A few minutes had passed since Zay and Rei had gotten their food when Naomi rose from her seat and walked over to the waitress who had taken their order.
Naomi lifted her hand and lightly tapped the woman's shoulder, making sure she wasn't in the middle of doing anything.
The waitress turned, her eyes widening briefly before returning to normal. "Oh! Did you find what you wanted?"
"W‑well… it's more of a personal question I need to… ask away from everyone, if you don't mind," Naomi said with a faint, slightly embarrassed smile.
"Of course, follow me!"
Zay glanced at Rei, but Rei ignored the exchange and continued eating his salmon.
'I don't want her feeding off strangers, but… maybe it's for the best. It's only a matter of time before she becomes too adjusted to my blood, and it won't be enough to sustain her.' Zay sighed inwardly and returned to eating alongside Rei.
...
The woman led Naomi into a dim backroom and turned to face her. "So, what is it? Is everything alright, darling?"
Naomi tilted her head up, meeting the woman's gaze. The heels gave her an extra three inches, forcing Naomi to look up ever so slightly. "Uhm… everything's fine, it's just… something strange. Maybe," she murmured, her voice carrying a hesitant tease.
The woman closed her eyes briefly, and that was all Naomi needed. A faint smile curved her lips as shadowy tendrils seeped from the surrounding darkness, coiling sinuously around the woman's body. One slid over her mouth, silencing her.
"I'm sorry… about this. I just can't resist the sweetness," Naomi whispered, her words drawn out like a caress. Her right hand rose, fingertips grazing the smooth curve of the woman's shoulder before she eased the fabric of her dress down, revealing the tender slope where neck met shoulder.
The tendrils yanked the woman down to the floor, pressing her back against the wall. Naomi closed the distance in unhurried steps, sinking gracefully into the woman's lap.
The woman writhed, muffled cries struggling to escape the shadow's gag. Every thrash only made the tendrils cinch tighter, each breath harder to draw.
Naomi settled against her, the shadows angling the woman's head to the side in a silent offering. Leaning in, Naomi parted her lips, revealing the glint of her fangs before sinking them into the warm, vulnerable flesh of her neck.
Naomi's fangs sank deeper, and with a subtle flicker of intent, she activated a Trait from her bloodline [Crimson Euphoria] and the effect was immediate.
The woman's frantic thrashing stilled, her muffled cries melting into soft, shuddering breaths. The tension bled from her body, her head tilting back almost willingly as a warmth, laced with a slow‑acting, numb‑inducing toxin, spread from the bite through every nerve. Her heartbeat slowed into a deep, rhythmic pulse Naomi could taste.
Naomi's eyes half-lidded in bliss, her lips sealing tighter against the woman's neck. Each pull of blood was richer now, she could feel the pleasure ripple through her prey, and it made the flavor all the sweeter, decadent, like wine aged to perfection.
Her free hand traced the woman's jaw in a gentle, possessive touch, savoring the stillness she had crafted. A slow, satisfied exhale escaped her as she drank, the shadows holding the woman close like an embrace she would never be allowed to leave.
Naomi slowly withdrew her fangs from the woman's neck and looked down at her. The woman's eyes fluttered open as her leg gave a faint twitch. Naomi's fangs, drenched in blood, dripped crimson onto her lips before she licked them clean and swallowed the lingering taste.
"Your blood… is so sweet. I've had a craving for something like this for… a while now, but I haven't run into anyone who had enough of it to make me want to bite. You should be glad."
Naomi rose from the woman's lap, lifted her hand, and wiped the blood from her lips. Her fangs retracted as the shadow tendrils slowly dissolved into nothing.
"Cover that bite… otherwise, people might start thinking of you strangely."
She turned and walked out of the room, making her way back to the table. Both Zay and Rei had already finished eating by the time she sat down.
"How… long was that?" she asked curiously.
Zay glanced briefly at the ceiling before looking back at her, placing his hands on the table. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "You were back there for almost an hour. Is she even alive?"
"Well… her body was twitching. I suppose that's a good sign."
Rei studied her carefully, noticing that her dark‑pink eyes carried a faint crimson hue at the edges. 'Interesting… I've always been told vampires were nothing more than myths. It's still unbelievable that they exist, but how could I possibly deny it? There's one sitting right before my very eyes. This is… fascinating.'
Zay leaned back and closed his eyes. "The final task—we're doing it tonight. I never intended to stay here as long as we have. And Naomi, I have a question for you."
