The Pact: Bruno and the Crimson Veil

In the cave, there was my little companion: Ignis.

As soon as he saw me, he flew toward me with bright eyes. Without waiting for a word, he began to lick me excitedly.

"I'm back, Ignis," I declared proudly.

Astrel, ahead of us, approached. In a gesture of respect, he lay down, folding his front legs as if kneeling.

I was surprised. What had happened to that proud horse?

Then Ignis's voice sounded, simple and awkward:

"Family… new member…"

I laughed.

I knelt down on one knee in mutual respect and placed my hand on Astrel's head.

"My new companion."

What I saw in Astrel's eyes was no longer just instinct. It was true respect.

A feeling earned from what we had been through together. Perhaps my return was what he needed to finally accept me.

And that respect didn't come from nowhere. It came from strength.

Unlike before, it now radiated from me.

My body was huge, my wings imposing.

My hair, now silver, fell over my shoulders.

My pale skin carried a bestial glow.

My purple eyes were sharp like a serpent's, and my aura… it surrounded me like death incarnate.

Astrel was fully recovered too. That meant we could leave.

But not yet.

Outside, the beasts still roamed.

The howls hadn't ceased.

Echoes of the terrifying battle between the white wolf and the black bear still lingered.

At dawn, Ignis, Astrel, and I would march toward the glory of survival.

As if it were natural, I retracted my wings.

I brought my hand to my ribs — a deep cut still burned there.

Luckily, it was only two claws.

It hurt. Blood dripped slowly…

But I could feel it, control it.

With every second, less blood was lost. It was as if my own body was learning.

Yet, without Bruno noticing…

A being hated him down to the smallest molecules of his existence.

Back to the stage.

POV: Level King Beings.

Krihar was engulfed in burning fury, his eyes blazing with hatred.

"What is this, Fullhier?!" he growled. "This vampire has massacred hundreds of beasts! This wasn't part of the pact!"

His repulsive aura expanded like an eclipse, plunging the border into suffocating darkness.

Fullhier, visibly irritated by the beast's arrogance, raised his gaze. His aura responded instantly, rising like a crimson sea overflowing the border, silently boiling like an ocean of blood.

"So what, you filthy beast?" Fullhier shouted, raising an accusing finger, veins bulging beneath his skin. "He's just a vampire undergoing transformation. Blame your rotten blood plagues for being in his way! Or will you stoop to attack someone who hasn't even reached Level 2?"

The tension sliced through the air like a blade.

This was beyond the pact.

Tang, the third among them, could no longer contain the animosity that had been brewing for days.

And as expected… it began.

Krihar roared and launched a punch with unimaginable force.

The sky and earth lost their colors.

The wind howled like an ancient storm, sweeping everything for kilometers.

Fullhier stood firm, not taking a single step back.

On the horizon, a colossal hand made of pure blood rose to confront Krihar's strike.

The platform trembled, its foundations cracking under the weight of exchanged blows.

Tang, positioned below and worried for the countless beings who could be wiped out, formed his hands into an ancient seal.

A golden Dharma rose behind him, majestic as the rising sun, and a divine palm descended from the heavens, throwing Krihar and Fullhier high into the sky, away from the mortal realm.

The clouds abruptly scattered.

Two titans had begun to fight.

Every exchanged blow shattered the very domain beneath them.

And with that, the signal for war was given.

Below, chaos erupted:

Four Counts and seven Level 4 demon beasts charged into battle.

Conflicts ignited everywhere.

Barons and Level 3 beasts clashed by the dozens, while warriors and apprentices fought by the thousands, like an army of ants battling beneath a storm.

A brutal war had begun.

All… because of Bruno.

No one knew who was truly behind the chaos.

Only Krihar, Fullhier, and Tang held the truth.

But the world would pay the price.

And unfortunately… the war between vampires and demon beasts was only just beginning.

POV: Flávia

The fight against the damn stone gargoyle resumed — and this time, he was fighting with everything.

Every move was a deadly strike.

I wielded my rapier firmly, channeling through it my Vitae, my Nex, and the element of water.

Each thrust was precise and destructive, but against his rocky skin… it was like piercing a living fortress.

If I still managed to keep the battle even, it was solely because of my speed. In every other aspect… I was losing.

Suddenly, he extended his arm.

An oppressive earth aura filled the field, and dozens of stone spikes rose and charged toward me at absurd speed.

