Destiny Unchain Online ~I became a vampire girl and eventually became known as the “Demon King of Blood”~ - Chapter 0.1

The full moon bewitchingly illuminates the forest at night.

Five figures were sprinting through the trees, as if pursued by something.

「Hey, what are you going to do about it, Guild Master, we’re definitely being led into something!」

「I know! But what the hell am I supposed to do… Hyaa!」

A small figure in the leading group yelled back half in desperation in a rough tone not unlike that of a pretty girl’s voice, whereupon… a fireball overtook them as if to snatch their heads.

「Hiin, sorry for being so slow on my feet!」

「Don’t worry, she has a plan in place to deal with them!」

「That’s so-ja, better yet, move your feet!」

As I was encouraging the somewhat lagging woman’s voice and yelling at the young man running next to me, suddenly, I had a clear view…

A cul-de-sac surrounded by sheer cliffs, and looming from the forefront is a huge mass of rock towering in the center.

「Damn it… you guys, escape into the cover of darkness!」

Even if it’s a potentially bad move, there is no other way.

Five figures plunge into the shadows of the rocks, as instructed by the small figure in the lead.

But… it was soon surrounded in a blink of an eye by the silhouettes that had followed them.

――Destiny Unchain Online, a full-dive VR massively multiplayer online RPG

Part of the production staff of “Worldgate Online,” whose memory seemed to have faded completely, gathered at a newly-entered venture company to develop this new VRMMORPG, which now became the talk of the town.

One of its most significant features is that the level system… has been completely abolished.

Adopting a complete skill system, which was the norm in the early days of net games, where players could choose and develop the skills they acquired within a predetermined proficiency limit, and develop their characters in an unrestricted character configuration.

For that reason, the game was designed to be difficult, making it impossible to push the game due to differences in level, even if you were ahead of the curve in training, creating a game where the skill structure and, above all, individual skill, were the key to success.

「Two on the cliff, three at the entrance, I see… all the enemies are gathered here, we’re completely surrounded.」

A young man who had been peering into the surrounding area and surveilling for the enemy grimly sat down. For those of us escaping, I must admit that the situation was worse than bad.

「We’ve finally cornered you, “Demon Lord of Blood…!” Today is the day we will pull you down from your ranks and make you ours!」

The members of the enemy guilds are closing in on us, declaring loudly and with great enthusiasm.

The very high morale of the participants showed how much they had been looking forward to this battle, a guild competition where five against five is played once every two weeks.

And this is evident in the elaborate steps they have taken to lead us to this point, as well as in their pre-survey of the members of our team, which even shows their persistence.

「Because, you know… It’s tough being a celebrity.」

「What to do, there doesn’t look like there’s any way out of this cul-de-sac, does there?」

「Well, then I’ll just have to smash them… head on!」

The girl whose name is called confidently declares her name and leaps onto the large rock where she has been hiding with just the strength of one hand.

「Kuu, fufu, kuhaha! You have done well, lowly mortals!!」

That girl, called the Demon King of Blood, pastes on a role-play for the audience, and speaks out in a haughty tone of voice.

Of the titles given to the top rankers… the title of “Demon King” is granted to the guild masters of the highest ranked Demon players.

One of them, the one known as the “Demon King of Blood,”… was a rather petite young girl.

Her pure white hair flows in the air, and when quietly seated, she looks as lovely as a doll.

The girl is clad in a lovely gothic lolita-style costume with many frills and a red lotus cloak.

Such a girl was atop a large rock with her arms folded and her crimson eyes blazing in the darkness of the night, laughing loudly.

There was not a shred of dejection or sadness shown by being… cornered. Instead, filled with the confidence and dignity of the monarch of the night, to the point of arrogance and insolence.

「If you wish to go that far, I, Crim-Luersheia, Lord of Blood, darker than night, the supreme crimson, will slaughter you myself…!」

「She has low fire tolerance! Unleash all of them at once!」

「Wha… huh? Ah, too hot!」

As she climbed up on the rocks at a reasonable height and was saying her words, countless arrows of flame were shot out without a trace of mercy.

Crim, weak to fire due to her race, was engulfed in flames and rolled in a panic, falling to the shade of a rock for shelter.

「Ha… ha… I thought I was gonna turn into ashes! Hey, Frey, are you sure this will work? Can we really get popular, right?」

Smoke billowing from her entire body, she tearfully crammed her way to the young man she had been hiding with.

「Hahaha, don’t worry. Most of the viewers are expecting to see the cute little you screwing up and getting into trouble.」

Frey, a young man with long blonde hair cut at the shoulder blades, chuckling with amusement, and remarks with the utmost calmness.

But actually, in the chat column spectator chat that’s running in the lower right――

『Shot down!www』

『You’re surrounded, and you declare your name.w』

『Just don’t tell them, typical Crim-chan, right?w』

『Demon King of Blood, desperately in flames.www』

The audience seemed to be very pleased.

Yes… The battle is being streamed live by the official channel, of course, all the unpleasantness is now being watched by a large audience.

The video streaming feature, a standard feature in recent games, allows users to earn points that can be used by the guild for purchases and enhancements based on the number of views and “likes” they receive.

Incidentally, apparently there have been instances in the past of monetization and advertising revenue coming in.

However, I heard that this led to frequent problems over money, and that acts involving real money were banned altogether.

Therefore, gaining popularity is as important as winning the guild competition…

「No, that’s not right… You guys are definitely calling me ‘Mao-sama’ instead of ‘Maou-sama’…」

Basically, in VRMMOs, emotional expressions are expressed in a slightly more exaggerated manner than in reality.

