75 [75] Greece
[You were born an orphan.]
[You seem as if born amidst a battlefield strewn with corpses, awash with bloodshed.]
[Gaze around you...]
[Everywhere are corpses everywhere with mutilated limbs and arms, and bodies with twisted organs piled up and strange monsters.]
[There were ruins and broken walls on all sides, and there was blood and destruction everywhere. The air is filled with an aura of anxiety called war.]
[You blink, raising your hand to behold the speckled blood stains on your palm.]
["..."]
[A clenched fist, only filled with a soft and tender sense of powerlessness.]
[Tch.]
[It's... the tiny hands of an infant.]
[You lower your hand, expressionless, lifting your gaze towards the heavens, the glaring sun.]
[Perhaps it's the result of blood seeping into your pupils, even the sunlight takes on a crimson hue.]
[...Numb.]
[What a hellish start...]
[You already know that if this damn simulator gives you these three seemingly godly talents, nothing good will happen.]
"You bloody well know it..."
Reinhard opened his mouth as if to retort.
But unfortunately, Reinhard's infant vocal cords could only produce a hoarse cry at this moment.
And faced with such a grotesque sight, drenched in bloods, it was nothing more than a corpse, not terror-inducing, surprisingly.
However, the attempt to vocalize with the body of an infant made his breath involuntarily hasten.
Reinhard pondered for a moment.
Then he decided to keep his mouth shut.
[Crimson Fury] [Demon Sword Companion] [Limiter]
These phrases shaped in his mind, forming an image of a bloodthirsty swordsman, breaking free from restraints, embodying the spirit of Sparta.
He was the epitome of a fierce man.
But what's the price, Gul'dan?
Reinhard understood.
The system gives him talents according to the difficulty level of the simulation, previously he got the Ultimate Life Form and his opponent? Grand Servants!
The more difficult the simulation level, the more terrifying talents given by the system...
So...
What kind of monster can withstand such a vicious combination of talents he just acquired?
He didn't want to dwell on it, because right now he couldn't articulate in words how infuriated and enraged he currently felt.
Because...
Just three days...
Just three days... he had a loving reunion with his wife.
And this damn system... pulled him into the simulation!
Keeping him away from his wife again.
Damn it.
There's also the Mystic Eyes of Bloodthirsty.
The voice he heard earlier echoed in his mind...
It felt very familiar.
Initially, Reinhard wasn't quite sure.
But with the explanation of his talents, he immediately understood.
No doubt about it.
That figure was Aatrox, the Darkin Blade.
A former God-Warrior of Shurima, now fallen into demonic.
And Aatrox was one of his favorite champions from games he played before.
What kind of strange things had been sewn into this world?
However, compared to the things in Warhammer, demons like Aatrox are relatively less dangerous.
Blinking his eyes and gazing at the sea of corpses in front of him.
Reinhard fell into contemplation.
In his current state, what could he do?
Originally, he intended to give up, to go back and cuddle with his beloved witch.
But damn, these talents were so tempting.
He already knew... after the simulation ended, the reward would be a simulated character token.
Its growth rate would bring him the attributes of the character at its strongest moment when the simulation ended.
So, to cope with the impending world crisis.
Reinhard hoped to elevate his own strength as much as possible.
He wasn't afraid of death... but struggling to survive was a human instinct.
Various disasters that would come in the future couldn't be resisted solely by the moonlit world's magecraft..
Unless he could reach the Root.
If the plan to escape failed.
What Reinhard wanted to do was: within the remaining dozen years, initiate a route for the overall psionic ascension of humanity and find a glimmer of hope to counter all kinds of calamities.
So...
"Let's try to survive this."
He muttered to himself in his heart.
Reinhard's breathing gradually calmed down.
[You do not know who your parents are, and as a human being, your rationality prevents you from crying.]
[You open your eyes, calmly assessing the situation.]
[In the distant city, the warriors' roars still reverberate in the air, indicating that the battle is far from over.]
[But the somewhat comforting news is.... at least, in your immediate vicinity, it seems both sides of the conflict have been wiped out.]
[The bulky bodies lying beside you, clad in similar style cloaks and armor, undoubtedly belong to one faction.]
[The enemies they fought against were not human, nor were they magical beasts... rather, they were all sorts of indescribable, grotesque creatures.]