I responded with a dance of blades.

My rapier shone, slicing the air with mastery.

The spikes were all destroyed — but I had been too slow.

He was already on me.

His fist advanced.

Startled, I raised two fingers and pointed my rapier before my body.

An ice barrier rose at the last moment.

It broke, but bought me the time I needed.

My wings opened in an elegant slash, and with wind magic, I launched myself into the sky.

He roared fiercely upon seeing my escape.

His wings — like stone blades — spread wide, and he took flight, charging at me in fury.

From above, against gravity and fate, I descended with a brutal strike.

The impact heated the struck area.

Before he could recover, I conjured an ice spike and drove it into the same spot.

Two opposing forces collided.

An explosion erupted, hurling the gargoyle to the ground.

On the floor, he roared with more hatred than ever…

And began breaking his own body, tearing pieces of stone as if shedding dead skin.

I frowned. This was no ordinary demon beast.

He was a mystic demon beast.

Kings among their ranks. Living legends.

From the shattered stones emerged his true form:

A black gargoyle, his aura intense and suffocating — powerful enough to face even an Arcane Baron.

If I wanted to defeat him… I would have to push myself to the limit.

My aura swelled.

My hair turned into living water.

My wings expanded with a sinister glow.

A blood armor covered my body, and a black blood seal wrapped around my rapier.

My eyes burned purple.

My body grew.

My presence became light as mist — and at the same time… relentless.

This was my full form as a Vampire Countess.

Far beyond the partial form any warrior attains when becoming a true vampire.

The gargoyle roared again.

From his mouth, a black lightning bolt was fired — a thunder of pure destruction.

I spun my rapier and parried the attack with a sideways slash.

The impact spread energy all around, and then the real confrontation began.

Each exchanged blow devastated the battlefield.

Each movement was fiercer than the last, as if we studied each other, honing our strikes.

It was a fight between two monsters.

I didn't back down.

I used everything:

Water to attack and heal.

Ice to defend.

Wind to amplify my strength and speed.

Now my blows made him bleed.

His skin was no longer stone — but his strength had become absolutely monstrous.

Any mistake… and death awaited me.

He took flight again.

From the sky, he opened his mouth and unleashed a black lightning bolt as intense as a moonless night.

A beacon of death.

I pointed my rapier upward, wrapped myself with my wings, and spun.

I conjured a cutting blade of water that sliced through the black lightning…

And tore off one of the gargoyle's arms.

But the price was high.

My wings melted away.

A terrible cut opened from my shoulder down to my leg.

The pain burned — but it wasn't time to falter.

I channeled wind and projected myself through the air like a living arrow.

Even wounded, my rapier aimed straight for the monster's eye…

But he struck with brutal force, and the weapon shattered.

Consumed by fear and fury, I improvised a new rapier: pure ice, wrapped in water, unstable and deadly.

Vitae boiled around it.

I threw it with precision.

The gargoyle tried to block with his fist —

But the rapier pierced his hand and broke, leaving a large fragment stuck between his fingers.

When he tried to pull it out, I advanced with two rapiers:

One of ice.

One of blood.

The first pierced.

The second dispersed his attacks.

Under the fury of my assault, he was desperate.

Only one arm remained.

And a piece of ice painfully lodged in his hand.

He still needed to recover his ruin.

That destroyed home… taken by an unknown vampire.

Then he roared and vanished in smoke and black lightning.

He fled.

Victory.

It was my only thought before falling from the sky, exhausted.

My Vitae was gone.

Then a beautiful mermaid appeared, worried:

"Flávia! Why didn't you call me? I would have helped!"

I smiled calmly, even fallen:

"It would have been useless. When two fight with everything they have… thirds only get in the way.

It's better you help Selena. The Night Jaguar… is still breathing."

Elsewhere, in a cave.

POV: Bruno

Through the crack in the stone covering the cave entrance, the first ray of sunlight pierced the shadows and announced what awaited us.

Victory was calling.

I couldn't entwine all five vines as I had planned.

But I managed to tie two of them to the horns of the goat I had killed myself.

Besides that, I carried the wolf bone spear — a reminder of the brutal hunt — and a disposable spear, improvised but deadly.

The time had come.

The time to flee.

To return to the world.

To leave the frozen forest on our own feet...

Under honor and glory, we would triumph.

Ignis, Astrel, and I.

We set off toward the cliff edge.