Deep within the Empire, along the official road leading to the Imperial Capital, Mulin City, the entire road was stained a dark crimson beneath the blood-colored sky.
A large slave-transport convoy of more than twenty cage-wagons was halted in the middle of the road to rest, the iron cages crammed full of slaves of various races with numb eyes.
Forty to fifty burly guards with weapons had set up camp among the wagons; the dried blood crusted on their blades and their vicious stares made other Demon Race travelers automatically detour through the woods.
When a luxurious carriage escorted by eight black-armored Knights approached, it did not detour like the others, but simply stopped in front of the slave convoy. The four nightmare beasts pulling the carriage stamped their hooves impatiently, and from the scarlet eyes beneath the Knights' helmets it was clear these black Knights were all of the Blood Race, or at least half-bloods.
