Unedited*

"An undead?" Edward stared intently at the figure before him as he stood up, his back aching.

He didn’t wait to see what would happen; instead, he ran to try to kill it, gritting his teeth against the pain of his broken bones. He wasn’t going to give it time to recover.

Despite that, he witnessed something impressive. The blood oozing from the creature’s shoulders tried to reclaim a body that was rapidly beginning to decompose.

The Incineration Pollen acted with admirable speed, but the struggle the blood put up to reclaim the body was impressive. It was the first time anything had fought so openly against this ability.

However, it couldn’t last. Energy was limited, and the blood was turning to ash with every step of the Incineration Pollen. Practically every passing second not only drained the energy from the blood as it tried to recover, but also sapped its fuel and turned it to ash.

In the end, despite its powerful resilience, the ashes fell to the ground alongside an intact crystal head.

[Unidentified Target Number 01 has died. Analyzing corpse...]

[Analyzing internal level...]

[Analyzing total information...]

[Please wait a moment.]

Although Edward was annoyed by those system messages, he let out a sigh of relief and walked toward the head on the ground.

’It’s intact...’

It was the first time something like this had happened.

Did the Incineration Pollen fail to destroy it? What the hell was this head?

Edward crouched down and picked it up. It was strangely warm, completely crystallized, and still glowing with that peculiar reddish-yellow hue.

"I’ll wait for the system," he thought.

He didn’t have to wait long.

[Ding]

[Information Analysis Complete]

[New Creature Registered. The Database has been updated.]

[Unidentified Target Number 01 matches historical records.]

[True Identity Discovered:

Level: Approximately 50.

Status: Dead?

Race: Sanguine.

Race Type: Living, with corrupting effects that turned it into an undead.

What are the Sanguines? A legendary race from the Age of the Three Giants, the Third Giant. The reason for their disappearance and extinction is unknown, but it is believed they fought internal and external battles against the other Dominants of the world.

Sanguines are dangerous by nature and exist at different levels.

Unrestrained Sanguines: Weak, like the one you just killed. They come in two forms: Mages and Martial Artists. Be careful of the latter.

Sanguine Links: Medium strength.

Pureblood Sanguines: Superior strength.

Encountering a Sanguine Link in your current state could be dangerous. Proceed with caution.]

[With the reappearance of a Sanguine in the World, the Database must be updated. Please kill as many as you can to help gather information.]

[Good luck, Host.]

’Sanguines...’ Edward nodded and looked at the ashes beneath him and the head in his hand.

’I’ll take this with me just in case,’ he thought.

He put it away and a few seconds later continued on his way, though this time with much greater caution.

If an Unrestrained Sanguine was already that strong, he didn’t want to imagine the danger of a Link Sanguine. He might not survive a battle against one of them.

Now...

The Age of the Three Giants.

An era from many, many years ago that has not been fully documented. Almost no one knows about that era, but it took place more than 100,000 years ago.

It is said that in that era, there were three great powers that ruled the world. Edward hadn’t been able to delve too deeply into that history, but to have the misfortune of encountering one of the races that ruled that era in such a weak Cursed Land...

"I must be the unluckiest guy in the world," he sighed.

However, no one knew anything about them, yet the entire world was searching for information on the subject. One of the reasons the Dragon Mountains are so well-known is because they are said to be an ancestral land from that era.

Although no one knows if that’s true, since it happened so long ago that their history has been erased. What is certain is that three neutral factions ruled during that era, and by the end of the Age of the Three Giants, only one of the three remained. No one knows what led to the extinction of the other two.

But what if, in reality, one of them wasn’t destroyed, but remained hidden somewhere in the world?

"If that’s the case, what are the Cursed Lands, then? What they say about them is that they appeared sometime between 300 and 500 years ago. Why is a race that should have been lost 100,000 years ago still here?"

’Maybe...’ His eyes sparkled with curiosity. ’Perhaps they’ve been hidden all this time, waiting for the chance to come out.’

There was also the possibility that they couldn’t even leave. The fact that this place seemed like a new world was proof of that.

Maybe they were trapped here for all eternity. "Or that the one from just now was a wanderer left behind after the great war, and this place... was his grave."

He still remembers that he’s in a temple called "The Temple of Aleskra," so all those possibilities were on the table.

As he walked, his mind wandered between memories and his new reality. Now he also has to flee from an empire, so things have gotten complicated.

Despite that, he’s managed to grow stronger. Recently, and now he’s in a place that could give him a lot of experience...

’Right. Did it give me experience?’ Edward checked his system.

Among the messages it had sent him earlier to inform him about the Sanguines, there was one more that had slipped his notice.

[3,000+ Experience Points Earned]

[Total Experience Points: 6,830/15,617]

’Perfect. It gave me a good amount.’ Edward didn’t waste any time.

He was determined to try to level up in this place. Before, he had to hunt hundreds of beasts in dungeons to reach his current strength.

Now he only needed a few more to break through that difficult level 30 barrier.

He stamped his foot on the ground and began to make his way through the forest.

It wasn’t long before he found his target... and was spotted again.

"They can smell my blood, I’m sure of it." He clenched his fists in frustration.

The problem was that this time, the Sanguine he encountered didn’t look like the previous one.

The previous one was a mage. He wore mage’s robes and had no visible muscles. This one, however, was completely different. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

His figure was imposing. While he lacked much of the magical blood the other one had, it wasn’t because he lacked strength. Rather, it was because his strength was imbued in his fists and muscles.

He seemed to have been slowly sculpted by a great craftsman. Although his head was the same and his garments used the same colors—mostly white, with bronze accents.

The beast didn’t say a word or wait for its strange new enemy to make a move. It clenched its fists and lunged forward with a powerful attack.

Edward returned the blow with equal intensity. The two attacks collided, and they stood facing each other.

’He’s stronger than the last one. But a martial artist, huh.’ Edward felt it would be easier to fight him.

After all, martial arts were his specialty.

With a powerful kick to the stomach, Edward managed to push the beast back several meters, allowing him to prepare his sword strike.

Suddenly, a martial artist with his fists faced off against a swordsman with his sword.

Both danced to the rhythm of the blows, wreaking havoc on every tree that stood in their path. The martial artist’s powerful force, combined with the swordsman’s extraordinary mastery of the blade, carved furrows into the ground.

The sudden blows left Edward wounded; even though he managed to hold his own in the fight, he couldn’t defeat him fairly.

His fists were heavy, and he was well-trained. But the problem was his muscles. Despite being made entirely of blood, they were so resilient that they seemed to be reinforced with sturdy metal.

His sword barely managed to wound him. And when it did, the blood would pool and heal him immediately. Not only was he a tough nut to crack because of his strength, but he was nearly impossible to kill due to his strange immortality.

’But his blood runs out.’ He’d noticed that before.

Every time the mage healed himself, the blood enveloping him would slowly heal as well, though it wasn’t as obvious since that guy had so much blood. But with this martial artist, the blood overflowing from him was less.

In 30 minutes, Edward managed to push the blood back a full fold.

But it wasn’t enough.

"I have to kill it without using the Pollen. I can’t use it all the time because of its cooldown. So I have to find alternatives."

For that reason, he became embroiled in a deadly battle against the creature that lasted three hours.

His breathing was heavy. His muscles ached and his blood boiled. But his enemy fell to the ground... His blood had completely vanished, and what remained was a emaciated body that looked as if it had been struck by lightning.

Mortally thin with no chance of recovery, Edward finally cut off its head.

But he had no time to rejoice. His body froze when he sensed several auras arriving at the scene at that very moment.

His mouth opened with difficulty. "Ten Sanguines..."