"What the—?" Jean landed beside me, the words dying in her throat as she took in the scene. We had shared a similar horror back on the 2nd Floor with a Mid-Floor 'Demon', but this felt colder. More personal.
I reached out to strike, hoping to crush the ritual before it took hold, but a screen snapped into existence, pushing my hand back with a repulsive force.
"[Notice: Due to the special effects of 'The Ritual of Blood Sacrifice', any interruption is prohibited before the Partial Manifestation is completed!]"
"Jean! Get your party back! Now!" I barked. She didn't argue. She swiftly commanded her team to retreat as far as the dunes would allow, and I signaled John and the others to follow them. Jean stayed, her grip tightening on her sword as we both stood our ground, waiting for the inevitable.
"[Time Remaining: 0 days 7 hours 23 minutes 18 seconds]"
The clock was ticking, but the horror in front of us was moving faster. Zang Wilong's body began to crack like a fine porcelain doll. Dark, muddy crimson blood seeped from the fissures in his skin. This wasn't the golden light of 'Divinity' or the chaotic purple of a 'Demon'. This was something ancient and refined.
The energy radiating from Wilong's shattering vessel was a frequency I knew by heart. Suddenly, the ring on my finger vibrated so violently it felt like it might snap my bone.
"Arthur..." Melchior's voice was a low growl, thick with a thousand years of hatred and resentment.
"[Activating the 2-Star Barrier, 'Sigil of Echo Containment'!]"
I slammed a barrier over the ring, cutting off its connection to the outside world.
"ARTHUR!!! RELEASE ME RIGHT NOW!! Are you trying to break our Contract!?" Mel roared in my mind, his fury shaking my very soul.
"I am sorry, Melchior," I whispered, keeping my eyes on the vessel. "I am not letting you out yet, and I am not breaking the contract. But I am going to need you to trust me again, alright?"
I flashed a grin that was anything but comforting. I knew what was coming. A 'High-Ranking Vampire'. Melchior was a former Patriarch, yes, but with only 10% of his power unsealed, he would be slaughtered by a high-ranking Vampire from the Mid-Floors. I couldn't risk him.
"[Notice: The Partial Manifestation of the Mid-Floor Being has been completed.]"
"[Notice: The 'Black Hound' of one of the 13 Bloodlines has manifested!]"
The sand beneath Wilong's feet turned to glass as a tall, sickly-looking man with long black hair stepped forward. He was clad entirely in black, looking almost like a corpse, yet he exuded a chilling energy that made the blazing desert heat feel like an arctic winter. My [Red Demon's Eye] couldn't pierce his 'Status', but I didn't need the System to tell me who he was.
Each of the 13 Vampire Bloodlines kept a "Hound", warriors who weren't purebloods but were trained to rival them. They were the weapons of the families, color-coded by their masters. This was the 'Black Hound' of the 'Abyssal' Bloodline. His name was 'Lucios De Velheim.'
"Mister... Be careful. His energy is immense despite the partial manifestation," Jean warned, her hand glowing with golden light.
Before I could even acknowledge her warning, something moved. It was too fast for the eye to follow. A sharp crack echoed through the air, and Jean was sent flying backward as if struck by a cannonball. She barely managed to throw up a divine shield in time; otherwise, she would have been painted across the sand.
"...? Oh? Divinity? Makes me sick," the Black Hound muttered lazily. He stood with his hand raised, a single finger pointed toward where Jean had been. He hadn't used a Skill. He had simply flicked a drop of blood like a bullet.
"hmmm? I am sure the Patriarch told me I would find the traitor here," the Hound continued, his voice bored and hollow. "But I don't sense any of my kin. The Patriarch couldn't be wrong... what a pain. I will just kill everyone here then."
He didn't even look at me. He vanished and reappeared instantly in front of a staggering Jean. A pair of twin sickles, dripping with a dark, freezing essence, materialized in his hands. He swung the blade directly for her throat.
"[Activating The Exclusive Skill, 'Blood Authority: Blood Restraint' Lvl 1!]"
Ethereal chains of blood erupted from the ground and the air itself, lashing around the Hound's arms and his sickles. They locked him in place just inches from Jean's neck. He was strong enough to snap them like dry twigs, but he stopped. He didn't move.
"Aahhh... ah! This Magic?" The Black Hound tilted his head at an unnatural angle, a creepy, macabre smile spreading across his pale face.
He could sense it. He knew I was human, but [Blood Authority] was a power exclusive to the high-ranking Vampires. He slowly turned his gaze away from the 'Divinity' in front of him and fixed his cold, dead eyes on me.
Things were getting a bit dangerous.