Naomi looked up immediately, nodding as her attention sharpened.
"Would you want to join me and Rei in going to a place called Varnis? Before that, we're heading to Pluvialis for personal reasons."
Without hesitation, she nodded. "I would love to, if I can, master."
"Then it's settled. Once we finish this last task, we leave… and let's never speak of it to anyone. I've already found our sacrifice—his name is Ben Moons, one of the children at the mansion we're staying in. Tonight, at midnight. Got it?"
Rei swallowed hard. The words weighed heavily on him—he was supposed to be a detective, the best detective in all of Gyro, in fact. It was his duty to stop things like this, to protect the innocent. But deep down, he knew there was no other way forward. Abandoning his better judgment, he swallowed again, forcing himself to nod.
Naomi, on the other hand, looked as though it was just another ordinary day. She simply nodded along, exhaling softly as she closed her eyes.
...
Several hours later, midnight had come. The three of them were in Zay's room, sitting on the floor. Zay looked up, watching the moonlight beam into the room, then glanced back at both Rei and Naomi before standing.
Neither spoke. Rei rose slowly, clenching his fist tightly, forcing himself to drown his thoughts by focusing on anything else. Naomi looked at them both before standing as well.
Zay walked over to his drawer, his footsteps soft against the black carpet. He stopped just in front of it, raised his right hand, and slid it open. Reaching inside, he pulled out a knife with a black handle and a silver blade, staring at it for a moment.
'It would be more painless if I just used an aura blade... and quicker. Why the hell did I waste money on this knife?'
Zay sighed, slipping the knife into his Arbiter's Vault, thinking it might still come in handy later. He turned his head back toward the others and gave a nod.
They both nodded in return, and the three left his room, making their way quietly down the hallway before descending the staircase. They moved slowly to avoid any sound of heavy footsteps.
Upon reaching the second floor, they continued down the hall. Zay peered out a window, checking for guards outside, and spotted Kade at the gate, facing away from the mansion toward the forest.
They pressed on, eventually finding the child's room. The nameplate read: Ben Moons.
Zay reached into his Arbiter's Vault and pulled out the black bandages. He wrapped them tightly around his hands, leaving just enough room for his fingers to move around perfectly. He eased the door open, the faint creak swallowed by the oppressive silence of the hallway, and stepped inside.
Rei lingered outside the door, standing watch for any signs of movement. Naomi drifted toward the stairwell, her eyes fixed on the shadows below, her posture tense.
Zay swallowed hard and advanced toward the bed. The child lay there, breathing softly, the moonlight pooling across his small, sleeping form. For a heartbeat, Zay closed his eyes, drawing in a steady breath before opening them again—and in that moment, all warmth left his gaze.
He came to the bedside and reached down, clamping a hand over the child's mouth. A pulse of violet aura surged into the palm of his free hand, shaping itself into a thin, gleaming blade.
"Ancient Demon of Blood, I offer the blood of a pure child to you in an act of sacrifice," he whispered twice, the words feeling heavier the second time, as though something unseen was listening.
The child's eyes fluttered open in sudden panic. He thrashed, kicking and writhing, his muffled cries trembling against Zay's palm. Without wasting more time, he drove the aura blade down. The strike went straight through the heart. The child's body went limp in an instant, the muffled scream dying in Zay's hand.
He withdrew the blade, its tip slick and dripping blood. Blood pattered onto the white carpet, each droplet darkening into a deeper shade. The blood that had fallen began to rise. A dark, and oppressive wind coiled within the small room, heavy and suffocating, pressing down on Zay's chest. The floating droplets spun slowly, converging until they formed a perfect circle above the body.
From that circle, thin rivulets of blood unraveled downward, weaving intricate, jagged lines that cut across the air and joined at the center. Symbols bled into existence along the edges, each one throbbing with a deep, malignant life.
More blood poured upward from the wound in the child's chest, pulled into the circling vortex. The symbols pulsed brighter, casting long, writhing shadows across the walls. Zay grimaced at the sight.
'Sacrifices… they're always the most revolting of rites. Especially when a demon is involved.'
The circle began to rotate, slow at first, then faster, until its edges blurred. Four points of blood marked the cardinal directions, east, west, south, north, and from each, a searing crimson light erupted. The glow grew unbearable, stabbing through the air like molten spears.
