The low, guttural growls echoed loudly across the pitch-black stone hall.Dozens of glowing green eyes descended rapidly from the dark ceiling and the high walls. The mutant ghouls crawled headfirst down the ancient stone pillars, moving with a terrifying, unnatural speed that completely defied gravity. They were entirely hairless, their pale, decaying skin stretched tightly over emaciated ribs. They had no eyes, just empty, rotting sockets above wide mouths filled with rows of jagged, yellow teeth."Back against the wall!" Faried yelled, his voice slicing sharply through the terrifying shrieks of the starving pack. "Do not let them surround us in the open! Henry, block the main doorway! Form a natural chokepoint!"Henry did not hesitate. The giant youth completely ignored the excruciating, tearing pain in his shattered ribs. He stepped heavily into the narrow stone archway of the main entrance, raising his demonic, gray left arm like a massive shield."Get behind me, Ivan!" Henry roa

The blinding crimson light slowly faded, sinking completely into the porous black stone of the ancient altar.The violent hurricane of magical energy died down, leaving the massive underground chamber in total silence. The thick, boiling black blood that had flooded the floor retreated, seeping deep into the cracks of the volcanic rock to fuse directly with the foundation of the fortress.Roy Jecoriah stood perfectly still on the altar steps.He slowly raised his right arm. The dirty rags that had bound his burst blood vessels were completely gone, burned away by the raw magical energy. His right arm was now entirely healed, but it was no longer human. The skin was a dead, ashen gray. Thick, pitch-black veins pulsed aggressively just beneath the surface, glowing with a faint, terrifying red heat that perfectly matched the demonic arm Henry possessed.Roy clenched his newly forged right fist. The physical power surging through his muscles was absolute, terrifying, and completely intoxi

The pathetic, weak whimpering echoed endlessly through the freezing courtyard.It was the middle of the second night. The young boy was still suspended high above the cold stone floor, his wrists bound tightly by the thick, crystallized vine of black blood. His lips were cracked and blue. He was completelydehydrated, trembling so violently that the ancient stone pillar vibrated against his back.Henry sat on a broken piece of volcanic rock just a few yards away.The giant youth could not sleep. Every time he closed his exhausted eyes, the agonizing sound of the boy's crying pierced straight through his heart. Henry clutched a heavy leather canteen filled with clean water in his good right hand.He wanted to stand up. He wanted to walk over and pour the water into the boy's mouth.But he knew exactly what would happen. Roy had integrated the blood domain into the very foundation of the fortress. The black blood was sentient. If Henry interfered with the punishment, the magical tether

The terrifying reality of forty elite Beastman hunters marching up the volcanic path hit the main hall like a physical blow."Put out the lantern," Roy Jecoriah commanded softly. His chilling voice sliced straight through the rising panic of the scarred sentry. "Kill the small cooking fires in the courtyard. Every single one of them. Right now."Henry leaned heavily against the stone archway, clutching his bandaged, shattered ribs. "We are not going to fight them, Roy?""Look at our army, Henry," Roy answered flatly, turning his glowing crimson eyes toward the courtyard.The fifty human survivors were completely frozen in terror. They were starving, dressed in rags, and clutching heavy rocks with bleeding hands. Ivan was leaning on a wooden spear with a rotting leg. Faried was bleeding out of his thigh. Henry could barely breathe without coughing up blood."If I trigger the blood domain to fight forty heavily armored elites," Roy stated, laying out the absolute, flawless math, "my hea

The terrifying sound of thick claws violently scratching against the ancient stone floor echoed loudly in the dark stairwell.Dirt and dried moss rained down through the tiny crack of the iron trapdoor, falling directly onto Roy's pale face. Just inches above him, the giant mutant tracking hound was digging frantically, its heavy, wet breaths hissing withsavage excitement. It smelled Faried's fresh blood.Down in the pitch-black darkness of the stairs, Faried squeezed his eyes shut.The rational youth pressed his hands brutally hard against his torn left thigh, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. His face was entirely pale, slick with a thick layer of cold sweat."I am sorry, Roy," Faried whispered, his voice trembling with a rare, suffocating guilt. "I compromised the perimeter. I just got everyone in this room killed.""Shut your mouth and tie your leg tight," Roy commanded softly, not taking his glowing crimson eyes off the crack above. "Nobody is dying in this stairwell. Hen