THE LAST BLOOD SOVEREIGN

CHAPTER 8 : THE FIRST AWAKENING

 

Kael charged.

His footsteps echoed across the collapsing palace as chunks of stone rained from the ceiling.

The copy smiled coldly.

"Foolish."

The Sovereign Blade flashed.

Kael instinctively raised his dagger.

CLANG!

The impact shattered the dagger into dozens of pieces.

Kael was thrown backward, tumbling across the marble floor.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The copy slowly approached him.

"Do you understand now?"

"You cannot defeat me."

Kael looked at the broken handle still clutched in his hand.

His only weapon...

Gone.

The copy lifted the Sovereign Blade high above his head.

"Your trial ends here."

As the blade descended, Kael closed his eyes.

Not in surrender.

But in concentration.

The faint crimson mark on his palm pulsed once.

Then again.

A warm current flowed through his veins.

It spread from his hand to his heart, then throughout his entire body.

His heartbeat became louder.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

Each beat echoed like a war drum.

A strange sensation washed over him.

His blood was... singing.

A deep voice resonated within his soul.

"Blood remembers."

Kael's eyes snapped open.

They were no longer gray.

They glowed with a brilliant crimson light.

The descending sword stopped just inches from his face.

Not because the copy had halted.

Because Kael had caught the blade with his bare hand.

The sharp edge bit into his palm, but instead of bleeding, crimson energy wrapped around the wound.

The copy stared in disbelief.

"What...?"

Kael slowly stood.

His injuries were healing before his eyes.

The crimson mark on his palm expanded, forming intricate lines that climbed up his wrist.

The palace trembled violently.

Outside the illusion, inside the ruined tower, the spirit of the First Blood Sovereign smiled.

"It has begun."

Back within the illusion, Kael released the blade and stepped back.

He still wasn't stronger than his opponent.

He knew that.

But something fundamental had changed.

"I can feel it," he whispered.

"My blood..."

"It isn't ordinary."

The copy's expression hardened.

"So you've awakened the First Blood Mark."

"But that's not enough."

He thrust the Sovereign Blade forward.

This time, Kael didn't panic.

He moved instinctively.

The blade missed him by a hair's breadth.

Kael drove his fist into the copy's chest.

BOOM!

The copy staggered backward.

For the first time...

He had been hit.

A crack appeared across the copy's armor.

The copy looked down at it in silence.

Then he laughed.

A low, dangerous laugh.

"Excellent."

"Now you're finally worth killing."

Crimson flames erupted around him.

His power doubled.

The pressure became so intense that the palace floor began to collapse beneath Kael's feet.

The First Blood Sovereign's voice echoed once more.

"Remember this, child..."

"The Blood Sovereign's greatest weapon is not his strength."

"It is his heart."

Kael took a deep breath.

He thought of his parents.

Of Arkan risking his life.

Of Vorthrax's challenge.

Of the villagers who mocked him.

He was no longer fighting to prove them wrong.

He was fighting to become someone his parents would be proud of.

The crimson mark blazed brighter.

A thin aura surrounded his body.

The copy charged.

Kael charged as well.

Their fists collided.

BOOM!

A wave of crimson energy exploded outward, shattering every pillar in the palace.

The illusion cracked like glass.

The sky split apart.

The throne crumbled into dust.

The copy smiled one last time.

"Good..."

"You've taken your first step."

His body dissolved into countless crimson particles.

The collapsing world faded.

Kael found himself back inside the ruined tower, kneeling before the spirit of the First Blood Sovereign.

The old man looked at him with pride.

"You did not win because you were stronger."

"You won because you refused to surrender."

He raised his hand and touched Kael's forehead.

A torrent of ancient knowledge poured into Kael's mind.

Names.

Techniques.

Forgotten history.

And one martial art.

Blood Sovereign Art – Crimson Pulse.

The old man spoke solemnly.

"This is the first technique of our bloodline."

"Master it..."

"...because the monsters outside were merely the welcome party."

As if to prove his words, a deafening roar echoed across the valley.

The tower shook violently.

Cracks spread across its walls.

Kael rushed to the window.

His breath caught in his throat.

A colossal figure, nearly twenty meters tall, was walking through the crimson mist.

It wore ancient black armor.

Its eyes burned like twin suns.

In one skeletal hand, it carried a sword as long as a castle wall.

The First Blood Sovereign's expression became grave.

"The Guardian of the Valley..."

"It has come to test whether you deserve to leave this place alive."