[The gruesome corpses pile up together.]
[You, isolated and helpless, are embedded within the heap of bodies.]
[The twisted intestines from the monsters' bodies slip and coil out from the viscera, stacking and entwining among them.]
[Perhaps due to their recent demise, there's still a slight warmth emanating from the moist, bloody entrails.]
[You ponder for a moment.]
[You twist your body, maneuvering deeper into the pile of corpses.]
[You flip over your frail, barely developed infant arm, struggling to pull over a piece of intestine to cover yourself.]
[You endeavor to bury yourself within the heap of bodies.]
[This is the only thing you can do now.]
[The disgusting, slimy sensation rubs against your skin, while the pungent smell of blood assaults your undeveloped senses.]
[You lie quietly amidst the pile of corpses, enveloped in the warmth akin to a mother's embrace provided by the body heat around you.]
[Your luck has never been great.]
[However, at this moment, you can only hope for your luck to turn.]
[The distant human roars gradually fade away at the edge of your hearing.]
[The air is filled with a sound akin to flesh and bone grinding, as if bones are being crushed and chewed, sending shivers down your spine.]
[You close your eyes.]
[No prayers to the gods.]
[No pleas to fate.]
[Just, giving it your all... in pursuit of a semblance of peace.]
[As time passes in the silence akin to death, second by second.]
[The sun sets, the moon rises, and night descends.]
[The agonizing cries of the warriors dissipate into the burning air.]
[The humans around you seem to have all perished.]
[The remaining victorious, grotesque monsters roam the streets, their bodies seemingly grinding against the ground, emitting a slippery, disgustingly unsettling crawling sound.]
[The sound of teeth grinding, grinding flesh and bone, drifts hauntingly in the silent night.]
[You're well aware.]
[The monsters are feasting on the corpses of humans.]
[The sky darkens inch by inch, stars beginning to twinkle in the cloudless night sky.]
[Blood trickles from the corpses, the residual warmth long faded away over the course of several hours.]
[The chill spreads.]
[The most basic human desire arises.]
[Not just hunger coursing through your body.]
[You also feel... the cold brought by the passing of warmth.]
[A faint cry echoes within your abdomen, instinctively yearning for a mother's nurturing, though your throat remains unable to produce any significant sound.]
[You curl up in the pile of bodies, motionless.]
[Feeling the chill throughout your body and the insatiable hunger.]
[Your will still clings, striving to maintain your consciousness, but your stomach cannot make any obvious sounds.]
[Your hazy brain struggles to function for a moment.]
[Trembling.]
[You lift your hand and grasp the intestines of the creature before you...]
[You bring the grotesque flesh to your parched lips, sucking up the residual blood.]
[Slimy.]
[Moist.]
[Disgusting.]
[Your brain trembles, nerves shaking.]
[The primal instinct screams at you to reject this meal, but your throat still moves slightly, swallowing down all the monster's blood.]
[A burning sensation, as if emanating from your abdomen, spreads throughout your body.]
[You feel, ever so slightly, warmer.]
[You swallow the blood, a mixture of human and monster.]
[As if suckling... from a mother's breast.]
[The heap of corpses, a blend of human and monster, embraces you fully...]
[Nurturing you... The God Slayer.]
...
As the sun rose and the moon fell, the dawn broke with a faint light.
On the horizon of the twilight morning, the hazy sunlight slowly rose from the azure and clear coastline of Lake Ionia.
On the scorched battlefield, reminiscent of parched earth, a robust figure atop a towering steed, led an army into the desolate, almost ruinous town.
He bore a muscular upper body, marked with crimson battle scars, emanating an aura of awe-inspiring majesty and dominance.
"Your Majesty..."
Gazing upon the battlefield, which resembled a sea of corpses and blood, the generals following behind the red-haired man couldn't help but show expressions of pity.
"No one has come out to greet us, even after seeing the Spartan banners... It seems the warriors have already fallen."
Hearing the words of his lieutenant, the red-haired man lowered his eyelids and fell into silence for a moment.
Despite being the ruler of the city-state, he wore not a crown but the helmet of a warrior.
For every Spartan was a steadfast warrior until death.
He was Leonidas I, King of Sparta.
With lowered eyes of color, he spoke softly.
"Search for survivors..."
