120 Aftermath of a Bloodbath

Gulp.

I finished swallowing the chunk of meat in my throat before tossing the heart to the ground. It was a bloody scene, something out of a warzone; something I hadn't seen in a while. Bodies were scattered throughout the campgrounds, some had their bodies pierced, others, the result of friendly fire. Fire had somehow sprung, probably due to a Fruit, so now the bonfire wasn't the only light source. Fortunately, the tents that presumably held the rare items were intact despite the surrounding flames, once again probably due to a Fruit. Other than that, there were pools of blood, some organs that had spayed out, and other miscellaneous body parts that were scattered across the bloodfest.

My appearance blended in well with the area around me. I was covered with patches, drizzles, and blots of blood, and my hair was almost completely soaked. The fresh sun-yellow robe I was wearing? It would be more accurate to let Culdia the, "Bloody Avatar", wear it now. I wasn't a pretty sight, inside and out. I could taste blood in my mouth, my throat even. I must've done more than take a bite out of that heart... Which did bring up a pressing issue, an issue relating to the bloodbath I found myself in.

"That really was a strange moment... or period I should say."

Throughout my entire life, no matter how close I had gotten to death, and I have been closer than just now, I'd never gone feral like that. In fact, throughout the majority of my life, I've kept a calm face in front of death... but just now was different...

I lost myself to bloodlust.

It was something out of the norm for me, so there had to be change that caused this change. The only difference between the me of now and the me of then that I can think of is the change of environment, and everything else associated with it. So I could only guess between three, perceivable, options: It had something to do with my new body, it was a side-effect of the golden strawberry I used, or it had something to do with my heritage.

I can safely rule out the first possibility because I've already experienced the emotions this body holds, and they are very normal for a boy of this body's age; nothing that could create such grand bloodlust at least. That leaves the two other options. Both are definitely viable... but I believe that my heritage is the more likely cause. In all media that I've ever consumed, and have even experienced myself, Devils or those related to the underworld have a "pushed-against-a-corner" mentality. Draw them too close to death and they'll lash out as a final attempt to kill you.

It could still very well be the strawberry's doing, but I have practically no information on the Fruit's ability besides it bringing me to this world. In lieu of evidence, use what you do know to make an informed guess. So with that in mind, I will decide that the third option is true... but in that case, how come I haven't seen at least visages of it before? It's not like I was conceived in this world. I'm an offspring of Hades from another world and have gotten dangerously close to death in that world, yet I never had such a reaction...

Once again, this must be because of me swapping worlds, which could mean a lot of different things. However, I do know one thing for certain: it was a recent change. There was one other time when I teetered on the edge of death. During my fight in the coliseum, against Fragitus, my legs were blown off, and I was barely able to muster up the will to move. It didn't matter if I knew it was a controlled environment before, I wasn't in a state of mind to recall that. At that moment, to me, it was a game of life or death.

And compared to who I am now, there is only one big difference. My Class. During that fight, I was still in Dirt Class, but now I'm in Stone Class. If that's true, that means that upgrading in cultivation had to have brought more of a devilish attitude out of me... which also means that further enhancement could cause more to be exposed. It's not hard to believe that my true heritage was hidden behind the walls of cultivation. It was probably similar to how one couldn't do a pull-up if they were unable to do a push-up, either my body or my mind wasn't strong enough to handle the change, perhaps both even.

Assuming this is all true... it does put some hesitance on my advancement. If I just suddenly ascended to Coal Class, what would happen? There was a chance that this personality disorder could take over other areas of my life as well... That is if I'm unable to control it. What would happen if I could control myself during my "freakouts"? I may not remember much during my black-out, but I do remember that I didn't feel any pain... and if I look at my body...

A smile painted itself onto my face.

I wasn't injured what-so-ever... It was possible that both my mentality and my strength could've changed. If I'm able to train myself to resist the change of personality during that "transformation", then I could harness only the boon of strength... though how I can do that is another issue altogether. And until I figure out how to do that... I have to be extremely careful with how I treat myself. If I suddenly turned around a bunch of allies, I might just kill them as well.

Fshhh.

The sound of leaves rattling and bushes rustling caught my attention and brought me back down to reality. Before I could do any more deep diving into my psyche, I had to deal with the present, and currently, there was a hot issue on hand. My faction was finally arriving.

