The Dark Core Zone—the location where the effects of all six Dark Cores overlapped.
One fourth of this area belonged to the Mulnite Empire, but what was special about it was that the zone provided all species with infinite mana and vitality while they were inside it. This allowed the culturally diverse cities within its border to flourish.
And on this day, July 1, the fervor around the fortress city of Faure, in the Metrio region, was extraordinary. The early summer wind blew through the Main Street, unusually full of people of all species.
It was the day of the Crimson Match.
The old battlefield at the outskirts of Faure was set to be the stage for the commanders' show. In the central plaza stood a giant "window" (really a farsight spell called Clairvoyance Mirror), prepared by the Imperial Army's PR department that displayed the battlefield in real time. Everyone was gathered there, waiting with bated breath for the spectacle to begin. Some were already drinking this early in the morning, some were placing bets on the winner, some were here from other armies to gauge Mulnite's power. It
was a full-on festival.
Two girls were darting through the crowd. One was a Sapphire, with a gigantic camera hanging from her neck. The other had cat ears and was running as hard as she could to keep up with the former.
"W-wait for me, Ms. Melkaaa! Why are you in such a hurryyy?!" cried the cat-eared girl.
The silver-haired journalist, Melka Tiano, couldn't conceal her anger as she screamed in response.
"It's all your fault for not getting up earlier! You don't take your job at Six Nations News seriously enough! No journalist—nay, working adult—should have the gall to sleep in like that!"
"I-I'm sorry… I'll go to bed earlier next time…"
"You have to wake up early! Who cares about the time you go to sleep at?! And you better have the place right!"
"I'm sure of it! I can smell it, that dense mana… Vampire mana! It's over there!"
The cat-eared girl, Thio, wheezed as she kept on sprinting. She was a newbie at Six Nations News who'd just joined that spring. Though her magic that let her identify other people's smells made her perfect for locating interviewees, she was terrible at everything else. Melka called her "the sniffing scaredy-cat." The poor eighteen-year-old was already contemplating leaving the company due to all the psychological torment she'd endured.
Suddenly, Thio got the urge to use the bathroom. She had been roused out of bed in a hurry and hadn't yet had the chance to go today.
"Ms. Melka… May I…"
"Pffft… Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Just you wait, Terakomari Gandesblood! I'll get that first interview and write things you couldn't come up with in your wildest dreams!"
Is there a point to the interview, then? Thio thought.
They had been sent there to speak with all Seven Crimson Lords, by the way.
According to a journalist from Six Nations News appointed to the capital, the Imperial Army had undergone mass teleportation early that morning. Their destination was the Dark Core Zone, obviously, but the news team didn't know exactly where. Hence why they'd brought Thio along, to locate the militia with her sniffing magic.
But the cat-eared girl didn't care about that. She just wanted to relieve herself.
"The Mulnite Empire's always surprising us! I was shocked when I found out about the Crimson Match! Look at the excitement all over this city, Thio! The masses love their bloodshed!"
"D-do they? Um… Anyway, may I go to the rest…?"
"And what they desire is a superstar with power to overwhelm any foe! A genius such as Terakomari Gandesblood! The world goes crazy when we talk her up! They go absolutely insane, I tell you! It's so, so sweet! My reports are shaping history! My pen will mold the world! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Take it down a notch, geez, Thio thought.
Melka might've been riding on the high of her all-nighter. She'd been on the watch for the Imperial Army's teleportation the entire night while Thio was sleeping soundly. The cat-eared girl would never.
Setting that aside, her bladder was at its limit, and all the running only made matters worse. Crap, crap, crap… Then, Thio had a great idea.
She just had to go!
"M-Ms. Melka!"
"What is it?!"
"It's not there! Over here!" Thio pointed in the direction of the nearest restroom.
A true failure of a journalist, through and through.
"Good work, Thio! Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Thio nodded, a serious expression on her face. The only thing on her mind was pee.
She ran like the wind, making her way through the crowds. "Where do we go now, Thio?!" Melka asked, irritated, but her partner did not respond. Instead, she charged right toward the bathroom.
Melka caught up to her and clicked her tongue.
"Hey! No way the Crimson Lords are here, c'mon!"
The place was surprisingly empty. What luck. Now Thio just had to answer the call of nature, then claim that her nose had been stuffy due to a slight cold or whatever afterward. She'd get chewed out, for sure, but that didn't matter in the face of relief.
As Thio ignored her boss and tried to enter a stall, she suddenly caught a whiff of someone. Someone who smelled of a mix between vampire and Sapphire. She immediately chose to ignore it—not like she cared—but then a girl came out of a stall farther in.
Thio recognized the girl. Melka had impressed upon the newbie journalist to "at least learn the names and faces of the Crimson Lords" and given her a list with their headshots on it. That's where Thio knew the face from, but she couldn't remember her name. It started with S…
"Commander Sakuna Memoir!" Melka screamed in joy from behind her.
