The city of Crimson Hollow always smelled like blood, but after spending hours in the Howling Marsh, it almost smelled… clean.
Albedo stepped off the return sigil platform and quickly walked out of the Transit Vault. There was no reason to stay too long after all, in a place like the Crimson Hollow, he didn't need to bring attention to himself.
He walked through the city, his mana signature completely suppressed as a hood was over his platinum hair, chowing down on the Chocolate Mana Bars as a quick and delicious snack.
"Wanna have a night sugar?"
A couple women approached him, hooking their fingers, one of them even brushing her hand across his shoulder and blowing an alluring scent towards him.
However, he sidestepped, not even bothering to look their way as the girls quickly moved onto other men and women, looking for their next client.
Albedo was heading towards the Southern Exit, which would take him onto the path of a two day trek throughout monster-infested terrain which should end in him reaching his destination.
The final stop before he can enter the Demon Kingdom
"Hm?" Albedo raised an eyebrow as he felt it suddenly, eyes, dozens of them all locked onto him. He didn't react though, she taking another bite of the chocolate without breaking stride.
He didn't speed up or slow down. Let them believe he hadn't noticed. Killing them inside of the city would just cause more drama after all, so it would just be easier to end them outside.
So, instead of taking the normal path, he took a sharp right, weaving through a tangle of alleys and descending into a rust-choked stairwell that exited near the south checkpoint.
The guard station here was unmanned, Crimson Hollow didn't exactly believe in "border control."
The moment he passed the perimeter, he stepped beyond the glow of the last mana-lamp and onto the gravel path that led into the southern wilderness.
The road was quiet, extremely quiet, and Albedo walked for a bit before stopping, waiting for the figures to appear.
Exactly thirty seconds later, soft footsteps echoed behind him.
It was at least 20 people, most of them men but some women, including the girls who had tried to seduce him earlier. Most of them wore cloaks dyed in dried blood their belts heavy with enchanted daggers and mana-satchels.
The one in front stepped forward, pulling down his hood. His skin was dusky, eyes lined with scar tattoos, and his mouth twisted into a grin that didn't reach his eyes.
"You're interesting, friend."
"I'm not your friend," Albedo said evenly, both pistols now visible at his sides, their runes activating much like a warning.
He had sensed their ranks. Most were Peak Silver, with the occasional gold rank here or there, nothing too difficult for him to beat down at this point.
"Fair enough." The man raised a gloved hand, flexing his fingers, "Name's Draek. I speak for the Grinning Vultures."
Albedo's eyes narrowed as he recognized that name from his research.
The Grinning Vultures. One of the four major syndicates that ruled Crimson Hollow. Smugglers, slavers, artifact hunters. Their symbol: a skeletal bird perched atop a mountain of skulls. Cruel. Efficient. And always watching.
"You followed me out here just to introduce yourself?" Albedo asked, already calculating the angles and cover in the terrain behind him. A ridge, some rocks, and a dead mana tree thirty feet off. Decent.
"Not exactly. You see, we keep tabs on all… unique travelers. No-one passes through Crimson Hollow without paying a tax y'know." Draek tilted his head, "Are you gonna give us what we want?"
The answer came like iron.
Draek blinked, "Not even gonna pretend to hesitate?"
Albedo raised Havoc slightly. Its barrel hissed with residual Infernal energy.
"You're syndicate trash. Even if I gave you something good, you'd just die trying to use it."
Draek sighed, then looked back at the others.
"Kill him. But leave the legs intact. We can still get info out of a torso."
The instant Draek gave the order, the killing intent flooded the air like a wave of rotting mana.
Daggers left sheaths. Sigils glowed red along arms and foreheads. Mana surged beneath the ground in quick-cast formations, everything from immobilization glyphs to mana-shackles designed to restrain Gold-ranked enemies.
But Albedo didn't even blink, his arms blurring as he pulled out his duel pistols.
Havoc's barrel ignited in a burst of searing red, while Ruin's chamber shimmered with flickering violet. Infernal Mode and Mana-Drain Mode, and he quickly moved first, laying on the attacks.
The first shots from Havoc crashed into the torso of a Peak Silver Rank. The flames quickly ignited his upper body before he could even cast his first spell, and the flames swarmed him, burning him to ash.
A cone of superheated flame burst through his chest and ignited two more behind him, quickly putting them on fire and almost giving them the same fate.
At the same time, Ruin pulsed in his left hand, one precise shot sinking into the ground beneath a group of clustered enemies. Purple energy lanced upward like a geyser, draining mana from their very cores.
A woman screamed as her body twisted, her skin cracking with mana withdrawal. The process of feeling her mana forcefully departing her body was excruciating, and she collapsed before her dagger even left her belt.
Albedo ducked low, sidestepping a thrown blade enchanted with shattering force. He pivoted and returned fire.
