Year 11 – Summer, The Demon Sea
Thunder rolled across the Blood River as the Crimson Clan fleet surged toward open waters. Ten longships, their sails marked with Hel's sigil and the Crimson Mirage's lily, carved through the red mist. Each ship burned with its own aura — blood, light, and void intertwining like veins in a living god.
The Crimson Drifter led the charge, its dragon-headed prow roaring with red lightning. Behind it, the Veil's Fang, Luminous Tide, and seven others followed in formation, their hulls enchanted with wards of flame and shadow.
On the deck stood Jarl Ketsuraku, the River Jarl, his scythe strapped across his back. The Heart of Nihility pulsed in his chest, faintly visible through the threads of his coat. Beside him, Rosa adjusted her gauntlets, blades strapped across her thighs, while Luminous stood at the helm, reading the currents through her glowing monocle.
"Target confirmed," Luminous said. "The Fallen Empire lies ahead — the ruins of Khar-Neth. Once home to the Demon Lords of Greed.""And now?" Rosa asked."A treasury. Abandoned by gods, guarded by ghosts.""So," Ketsuraku said, his voice calm over the wind, "ours."
The Demon Sea unfolded like a wound — black waves veined with crimson light, whispers rising from the depths. Ancient warships floated half-submerged, their sails tattered, their crews long dead. Above them, the ruins of Khar-Neth shimmered — a floating fortress of bone and obsidian suspended by chains of pure greed.
As the fleet approached, thousands of demonic sentinels awakened.Eyes ignited. Horns blared. The sky turned black.
Rosa cracked her knuckles, grinning. "Finally, something worth killing."Ketsuraku drew his scythe, its blade humming. "Board them. No survivors."
The Red Code Dragon rose above the fleet, bellowing through the storm.
[System Alert]
Clan Raid – Khar-Neth, Fallen Empire of Greed
Enemy Forces: Demon Guard (18,000), Revenant Merchants (4,000), Shadow Ships (12)
Objective: Seize the Vault of Greed
The battle began.
From the Crimson Drifter, spectral Valkyr descended, summoned by the Valkyr Banner, their ghostly wings slicing through enemy ships.Rosa's assassins leapt from the Veil's Fang, their bodies dissolving into mist, reappearing behind captains before their hearts stopped beating.Luminous commanded the light — blinding flashes of celestial fire burned through the clouds, exposing enemy fleets hiding in shadow.
Ketsuraku raised his hand, channels of Blood Qi spreading across the sea. The River itself responded.
"Rise," he whispered.
From beneath the fleet, blood tendrils erupted, wrapping around demon ships and tearing them apart. His astral clones appeared across the battlefield — one forging new weapons mid-fight, another distilling potions of fury, another harvesting cores from fallen beasts.
The Red Code Dragon dove through the storm, its roar rewriting reality — the sky cracked into red code as lightning struck in perfect rhythm with the fleet's advance.
"All ships, forward!" Ketsuraku shouted. "The vault is ours!"
The fortress loomed before them, its gates sealed with runes of greed and gold. Luminous activated a projection of the Heart of Nihility, its aura tearing the seals apart like paper.They entered the vault — a cathedral of wealth.
Piles of gold, artifacts, and bound souls filled the hall.And at its center, floating above a pit of molten greed, pulsed a massive crimson seed, wrapped in roots of molten gold.
Rosa stopped mid-step. "That's no treasure."Luminous's voice trembled slightly. "That's a fragment of the World Tree."Ketsuraku stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "Its reflection."
The moment his fingers brushed the seed, visions flooded his mind — the original World Tree, its branches stretching across galaxies, dripping with worlds like fruit. Its roots bled rivers of blood and light.
The voice of Ix echoed through his soul.
"You've found the mirror that grows worlds, Jarl. Feed it with conquest, and it will remember creation."
The seed pulsed once and vanished into his chest, merging with the Heart of Nihility.His aura flared so brightly that shadows fled.
[System Update]
Relic Obtained – Fragment of the World Tree (Reflected Seed)
Effect: +1 Astral Capacity · Enables Domain Growth
New Feature: Reflected Realms (Allows creation of private astral territories from raid loot)
Aeon Bond: Ix – Advanced Synchronization (Stage II)
Outside, the fleet loaded every remaining crate and weapon onto their ships.Rosa oversaw the division of spoils — demon cores, gold, relics, enchanted weapons, and trade goods.Luminous calculated their value, linking it to the Mirage Exchange under the new listing: Khar-Neth Acquisition Group.
The Red Code Dragon curled above them, smoke rising from its wings.
"You've conquered greed, Jarl. What will you name this new wealth?""Not greed," Ketsuraku said quietly. "Reflection."
When the last ship left the ruins, the sea began to collapse — the Demon Empire sinking beneath waves of molten gold. The sky cleared, revealing the blood moon reflected perfectly on the river below.
On the deck of the Crimson Drifter, Rosa raised her cup."To the raid that fed the gods," she said.Luminous smirked. "And to the Jarl who learned how to sell them."Ketsuraku's crimson eyes glowed as he looked toward the horizon. "No gods. No kings. Only the river."
The Red Code Dragon's wings unfurled, cutting through the storm clouds as the fleet sailed home under the banner of blood and reflection.
[System Update]
Clan Raid Complete – Fallen Empire of Greed
Loot Acquired: Demon Cores × 180 · Gold Ingots × 20,000 · Relics × 52 · Soul Contracts × 17 · Astral Resources × 15 Crates
World Seed (Bound) – 1
Mirage Exchange Value: +7,800 Astral Coins per cycle
[Skill Progression]
Leadership level 1 – 58% Mastery
Navigation level 2 – 22% Mastery
Blood Magic level 2 – 26% Mastery
Nihility Magic level 2 – 12% Mastery
That night, as the Blood River's waves glowed faintly red, Ketsuraku dreamed.
He stood before the World Tree's reflection — its branches made of mirrors, its leaves flowing with blood and void.From the roots, a single voice whispered:
"Jarl of the River… when your reflection grows large enough, even the Aeons will drown in it."
And he smiled — because he was already planning the next raid.