"Before announcing the rules, I will first introduce the inheritance candidates."
Verussa gestured toward the silent Black hunter.
"This is Barrasso. His current monster kill count: twenty-six."
She continued, pointing to the female hunter,
"This is Azarel. Thirty-seven confirmed kills."
Then came the Asian warrior Leon with forty-three kills,
and the bearded Viking Jovin with fifty-seven.
But the most shocking was Jack.
His kill count exceeded one hundred.
No one expected the thin, unassuming man—the one who looked like he couldn't lift a grocery bag—
to be the most lethal hunter present.
---
At that moment, the butler wheeled out a black coffin.
He pushed it into the center of the room.
Verussa lifted her chin.
"Everyone, my husband Ulysses has some final words to share with you.
He has prepared a little surprise."
She signaled the butler.
The coffin opened—only the upper half.
And there lay Ulysses Bloodstone's corpse, stiff and grey.
Elsa froze in disbelief.
She thought he was already buried long ago.
Yet here Verussa was, displaying him like a stage prop.
Her rage erupted instantly.
"VERUSSA!
How dare you defile a dead man's body?!
Are you looking to die?!"
Her pistol was already pressed against Verussa's forehead.
"Put him to rest now, or I swear I'll send you down to accompany him!"
Her eyes burned with fury—
and the Bloodstone shard on her chest pulsed brighter, reacting to her anger.
A chilling voice suddenly echoed:
"Now now, Elsa… this was all my idea~~"
The impossible happened—
Ulysses' corpse opened its mouth and spoke.
Lucas jumped nearly a foot in the air and instantly drew Judgment, aiming at the coffin.
"What demonic abomination is THIS?!"
His reaction startled the entire room.
Jovin hurriedly pushed down Lucas's weapon.
"Relax, relax!
Dead men speaking isn't unusual around here.
Don't shoot him!"
Lucas let out a shaky breath.
He wasn't scared of monsters—
but these jump-scare theatrics felt like a horror movie designed to spike heart attacks.
"You're already dead," he muttered at the corpse.
"Stop popping out to scare people."
If this were Lucas's past life in China, they would've cremated Ulysses long before he got the chance to talk.
Elsa stared, stunned, unsure whether she should believe her own eyes.
"Step back, Elsa. My time is short… let me speak."
Ulysses' cloudy pupils shifted toward her.
She shot her stepmother a murderous look, then retreated to Lucas's side.
---
Ulysses continued.
"All of you here were selected as potential heirs to the Bloodstone legacy.
Now, I will announce the rules for the trial."
His voice was slow and creaking.
"Somewhere within this manor, I've released a monster.
The Bloodstone will be attached to it.
Whoever slays the creature and retrieves the stone…
will inherit everything."
When he finished, his head tilted back,
and he returned to being a silent corpse.
The hunters burst into excited murmurs.
This was too easy—
kill a monster and take the prize?
That was literally their job description.
The butler closed the coffin and began pushing it away.
"Wait," Elsa said quietly.
"Prepare him properly… then bury him."
Despite her hatred—
for how he treated her, her mother, and her childhood—
he was still her father.
The butler paused, eyes softening.
"As you wish, Miss."
He nodded and left.
---
Verussa stepped forward.
"There are weapons throughout the manor.
Use whatever you wish.
As stated—
the first to kill the monster and claim the Bloodstone becomes the heir."
"Let the game… begin."
With her declaration, the hunters bolted out like unleashed hounds.
Only Elsa and Lucas remained still.
Strangely, Jack also didn't move.
He glanced at them several times, wanting to speak,
but hesitated in the end and quietly slipped away.
---
"That monster they mentioned must be Man-Thing," Lucas murmured.
"I'm curious what method they used to capture him in the first place."
He drifted toward the murals on the wall, finally able to examine them properly.
Elsa joined him.
---
First mural:
A primitive tribe kneeling before a massive meteor streaking through the sky.
Second:
A tribesman discovering a glowing red stone within the crater—
the Bloodstone.
Third:
A close-up of a man with the Bloodstone embedded into his chest,
howling at the sky.
After that came a series of his hunts—
the monsters mounted on the walls,
as well as many Lucas didn't recognize:
• werewolves
• lizardfolk
• giant dragons
• blue-skinned aliens
---
The final mural was the most mysterious.
Five figures stood around the Bloodstone, encircled by shifting moon phases.
The central figure wore a crown and wielded an axe.
The four beside him were:
• a Persian warrior with a curved blade
• a medieval knight with a spear
• a crossbow-wielding soldier
• and a Xiongnu warrior with a long sword
Together, they appeared to guard the Bloodstone.
The meaning was unclear—
but the image radiated an ancient, ominous importance.
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