There was once a center of beauty within the very heart of the capital of Rysanthe.

It is where the wealthy and the corrupt would waste their time drinking the night away or plotting their next move to further gain ownership over Rysanthe and it's resources.

Oleander was it's name and it's beauty was unsurpassed, it's services towards the wealthy and the powerful was impeccable, flawless even. It was known far and wide for many years. It has stood it's ground against many calamities and stood it's ground even when a war was waged between two powerful nations.

But all it took was one night for it to crumble and be smothered in flames till there was only dust left as a monster rampages within it's walls, killing everything in it's sight and leaving no room unpainted with the sickening color of crimson.

Zora was completely consumed by her own powers and dead bodies would pile one after another, making a path of corpses that surrounds her.

The flames consuming what was left of Oleander only grew bigger and bigger and the darkness in Zora's heart grew even more dimmer.

She was walking without aim, drunk on blood that she consumed one after the other, and she can feel that after a bit more of wandering aimlessly, she would finally be put at rest.

She is at her limit, and just like her dead uncle who was also consumed by his own powers she is losing everything, even her own identity.

'Who am I? What was I doing?'

Her eyes wandered and saw the countless body surrounding her. Still, there was nothing that she felt. No remorse, no guilt, and no sadness.

Only... emptiness.

It all felt empty.

After stopping for a moment, as if to relish and take in the scene before her she took another step while she also bleeds to death- her injuries no longer healing.

'I shouldn't be here...'

She took another step forward despite the feeling of numbness of her feet.

'My soldiers... My father... The empire...'

Zora only ever looked forward but her eyes were no longer with life.

'I have to protect them... The people... counts on me...'

She stopped and looked at her surroundings once more.

'Why are there... bodies? Who did this? Did I-?'

With what's left of her consciousness, Zora was trying to process what it is that is happening but her train of thought was immediately disturbed when she heard footsteps coming towards her.

The footsteps were frantic and whoever it belonged to must be in dire panic.

But seeing the result of her losing control, and the endless count of dead bodies around her it almost seeemed impossible for there to be a single soul alive.

Zora stood in the middle of the blood painted hallway and wait for whoever the footsteps she hears belonged to, to find it's way to her.

The young man who was frantic, desperate to find a way out of a crumbling building was hoping to take the shortcut towards the forest down the hill where Oleander stood to escape his terrible fate that awaits him.

Everything happened so fast that even though he already knew how the novel goes, he was still caught by surprise when he heard an explosion and people screaming for their lives.

He was just inside his room, the furthest one there is in all of Oleander from any exit trying to sleep, thinking that he may be safe here. It was the room most guests would not dare look at because it's where the cleaning materials are stored.

He thought it was smart to spend the night at this room to avoid any form of contact with the villain Zora who would go on a rampage and eventually destroy half of the brothel but the damage Zora had done was more than enough to smoke him out eventually leading to him to find an exit that would ensure him his life and avoid getting burned from the fire that spread in mere seconds.

Even the room he was at was destroyed just a second ago and if he was a step too late to decide to leave, he would've been buried alive.

Everywhere he looked, there was fire and the stench of blood oozing out of the dead bodies he would pass by, he had read the novel and knew that it was this bad but reading the novel and experiencing it is in a whole another level.

His stomach felt like turning upside down and he can feel cold sweat running down his whole body while he ran because of how nervous he was, thinking that if he was face to face with the notorious villain of the novel he transmigrated into, will the same thing happen to him? Just like these corpses that lay silently on the wooden floor that he was scrubbing just mere moments ago- will he also die by the hell flower's hand?

It wasn't a wish- no, it was just a passing thought in his mind but when he decided to make a turn, to decide to take the shortest path to escape- his greatest nightmare was all of a sudden...

"ACK!"

...right in front of him.

"Damn it! You really have bad timing, you know?! Can't you see that I'm... in a.... eh?", His voice faltered when he realized who could it be that he crashed into.

A sword made of hardened blood on her hand, torned clothes, soulless crimson eyes and blonde hair.

The young man was petrified as his eyes slowly meet the gaze of the one person he had hoped not to meet. His whole body shook at the sight of her while they stood a meter apart from each other, neither one of them making a single move.

It was suddenly too hard to even breathe and the young man unconsciously held his breath. In the back of his mind he was already praying, praying for something like a miracle to happen and save him from his inevitable verdict of death.

He looked around but there was no way of escape. Zora was blocking the path for the only exit that could've helped him leave the crumbling building of Oleander, but how was he, a nobody without any knowledge about the body he possessed fight against the monster that is Zora Clyborne? The blood mana wielder?

'You're kidding, right? This was not supposed to happen! The novel- the novel said that it would just be her rampaging and destroying the brothel and afterwards she would be captured by Asphodel troops.'

The young man gritted his teeth in both anger and frustration.

It was hopeless.

' This wasn't supposed to happen! I would've been able to escape! I can't die here! No way in hell would I accept death like this!'

But in the back of his mind, he knew he needs to accept his fate.

Zora Clyborne is a seasoned soldier, a general who lead her troops to countless victories and on top of that she was also a gifted mana wielder and he- he was nothing of note. He was only good at scrubbing floors even though the body he possessed is supposed to be the legendary ninth mana wielder.

He was powerless against such a formidable foe.

