Baphomet tilted his goat head, amusement plain on his face as he studied Ethan. "Still arrogant even in that state — I can see your insides are a mess."
"That has always been your flaw," the Dark One added, his smile unhurried. "You walk around convinced nothing in existence can harm you, but there is always something above everything."
Valak said nothing, simply opening his mouth to expose serpent-like teeth in uneven rows, his long tongue sliding slowly between them as his eyes stayed fixed on Ethan.
Ethan smiled at all three of them, then coughed and turned his head to spit blood onto the ground — darker than it should have been.
Fuck.
Whatever that poison was, it was corrupting his blood directly, working through his system faster than his body could counter it, and without his progenitor regeneration he would already be dead.
Baphomet closed the distance instantly, appearing at Ethan's side with a flaming axe already mid-swing.
"You seem distracted," he said as the blade cut toward Ethan's neck, and Ethan twisted out of the arc just enough for it to miss before driving his lance butt hard into the demon's jaw and snapping his head sideways.
The half-second it bought him was already gone — the ground split open beneath him and Valak surged upward with his jaws wide, forcing Ethan to push off hard and clear the teeth as they slammed shut below him.
Midair, crimson lightning gathered at his arm and blood energy condensed rapidly into the shape of a lance, which he pointed downward at the ground itself, because if he couldn't fight cleanly then he would reduce the entire battlefield to nothing and deal with what remained afterward.
"Oh, you don't," the Dark One said quietly, and at that exact moment Ethan's hand burst apart from the inside — the poison detonating through the flesh all at once. The attack died instantly.
Ethan landed hard and slid across the ground, and when he looked at what remained of his hand his regeneration was doing nothing, the flesh dead and dark, the corruption still spreading up his arm while his body lost ground against it with every passing second.
"It seems I gave you less credit than you deserved," he admitted while looking at the three of them. "You're actually pretty good."
Baphomet frowned slightly.
The compliment didn't feel like praise.
It felt like a man evaluating an opponent before deciding how much effort he needed to use.
"So you're finally giving up?" Baphomet asked. The flames dancing across his axe brightened as he adjusted his grip. "I won't deny I wanted you in my collection, but you're too dangerous to leave alive."
Ethan laughed.
The sound wasn't forced.
If anything, he sounded relieved.
"Don't worry," he replied. "I've been thinking the exact same thing."
As the words left his mouth, a familiar window appeared within his vision.
The countless demons he had slaughtered in Hell.
All of it had accumulated into a ridiculous amount of Blood Points.
His gaze settled on a single entry.
[Divinity of Blood]
[Price: 900,000 Blood Points]
[Description:]
[ Ascend as the true God of Blood and gain absolute authority over blood, vitality, life, death, bloodlines, and all blood-related phenomena. Blood becomes an extension of your will, allowing you to control, create, consume, corrupt, or restore it at will.
Grants divine regeneration, immunity to disease, poison, aging, and most forms of biological death. Bloodlines, inherited abilities, curses, and life force become subject to your authority.
As long as blood exists somewhere in creation, your existence becomes extraordinarily difficult to erase.]
[Authorities:] Life • Death • Vitality • Bloodlines • Regeneration • Corruption • Sacrifice • Evolution.
Ethan didn't hesitate.
Buy.
For a brief moment nothing happened.
Then Valak's eyes widened.
The serpent demon froze.
He knew this feeling.
Thousands of years ago, before his fall, before becoming what he was now, he had stood before a being who carried that same pressure.
Divinity.
His gaze snapped toward Ethan.
The pressure was coming from him.
That made no sense.
A vampire was an unholy creature. An undead being. Something rejected by divine laws.
How could something like that possess divinity?
How could a creature born from darkness become a god?
The answer arrived before anyone could speak.
The earth beneath Ethan's feet shattered.
A colossal pillar of crimson energy erupted from his body and tore through the heavens. The blast shot upward with such force that the clouds above Jericho were ripped apart instantly.
Scarlet light flooded the night sky while the pillar continued climbing higher and higher until it vanished beyond sight.
The entire forest shook as trees bent under the pressure and animals fled in terror, while hundreds of miles away people turned toward the horizon after feeling the disturbance and saw it.
A blood-red column connecting earth and sky.
The Dark One's smile disappeared.
Baphomet's grip tightened around his axe.
Even Valak instinctively took a step backward.
At the center of the pillar, Ethan's appearance began changing.
His brown hair gradually lost its color until it became completely white. Crimson light flooded his eyes until the pupils vanished entirely, leaving only glowing blood-red radiance.
Ancient patterns spread across his skin like living veins, moving beneath the surface as though they possessed a will of their own.
His clothes dissolved into countless crimson particles before reforming.
A long black coat threaded with silver and blood-red symbols materialized around him. The patterns across the fabric shifted constantly, resembling flowing rivers of blood. Dark gloves formed around his hands while a mantle of scarlet energy settled across his shoulders like a royal cloak.
The poison inside his body vanished.
The authority behind it had been overwritten by something vastly greater.
Blood dripped from Ethan's fingertips.
The droplets never touched the ground.
Instead they floated around him like tiny crimson stars orbiting a sun.
When he finally lifted his head, his glowing eyes settled upon Baphomet, Valak, and the Dark One.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Yeah..." he said quietly, the surrounding blood beginning to rise from the earth itself as though answering his presence. "You three are fucked."
The forest trembled.
Every drop of blood within miles responded to his will.
***
A/N: And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
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