Ruin was already in Graviton mode, and a slug shot curved impossibly midair, arcing around a tree before slamming into a man hiding behind it.
The poor fool didn't even realize it until his spine folded in on itself from the gravitic implosion. The nearby rocks shattered from the gravitational aftershock.
He didn't stop moving.
Mana surged under his boots as he cast another movement spell, his body warping into a blur that zipped across the battlefield. One of the women who'd tried to seduce him earlier raised her hand, a spell of blood-control half-formed.
However, she never finished it as Albedo's boot slammed into her throat mid-step, launching her backward as he pivoted and triple-tapped two more approaching from his flank.
One shot to the knee, the other to the eye, and a final shot straight through the head. It was fluid and perfect, leaving their bodies dropped dead, twitching for a few moments before they died in a pool of their own blood.
"Don't stand still!" Draek shouted. "Use formation delta god damnit."
The remaining thugs moved into an encircling net formation, each activating different spell arrays, ice lances, blade wind, earth spikes, even an illusion spell that tried to create six mirrored versions of Albedo himself.
[ Crimson Sight ] activated.
The world shifted into crimson light. Illusions cracked apart like glass under scrutiny, spell runes slowed down as if they were drawn in molasses.
Havoc exploded in a sweeping arc, flames roaring like a firestorm as he spun in a full circle. The very ground ignited, melting the feet of those nearest to him before their legs even buckled.
He aimed Ruin at the far edge of the encirclement.
The slug exploded on contact with the earth, generating a collapsing field that pulled half a dozen attackers into each other.
Their armors clanged against each-other, while their skulls cracked and their limbs snapped from the sheer compressive force, blood spraying all around the inside of the vortex.
Two more lunged at him from above, enchanted spears crashing downward like thunderbolts. One even activated a suicide sigil, trying to detonate himself on impact to take Albedo out.
Albedo didn't even flinch.
He leapt into the air, [ Firepath: Twin Serpent Recoil ] triggering again as he fired downward. Twin jets of fire and gravity exploded from beneath his boots, launching him upward in a spiral.
The suicidal attacker reached midair to detonate his core.
But Albedo had already switched Ruin to Mana-Drain Mode.
A single bullet struck the man's chest. He screamed as the magic in his body was siphoned into Albedo's own core. The detonation fizzled like a snuffed flame, and Albedo followed up with a Havoc round to the face, reducing it to cinders.
He landed hard, flipping with grace as his coat flared behind him.
He lunged in from behind, his dagger coated in a neurotoxin that could paralyze even Amethyst-rank cultivators. His presence was masked by a shadow glyph and a sound-muffling array. His speed? Beyond Peak Gold.
But Albedo heard him.
Before Draek's blade made contact, Albedo ducked and turned mid-motion. His pistol barrels glinted in the moonlight. He fired both point-blank into Draek's abdomen.
Infernal fire and raw mana-drain met ribcage and flesh, exploding through his stomach in a cone of red light.
Draek howled and staggered, blood pouring from his mouth.
"W-we're not done yet…!"
He activated a backup spell, a rune detonator embedded into his chest that began glowing black. A sacrificial spell meant to rip apart everything within fifty meters.
But Albedo had already seen it coming.
[ Crimson Moon Art: Apocalypse Chain ]
A runic phoenix flared into being behind Albedo, and with a flick of his wrist, ethereal chains wrapped around Draek's detonator sigil, binding it in mana-suppressing flames.
Draek's eyes widened in horror, "No…no…!"
Albedo stepped forward and pressed Havoc directly to his forehead.
"This is what happens when you prey on the wrong target."
Draek's skull split like a watermelon, his body dropping in a lifeless heap.
All around the battlefield, the others were either fleeing or dead. Only four remained, wounded, trembling, mana-depleted, and barely able to stand.
One tried to run away as quickly as she could, but Albedo simply raised Ruin and fired without looking, the bullet tearing through her spine.
He holstered both pistols, boots crunching over burned grass and shattered bones. He approached the final three, who dropped their weapons and fell to their knees.
"P-please! We were just following orders! We didn't know!"
"Orders," Albedo said quietly, his voice flat, "Always the same excuse."
He drew both pistols again. There was no sympathy in his eyes, just silence.
Three flashes of light later, it was over. The air smelled of ash, blood, and scorched leather. Twenty enemies had attacked him. None survived.
Albedo exhaled slowly, letting the adrenaline settle as the mana around him calmed.
He glanced toward the south, where the path twisted through dead trees and barren hills. That was the road toward his destination.
He pulled another mana chocolate bar from his coat, unwrapped it, and bit down. The sweet, delicious flavor spread throughout his mouth and brought a smile to his lips.
"Ember," He muttered, and the Celestial Mare materialized before him, energized as it stared at him.
"Let's go girl," He said, mounting her and riding off towards his destination.