"Your Majesty, this time Tartarus has been opened, and a great hell rift that has never happened before has appeared, resulting in not only our city-state being attacked, but also Athens, Syracuse, Potidaia, Argos..."
The lieutenant spoke solemnly,
"The devils unleashed from the gates of hell are not lacking in notorious names. Survivors might be..."
"I'm ordering you to search."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The Spartan army behind him poured into the scorched and desolate streets of the ruins, standing ready for battle.
Bloodthirsty and savage, various grotesque creatures from the hell rift crawled madly towards the city gates as if sensing fresh flesh from every corner of the city.
King Leonidas dismounted from his horse, silently accepting a long spear handed to him by a nearby warrior, and stepped into the town.
The frontline between humans and devils collided once again.
Flesh and blood intertwined, thick blood splattered and sprayed.
In the center of the ruined square of the city-state under the sunlight.
Piles of bodies stacked up, both human and monster.
Squelch... Squelch...
A woman with withered and desiccated skin, her entire body seemingly supported only by her skeleton, was inserting her hand into the flesh, rummaging for her preferred delicacies.
Brain. Too thick with blood.
Intestines. Tasteless.
Heart. Too tough to chew.
Finally...
She ecstatically raised her arm.
Finally, she found it after so much effort, the appetizing sweet treat she had been smelling for minutes...
It was... a newborn baby!
What a delicious delicacy!
Warmed by the sunlight, she felt the touch of a hand on her skin.
"Are... saved?"
The barely conscious baby slightly opened its deep crimson eyes and gazed at the strange woman holding it in the sunlight.
The corners of her blood-drenched mouth.
Curved into a smile that sent shivers down one's spine.
"You're truly... delicious, little one."
In an instant.
A rush of warning surged through his mind.
Reinhard instantly realized.
The person in front of him... was not human.
In an instant.
Crack.
A thin stream of blood suddenly burst from the woman's forehead without warning, shooting upwards and quickly spreading, soon extending to the scalp and lower jaw, forming a dark red closed loop.
Crackle.
Sharp and rough noises, like tearing through some leather-like material.
The elegant beauty.
Plunged into hell.
Half of her face, as if torn off, revealing the bloody interior...
Under the torn skin, the blurred flesh wriggled and transformed.
A giant eyeball embedded in the center of the flesh slowly emerged.
Hollow whites of the eyes, fierce pupils filled with blood streaks, and below the pupils, rows of interlocking sharp teeth, dripping thick saliva from the gaps.
With eyes brimming with hunger, she fixed her gaze upon Reinhard's face.
Toward the wide-eyed, barely breathing infant.
She...
Opened her 'mouth,' slowly closing in for a bite...
But...
Splurt.
Like a crimson comet, trailing a fiery tail, a sharp spear pierced through the 'woman's' heart from behind, impaling her violently!
The savage force caused a spray of flesh and blood, pinning her entire body onto the heap of corpses.
The barely breathing infant fell limply from her arms.
Caught gently yet firmly by the muscular arm of the red-haired man, he cradled the child in his embrace.
Reinhard blinked hazily.
Gazing upon the man before him, whose rugged face resembled a carving, sharp-edged and angular.
"Not bad, kid, for surviving all this..."
The King of Sparta spoke softly.
A faint smile strained onto his imposing face.
Suddenly.
The body of the woman, pierced through, began to swell unnaturally, emitting eerie wheezing sounds from her corpse.
A gigantic eyeball wriggled out from the bloody wound, breaking the spear, and occupied the position where her chest had been.
Splurt.
Both upper and lower body.
Several malformed human arms violently protruded from all around her, piercing through her with splattering blood, puncturing her withered skin.
The devil, with an incredibly tenacious vitality, rapidly grew from the state of a corpse, taking on a grotesque form resembling a humanoid spider in a short span of time.
Spider-like appendages.
Slowly propped up her upper body.
The hoarse, indistinct voice of the woman resonated from her blood-soaked face.
"Leonidas..." She almost roared, "How dare you disturb my feast!"
"A feast... huh?"
Handing over the barely breathing infant to the warrior following behind, the King of Sparta discarded the shield and spear handed to him. Weapons were but fetters to him in the face of these hellish beasts.
Rip.
With a tearing sound.
The woman's blood-soaked face split into four petals, slowly peeling apart, blooming like a flower.
