Year 10 – Early Spring, Blood River Delta
The Blood River was silent again—too silent.
Crimson mist coiled above its surface like smoke from a dying fire. The fleet of longships rested at anchor along the delta, hulls gleaming with new paint, sails repaired with woven code and silk. Treasure from the raid glimmered on the docks: gold ingots stacked like temples, demon cores sealed in glass, crates of enchanted steel waiting for shipment to the Mirage Exchange.
Ketsuraku stood on the pier, cloak billowing in the cold wind. His crimson eyes flickered toward the water's reflection.There, in the stillness, something stirred.
A voice drifted through the mist—soft, ancient, and cruel.
"You bleed my river, child of the first blood. Yet you forget whose domain it flows through."
The surface of the river shattered like glass.
From its depths rose Hel, goddess of death and keeper of the underworld's tides.Half her face was divine—pale as moonlight, lips blue and perfect. The other half was charred black, cracked like burned marble, her exposed eye glowing red as molten iron. Two small horns curved above her brow, and her long white hair rippled like spectral fire.
Ketsuraku didn't flinch. "Helheim's queen finally speaks."
She drifted toward him, feet never touching the ground. The air froze around her. The scent of ash and snow filled the dock.
"You raid the river of death without paying its toll," she said. "Every soul you spill belongs to me. Every drop of blood, a debt unpaid."Her gaze slid to the Heart of Nihility pulsing faintly in his chest."Even your heart beats on borrowed time."
Behind Ketsuraku, Rosa's Brotherhood of the Veil drew weapons. Luminous descended the gangplank of the Crimson Drifter, aura blazing white-gold."State your price," Luminous said calmly. "Or leave."
Hel smiled faintly. "Half the spoils of every raid. And the right to call my warriors from the depths when the void grows hungry again."
Rosa scoffed. "Half? We fought for every coin!"Hel turned toward her, the burned side of her face catching fire in the reflection. "You forget, assassin. It was my river that carried your ships. My silence that let your souls return."
Ketsuraku raised his hand, silencing them both. "And what do we gain in return?"
Hel's charred lips curled into something almost gentle. "My favor. My soldiers. My shadow."She waved her hand over the water. The river boiled, and from beneath rose spectral shapes—armored warriors in tattered cloaks, carrying ghostly weapons that hummed with runes of frost and blood. Their eyes glowed faint blue beneath rusted helmets.
"The Valkyr Banner," she said. "Raise it upon your mast, and the dead will answer. Call once per dawn. They will fight until the tide runs red again."
Ketsuraku studied her for a long moment. The Heart of Nihility inside him pulsed faster, resonating with her voice. It whispered in Ix's tone: Take her hand. The dead remember what the living forget.
He extended his own. "Then we have a deal, Queen of the Dead."
Hel's grin widened. She clasped his wrist, cold as stone, fire flickering between their palms.The river's reflection flared white, binding them in crimson and shadow.
[System Update]
Faction Alliance – Hel's River Pact (Signed)
Raid Success Rate +10%
Loot Quality +5%
Ability Unlocked – Valkyr Banner (Summon Spectral Warriors, 1 use per day)
Helheim Trade Access Granted (Tier I)
The spectral warriors saluted silently, then sank back beneath the river, their essence now bound to the fleet.
Rosa watched as Hel's figure began to fade, her half-burned face turning toward her one last time.
"You, child of the Celestial Flame… you will find no peace until you bleed for something greater than vengeance."Rosa frowned but said nothing. The goddess's laughter echoed as her form dissolved into mist.
When she was gone, Luminous let out a long breath. "You just made a deal with death itself."Ketsuraku smiled faintly. "Better to owe a goddess than a banker."
Rosa chuckled darkly. "She's both, now."
That evening, the Crimson Drifter sailed again, its mast crowned with the Valkyr Banner—an ethereal flag stitched from Hel's shadowfire. When it caught the wind, faint silhouettes of the fallen shimmered in its folds.
Luminous reviewed ledgers below deck, adjusting trade routes for new Helheim resources. "Ectoplasm veins… soul fragments… froststeel," she murmured, smiling faintly. "We'll sell death itself."
Rosa sat beside the mast, cleaning her daggers. "And we'll make sure nobody lives long enough to undercut the price."
Ketsuraku watched the Blood River from the prow, feeling the current thrum beneath him like a heartbeat. The Heart of Nihility glowed brighter now—no longer resisting, but harmonizing with the river's rhythm.
The Red Code Dragon materialized beside him, floating in the air, its laughter a static pulse.
"You've bound life, death, and void under one flag. The Aeons will notice soon.""Let them," Ketsuraku said. "We'll sell them reflection at a price even gods can't afford."
[System Update]
Astral Capacity – 5/7
Alliance Formed – Hel's River Pact
Fleet Status – Raider Tier II
Summon Available – Spectral Valkyr (Daily)
New Market: Helheim Exchange (Tier I) – Trade in Souls, Fragments, and Deathbound Materials
Passive Income: +1,800 Astral Coins per cycle
[Skill Progression]
Navigation level 1 – 47% Mastery
Blood Magic level 2 – 13% Mastery
Finance level 1 – 61% Mastery
Nihility Magic level 1 – 60% Mastery
Beneath the Blood River, thousands of eyes opened—specters, gods, and forgotten kings watching the new River King and his fleet.
And somewhere deep within the void, Ix whispered in laughter:
"The river of blood now flows backward.The merchant has begun to drown the divine."