I Have Descended as the Iron-Blooded All-Master Chapter 1

The metallic tang of blood in the air makes it impossible to think straight.

“Please… spare me… I don’t… want to die…!”

Slice-

Thunk! Roll…

In an instant, the gleaming blade severed a head cleanly, sending it tumbling to the ground like a discarded ball.

The man who had pleaded for his life moments earlier now lay dead, his expression frozen in sheer terror.

The inside of the cave resembled nothing less than a sea of blood, with severed heads rolling around like roadside trash.

“Do not tremble in fear, oh sacrifices. Your deaths are sacred and noble.”

A towering man covered in a crimson robe swung his massive longsword, continuing his ruthless slaughter.

The so-called ‘sacrifices,’ their hands and feet bound by thick iron chains, could only await their beheadings in utter helplessness.

Shit…

The worst part? I was one of those sacrifices.

What the hell kind of situation is this?

One moment, I had been sitting in front of my computer, and the next, I was abducted into this fantasy world.

To make things worse, I woke up just in time to find myself on the brink of decapitation.

But above all else…

“Why the hell did it have to be a Blood Mage? Damn it.”

When I muttered “Status Window” out of curiosity, the information that popped up made me swear on the spot.

I had been a hardcore fan—well, more like an addict—of the medieval fantasy RPG game Stellar of Dungeon.

Spending over 9,000 hours of my life on it, I had earned the dubious honour of being the first player to max out every job class, including the final one, Paladin.

On the day I planned to finally quit, fed up with the lack of content, an announcement appeared:

[New Job Released: Blood Mage]

Excited by the rare update, I poured myself into the new class, only to discover ten days later that it was a complete disaster.

The Blood Mage had immense potential, with its unique “Blood Energy” gauge capable of creating any weapon or spell. But this came with absurd drawbacks:

[Insufficient Blood Energy. Skills are unavailable!]

[Rapid health depletion due to lack of Blood Energy!]

[Harvest human blood to replenish Blood Energy!]

[Attacking humans increases your ‘Sin’ level.]

[Your ‘Sin’ is exposed to the continent, marking you as a public enemy!]

The system practically forced players to attack humans to survive, branding them as outcasts hunted by NPCs, bounty hunters, and knights alike.

Still, I held off on deleting the character, hoping for a patch. But as I hovered over the delete button, something bizarre happened:

[Deleting character…]

Before I could react, the character dissolved into glowing particles, which suddenly surged out of my monitor—enveloping me.

[Unique Achievement Unlocked: First and Last Blood Mage]

When I came to, I was here—in this godforsaken cavern.

The holographic status window and the eerie altar adorned with ancient carvings confirmed it.

I’ve been possessed inside Stellar of Dungeon.

Slice-

“Guh… ugh…!”

While I was piecing things together, the man in the crimson robe continued his slaughter, and my turn was approaching fast.

“Help! Someone, please help!”

“Mom! MOM!!”

Sobs and screams filled the air.

Despite the chaos, my mind remained unnaturally calm.

Iron-Blooded Mind—a passive skill of the Blood Mage—allowed for unshakable composure and cold rationality in the face of enemy.

Thanks to it, I could think clearly, even as blood splattered and heads rolled around me.

Still, the situation was dire.

I needed to act fast.

This cave, with its black altar and hooded figures, was a Sanctuary, a place for summoning celestial beings—constellations.

These lunatics were likely trying to summon one of them by sacrificing us.

And I was their next offering.

But there was no way in hell I was going to just lie down and die.

Slice-

At last, the old man who had been sitting right next to me lost his head.

A spray of warm, metallic-smelling blood splattered across my face. Not long after, the shadow of an imposing figure loomed over me menacingly.

Covered head to toe in blood, the huge man looked down at me with a hint of surprise in his eyes before sneering.

“You’re different from the other sacrifices. You’re not crying or begging for your life.”

“Why should I feel fear for men who are about to die?”

He flinched.

My single sentence stopped the hand that had been about to bring down his sword mid-air.

“Men who are about to die, you say? That’s quite the cheap bluff to buy time.”

“Soon, the paladins of the Kanreon Order will be here. Think again if my words still seem cheap when they arrive.”

“……”

The huge man narrowed his eyes.

His expression grew complex, laced with suspicion.

It made sense—he had just heard words he couldn’t ignore.

The Kanreon Order was the largest religious organization on the continent, founded on the principle of eradicating all evil.

And in the world of Suoden, Bismarck, the playable paladin character, hailed from Kanreon.

Most importantly, Bismarck’s starting point was right here, in this very sanctuary.

The first main quest of the paladin character was to slaughter every single one of these psychotic lunatics.

In the game, Bismarck usually appeared when about half the captured humans were already dead.

A quick glance told me I was tied up roughly in the middle of the lineup.

In other words, my claim that the paladins of Kanreon would soon arrive wasn’t a bluff at all.

