The silence following the initial slaughter was shattered by a collective, high-pitched shriek. The remaining lizardmen were paralyzed, caught between the primal fury of their chieftain and the soul-crushing pressure radiating from the figure before them.
Their primitive minds could not comprehend the creature standing before them, but their blood knew the truth. It trembled with absolute submission to the primordial lord.
Leo watched them lunge. In his heightened state, their movements were agonizingly slow, clumsy as puppets on tangled strings.
A rusted blade whistled toward his neck; he simply tilted his head, feeling the cold air of its passage. He reached out, his fingers tearing through reptilian scales as if they were wet parchment.
'I can do this.'
The realization sent a dark thrill through his veins. 'Is this what Malphas meant… this absolute authority over life?'
A spear lunged toward his skull. Leo caught the shaft, the wood snapping like a dry twig under his grip.
''Monster!'' the lizardman wailed, its voice cracking with pure terror.
Grabbing the broken spear, Leo thrust it into the creature's throat. As the blood sprayed out, he reached for it with his will. The liquid gathered around his hands, forming sharp claws of hardened blood.
"My lord, finish them quickly," Malphas warned, his voice cutting through the haze. "Before you lose yourself."
'Lose myself?' What is he talking about? Leo wondered, though the thought was quickly buried by the urge to kill. He swiped his claws, leaving three deep furrows in the next lizardman's torso.
Nearby, Malphas was a phantom of shadows. He parried the chieftain's iron axe with mocking ease, the D-rank brute's strikes shattering the stone floor but never touching the knight's armor.
Malphas was merely containing the beast, keeping the leader occupied so his master could feed his teeth on the horde.
''Let us not disturb my lord's feast,'' Malphas murmured, his voice echoing like falling iron. ''But you... you have the high honor of being the first true sacrifice for my lord's ascent.''
The chieftain's eyes darted to the carnage. His kin were falling by the second. Rage and panic flickered in his reptilian gaze. ''I will drag you to the abyss with me!'' he bellowed, throwing his entire weight into a desperate, final charge.
Malphas deflected the blow with a flick of his wrist. He sent the brute staggering back with a heavy kick. ''A bold claim for a weakling.''
The knight glanced toward Leo. Only three lizardmen remained. 'Any moment now.'
The final three lizardmen stood their ground, though their legs shook. Seeing no path but death, they lunged in a final, suicidal dash. Leo's grin was wide, manic, and entirely inhuman.
The more blood he spilled, the higher the euphoria climbed, a red fog clouding his judgment. He raised his hands, intent on manifesting a dozen blood-spears to end them all at once, but then, a white-hot spike of agony drove through his skull. The world tilted on its axis.
Leo staggered.
'What—'
[Warning: Excessive blood manipulation caused mental strain]
'Damn it...' Leo gasped, dropping to his knees. He saw the shift in the lizardmen's eyes- the transition from paralyzing fear to predatory glee as they saw him falter.
But before their rusted blades could taste his skin, a wall of pressurized blood erupted around him, forming an impenetrable crimson fortress. Malphas appeared in the center of the gale, a tall and immovable sentinel.
''A masterful performance, my lord. Rest now. Your servant will handle the dregs,'' Malphas said softly.
As Leo's vision faded into black, his last sight was the chieftain's severed head rolling across the cave floor.
'That bastard,' Leo thought, the realization hitting him just as he slipped away.
Malphas had known the crash was coming. He had let Leo push himself to the brink to teach him the cost of his own power.
**
The smell was the first thing that hit him. It was a sharp, clinical cocktail of antiseptic, floor wax, and the cold scent of impending death.
Leo found himself standing under the relentless, humming buzz of fluorescent lights that flickered with a rhythmic, nauseating instability. The air was heavy with the silence of a place that had seen too much grief to offer any comfort.
He lowered his glance, catching sight of his own hands. They were small, the fingers short and soft, devoid of the calluses or the pale, cold strength he had recently acquired. He was ten years old again. He could feel the weight of his small sneakers and the scratchy fabric of the coat his mother had made him wear because it was raining outside.
'Shitt, this memory again,' he thought, a wave of familiar, cold dread washing over him. 'I don't want to be here. I don't want to see this.'
Beside him, the silence was shattered by a sound that tore through his chest. His aunt, Isabella, was kneeling on the hard floor, bawling her heart out. She wasn't the composed professor or the fierce protector he knew now; she was a young woman whose world had just collapsed. She was clutching his father's hand- pale, limp, and already losing its warmth- while the doctors stood back with their heads bowed in that practiced, professional silence.
The grief in the room was so thick it felt like he was breathing in ash. He wanted to reach out, to tell her it would be okay, but a lead weight of silence constricted his ten-year-old throat.
When Leo finally opened his eyes, the sterile hospital lights were gone, replaced by the jagged, uneven blur of a cave ceiling.
His head felt as if a repetitive hammer was striking it, each throb of his pulse sending a fresh wave of white-hot pain through his temples. He sat up slowly, his strength returning in sluggish waves.
Malphas stood a few paces away, his back to Leo as he watched the mouth of the cave.
''You are awake, my lord. Your vessel has stabilized,'' Malphas noted without turning.
Leo rubbed his temples, trying to clear the lingering fog. 'That feeling... I felt like I was a god. And then the world just vanished.'
''You pushed the blood too hard for your current tier. It is a necessary lesson for your survival,''
Malphas added. He turned then, lowering his head in a practiced gesture of humility. ''And I must ask for your forgiveness for acting without your explicit command during the fray.''
Leo stood up, brushing the dirt from his Clothes. ''Enough. You made a calculation. Since the outcome was in our favor and no permanent damage was done, I will let it pass. However...''
Leo turned his gaze toward the knight, his eyes flaring with a sharp, commanding authority. ''Do not mistake my patience for weakness. Never gamble with my state of mind again,''
Malphas dropped to one knee instantly, his head bowed low. ''As you command, my lord.'' Yet, beneath his submissive posture, a sense of pride swelled within him. 'He is shedding his mortal hesitations.'
Leo's expression softened into a look of focused curiosity. "Let us see what we have won today.''
[Enemies Defeated]
• Lizardman Warriors x17 (E-Rank)
• Lizardman Captain x1 (D-Rank)
[Sanguine Essence Gained:260 ]
[Bloodline Resonance: +0.4%]
'My blood awakens as I push the limit,' Leo noted, storing the carcasses in his inventory with a wave of his hand.
In the middle of the cleared camp, a light began to gather. The Origin was recognizing his victory.
A wooden chest reinforced with iron carvings materialized out of the ether. It was an uncommon-grade chest, the traditional reward for clearing a minor settlement.
Leo walked toward it, his boots clicking on the stone. He opened the lid, and a series of notifications appeared.
[Items: 500 Wood, 300 Stone, 2 Small Gold Pouches]
[Special Item: The Eternal Ossuary Blueprint(Undead barracks]
''A better than low-grade chest for your first settlement. The Origin is generous to those who show true power,'' Malphas remarked.
Leo reached in and grabbed the gold pouches. They felt heavy. 'This gold can be helpful for trading with the merchants and recruitment.'
''We should depart, my lord. The purple moons will soon rise,'' Malphas cautioned.
Leo nodded, his fingers tightening around the blueprint. ''Let's move. I have much to build before the next surge.''