Fresh and pink muscles fibers were exposed underneath, revealing beneath them, a gaping maw dripping with blood like a parasite.
The grotesque eyeball on her chest stared directly at the red-haired man before her.
Behind it, several bloody, reptilian-like appendages extended again.
The original humanoid form had completely transformed into a twisted monster, emitting a deafening roar.
"ROOOAR!"
A strong stench of blood permeated, shaking the air with its pressure.
The roar was merely a display.
The real attack was concealed behind the momentum.
Swoosh~
The appendage extending from her back suddenly stabbed toward Leonidas' temple with near-sonic speed, the bony tip at the end shimmering with a poisonous, eerie green color.
The devil's combat instinct was remarkably precise, intending to crush the King of Sparta's skull with a single blow, to make the prey instantly succumb.
However...
The sound of breaking wind... suddenly stopped...
The immense force surging through his entire body, the attack approaching at supersonic speed...
Was directly caught by the man.
The monstrous, bloodstained appendage.
The man's sturdy arm.
The stab that could pierce through a city wall was casually blocked by the man.
His figure didn't even sway, and even the expected massive shock seemed to be completely erased by his strength.
Crack.
Muscles as tough as iron suddenly bulged, Leonidas clenched his fist tightly.
Amidst the devil's agonized screams, the King of Sparta crushed her appendage into a mass of blurry, sticky flesh.
"Pain! Too much Pain! You barbaric...!"
The red-haired man raised his foot and kicked forward directly!
The force, as mighty as a meteorite impact, kicked directly on the eyeball in the woman's abdomen!
Splurt.
Like bursting a water balloon, devil fluids splattered out directly!
Picking up the broken appendage in his hand, Leonidas opened his palm, grasping the devil's head like an apple, and then tossed it out violently like a football!
Bang.
Shattered stones flew.
Dust scattered.
The body of the spider-like devil, like a shot projectile, flew backward and directly embedded into the wall of the square.
Under the awe-inspiring gaze of the warriors.
The King of Sparta, Leonidas, stepped forward, palms parallel, reached out his hand, and grabbed the woman's entire face, now turned into a mass of bloody, flesh-filled gaping maw.
Drip... Drip... Drip...
The viscous green fluid weakly dripped down.
"Mercy... Have... mercy on me..."
With a sudden force from both hands...
Crack... Crack...!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of tearing fabric.
Flesh flew.
Coiled intestines burst forth.
Amidst the spider-like devil's agonizing screams, her body was torn in half by the man with the most primitive, most brutal violence!
Crash... Crash...
Blood rained down.
The red-haired man, drenched in blood yet unscathed, lowered his body.
From the woman's corpse.
He picked up the one on the ground, broken and continuously squirming, shaped like a cocoon but still pulsating like a devilish heart.
The wriggling heart, with fangs growing and closing on it, uttered intermittent words like a choking sob.
"You... even if you kill me... it wouldn't mean anything..."
"As long as... humans still fear... the named devils... I will continue to resurrect..."
"The Abyss's... rifts, already torn open by... Chaos!"
"The gates of Tartarus... Hell."
"Will eventually... engulf the entirety of Greece!"
Facing the devil's heart in his hand.
"Spartans... is an outstanding devil hunter."
He said softly like this.
The King of Sparta, expressionless, slowly clenched his palm.
"For every resurrection of yours, we'll kill you once."
"Because..."
"This is... SPARTA!"
Splat!
In the withered shriveled devil flesh.
The devil's heart is crushed by a man.
Leonidas I, King of Sparta, stood at the top of the town square, his red eyes slightly drooping, overlooking the entire scene below.
The advancing Spartan army, like a meat grinder, exterminated all remaining devils in this town.
The clear sunlight rose gracefully.
As the entire battlefield was cleaned.
The few remaining devils were also completely exterminated.
Following the orders of the King of Sparta.
The Spartan warriors silently worked to rescue any surviving compatriots within this town.
The bodies of warriors and the flesh of devils were dissected inch by inch, and the ruins of rubble were swiftly excavated.
However.
The more they searched...
The more despairing the results became.
In the end...
Three infants, covered in blood, wrapped in swaddling clothes, barely clinging to life, were presented before Leonidas.
"They've all sacrificed, Your Majesty."
