About

Long ago, humanity entered the era of 'Awakeners.' Superhuman abilities began to manifest only within specific bloodlines, and over thousands of years, that power became monopolized by a few great families. As time passed, these lineages split into direct and collateral lines. The direct line consisted of those who inherited the progenitor's blood most purely, while the collateral lines were the branches that split off. Though Awakeners were steadily born among the collateral relatives, overwhelming talent and immense power always appeared only in the direct line. Because of this, the hierarchy between the two lineages was absolute. Collateral lines serve the direct line. That was both custom and law. Among the many noble bloodlines, the Jinhyeol Family was special. Possessing robust bodies and overwhelming combat prowess passed down from their progenitor, the Jinhyeol were known as the strongest martial family, yet they were equally infamous for maintaining the most cruel hierarchy. In the Jinhyeol Family, once every thousand years, a 'Red Star' that surpasses the progenitor is born. People call this being the Red Blood (赤血). One born with immense talent, inheriting the thickest concentration of the progenitor's blood. The birth of a Red Blood signified the family's prosperity. Thus, from the moment a Red Blood was born, the Jinhyeol Family mobilized everything. They spared no sacrifice to make the Red Blood even stronger. And at some point, a rumor began to circulate among the collateral relatives. A rumor that when a Red Blood is born, the person among the collateral lines whose constitution is most compatible with the Red Blood is selected and taken away somewhere. No one knew what happened there, but only one thing was certain. Not a single person among those selected ever returned. Therefore, the collateral relatives did not call the birth of a Red Blood a blessing. To them, the Red Blood was not the glory of the family, but an unavoidable calamity.