Oh yeah. That was her name. Sakuna was two years younger than her, if Thio recalled correctly.
"What a coincidence! I'm Melka Tiano, from Six Nations News! What are you doing in here? Oh, not that I'm trying to pry into your private life or anything! Could you spare some time to chat? I would love to get an interview!"
Melka approached Sakuna Memoir assertively. The latter took a few steps behind in reaction.
"…You're a journalist?"
"Yes, I am! If I may ask, what are your expectations for today?!"
"I, uh, I'll do my best…"
"Your best! Nice! Very nice! Yeah, and you should, otherwise they'll revoke your title as Crimson Lord! For my next question…"
Melka then glanced at Thio and flashed her a look that said, Make sure Sakuna doesn't have a way out. Thio didn't have the time for that, though. Ignoring her boss's orders, she opened the stall. Just then, Melka shouted in
surprise.
"Oh, my! What is that bottle?"
"Eek!"
"Hmm? Can I infer from your reaction that…you're doping? Oh, no, no, no, don't get me wrong, I'm not suspecting you or anything! Just that it grabbed my attention just a little teeny, tiny bi—"
Melka cut off abruptly.
Hand still on the door, Thio turned around nonchalantly. And she couldn't believe what she saw.
"…Wha?"
Sakuna Memoir had plunged her right arm through her boss's midsection.
Blood was dripping. Sakuna had pierced straight through Melka's torso, and her slender fingertips were poking out from the woman's back.
The Crimson Lord pulled her arm out with a squelch.
"Nasty memories."
Thio had no idea what the girl meant by that. She only knew three things: that Melka had been killed and was now lying on the restroom's dirty floor, that Sakuna Memoir's eyes were flashing scarlet as she licked the blood on her fingers, and that she, too, would lose her life in the same way as her boss.
"Eek!"
Thio fell on her butt. Her legs had given out.
Sakuna Memoir trudged sluggishly, like a zombie, toward her.
"Did you see?"
No. I didn't see anything… Thio tried to squeak out that answer, but her mouth refused to obey.
She then felt something warm. The fear and despair had caused a puddle to form around her. How utterly humiliating, pissing herself at eighteen years old.
Sakuna Memoir brought her red arm close.
Thio couldn't move. She couldn't say anything. She was overcome with fear. She regretted ever becoming a journalist.
Then, before death, she fainted.
In the end, both journalists drew their last breaths before getting to interview any Crimson Lords.
★
"I killed again…"
Sakuna sighed as she washed her red-dyed arm. She'd had no choice. It had to be done. Cornelius's Elixir was top secret. Sakuna would get killed if anyone else discovered it. Not only her, but her family, too.
She had tried to drink it in the restroom. But she hadn't been able to go through with it. It could kill her. Even with her family's lives on the line, she didn't have the courage to take a step off the cliff.
But she couldn't keep this up.
She had to win the Crimson Match, or Inverse Moon would kill her family. She wouldn't ever get them back if she didn't do it.
Her father was living in the Imperial Capital. He didn't know Sakuna was a terrorist. He didn't even know he was being held hostage. But they would take him out if she lost here.
Inverse Moon had imprisoned her mother. She hadn't seen her in a long while and could only hope she was fine.
As for her sister… They'd killed her with a Divine Instrument. All because Sakuna had whined a little while back. She didn't want a repetition of that.
"…I cannot lose."
Sakuna clenched her fist to try to encourage herself.
Then she felt a mana reaction on her Correspondence Crystal. She didn't even need to check who it was. The timing couldn't have been worse, but she had to answer.
"…Yes?"
"We have an unexpected situation. Petrose Calamaria isn't showing herself."
So what? Sakuna thought, but she couldn't say that out loud.
The man started ranting.
"That wench… The Crimson Match is going to waste! Our entire plan is going to pieces! Now we only have Flöte Mascarail and Terakomari
Gandesblood! Kill them!"
"Yes, I understand."
"I've said this a thousand times, but remember that you cannot fail. Your family won't survive if you do! Also, it seems the Crimson Match will be broadcast to all six nations with farsight magic, so don't be too obvious about what we're up to. No one can know we're members of Inverse Moon! Got it?!"
He hung up abruptly.
Sakuna glanced down to the bottle of poison.
She couldn't keep on hesitating anymore. She had to drink it, no matter how scary it was. She couldn't have her family killed again.
Sakuna placed her hand on the cap… But couldn't bring herself to open it.
Even now, she couldn't muster the courage to do it. Pathetic. She wanted to drop dead on the spot.
"What should I do…?"
Sakuna sat down, feeling lost in the middle of that bloody restroom.
The Crimson Match was about to begin.