The vice-admiral's voice was choked.
But in the Spartan dictionary, there were no tears.
"All men, women, elderly..."
"In this town, all Spartans capable of taking up arms on the battlefield, our Spartans..."
"All sacrificed in the struggle against devils..."
The priest draped in robes recited prayers before the collapsed arch in the square.
The Spartan warriors standing on both sides, in their long and silent lines, seemed like sculptures mourning in silence.
In the silence as quiet as death.
The red-haired man remained silent.
Silently gazing at the three infants curled up in swaddling clothes before him.
They still had faint breaths.
"It's simply... a miracle..."
The vice-admiral said in astonishment.
"No nursing, no swaddling, they survived a day and a night by drinking devil blood, and miraculously survived..."
"These three children..."
"...are the only survivors of this land, Your Majesty."
In the fading wind, after a long silence.
Leonidas lifted his gaze, looking towards the sea, where the rising sun gleamed.
In the sunlight.
As if soaked in a hint of blood.
That was the bloodshed of the gods.
In this solemn atmosphere, is reminiscent of a sanctuary.
The King of Sparta, with lowered eyelids, spoke softly.
"Since our revered god Zeus led the gods to battle the King of Titans, Kronos."
"Their battle eventually summoned chaos, tearing open rifts to other worlds, and since then countless monstrous beings have flooded from hell..."
"Tartarus has been corrupted."
"Tartarus has completely fallen into a devil lair."
"For more than a decade, the rifts of hell have become more and more frequent. People's fear has given birth to the descent of devils."
"Our gods are still locked in endless battles with the crimson titan descending from the sky, Olympus is in chaos, and we're left to fend for ourselves."
"I know, everyone is suffering... we're bleeding, sacrificing, and the fight against devilsseems endless."
"However, the more dire the situation..."
"The more we must persevere, the more we must fight!"
"For, fighting is the ancestral heritage of the Spartans!"
"Their sacrifices are not in vain, their glory is forged in blood!"
"They have proven their bravery with their lives, they are valiant Spartan warriors!"
"As long as we persist until the crimson titan are defeated! The blessing of the gods will shine upon us again!"
"We will receive an abundance of food, fertile lands, and be granted everything we desire!"
"So... hold on, my comrades!"
"The glory of Sparta will spread to every inch of this land!"
In the King of Sparta's gradually impassioned voice.
The Spartan warriors bowed deeply, swearing their loyalty.
From the hands of the vice-admiral.
Leonidas gently received the infants wrapped in swaddling clothes.
"These three, are the only surviving children in this town."
"And they are also... the children of all Spartans."
"Our blood feud, cannot be repaid."
"So, I will adopt them as my own sons, and personally nurture them into the strongest devil hunters!"
"Children who survived by drinking devil blood?"
"Well done! We Spartans shall feast on their blood, devour their flesh! Devour and suck dry all the blood and flesh of devils!"
"The last one found shall be the youngest."
"Your name shall be Dante Sparta! This is the name of the slaughter of hell, your name shall make devils tremble with fear!"
"The second one found shall be Dante's elder brother."
"Your name shall be Vergil Sparta! This is the proof that you can pierce through sky and earth, your name shall tear apart the sky and earth!"
"And lastly..."
"The first one found shall be the eldest of them."
"Good child, still with your eyes open!"
"So, I will bestow upon you Cratos which means strength in your name! Your existence is the most supreme manifestation of our Spartan blood flowing here!"
Under the bright sunlight in the sky.
Leonidas, raised high the infants in his hands.
The black-haired infant, slightly opened his deep crimson eyes.
Just like that, high above, he gazed down upon the King of Sparta before him.
"As your name resounds at this moment of birth, whether it's the earth or hell, all shall bow down at your feet!"
"Your name is..."
"Kratos Sparta!"
...
Atop the towering mountain peak, reaching into the clouds.
Adorned with a crown woven from olive branches, draped in a graceful and sacred white veil.
The tangerine-haired woman stood with hands behind her back, her golden gaze slightly lowered.
Within her amber-like clear pupils, seemed to ripple layers of intertwined circular lines.
Standing within the temple.
And through the clouds, gazing down at the scene below.
A faint smile graced the woman's lips.
"Kratos... hmm?"
"What a... fine name."
