Throne of Blood

Chapter One: The Drinkerode（4）

The lights in the theater came on.

Maxwell yawned, standing up with the crowd to leave. He still hadn’t noticed that the girl from yesterday was among the crowd; she seemed to deliberately hide herself within the flow of people, avoiding Maxwell’s line of sight, though even if she hadn’t, Maxwell might not have noticed her presence.

Maxwell walked towards a small alley. He had a hunch that the alley might contain the kind of small diner he was looking for, a hunch based on his youthful experiences of dining out, which he still followed today.

He hadn’t walked this alley much, it was somewhat unfamiliar, but fortunately, the alley’s layout wasn’t complicated. If he couldn’t find anything, he could always turn back. He walked for a while, the alley wasn’t crowded, though there were a few shops, there were no diners. Without walking further, it would be hard to find a cheap diner. He thought this as he continued forward, not in a hurry, as it was still early, and he wasn’t very hungry.

But the further he went, the fewer the shops and pedestrians became, until they were nearly gone, but he hadn’t yet decided to turn back, treating this as part of passing the time. It wasn’t night yet; he wasn’t ready to soak himself in a bar so early, so he might as well turn this into a bit of exercise, he thought, chuckling to himself. He had become like this, such exercise was meaningless; he had often exercised when he was still in school, but now he just messed around, the physique he had built up, although still outwardly intact, was probably rotten inside.

Not long after, he dropped his slight smile. “Why is it you again?” Maxwell stared at the girl appearing before him, somewhat annoyed. He didn’t know how she had fixated on him, how she had followed him without his notice; he didn’t know her, nor did he understand the incomprehensible things she had said when she sought him out.

“I came to find you,” the girl replied. “Haven’t you had enough of your house wine? And since I don’t know you, why must you take it out on me?” Maxwell didn’t want to deal with the girl, turning to leave. Unexpectedly, the long, fruitless walk hadn’t made him turn around, but this girl had.

But as Maxwell turned, he couldn’t move his feet.

The strangely belted man from the movie theater, in a twisted pose, stood before him. “You’re... the person from the movie theater, right? What do

you want?” Maxwell felt even more uncomfortable with this person than with the girl.

But the person in front of him didn’t answer, just stepped closer to Maxwell as he backed away, the girl moved to a wall nearby, leaning slightly, watching the two men, one advancing, one retreating, without saying a word.

At that moment, the person with the strange belt suddenly reacted, a black light emitting from the belt enveloped him, and within moments, the man transformed into a “monster” clad in black armor.

Maxwell was astonished; the armored figure seemed to be the same one from his dream... He remembered the scenes from his dream and took off running.

But just like in his dream, he seemed to have run into a dead-end, no matter which way he ran, he couldn’t escape the echoing sound of armor clashing.

Maxwell’s fear deepened, he decided to charge forward, not turning back, and collided heavily with the armored figure, feeling an extraordinary weight. He was flung back a distance.

He fell to the ground, managing to sit up, and as the armored figure approached with a sword, he tried to stand and continue running, but found his limbs nearly numb, barely able to crawl on the ground.

But he noticed the girl standing by, coldly observing everything.

“I say, are you behind this?” Maxwell shouted with all his might, then moved back a bit more.

“It’s not me. And besides, I have nothing to do with this; it’s just targeting you,” she replied.

“You... don’t just stand there watching!” Maxwell cried out in horror as the armored figure continued to advance slowly.

“Would you like to help me?” the girl asked coldly.

“I’d need to be alive to help you! If you can save me, I’ll help you!” Maxwell responded.

Hearing this, the girl suddenly pulled out a belt, walked over to Maxwell, and reached out her hand.

For a big man like himself to rely on a woman to stand was somewhat embarrassing for Maxwell, but right now, surviving was more important; he took the girl’s hand.

The girl helped him up, then wrapped the belt around him, moving to the side.

“That’s it?” Maxwell was dissatisfied, but the armored figure was already upon him.

The armored figure swung his sword down, and at that moment, Maxwell felt his mind go blank, his consciousness seemed to cut off...

No... he saw something else. It was... a battlefield-like place, many clad in armor were fighting.

Among these people, two were particularly noticeable—one in iron-colored armor radiated a dazzling light, while his opponent, in black armor, seemed almost suffocating to look at.

Maxwell also began to hear some incomprehensible words echoing in his ears, seemingly in a language he didn’t understand... The only thing he could make out was that the voice seemed to be female.

Soon, boundless light engulfed Maxwell’s body, but quickly, he found himself soaked in a pool of blood... Light and blood alternated devouring his body... He was panicked, not knowing his current state, nor how to escape it.

After what felt like an eternity, his left hand throbbed painfully, bringing him back to his senses. At that moment, he realized his left arm was blocking the opponent’s sword blade, and that arm was already covered in black armor.

Maxwell pulled back his hand, retreating a distance, and saw that he too was clad in black armor. He looked around and saw the girl still watching the scene with cold eyes.

“What’s going on... What is all this nonsense...” Before Maxwell could finish, the armored figure attacked again with his sword, this time Maxwell dodged to the side.

“This is your battle,” the girl said. “If you want to live, kill him.”

At that moment, Maxwell had no time to reply, only managing to dodge the attacks while trying to find a way to counterattack. During one dodge, he noticed a sword at his waist, which he drew and used to block the opponent’s attack.

In a break between blocks, he asked the man before him, “Who are you? What are you doing?” Though, he didn’t expect an answer from the figure.

“You’re a candidate too, so I have to kill you,” the armored figure surprisingly responded.

“Candidate?” Maxwell remembered the “throne” the girl had mentioned the day before.

“What candidate, I don’t know!” Maxwell intensified his efforts, pushing the opponent’s sword away, the opponent stepped back a few paces. The armored figure seemed unaffected by Maxwell’s denial.

The armored figure raised his sword to strike again, Maxwell knew this figure wanted his life, and at this moment, legal and ethical considerations were irrelevant—staying alive was paramount.

He thrust forward violently, his sword piercing the armored figure’s body. Following this, the armor shattered, and the man dissipated into a black mist.

Maxwell gasped for air, the armor

on his body dissolving into light.

Seeing the armored figure defeated, the girl approached. She looked down at Maxwell, who was lying on the ground, and smiled softly.

“You’re more capable than I thought.”

Maxwell felt utterly exhausted, his consciousness gradually fading as the girl’s laughter spread around him.