This caused the system to pick up on sadness in a somewhat over-the-top way, and the viewers were even more excited to see a pretty girl with half-teary eyes.

「Kuu, I’m a top ranker referred to as Demon King, so why do I have to play the role of such a lousy character?」

「Ah well, everyone loves Crim-san because she’s strong, cute, and sometimes goofy, so she’s friendly and approachable!」

The one who is healing me with recovery magic, smiling and gently laughing, is the girl who was a little behind during the escape earlier.

Freya, a girl with golden hair, consoles me in a relaxed manner, as does the young man whose shoulders are quivering beside me.

「However… After this, assuming your performance is strong enough, though, right, Guild Master?」

「Damn, even Freya is saying whatever she wants…!」

No. Please don’t be so unreasonable without any hesitation.

While a barrage of fire magic has been set up earlier, Crim is very vulnerable to fire due to her race characteristics.

In such a situation, if you were rash enough to go out, you would be grilled to a crisp in no time.

The cliff top encirclement was moving slowly toward both sides, even as the other side ran out of magic.

At this rate, in a few seconds, they will be in range of us, where they can target us from above.

「Hai, hai, I will do it, alright…!」

Half desperate, she raises her small hands in front of herself. Then, the darkness beneath her feet changes, twists and turns, and eventually transforms into a single, disastrous scythe.

――Skills 『Shadow Magic』 and 『Transformation』

Weapons created by 『Shadow Magic,』 which manipulates shadows, are made huge by 『Transformation,』 which changes them as desired depending on skill level.

Due to the fact that it takes two skill slots to prepare a weapon, this skill is not very popular… However, Crim had a certain advantage, and she preferred to use it.

What was created in this way was a scythe so huge that it was composed of pitch-black darkness.

Crim swings her scythe, which has been bloated to its limit size, using her entire body, in a big swing of her 『Transformation,』 which she has trained to the limit.

「Both of you, stay low…!」

A flash.

Immediately after the extraordinary size of the scythe swung through the air in an instant… a few seconds later, the entire surrounding object shifted from about one meter off the ground, as if it had been cut from the middle of a landscape photo.

The enemy leader was quick to duck in his haste, but the two men behind him… were unable to react in time and were too late to avoid the attack.

「Damn… you cut every obstacle in half, you monster…!」

「You are the one who caught me by surprise… Now my outfit is a little scorched.」

The enemy leader, who is gnashing his teeth, just barely, amidst the dancing shards of light that are “what used to be his friends” around him, shattered as his life is reduced to zero.

Facing her in a groveling pose, Crim puts on her best little haughty expression and once again sits on the rock, which is now half the height it was before.

He staggered back to his feet and looked back down at her. It’s as if the lack of room for a moment earlier was a lie.

「And… you’ve been so busy with me that your backs aren’t covered, no?」

The moment his eyes widened, Crim’s mood suddenly turned ice-cold.

With a giggle, she quickly raises her little hand and… the next moment, there are two screams from the surrounding cliff tops.

There, the two rearguards of the enemy guild, who were supposed to be chanting a new magic, fell and disappeared as countless shining shards before falling… to the ground.

Standing behind each of them is a member of Crim’s guild, 『Luersheia』.

Crim nodded in satisfaction and watched as they took care of the rear guard, who had been hiding and acting separately, and were now positioned on the cliff.

Now there is only one remaining opponent in front of her.

「Impossible…! We had the five of you driven into a corner…!」

「Ah, this?」

Four figures other than Crim emerge from behind the rocks as soon as it is safe to do so.

However, the remaining two besides Frey and Freya, the twins, were all black, with the same silhouette as Crim.

「A branch of Shadow Magic. 『Shadow Squire』 it’s called.」

As soon as she snapped her fingers, the figures lost their shapes and dissolved into the darkness.

In essence, it is a defensive magic that follows the practitioner and protects the master from attacks as a substitute.

However… since the first person to show up was the practitioner Crim herself, the leader of the enemy guild had dismissed the possibility of this happening.

『Wow, bluffing with defensive magic.』

『Exposing oneself to vulnerability on purpose, that’s not the gall of a little girl.』

『Crim-chan is clever!』

『You can’t tell on the night stage, that’s for sure.』

In response to the praise flowing through the spectator chat room, she proudly puffed out her chest.

「So sorry, everyone has been under my thumb up to this point-ja.」

It was all part of the plan even though I was cornered to such an extent.

「Kuu… it looks like I’ve been too obsessed with you alone, ‘Demon King of Blood’ …!」

「Well, yes, your meta-tactics against me were quite gut-wrenching. I will be waiting for your next attempt.」

――Slash

With a small sound, the last of the enemy guild leaders crumbled to the ground. Immediately after, he turned into countless shining polygonal fragments, as did the rest of his companions, which fluttered in the air.

――Guild 『Luersheia』 WIN!

With a fanfare, the words that announce victory dance before her eyes. This is the view…

「Haa… It’s not easy to play and behave as a much sought after character.」

…In fact, it’s a strong statement to say that everything is under your thumb, and now I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.

Muttering so that the camera and microphone would not pick that up, Crim finally relaxed her shoulders――…

Prologue 1 is done. There are some parts that I am a bit concerned about but, it should be readable. I will start work on prologue 2 after Bishoujo Chapter 15.1 is completed, which shouldn’t take too long since 15.1 is like 14 pages long. After some thinking, I decided to do prologue 2, Bishoujo Chapter 15.1, then Destiny Unchain Chapter 1.

Other than that, enjoy the prologue.