MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online - Chapter 129

Chapter 129: The Five Blackhearts
“H-help…”

A faint voice of help sounded..

A man, barely conscious, used his bloodied nails to crawl like a worm away.

His legs were mangled, his feet were completely shredded, and his back had long, stretchy scratch marks running down it.

It was like he was attacked by a wild animal.

Then, soft-sounding footsteps came behind him. It didn’t sound like boots hitting the ground, but instead like someone walking barefoot on dirt.

The man paled, recognizing those footsteps of doom.

“No…”

A dirt-covered foot touched his back and forced him to the ground. He couldn’t crawl away anymore from the creature that loomed over him, its hot breath on his neck.

The man turned his head around to face his fate.

It was one person at first, but then four more appeared from the darkness like ghostly apparitions. They surrounded him, the dying man, like a group of reapers.

All of them were pale, their eyes empty and lifeless, and their mouths a straight line. Each one had a hole in the chest with a beating black heart inside.

However, some of them had shoulder-length hair, a few had short cuts, and one had long dreadlocks cascading down their back.

Their faces were all handsome, but they were also different in their own unique way.

“Fine, kill me, you monsters!” The man shouted. “You already killed all my friends and my guild. What more do you want from me?”

“We want…” The Blackheart stomped his foot down and broke the man’s spine. “Revenge.”

With a gasp of breath, the man’s body went limp.

He became crippled—he couldn’t feel his legs or anything from his waist down.

The Blackheart with dreadlocks crouched beside the man, grabbed his face with his big hands, and squeezed it like it were a stress ball.

The eyes popped out, and then the head was twisted violently until it separated from the body.

The Blackheart looked at the head’s mangled face and then tossed it aside with a face of boredom. The head rolled down the hill and landed in a patch of wildflowers.

They were standing on a hill, overlooking the valley below. They saw a town hidden in the distance, shrouded in the morning mist.

“Dre kinir sepal drire.”

“Eip drie—he—ial otir drire.”

“Alile.”

“Laral.”

They spoke a forgotten language that echoed through the valley, a language lost to time.

The Blackheart, with his shoulder-length hair and a face that was quite soft and gentle, stood in front of them, and his mouth stretched wide.

With a widely stretched mouth, he let out a scream that echoed through the mists of the morning, through the valley below, and to every corner of the island.

The scream sounded unnatural. It didn’t sound like it contained any words—just pure, guttural terror.

However, every Blackheart understood every word of the scream and felt their blood run cold.

“Eipal fialn ile.”

We found him.

It didn’t matter whether they were already fighting someone, near death, or looking for an escape route; after hearing those words in the scream, they started running towards the place.

Toward the town of Kuroshima—the location of their god’s killer.

…

The south beach.

The fight was pretty much over; around thirty Blackhearts remained, and none of them were without injuries.

Now, they gave up on fighting and started running back to the forest. It looked like they were just retreating, afraid for their lives.

However, they ran through the blades, wincing in pain and leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Instead of being afraid, they seemed to be desperate to go somewhere.

After reaching the forest, they rushed through the low-hanging branches, thick foliage, and dense underbrush.

The Queen’s Blade mercenaries ran after them.

“Where in the hell are they going?” Calamity asked while fixing up his hair tie, tying his lengthy, crimson hair into a tight bun.

Arkham and Sapphira exchanged a glance, and they didn’t need to speak a word; both understood what their sibling wanted.

They ordered a squadron from the Dying Star guild and followed the Blackheart into the forest.

Digby took a deep breath, also wanting to continue the chase, but he noticed that his guild members were exhausted.

After all, they were just archwarriors, and they had already been fighting non-stop for hours.

The difference in stamina between archwarriors and ranks above them was stark and undeniable.

“Ah, you must be Crimson Hounds.” Calamity came to them with a fake smile on his face.

“Sir Calamity.” Digby nodded.

While he was Prime Mercenary, a rank above Calamity, he knew it wouldn’t take long for him to pass him in ranks. Thus, he was rather respectful.

“I don’t see your S-ranker with you,” Calamity said with a smile. “Is he hiding in that little inn of his?”

Digby didn’t answer because he didn’t know where he was.

He just remembered Kory taking him somewhere, and then they asked him where he was—Kory only answered that he was safe and well.

“Well, I don’t blame you,” Calamity chuckled. “He is weak, after all. Haha, there was already a rumor of him dying during your sea trip. I was wondering how someone so weak became a S-ranker, but I am glad that he was fine. After all.”

Digby just smiled and nodded. Inwardly, he was furious but didn’t show it.

It was widely known how arrogant and egocentric Calamity was. It must’ve hurt his ego after not being the most recent S-ranker anymore, which took away the spotlight and gave it to Adam.

“Calamity, get your ass over here!” Mauricio shouted.

Calamity rolled his eyes in annoyance; however, as soon as he turned around, he was all smiles again and went rushing over to where Mauricio was standing and started carrying away the jars filled with black hearts.

“I really don’t like him,” Lucette said with crossed arms. “Two-faced people are the worst.”

“Keep those thoughts to yourself,” Digby said. “Calamity, one day, will be fighting for the seat of the king. It’s best not to speak too openly against him.”

“I know…” Lucette said with a whisper. “I just wouldn’t want to be around when that happens. Who knows, he might make slavery legal just for the sake of it.”

“If he desires to do so, he has the right to do it,” Digby said. “Only the strongest can become the King. And if that is his wish, then so be it.”

The members of the Crimson Hounds looked dissatisfied with Calamity. They thought it was unlucky that someone like him was blessed with so much talent and potential.

Luckily, he wasn’t the only one with immense talent.

There were Sapphira and Arkham, who’ll be Calamity’s main contenders in the future.

Then there was Adam, and when they thought about him, smiles broke across their faces. They also had a person among them who was blessed with overflowing talent.

Perhaps one day, a person with a crimson cloak will sit on the throne.

“Everyone!”

At that moment, a panicky looking man rushed to the beach. He looked somewhat young, around Adam’s age, but was actually older than he looked. He looked startled, wearing bloodied armor.

“The Blackhearts are attacking Kuroshima!”

“What?!” Digby and others exclaimed.

The town of Kuroshima had a way to prevent attacks from the Blackhearts. It was why they never even bothered to attack that place.

Now, for some odd reason, they were!

Crimson Hounds, led by Digby, joined the panicky-looking man and started running back to the Kuroshima.

Mauricio watched them leave, then ignored it all and returned on harvesting the hearts off the corpses. Those were worth a lot of money, which was the only thing he was caring about.