It was like being at level 1 and fighting the final boss of the game.

There was not a single chance at victory against her.

Zora took a step forward, tightening the grip on the sword in her hand. The young man in front of her was surely trembling in fear but he was looking straight into her eyes as if he was desperately putting up a fight.

His willingness to live is admirable and Zora can clearly see it in his eyes but she had already decided.

She would not leave a single soul alive , she would consume his blood for the last time to gain the strength to also kill herself while a little more of her consciousness remains intact.

She needs to end her own life before she does any more damage to the people and the kingdom of Rysanthe.

"I... am sorry..."

Her words stunned the young man, lowering his defense and that's when she decided to strike.

In a blink of an eye she closed the gap between the two of them and the young man not being able to dodge her attack, instinctively put his arms up to cover for himself but Zora was too fast for the average human eye-and with one swift move she kicked the young man and he flew across the hallway.

The young man was still in shock but the pain that felt like his bones was being crushed immediately brought him back to reality.

Zora ran after him in inhumane speed and while still on mid air, she grabbed his neck and with one arm, she pushed him down the wooden floor breaking it upon impact.

"Augh!", The young man spew out blood and he can't move a single part of his body. He felt numb but he was also in so much pain that it was hard to think of anything else.

Zora lifted him up from the rubble while choking him with one hand while the other was still gripping tightly on her sword.

"Nngh! Let... go of... me..."

The young man was flailing his body trying to take Zora's hand off of his neck. He still has the fight in him but with one swing of her sword, cutting his cheek to make him surrender completely and to remind him of who holds the power between the two of them, he stopped and with trembling eyes looked at the cold eyes of the villain.

"Just give it... up. It would... hurt less if you don't... resist."

Zora thought that it was time he gave up and when he didn't made a single move anymore, she loosened her grip on his neck and let his frail body fall down on the floor.

He doesn't seem to be dead yet. Only unconscious.

Zora dispersed her sword and held the body of the young man in her arms. He was still warm, and looking at him closely he looked like he was much too young to die like this but it was too late.

Zora can't go back anymore.

She brushed off strands of hair from his face and from his neck.

She gently turn his face on the other direction and without another thought she dug her fangs on his pale neck to feed on him.

But in the middle of drinking the young man's blood, Zora felt danger and on an instinct with her powers she made hardened blood as a shield protecting both her and the unconscious young man in her arms.

Lightning striked and hit their direction but the hardened blood shield took the damage for it's master.

Zora dissipated the shield and the sound of crackling thunder caught her attention. Rain poured heavily and the fire enveloping Oleander disappeared as if it didn't exist in the first place.

The lightning that strucked the brothel laid waste to what was left of it and Oleander seems to be no more than pieces of wood and rubble now.

Zora looked around her and without a doubt, it was none other than that person.

That flashy idiot is the only one who could wipe off an entire building off the map if he wishes it.

But she was sure other than her, no other mana wielder was supposed to be at Rysanthe unless he ordered it.

He surely planned for this if ever the first plan he set to motion for her to be killed by assassination fails. It would not at all come as a surprise seeing how meticulous the emperor is. He was set on not letting her live another day to see Asphodel or leave Rysanthe.

Of course, no mastermind in his right mind would let someone who saw through his plans get off scot-free.

And who would be the most suitable candidate to stop her other than him?

"I did not expect to see you here... Rym."

His expressionless face broke into a smile that was neither warm or welcoming when he saw Zora.

"Oh, Zora. It has been a while, indeed! What a happy coincidence!", His cheerful demeanor always caught his enemies off guard but it may have fooled others completely but Zora know better than to be lead on by appearances.

She had enough of that bullshit already.

"You and I both know, Rym. Nothing is a coincidence between us."

The smoke slowly clears after his flashy entrance that was accompanied by lightning. She immediately noticed Asphodel soldiers coming out of the smoke behind Rym. First, it looked like the rough estimate for how many there are would be a hundred but as Zora's vision clears and her mind not being dictated by bloodlust alone, she estimated the soldiers to be around a thousand.

"Hahahaha! Sharp as ever, Hell Flower! But too bad because no matter how sharp you are. It's already too late to even beg for mercy now."

Zora stood up after gently laying the unconscious young man's body on what's left of the wooden floor of the hallway of the brothel, and with her bloodlust now stabilized, she has no more fear holding her back from using her powers.

"It wasn't part of my plan, Rym. If you truly knew me then you should know— I never beg for mercy.", red light and blood particles surrounded Zora's hand, forming the shape of a sword that was sharper than any blade that is man-made.

Crimson light surrounded her whole body, and the signature of a crimson flower covering her left eye blossomed giving her right eye the vision ten times clearer than an average human.

The soldiers were taken aback because of her transformation into what they only knew as a rumor. The general, Zora Clyborne, the Hell Flower that would blossom a crimson lotus on her left eye is a demon in the battlefield and once you have come across her in such a manner.

Pray that you'll live another day.

"Especially, from someone like you."

Zora can feel overwhelming mana from where she stands but there wasn't strong bloodlust that came with it as she accumulate mana for her powers. The bloodlust itself was gone.

Her heartbeat was calm and her mind was sound.

It was as if wielding her powers free of any consequences for the first time and without the consequences— she feels unstoppable.