Martial Online.

Inside a church that was shrouded in fog, a single candle flickered on the altar.

It was haunting and beautiful, casting long shadows on the stained glass windows.

Behind the altar, a priest crouched in silence, hugging a Bible against his chest.

His forehead was furrowed with worry as he whispered a prayer under his breath.

Thump—the church's doors suddenly swung open, causing a gust of wind to rush in.

However, the wind carried a stench of rotting flesh and decay.

The priest stood up and looked over his shoulder to see a figure standing in the doorway, its eyes hollow and its arms outstretched towards him.

A small distance away, behind the pews, a group of parishioners huddled together in fear, praying for their lives.

"What an unfortunate turn of events." The priest sighed heavily and drew a cross on his chest. "They had forgotten to salt the corpses, after all."

"Aoooor!" The zombie let out a blood-curdling scream and began approaching the altar.

"F-father, what shall we do?" The parishioners asked with trembling vocal cords.

"This is the house of the Holy Father, and creatures of evil have no place here." The priest said and pulled out his crucifix, gripping it tightly.

The parishioners nodded with a new-found determination and brought out their crucifixes.

"Aoooor!" The zombie screamed and then suddenly lunged towards the priest, its rotten teeth bared.

With a single jump, it crossed the distance of thirty meters, reaching the priest in an instant.

The priest raised his crucifix, but then the zombie knocked it out of his hand with a powerful swipe.

"?!" The priest's expression fell into sheer terror as the zombie's rotting jaws closed in on him.

Munch!

The parishioners screamed loudly and began running towards the exit, but to their horror, more zombies with outstretched arms appeared from the fog, blocking the escape path.

"Noooo!"

...

Sara and Aaron stood below a shaky shelter, looking at the endless fog.

"What are we going to do now?" Sara asked. "Did our boss say anything about our recorded footage?"

"I haven't received a word yet." Aaron said.

Their recorded footage went straight to Nocklund Morning News' station, where their boss and a few other journalists would check the footage.

They had to be ready for tomorrow morning's news.

Their cameraman had already left as his work day had ended an hour ago.

After a while, Aaron heard a beep and went to check the message.

There was a message from his boss, but to his displeasure, it wasn't something he wanted to see.

"What is it?" Sara asked curiously.

"The footage is not good enough." Aaron sighed. "Sapphire's interview didn't go well at all, as she didn't even want to talk to us, and the rest of the footage is mediocre."

"Do we have to spend an entire night in this shit?" Sara cursed, which was unbecoming of a lady of her stature. "It's cold, dark, and uncomfortable."

"We have to find something to report!" Aaron said even though he also disliked being here. "Otherwise, there isn't a proper story for tomorrow!"

"What about the strange explosion-like sound we heard?" Sara asked. "That could be worth something."

"It must've just been someone forgetting to maintain their stove or something." Aaron said, waving his hand in dismissal. "My bet is to find another streamer, who is willing to even talk to us and get their interview."

"It's late. They all must be offline by now!" 

Tap, tap—they turned their heads to the fog and soon saw a silhouette walking down the street, shrouded in darkness.

However, soon, the figure walked past the street lamp, finally revealing his face.

It was rather average-looking, with dull blue eyes, but the black hair seemed very nice and flowed effortlessly around his shoulders.

Aaron looked away from him, not recognizing him at all.

However, then he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to look at the beautiful blond-haired woman, whose cheeks were flushed in excitement.

"What is it?"

"Do you not recognize him?" Sara asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"No, should I?" Aaron frowned and looked back at the black-haired young man. 'Is he some streamer?'

Sara rolled her eyes. "He is Ambrose and has been making a name for himself lately. He is called the Most Wanted Player as he is hunted by the infamous Zahhak and is enemies with Olympos, who had sent his entire fan base to chase him!"

"What the hell?" Aaron frowned. "He must be a very bad person, then."

"He is very much shrouded in mystery." Sara said in excitement. "We could be the first ones to interview him!"

"Well, I guess we have nothing else to do." Aaron nodded.

He and Sara then rushed after the black-haired young man and soon caught him as he was about to cross the street.

"Excuse me!"

Swoosh—with blinding speed, Ambrose drew his sword and put the blade to the beautiful journalist's throat.

"Whoah, whoah!" Aaron shouted with a pale face. "Calm down!"

"Who the hell are you?" Ambrose asked with narrowed eyes.

Sara forced a smile and slowly raised her hands in surrender.

"I-I am a journalist from Nocklund's Morning News. My name is Sara, and this is my colleague, Aaron."

Ambrose squinted his eyes and then slowly sheathed his sword again.

"I remember seeing your faces vaguely." He said and crossed his arms. "What do you want?"

"You have seen our faces?" Aaron frowned and made a wild guess. "That would mean you live near Nocklund? Or even in Nocklund!"

Sara's eyes brightened up, as this could mean a huge scoop.

"Perhaps, what do you want?" Ambrose tapped his finger against his arm, feeling impatient.

"W-we want to interview you." Sara said in excitement and motioned for Aaron to take out his camera. "Your interview would be shown in tomorrow's news."

'I would definitely be recognized, and my real-life identity would be revealed.' Ambrose frowned and shook his head. "I am sorry, but I am kind of busy right now."

"It will take just a minute!" Sara pleaded, desperately hoping to convince Ambrose to stay for the interview.

"No, sorry." Ambrose then turned around and walked away.

Sara watched him go, and stomped the ground in frustration.

"God damn it!" She cursed.

She knew she had just lost a valuable opportunity.

"Sara, are your journalistic instincts really worn off this much?" Aaron laughed and started recording. "Let's follow him. Aren't you intrigued by where he is going?"

Sara looked at him with a stunned look before blossoming into a smile.

"That is the best idea I have heard you say. Let's go!"

...

At the top of the pitched roof of an old house, Reinhardt watched the world move around him.

The distant mountains that seemed to split the skies in half, the crescent moon that seemed otherworldly, and even the vast expanse of space seemed very irrelevant to him.

He was lost in his own thoughts, detached from the beauty and wonder of it all.

"Haaah..."

After a while, he raised his hand, pinched his nose, and let out a deep sigh.

"This place reminds me of home." Reinhardt sighed. "A place beyond mist, shrouded in darkness, the city of the vampires, Nightdale." 

He closed his eyes and whispered, feeling bittersweet nostalgia for the wonder of it all.

However, when he opened his eyes again, there was bloodlust and determination to end this city once and for all.

The dawn neared with each tick of the clock.