return to the Other Realm before the sun comes up!"
The Sheikhs of the Holy Blood Sect began to speak, but the final word came from the old man whose voice reeked of death.
"People of the Other Realm, through the portal!"
When Aspero's master—the Sheikh of the Holy Blood Sect presiding over the Hell Realm—gave the command, about a hundred disciples conjured from the talismans rushed into the open portal at top speed.
"Those who migrated to the Other Realm and those born there cannot withstand the sun of this world. Sheikhs, you need to hurry as well!"
Seeing the bewildered looks of the orcs, the old man felt compelled to explain. On the flip side, it was high time for those who had come over to head back.
"Father, Mother, Sister!"
Lareina whimpered as she looked at her newly reunited family, unable to hold back her tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.
"My daughter, your time has not yet come. You must stay here and fight the man trying to conquer the world!"
"Young man, the blood of the First Sheikh flows through your veins! Together with Lareina, you will rule this realm and protect your people from the malice of that demon called the Master!"
Isabel herself was someone reincarnated in another's body, and she stepped into the portal right before the sunlight touched the earth.
"Master!"
Ever since Nafız had regained control of her body, she had been observing the affairs of the Holy Blood Sect. But when a very familiar voice grazed her ear, she turned around.
"Sangre!"
Her very first Blood Warrior stood just a step away. After all the years that had passed since his death, this was the first time she was seeing him so up close.
"What will you do, my Blood Warrior? You can go to the Other Realm and continue to live!"
"And what about you, Master?" Sangre answered her question with a question.
"Ever since the day you died, my sole purpose has been to resurrect you. If you go to the Other Realm, that won't be possible, but at least I'll know you are alive again! I leave the choice to you."
Sangre had to choose between heading to the Other Realm or waiting for Nafız to resurrect him anew, and it didn't take him long to decide.
"In death as in life, I am with you!"
When the first light of day struck the earth, it was still twilight. The portal remained open, but no one from the Other Realm was left. Abarran was the last to cross over; though it tore him apart to leave Lareina, the burning desire to reunite with his wife and daughter waiting for him outweighed it all.
The moment the sunlight touched Sangre's body, Lareina's technique shattered. As the talisman papers dissolved into the air, a lifeless corpse hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Until we meet again, my Blood Warrior!"
When the battle in the Hell Palace's massive gardens officially ended, the survivors numbered only a handful. The square, which had been overflowing at the start of the night, was now so choked with corpses there wasn't even room to step.
"Lareina! Jashua! Isabel has left the Hell Realm to you. The Hell Palace is now yours!"
Nafız declared the outcome, and the roars of the Orcs shook the empty walls. A massacre of colossal proportions had taken place; four sects had been wiped off the face of the earth, leaving only the Holy Blood and Holy Bone Sects standing.
"Aspero, Hueso! Send word to your sects! Tell them to come and bow to the new King and Queen of the Hell Realm!"
No one dared to object to Nafız's words. How could they? They knew exactly who she was now; the person standing before them wasn't some little girl in her early teens.
Those who received their orders didn't dare waste a second to carry them out. Corpses were scavenged, and the energies of the blood stones stolen from the Holy Blood were reclaimed. As for the souls, they belonged to someone else entirely. The Elite Ten's Number One was busy adding the sect members—each an elite in their own right—to his collection.
The orcs couldn't stop themselves from looting; it was in their blood, and after what they had pulled off in the battle, they damn well earned the right.
Nafız, Alyon, and the big shots had withdrawn to a corner to rest; after such a long night, there was a hell of a lot to talk about.
"Nafız, what the hell was that stuff Mora pulled off using your body?"
Alyon had seen it all with his own two eyes, but clearly, some of it went over his head.
"Old friend, when I had to leave Mora's blood techniques behind, I thought long and hard, and decided to forge my own. What you saw were the very first blood techniques ever wielded by an orc!"
"Damn, they look pretty fucking powerful!"
"More powerful than you can guess, but even I can't draw out their full potential yet. What about you, meathead? How are the Mercenaries' lands? Are they fun?"
"Fun? Are you kidding me? Our ancestors settled in the wrong damn place; we should have been living right there among the Mercenaries. We set up a small mercenary group serving the Golden Leaf Guild, just me, Pehlivan, and the Elite Ten.
Thanks to Gulag's potions, we managed to infiltrate them without anyone realizing we were orcs. Of course, I can't deny the help of our connection; if it weren't for them, there's no way we could have made it here."
"Is that so! With the loss of the General and the Representatives lying dead here, the already fragile balance of power is going to shatter completely. We have a score to settle with the Mercenaries, and I'm itching to go there myself."
Nafız's eyes were gleaming, but then, for some reason, they suddenly went dead. She lifted her head and locked her eyes on one of the few towers left standing—the tower belonging to the Holy Blood Sect.
"I'm exhausted. I'm going to get some rest. I absolutely do not want to be disturbed!"
Leaving the crowd behind amidst the bewildered stares of the others, Nafız walked briskly toward the tower and vanished into its dark entrance. The narrow stairs of the tower were both pitch-black and damp. Accelerating her pace, Nafız threw herself into the hall on the top floor.
"Welcome. I've been waiting for you!"
The moment Nafız stepped onto the monolithic stone floor, she froze to the bone at the words grazing her ear. She slowly turned her head and saw the shadow sitting at the head of the long table.
"The Master!"