Zay turned away, his eyes narrowing against the pain of the brightness. He stepped away, leaving the room. "Cover your eyes!" he shouted.
Rei had already squeezed his shut. Zay pulled the door closed behind him, but even then, the crimson radiance bled through the thin crack at the bottom, washing over the floor in a deep, hellish glow.
Inside the room, the four cardinal points of blood shimmered, pulsing with a heartbeat not of this world. Slowly, they began to warp and twist into a single unholy image—a massive, skeletal hand with chains spilling down from its wrist like the drooping tendrils of some abyssal horror. The symbols bled power, the air around them thickening until every breath felt like inhaling molten lead.
Then—without warning—the four points shot forward, latching onto the crimson circle with violent force.
The entire mansion convulsed. The walls groaned, the floor buckled, and a deep, resonating vibration thundered through every beam and stone.
Roland stumbled down the staircase, half-asleep and wide-eyed. "It's an earthquake! Get somewhere safe!" he shouted, his voice barely audible over the deafening rattle of the structure.
Ira followed soon after, catching sight of Zay, Rei, and Naomi in the hallway. She paused for only a heartbeat before the mansion jolted again, sending her sprawling to the floor. Naomi was there instantly, hand outstretched.
Ira grasped it and rose in a swift motion. "Get somewhere safe! I'll pray once we're all together. Bring the children! I'm counting on you!" She smiled—earnest, trusting—and hurried down the stairs, vanishing into the chaos.
Rei and Zay exchanged a glance—then a nervous, almost absurd chuckle slipped from both of them. "W-well… I don't think she should be counting on that…" Rei muttered.
"There's a possibility?" Zay replied, forcing a thin, humorless smile before swinging the door open.
What he saw turned his stomach instantly. He had to wrench his head away, jaw clenching to hold back the bile.
From the heart of the circle, a colossal hand emerged—blackened, dripping with corruption, wreathed in an unnatural fog that crawled like living smoke. Chains—each link pulsing with its own malign heartbeat—dangled from its wrist, clinking softly despite the howling pressure in the room.
The hand reached down, seized the child's head. A single, wet crack split the air as it twisted, snapping the neck in one smooth motion. Then it lifted the limp body toward the circle, chains rattling as the corpse vanished into the crimson void.
Rei's gaze locked on the hand, it was only for half of a second but he instantly convulsed. He dropped to one knee, vomiting blood that splattered across the floor. His eyes went wide in horror as the warm liquid ran from his mouth, ears, and nostrils.
He looked at Zay, desperate to speak, only to see Zay stagger, clutching his own stomach as he retched thick gouts of blood. His vision tunneled, his skull felt like it was splitting, and his veins burned with a freezing ache as though something inside him was being wrung out.
"W-what the hell is… happening?" Rei managed to choke out before another wave hit him, sending more blood spilling between his teeth. His knees buckled, his hand clawing at the air for balance.
Zay barely managed to speak between heaves. "I'll… tell you… once we leave!" he rasped, his voice raw and wet. Each word was punctuated by the metallic tang of his own blood.
[The sacrifice has been deemed pure enough by the Ancient Demon of Blood. Switch 3/3 has been activated. The mirror has been activated. Leaving the Sequence is now possible. Activating the mirror.]
In front of them, cracks in reality spread outward as a massive mirror materialized. It stood roughly seven feet tall and ten feet wide. Zay looked up at it, seeing the hotel room they had been in before entering the Sequence reflected in its surface. He clenched his stomach in pain before forcing himself forward, stepping into the mirror and vanishing from sight.
Naomi and Rei witnessed this. Rei forced himself up from the floor and followed, disappearing through the glass after him.
As Naomi approached, Ira came up the stairs. The sharp scent of iron hit her nose, and she broke into a run down the hallway.
She passed Naomi without seeing the mirror and rushed into the room. Her eyes widened in horror as she took in the sight of blood dripping across the entire space. She looked around frantically for Ben but saw no sign of him.
She turned back just in time to see Naomi stepping through the mirror, vanishing before her eyes.
"W-what… BEN!" she cried, forcing herself to search the room despite the overpowering stench of blood and the horrific scene before her.
Roland heard her shouts and rushed up the stairs. When he reached the doorway, his eyes widened in shock. "Ben!" he shouted as he strode into the room, shielding the priestess's eyes from the sight while biting his lower lip and clenching his fist tight.