While watching the two strongest creatures of both planes, Cain was irritated.
Suddenly, he heard and felt it.
A low, dull sound rolled through his abdomen, subtle but impossible to ignore, like distant thunder beneath calm skies. Hunger pressed against him, no longer patient, no longer content to wait. It curled inside his body, sharp and demanding, reminding him that time was no longer something he could waste.
"Troublesome," he muttered under his breath as his gaze drifted toward the battlefield below.
He could feel it, the change already beginning. Cornelia had tasted blood. Not enough to satisfy her, not enough to steady her mind, but enough to awaken the deeper parts he had sealed away so carefully.
Once she began feeding in earnest, once her instincts took over completely, there would be no stopping the transformation. Her awakening would accelerate, and when that happened, she would need guidance, control, and blood far purer than what scattered soldiers could offer.
