Within the Bloodhaven Empire, the sights were… quite unique. The typical colors of nature, the blue water, the green grass, even the white clouds were nowhere to be seen. These were all replaced with a bloody red. From nearly a thousand miles away, one would be able to see the crimson clouds hanging over the distant horizon, marking the land as the territory of the martial spirits.
In the past, the empire had been on the decline due to the difficulty in producing heirs for their race. To do so, they would need to secure the ki and soul of another being, either robbing it by force or through a mutual agreement. This agreement was formed on the understanding that a martial spirit would allow a fighter to reach a new level of power.
However, the cost of this arrangement was for the soul of the fighter to be consumed upon death, forever unable to enter the afterlife. This alone made the prospect quite unappealing, ensuring that their numbers would only slowly increase. Furthermore, with the arrival of the Perfection Chambers, it was as if people no longer had need of their power.
Although seeking perfection still meant binding your soul to your single existence for eternity, it did not rely on the power of another to increase their strength. Thus, the martial spirits of Bloodhaven could only return to their ancient method of hunting powerful monsters. Like this, their population grew even more slowly than before, although they were at one point nearly destroyed by an enemy invasion.
Eventually… the Empress of Bloodhaven, the martial spirit with the title of First Blood, became the Goddess of Ki. Scarlet was able to utilize her power to help secure half of the material needed to fuel the birth of her people, allowing them to harvest spiritual energy from lesser creatures to make up the numbers. Gradually, the population of martial spirits started to rise, allowing them to become a true nation.
Now, there were individuals walking the street happily, each of them having blood-red hair. Parents walked with their children, and they frequented many new shops that had arrived. Such an accomplishment could not be attributed to the Goddess of Ki alone. Instead, there had been another benefactor that provided martial spirits with a method of reproduction without relying on either hunting monsters or forming deals.
Sitting on her obsidian throne, the childlike goddess looked over the paperwork that she had been given. “The monthly supply of bloodforged weapons to Hanbei has been delayed? I believe the shipment was already sent earlier this week, was it not?” She asked curiously, going over the details that had been written.
Standing a few meters before her, a bulky man wearing crimson metal armor replied. “Your Highness, the shipment sent last week was… intercepted, and did not reach its destination.”
Scarlet’s eye twitched when she heard that, finding the response almost laughable. “How was it intercepted? Did you not use the gates for this task? And, for that matter, why is it that I am only finding out about this after a week has already passed?”
The martial spirit soldier began to sweat a blood-like substance as he nervously answered. “W-We are still conducting an investigation on what exactly happened, Your Highness. As you say, we used the gate as we always do. However, the soldiers escorting the shipment reported that the containment scrolls that they were carrying all became empty the moment that they passed through.”
“At this time, we believe it to be the work of a powerful, unknown entity. Potentially even a god with a domain focused on thievery.” The soldier offered a deep bow of apology after saying that. “Having seen the power of these gods before, we did not wish to worry you and place you in danger, Your Highness. The smithies have been working around the clock, and a fresh shipment is scheduled to be sent this evening.”
Scarlet almost scoffed at the prospect of her people thinking that she would be in danger from such a situation, but forced herself to calm down. It was true that divine domains could, in fact, be stolen. She had witnessed the very thing from the recording of the battle against the golem god.
If her domain was stolen, the martial spirits would lose a large source of security. It had always been Scarlet herself that stood up to help them when things became overly grim. She was the oldest of her kind, born from the blood of the Keeper himself. Even so… “I don’t like you keeping me in the dark about things like this.” She said in a strict tone that did not match her current appearance. “From now on, I want to be notified immediately if a problem of this level occurs in the future.”
The soldier offered a solemn nod, but was not able to speak before Scarlet herself continued. “Now, tell me what measures you have in place to prevent the same incident from repeating itself with the next shipment? If you have gone to such lengths, surely you are not going to simply hope that the previous thief doesn’t strike again?”
The soldier shook his head, standing at attention. “Not at all, Your Highness. We believe that the thief took advantage of the properties of the gate to act without being detected. Thus, we have gathered a group of spiritual masters for the sake of directly teleporting the goods to the target destination. The current queen of Hanbei has been notified, and is ready to receive the package.”
“The… current queen?” Scarlet asked, her expression complex. “Has the crown changed hands?” As allies of Hanbei, it was their duty to act if an insurrection were to arise, and yet she had heard of no such thing. Was there more that her people weren’t telling her?
“Ah…” The soldier realized what he had said, nodding solemnly. “The former queen, Queen Saruko, passed away last year. I hear that she failed in her pursuit of divinity. The current queen is her daughter, Elisae. Queen Elisae stated that she wished for relationships to progress as they had been, and never made a formal announcement outside of her own kingdom.”
Scarlet fell quiet when she heard that. Although she had not been overly close with Saruko, the two had met during the time when the problem of her people’s reproduction was being solved. It was natural for Saruko to leave a lasting impression on her. That said, it had been quite some time since the two had met face to face. “How old is her daughter? I don’t recall her having one.”
“I believe she has just turned nineteen this year, Your Highness.” The soldier answered, sensing the almost mournful aura from the Goddess of Ki. “Our relationship with Hanbei hasn’t been disturbed since the changing of hands. However, I believe a report of it was given to you at the time.”
Scarlet puffed her cheeks up slightly at that. Most written reports tended to gloss over the details of what the writers deemed as ‘less significant’ events. A perfect example was this time’s shipment delay. I need better officials… She thought to herself, realizing that the report may have just been a footnote in a regular trade document, something easy for her to miss.
