Meanwhile, while Gruig lay twisted on the shattered floor, barely alive but clinging to something that felt like hatred itself, he refused to let himself slip into the darkness.
Pain ran through every nerve he still had, but even pain felt distant compared to the rage boiling inside him. He coughed out blood again and again, each breath a broken fragment, each exhale filled with curses.
"Lazry Lycannis," he spat in his mind. "That useless good for nothing talentless bastard. That shit and his puny dog… I swear… I swear I will tear you both apart." His voice in his head echoed louder than the tremble of his ruined body. "How dare you… How dare you do this to me. Me. Gruig Lycannis. I will skin that demon dog alive. I will kill that brat with my bare teeth. I will…"
He kept cursing. Again and again, like blood bubbling from a cracked pot. Words poured out endlessly. He insulted Lazry's bloodline. He insulted Lazry's cowardice.
He insulted the demon dog's existence, calling it a fake curse beast, calling it a mangy stray, calling it a cursed tumor. He cursed Lazry's mother. He cursed Winston. He cursed his own fate. He cursed the heavens. He cursed the Lycannis Family. He cursed everything until foam mixed with blood slipped down his jaw.
His thoughts spiraled into madness. "Why am I not dead? Why can't I die? The boy blasted half my body off. Why is my heart still beating? Why is my curse energy still leaking? Why… why…"
Suddenly, the blood dripping from his side began to swirl. Gruig blinked. His mind freezes.
The droplets on the ground trembled and rolled toward each other, forming a little pool. Then the pool stretched upward, rising like a thin column.
The sight made Gruig forget his pain for a moment.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The blood twisted into the shape of a mold, almost like wax softening in fire. Then that mold gained features, deepening into the shape of a humanoid face. The eyes hollowed open. The mouth tugged into a slow wide grin.
"Hehe," the face whispered. The voice was layered, as if three men spoke at once. "I never thought it would be this fast. My reincarnation in this era. How delightful. So fast. So easy. How convenient."
Gruig felt his hair stand on end. He did not understand. He wanted to move. He wanted to scream. But only his eyes shifted. Only his breath trembled.
He tried to speak in his mind. "Who… who are you?"
For some unknown reason, his mental voice came out of the blood face's mouth as if the creature itself spoke his thoughts.
The blood face chuckled. "My name. You ask my name. How long it has been since anyone dared to ask that." Its voice deepened. "I am Count Ravikus of Blood Moon Dawn. Peak Curse Beast Conjurer of the Crimson Eclipse. Lord of the Thirteen Familiars. And the last survivor of the Blood Moon Clan."
He spoke like a vampire carved from nightmare. His voice soothed and terrified at once, as if ancient hunger slept beneath every syllable.
Gruig's mind trembled again. "Where did you come from… what do you want…"
Ravikus laughed, light and cold. "You drank something of mine. Something precious. Something sacred." His smile grew sharper. "You stole my blood."
Gruig's eyes widened. His mind raced back, forced to relive memories he had buried. "No. No wait…"
He remembered the ruin that opened last year. The Blood Moon Ruins. Everyone said it was dangerous. Everyone said to stay away. But Gruig had gone. He had wanted power. He wanted to rise above every other youth.
He remembered the dark hallways lined with statues of horned beasts. He remembered the choking fog. He remembered the altar at the center, a cup filled with a thick red liquid that gave off waves of cursed energy. He remembered lifting the cup to his lips. He remembered drinking it in greed, believing it was a blessing from a forgotten dynasty.
The taste had been cold and metallic. He felt curse energy explode inside him that day. His talent skyrocketed. His potential leaped. He thought he was chosen.
His mind trembled. "It was… yours…"
Ravikus smirked. "Yes. My blood. A piece of my essence. Anyone foolish enough to drink it becomes my vessel. My doorway back into the world." The face leaned closer. "You were always meant to be my body."
Gruig felt true fear claw at his throat. "What… what do you want from me…"
"I want," the blood face whispered, "your body."
Gruig's soul screamed. He tried to force his voice out. He tried to flee. He tried anything. But his body did not move. His breath caught painfully as Ravikus lunged forward. The blood face collapsed into a mist and rushed into Gruig's mouth.
Gruig choked violently as the mist poured into him. His eyes rolled back. His fingers twitched. His veins turned dark. His pupils burst into bright red. His heartbeat slowed, then steadied, then changed rhythm entirely.
Ravikus was inside.
Gruig's mangled body twitched. Then the flesh around his shoulder began to bubble. Bone sprouted like white thorns pushing through skin. New muscle wrapped around the bone like red vines growing in reverse. His arms grew next, stretching out with a sickening wet sound like meat being kneaded.
His right hand reformed first, finger by finger, each bone clicking into place, each muscle wrapping around it like something knitting itself from the inside. His left arm followed, twisting, tearing, reforming. His legs grew next, both erupting from the torn flesh of his lower body, stretching into shape. His ribs snapped back together, one by one. His spine lengthened. His skin stitched itself like invisible threads were pulling the torn edges together.
Gruig's dying body reshaped itself piece by piece until he stood whole again.
He opened his eyes. They glowed crimson.
Ravikus exhaled with a disgusted sigh. "This body is weak. And worse, it belongs to my mortal family. How filthy." He shook his head. "No matter. It will do for now."
Before he walked out, he raised his hand and closed his fingers.
A pulse of blood pressure burst out from his palm.
All the cameras in the hallway instantly exploded, sparks flying. In the control room of the hotel, every monitor cracked. The guards screamed as strange frost formed from thin streams of blood, freezing the machinery.
He stepped over the shards without looking back.
Ravikus paused by the exit. "A legendary beast," he murmured. "So that brat has one. But he does not control it yet. It is unstable. I can still deal with him." His eyes narrowed. "I do not want to meet him again when he learns to leash that creature… It's better to take care of him now. "
Immediately, something moved behind him.
A massive bony creature crawled from the blood mist on his back, wings made of bone scraping the air. Its empty skull stared silently.
Ravikus pointed forward. "Deal with him while he is still unprepared."
The creature nodded and walked away, dragging its claws across the floor.
Ravikus smirked. "Although my summons are weak in this era, it should be enough for now." He lifted his hand, tasting the air. "Now then. It is time to awaken my familiars."