During my talk with Pecudola, I had the idea in my mind that my allies were nearby, watching my every move, but that wasn't true. He probably implemented that idea into my mind so that I would let down my guard easily. If they were so close, then why would I have a signal on me? Plus, I would never let them that close to me when being sneaky, it could cause problems. That was why they took so long to get here, though, I would have preferred they interfered faster. But you have to pick your poisons, and I picked the wrong one.

The first to walk through the bushes was Onvima. He was the speediest of the bunch, so it made sense that he was first to arrive. He entered in a rush, probably worried over the smoke and fire, but was stopped by the scattered corpses. His eyes turned wide and his face pale. He'd probably never seen such a horrific sight before, but everyone has their first. As he was hurriedly scanning the area with eyes full of fear, he found me standing almost dead in the middle of it all and took an instinctual step back.

Once he realized it was me he stopped, but his vigilance didn't. He gave me a sharp look and asked me with a skittish tone, "... Did you do this Quis?"

If it was someone other than Onvima, then maybe I'd go with a different story, but since it is him, I'll have to just straight up tell the truth. It'll be fine to show some human error, after all, It's not like I'm trying to become their god as well. I took a deep breath, looked around me, and then answered in a confused voice, "... I think so?"

That type of answer wasn't one that he was expecting. Knowing him, he probably thought I'd say it with ferocity or anger, but instead, I said it with as much or even more confusion than him. This threw him off, getting rid of that tension he was holding onto, allowing me to continue, "Well, it was a very strange string of events. To give the short story, I had to attack back in self-defense and I wasn't able to alert you guys of the trouble... after that... it gets a bit blurry. I can't really remember how it ended up like, well, this, but I do think it was me. It's like I blacked out and woke up in a field of bodies."

It was obvious that he didn't fully trust my words, but it didn't matter. Most of the others would believe me, so he would soon fall into place as well, it would only be a matter of time. He stared at me for a moment longer before his eyes wandered back onto the surroundings. He was about to say something when the rest of my faction poured in.

Besides Fragitus, they all had shocked expressions, but I could see the differences in shock between them. The old man was shocked because of the amount of strength levels of the corpses. Capcis seemed shocked because I hadn't invited her. And Vernam and Capcis were wide eyed out of worry for me. The only ones who were shocked because of the presence of death itself were Telferr, Beulus, and Hasrem. Though each eventually recovered at their own pace.

Soon enough, everyone's eyes laid on me, and, unexpectedly, Hasrem was the one to come forward and ask me, "What happened here Quis?" Normally she was a more passive one, so for her to want answers was strange... I would keep a closer eye on her to see if her character was changing.

While keeping this abnormality noted in my head, I answered her question. I started with the transactions. I told them about the slaves, causing a few of them to wince a bit, I emphasized the part about my parents, and I went on until the sudden shift. I didn't say much about the fight itself, only that it was very strange the whole time. Of course, I had to tell them how I triumphed in the end. Then I told them about the knife in my heart and the lack of a following story. It was an eventful tale to say the least, but it made sense. Enough sense for them to believe me at least. I did make sure to sound somewhat shaken up too. After all, my character didn't have an invulnerability to killing; he had only a tolerance.

"I see, well..." The old man walked up to me and patted me on the back, "You did well kid. Anyone of us would have acted the same... you didn't have a choice." He walked passed me and toward one of the tents, "Plus, we've also gotten our objective, haven't we? It may not have been through the cleanest of means, but in the end, it'll create a cleaner future. So let's get ransacking, shall we?"

"Yeah, it's not like it matters much anyway. This is a dog-eat-dog world. Everyone hear 'ought to remember that. Especially because this is the path we chose." Fragitus was the next to talk and also began moving. Culdia shrugged her shoulders and moved with her. And, although she desperately wanted to make sure I was okay, Vernam moved with the two of them to not blow her cover. Capcis on the other hand, ran right up to me and padded me down, head to toe. After she concluded I was fine, she sighed in relief and I sent her to get the items with the others.

The only two left were Hasrem and Beulus. These two were more shaken up over the deaths, although Hasrem seemed even more upset about it. She stared at me for a moment before eventually sighing and moving to join the others. Before she moved passed me though, she said to me, "Quis, I really don't like killing. Please keep that in mind." Beulus seemed to be a bit worried about after overhearing her and chased after her, leaving me by myself.

I took a deep breath, sucking in the iron-scented air. There were still some issues present, and by the looks of it, some that were currently brewing...

But at the very least...

I can say that I'm alive...

Huh?

Since when have I cared about that?