“You said that the shipment is being delivered today?” Scarlet said as she rose from her seat, stretching her limbs out slightly. Although she did not have truly physical muscles and joints, it felt comfortable to perform the action.
“That’s right, Your Highness… you’re not planning to…?” The soldier blinked, realizing what Scarlet was up to.
She nodded her head, stepping forward and leaving an avatar of herself behind. “It has been a year since this ‘Elisae’ took the throne. As allies of Hanbei, I believe that it is long since time for me to see the face of my new ally.”
There was a second meaning to Scarlet’s words. Due to the circumstances of her past, she was one of very few beings, perhaps the only one outside of the Greater Pantheon capable of casually viewing the karma of another person. With one glance, she would be able to tell if Elisae’s karma had been dyed black or not. If so, she would not hesitate to cut off their trade agreement, regardless of her former relationship with Elisae’s mother.
If this is even her daughter. She muttered in her mind at the thought. Although it was possible given how infrequently the two spoke, Scarlet wouldn’t know for sure without seeing the girl herself. Doing so would allow Scarlet to measure the girl’s ki to see if she were hiding anything. The last thing that she wanted to discover was that Saruko had been killed by a supposed heir aiming to claim the crown.
The soldier knew that there was no talking the Empress out of a decision that she had set her mind to. He could only gulp nervously as he watched her walk past, barely catching up to her when she spoke next. “Where is this shipment being held?” She asked in an almost casual tone, pushing open the door of her palace.
The fresh scent of blood herbs hit her, causing her to smile at the smell. The soldier hurried after her, doing his best not to disturb her mood. “They’re being stored in the seventh warehouse, so that we can quietly conduct the trans–” He wasn’t able to finish his words before Scarlet vanished with a faint ripple of the space around her.
Long before Scarlet became a goddess, she had been granted the knowledge of how to wield ki at the fourth tier. Such a level of power was something that even the most accomplished of individuals would struggle with. Had it not been for her demigod aspect being Ki, which then evolved into her domain, it is very likely that she would not have mastered it so thoroughly.
As it was, the power of the fourth tier could be commanded by her even in the heat of battle. Combined with her domain allowing her to wield her divine energy as an even more powerful ki, it made her an extremely potent combatant. Shifting between points of space had become a casual matter for her.
When she appeared in the warehouse, she saw the boxes being piled inside what looked like a large ritual circle. She gave a small nod, realizing that they weren’t using the quest scrolls for this in case the previous thief had exploited that method as well. “Is this the last of it?” She asked a nearby worker, seeing him set down another crate in the circle.
“Huh? A-ah! Your Highness! N-No, there are still three more crates to move, over there.” The worker pointed, his hand shaking. Scarlet followed his gesture and found the three boxes in question, reaching out to flick her wrist towards them.
The crates all lifted themself up in unison, flying over to join the others. Scarlet could naturally sense the pure ki contained within the objects in the crate, so she wasn’t worried that she had picked the wrong ones. “I’ll be heading over myself.” She said, leaving those parting words just as the warehouse door flew open.
“Your–” The soldier’s words were once again cut off early, as Scarlet had vanished together with the entire shipment at once. “Highness…” He let out a sigh, shaking his head.
Elsewhere, Scarlet appeared in the center of a wide courtyard, the piles of boxes neatly stacked beside her. Her appearance disrupted the normal flow of traffic, causing others to jump in shock and shift to the side. One attendant ran forward in confusion. “I was under the impression that the shipment wouldn’t arrive for a few more hours?” He asked, seeming not to recognize who he was talking to.
“I heard about the delay last time, so I wanted to handle it myself.” Scarlet said casually, scanning through the items and confirming that nothing had disappeared this time. “I imagine Queen Elisae will be here soon, after that commotion?”
The attendant chuckled dryly. “It is very likely. Do you mind if I check the contents of the crates, and ensure that there is no problem with this shipment?”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow, stepping aside to let him do so. However, she kept her senses locked sharply on both the items in the crates as well as the man. Although the odds were low, there was the chance that the previous shipment had been stolen by someone from this side.
The attendant pried open the lid of one crate while Scarlet silently gathered power in her hand, ready to act. He looked in, catching the bloody glow of the freshly forged weapons, and nodded his head in satisfaction. “Everything seems to be in order.” He responded with a smile, looking back towards Scarlet.
Noticing that there was no change in the shipment, Scarlet drew back the power she had quietly gathered, letting out a faint sigh. “That is good to hear.” She said with a faint nod, turning her head to look at a source of ki she felt approaching. Afterwards, her eyes went wide in shock.
What she saw was a woman with black hair and dressed in light metal armor. The armor had golden lining, making it appear more extravagant, while the rapier at her waist was heavily decorated. Her eyes were an almost shining silver, her expression a cautious mask. But none of that was the reason for Scarlet’s shock, as she saw something nobody else saw from the woman.
A beacon of brilliant light followed this woman, the most positive karma that Scarlet had ever seen in her life. She had seen people with such pure karma that they could enter the Heavenly Palace, and measured them personally. But this… this was like placing a single torch next to a roaring bonfire.
As soon as Scarlet saw the woman’s karma, she no longer held any suspicions about the new queen having assassinated the old one to maliciously steal her crown. If anything, her very karma would prevent such thoughts from entering her mind. “You are… Queen Elisae?” Scarlet asked once she had recovered from her shock.
“That’s right.” The young queen nodded her head, looking down at Scarlet. “If I’m not mistaken, you are the Empress of Bloodhaven, correct?” A gentle smile formed on her lips. “I believe that this is our first meeting. Would you like to talk in private?”