These fools, unaware of their fate, were orchestrating a massacre-.

“Kanreon Order? Is that the name of some worthless nobodies?”

“…?”

What the hell was this guy saying?

Was he an idiot?

“Kanreon. The Kanreon Order. The largest organization on the continent, ruthless to the wicked—”

“Thought you might be a little extraordinary compared to the other sacrifices, but you’re just another lunatic spouting nonsense.”

“No, I—”

I’m not the one talking nonsense here, you blockheaded fool.

In the Suoden world, the Kanreon Order’s name carried such weight that even a newborn would flinch upon hearing it. There was no way he hadn’t heard of it before.

Besides, right before these bastards got slaughtered by Bismarck in the game, they’d even exclaimed, “W-What?! How did the Kanreon Order find this place?!”

Could it be he’s pretending not to know? No, that wouldn’t make sense.

Which meant the conclusion was simple: he truly didn’t know.

In other words, in this version of the world, the Kanreon Order didn’t exist.

And if the Kanreon Order didn’t exist, it meant Bismarck—the one destined to save me—didn’t exist either.

…If not for my steely resolve, I might have gone insane.

Wait.

The thought that Bismarck might not exist gave rise to another troubling suspicion.

The other five playable characters all had backstories deeply tied to Bismarck.

Especially characters like the Martial Artist and the Hunter, whose very existence hinged on Bismarck’s influence.

In short, if Bismarck didn’t exist in this world…

Wouldn’t the other five characters likely not exist either?

And those five were the ones who were supposed to slay the Demon King and save the continent from destruction.

This was really, really bad.

At that moment—

Srrrng.

A cold, steely sound echoed near my ears.

“Wasting time indulging a madman’s ramblings… Just die already.”

The huge man clicked his tongue and raised his sword high.

…I had planned to stall for time until Bismarck arrived.

But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t hear a single footstep from the entrance.

It was becoming increasingly clear that my theory was right: in this world, the original playable characters didn’t exist.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was about to let that sword fall on my neck.

I hadn’t just been stalling for time relying on Bismarck alone.

[Blood energy absorption complete!]

[Physical abilities have been enhanced!]

The old man’s blood, which had splattered on my face, soaked into my skin like ink on paper. A powerful energy surged within me.

So this is blood energy.

As soon as I accepted the unique power of a blood mage, a new self awakened and took control of my body.

It was as if I was no longer Earth’s Lee Seonghun, but had always been the blood mage Luth Fried from birth.

[Skill activated: Summon Blood Blade!]

Crack!

A crimson dagger appeared in a flash of red aura above my bound hands.

Shrrrip!

With just a flick of my wrist, the blood blade sliced through the sturdy chains as though they were paper.

“What the…!”

The hulking man hesitated, momentarily stunned.

Stab!

Now free, I plunged the blood blade deep into his abdomen.

Blood gushed from the wound, turning into a crimson mist that was absorbed into my body.

A thrilling surge of energy coursed through me, and I felt my muscles tighten and expand.

“Even without the Kanreon Order, the fact that you’re about to die doesn’t change.”

“G-guh…!”

Without so much as a dying scream, the hulking man collapsed, his eyes rolling back.

There was no message about accumulated sin.

Although he was human, he wasn’t innocent.

In the game, villains like him often lurked, providing a way for blood mages to replenish their energy.

The problem was that blood energy depleted faster than I could hunt such villains down.

“P-Priest!”

“That bastard! How did he hide a weapon?!”

“Kill him!”

As the huge man fell, the cultists who had been bowing before the altar scrambled to grab their weapons and charge at me.

“First things first, I need to deal with what’s in front of me.”

Crack!

I cut through the chains binding my ankles with the blood blade and turned to face them.

The stronger a blood mage’s blood energy, the stronger they become. Continuously.

And in this blood-soaked room, there was no shortage of energy for me to absorb.

There was no way I could lose here.

“Let’s do this, you scum—”

Ding!

[Unique Achievement: ‘The First and Last Blood Mage’ has been awarded!]

[As a reward, the exclusive blood mage system has been unlocked!]

“…?”

The sudden system message caught me off guard, and I relaxed my battle stance for a moment.

Blood Link? A unique achievement?

Even with 9,000 hours sunk into Suoden, I’d never seen anything like this before.

As confusion swirled in my mind, a new system window appeared, leaving me utterly speechless.

[Blood Link Skill List]

• Swordsman: Black Light Divine Blade, ??, ??…
• Mage: Silent Casting, ??, ??…
• Hunter: Projectile Creation, ??, ??…
• Martial Artist: Unyielding Spirit, ??, ??…
• Shaman: Barrier Destruction, ??, ??…
• Paladin: Blessing of the Adversary, ??…
• All Link skills consume ‘Blood Energy.’
• Collect Blood Points (BP) to unlock skills.
  =====

 
…Had I become some horrifying hybrid character instead of just a blood mage?