Death Heir's Devouring System
Chapter 68: Bloody Harvest

Chapter 68: Bloody Harvest

Of all the horrors Azrael had expected to find in the blood lake, a beautiful rose was certainly not one of them.

He had seen hostile plants before, so he used [Inspect] several times just to make sure that it wasn’t a monster in disguise.

But to his confusion, it was a seemingly orderly flower.

A strangely beautiful one at that, unlike any other flower he had laid his eyes upon. This was without a doubt the most striking one. From a simple glance, it was made clear it wasn’t just drenched in blood but was molded by it itself.

Taking a step towards it, still cautious, he used his scythe to cut its crimson root and picked it up.

Instantly it exploded, sending large quantities of blood outwards in every direction.

It could have been a problem if not for Truth Seeker; the armor devoured the large quantity of blood in a heartbeat, and even more, it shimmered, eager to absorb even more.

Item Blood Progression: [610.000/1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

"There was so much blood in that little thing?" Azrael frowned, looking at the now lifeless rose in his hand. In a matter of seconds, it had withered away, its crimson color nowhere to be seen. Its striking appearance vanished into thin air—now it was just a black husk of its former self.

Throwing the flower to the side, Azrael surveyed the area. It was hard to notice since they blended in so perfectly with the blood lake, but there were several roses ahead of him.

"These things should speed up the process."

Without hesitation, he began to pick them up one by one, causing them to explode in violent bursts of blood, only for his attire to absorb it all.

Item Blood Progression: [650.000/1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

For whatever reason, the roses contained so much blood—or why they were blooming in the middle of the blood lake—didn’t concern him. All that mattered was that they were going to help him get out of the area faster.

Item Blood Progression: [690.000/1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

Once he had harvested the nearest to him, he moved further south.

As his armor grew stronger, it began to put pressure on his mind and body. It wasn’t enough to cause him agonizing pain, but it was clouding his judgment, and that was something he would rather avoid.

The closer he was to his goal, the more severely the small obsession in his mind was growing.

’The faster I’m done with it, the better,’ he thought.

Item Blood Progression: [720.000/1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

Cinder, the loyal Remembrance, began to screech behind his back, but he ignored it. He knew that there were no enemies nearby, at least he didn’t feel in danger, so he focused on reaping the roses.

It simply felt right.

Item Blood Progression: [800.000/1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

"Just a little more," he muttered, a bead of sweat starting to form on his forehead. His body began to feel heavier, most likely due to his armor’s thirst for blood. The faster Azrael quenched the thirst, the better.

It felt addicting. With each absorbed rose, Truth Seeker grew darker. Stronger. There were little things more important than power.

Azrael’s gaze landed on another flower; he moved his hand to harvest it. But before he could, Cinder landed before him.

"What are you—"

Cinder ignored the words of his master as it poked his chest with all of its might, causing a shockwave to ripple around his body.

That forced Azrael to take a step back and evaluate his surroundings.

Around him were numerous roses. There were so many that they would be enough to rank up Truth Seeker several times over.

When did the field of flowers blossom upon the blood lake? ...Or had he perhaps walked forward so much to reach it, without realizing?

He would have found the idea uncanny if not for the thing that demanded his immediate attention.

The moment Cinder had poked his chest, the fog on his mind lifted, causing his gaze to land in the far distance.

In the middle of the crimson field cluttered with roses was another plant. This, unlike the other ones, however, bore no beauty in it.

Despite its crimson color, its texture looked ragged and battered, as if recently it had been under the onslaught of a deadly monster. A black eye was posing at its pistil, slowly blinking. Roots with a hue similar to its eye pulsed around it, slowly absorbing the blood in the lake.

’What am I looking at right now?’ Azrael thought, suppressing the panic rising in his heart.

He now knew why his body felt so heavy and sluggish. It wasn’t the influence of the armor at all.

It was from the sheer Corruption the abomination was giving off.

His eyes narrowed as he used [Inspect].

Name: [Queen]

Race: [Blightroot]

Danger Level: [Reaver]

Corruption Rank: [Profane]

’Queen?’ His eyes nearly bulged out.

Then he took a deep breath. His stoic face returned.

Fear and hesitation were deadly mistakes.

So he did neither.

From what Thandor had told him, the Queen was supposed to be the strongest monster in the cursed lands, and they had presumed she was near the King, the monster that was meant to be killed by the Proven.

If she was here, did that mean they were lucky and the boss was left unguarded... Or had they misunderstood the cursed lands?

"I can’t blame him, predicting one Rift is a hassle in itself. Now, with two leading to the same place, this situation must be complicated," Azrael reasoned, taking steps towards the monster.

The Corruption made his chest tighten, and his body shivered, instinct screaming at him not to get closer—but he ignored it.

Stopping a few feet before the eye of the Queen, he observed her passiveness.

"Just like I thought. She is in some sort of a trance."

The eye was blinking, the roots were pulsing. But there was no hostility at all. The Corruption felt dangerous, but the entity itself didn’t try to harm him. This was why he hadn’t felt in danger despite Cinder’s warnings.

He moved slowly, going behind the creature; the idea of attacking didn’t even cross his mind. The power gap was too vast, and he hadn’t approached the Profane monster with the intent to attack.

"Is this what you’ve wanted all this time?" Azrael sighed, gazing down at Truth Seeker. "The reason you subconsciously made me crave to move south?"

In response, the armor shimmered. Upon the Queen’s body, a rose was growing—one much redder than any other combined.

Just from sight, Azrael knew there was a staggering amount of blood in the elegant thing, enough to rank up his armor should he reap it.

"I don’t usually take risks like this..." he muttered, his hand taking a firm hold.

"But considering that your name is ’Truth Seeker’ and that you were originally in the possession of an Influential Chosen, I’m inclined to believe that harvesting it will grant me power."

His voice grew colder.

"Don’t make me regret my choice."

The instant he snapped the stem from the body of the Queen, the voice of the system resonated in his head.

[You have gained an item: Heartroot.]

His momentary surprise didn’t cause him to miss the reaction of the Queen—her body shivered slightly, but otherwise, it didn’t move.

Simultaneously blood gushed from the severed stem, racing into Truth Seeker like it had a mind of its own.

The rate of absorption was so fast, he wasn’t left with time to react before the status of his armor appeared before his eyes.

Item Blood Progression: [1.000.000 / 1.000.000 (cubic meters)]

[Evolution commencing...]