---
The bat shrieked.
"Batbatbatbat!"
Renn shouted, "It is not dead yet!"
Sekhmet wiped his mouth, eyes sharp.
The mist swirled again, condensing, trying to reform. Sekhmet remembered the beast's nature. Shadow beasts were stubborn. They needed decisive destruction.
Sekhmet's blood sword dissolved. He raised both hands.
Blood Control.
He pulled blood from his cut, from the stains on his coat, from the lingering wetness in his palm, gathering it into a floating sphere. He compressed it hard, turning it dense, almost like a red stone.
Shhhh!
Then he slammed his hands forward.
The blood sphere shot like a cannonball into the swirling mist.
Boom!
The mist shredded. A final screech echoed, then faded.
Skreee…
Silence returned, heavy and tense.
Sekhmet stood still, breathing hard, sweat forming under his hair. The rings weighed his hands down, but his body had moved. He had killed a shadow beast.
Renn stared at him, wide-eyed, as if Sekhmet had just rewritten the laws of the lower domain.
"You killed it," Renn whispered.
Sekhmet's voice came out rough.
"I did," he said. "And I did not enjoy it."
The bat on his shoulder chirped proudly.
"Batbatbatbat."
Sekhmet glanced at it.
"You are proud," he muttered. "You did nothing."
The bat blinked and made the sound again, louder, as if that was its argument.
Sekhmet sighed and looked at the place where the shadow beast died. A faint residue remained, a dark smear on the stone.
His Blood Eye flickered.
[Shadow Beast Residue. Value: Moderate. Note: Can be refined into shadow-aligned chaos material.]
Sekhmet's merchant instincts stirred again. He clenched his jaw and whispered, "Void Land."
He stored the residue, not because he knew how to use it, but because not taking valuable things in Null was a sin punished by later regret.
Whooomp!
The residue vanished.
Renn swallowed.
"You are strange," he said.
Sekhmet nodded faintly. "Yes."
They moved again, faster now. Renn led them toward a small overhang where rocks formed a natural shelter. It was not comfortable, but it had cover. In purgatory, cover was comfort.
They reached it as the sun dipped lower, painting the sky with deep gold and red. Sekhmet paused and looked back toward the direction of the orc cave. He saw nothing, but he felt something, an uneasy sense that the lower domain did not forget crimes.
He wondered briefly if orcs would come searching for Benimaru. He wondered if gods were watching him right now, amused by his struggle. He wondered if his mother had once stood under this same sun, looking at the same hostile land, carrying secrets that could change everything.
Then he pushed the thoughts down. Thought without action was how people died.
Under the overhang, Renn sat, exhausted. Sekhmet checked the water skin, then pulled out the bat.
The hatchling blinked at the dimming light and immediately opened its mouth.
"Batbatbatbat."
Sekhmet sighed.
"Yes," he said. "You are hungry again. You have the appetite of a giant and the body of a thumbnail."
The bat flapped weakly.
Sekhmet looked around, then glanced at the scavenger corpses far behind. They were too far now, and night was coming. He would not go back.
Instead he opened his Void Land briefly, pulled out one of the scavenger bodies he had stored earlier without thinking. He did it quickly, because even looking at the corpse made his stomach twist.
Whooomp
The body dropped onto the ground.
The bat chirped excitedly.
"Batbatbat!"
Sekhmet held it close to the corpse and let it feed.
Shhhh
The bat drank, small mouth working like a tiny pump. Its fur glimmered faintly red. Its wings twitched.
Sekhmet watched, oddly fascinated. The bat was small, but it fed like a serious creature. It fell asleep quickly afterward, curling in Sekhmet's palm like a warm pebble.
Sekhmet tucked it back into his pocket, then sat against the rock, letting the weight of his day settle into his bones.
Renn spoke softly, voice cautious.
"You said you want to reach Slik," Renn said.
Sekhmet nodded.
Renn swallowed. "If you go straight east, you will hit the black forest edge. If you follow it south, you can find an old trade path. It is dangerous, but it leads toward Slik."
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
"How long."
Renn hesitated. "Three months, if you are fast and lucky. Longer if beasts block the way."
Sekhmet nodded slowly. Three months felt like a mountain in his current condition, but it was a direction.
He leaned back, eyes half-closed, and listened to the night beginning to breathe. The wind grew colder. Far away, something roared again. Closer, insects began clicking.
Tick Tick Tick
Sekhmet's mind drifted to the system.
Blood Puppet.
Slots 0/1.
He had a tool now that could build loyalty, but he had not tested it. He also had gifts from gods who expected him to ascend. He did not like being expected. He did not like being watched.
His fingers tightened on the rings.
He could remove them.
He could get stronger faster.
But he also remembered his father's promise. He remembered the thin line of hope that had kept him moving through years of purgatory.
Sekhmet whispered, almost to himself, "Mother."
The word felt heavy.
The system did not respond. It did not offer comfort. It only offered tools. Perhaps that was better.
Sekhmet closed his eyes, but sleep did not come easily. His body was exhausted, but his mind was too full.
Then, as if the world wanted to remind him that peace was temporary, the system chimed again.
[Ding! System notification]
Sekhmet's eyes snapped open.
A notification hovered at the edge of his vision, but the words had not fully settled yet.
Sekhmet stared at it in the dim light, his breath slow, already bracing for whatever new problem the universe had decided to gift him?
Find it out in the next chapter.
(Authors Note: Dear readers if you are enjoying the story then support the book. By giving your power stones and Golden tickets. I need your support. I will help to continue the story.)