The Pact: Bruno and the Crimson Veil

POV: Bruno

I was back at the top of the ravine.

But this time, with my head held high — with pride.

Ignis by my side, Astrel steady beneath my feet.

That place which once sealed my fall, now marked my return.

But before we could continue on our way, a powerful roar cut through the air.

The beasts were at war.

Down below, the level 3 bear roared fiercely.

Even surrounded by a level 3★ wolf and four second-level beasts, it didn't back down.

There was something different about it — a superior lineage, perhaps.

An ancestral trait that kept it standing against adversity.

But... that was temporary.

Even if it won today, next time there would be two, three level 3★ beasts.

And when that day came, I didn't want to be there to see it.

---

POV: Selena

We were locked in a brutal battle.

The Night Panther.

A dark, cunning beast, equivalent to a Guardian Baron.

Even with me, Sitha, and Flávia's spiritual beast, we couldn't gain a clear advantage.

My soul was still weakened.

Since Bruno got lost in the snow, my Vitae efficiency dropped by at least 10%, maybe even 20%.

And Flávia, shaken, had left the barony's affairs in our hands.

Me and Sitha.

Carrying the burden.

Even exhausted, I kept fighting.

My wind attacks were powerful, but the Panther dodged with abnormal agility.

Her darkness element attacks absorbed everything — energy, light, hope.

Each strike carried the force of a disaster.

We were on the edge of the forest, just before the ravine.

Flávia had won her fight.

I could feel her presence coming our way.

There was hope.

Sitha kept drawing complex spiritual seals, while her beast — a creature almost fifth grade — wove illusions and hallucinations that gave us precious breathing room.

Even though the Panther was physically superior, we held our ground.

And now... with Flávia approaching...

We could win.

We could drive off — maybe even annihilate — this beast.

After all, it's not easy to reach the Baron level.

And those who achieve it... have eyes for what's necessary.

We knew what had to be done.

The fight wasn't for glory.

It was for time. For survival.

And while Flávia hadn't arrived yet, it was up to us to hold back the Night Panther.

So she would never reach the castle.

So the world wouldn't burn in darkness.

---

POV: Flávia

Under the snow, I felt his scent.

This was where he had fought.

This was where he had bled.

The scent of his blood was still everywhere.

But... I couldn't stray from the objective.

Selena and Sitha needed me.

If the Night Panther crossed into our territory, there was no telling how many would die.

I hurried as much as I could.

Without my wings, I was limited — but I could still use wind manipulation to fly.

Out of necessity, I sent Virelia to Selena using her shell as spiritual transport, buying time until I could get closer.

Still, blood droplets fell from my body.

That gargoyle's lightning... if it had hit me fully, it would have been the end.

Sacrificing my wings was a small price to pay.

I arrived just in time.

With a swift strike of my rapier, I attacked the Panther's flank.

She dodged easily — still strong.

My Vitae was low.

In that state, my performance didn't surpass Selena's or Sitha's.

But together, we could drive her away.

My agile water-element strikes intertwined with Selena's fire and wind attacks, roaring with almost divine fury.

Sitha launched powerful spiritual attacks, but they required time and a lot of Vitae.

Her nearly fifth-grade spiritual beast created hallucinatory illusions, giving us momentary advantages.

Virelia supported me with healing, defenses, and occasional water blade cuts.

Sitha's cat, with its third eye, manipulated the Panther's mind for a few crucial seconds.

Together, we pushed the beast, meter by meter, toward the ravine.

That's when... he appeared.

---

POV: Bruno

I was approaching the castle when I saw...

Flávia.

Sitha.

Selena.

Virelia.

And Sitha's cat.

They were all there.

Fighting.

And the moment I stepped into the clearing, a black shadow lunged at me.

The Night Panther.

A level 3 beast.

Was this... my end, right now?

No.

Never.

All our remaining Vitae concentrated in Ignis, and an infinite purple flame exploded around us.

The Panther backed off — shrunk by the flame.

And there I was.

Mounted on Astrel, with Ignis coiled around my neck, silver hair falling over my shoulders.

My burnt, marked body, shirtless, revealed deep scars.

Almost 1.95 meters tall, eyes burning with pain and truth.

— Bruno...?

— Bruno!

— Bruno...

Three voices sounded simultaneously.

— I'm back. — I said, moved.

— But before the reunion... we have to expel that beast. — said Sitha, laughing.

Flávia shouted:

— Selena! Do that! We'll cover you!

I was still confused — until Selena started to transform.

Her wings expanded, her long white hair blazed with golden flames, and a red armor covered her body.

A black-bladed sword appeared in her hand.

She attacked.

A slash cut through the air.

The flame exploded like a lava wave, melting everything within a three-meter radius around the Night Panther.

There was the Countess form of Selena.

I stepped back, surprised by the level of power before me.

The Panther counterattacked. A swipe of her claws advanced —

Selena neutralized it with a wave of golden flames.

Flávia and Sitha didn't retreat.

Sitha, gathering energy with her spiritual beast, launched a giant shadow pulse that hit the Panther squarely and threw her far away.

Flávia, swift as a blade, stabbed her rapier directly into the beast's leg.

The blow went deep.

The Panther roared in pain.

When she tried to strike back, a water slash hit her rib.

And immediately after... a black sword crossed the air, ripping off one of the beast's front paws in a flame-covered strike.

The Night Panther panicked.

A grotesque amount of Vitae exploded, and a dark, oil-like aura covered the clearing.

But that beast... was far from home.

Flávia, Sitha, and Selena activated their Nox — the spiritual mists.

Everything became invisible.

Only the colors of the mists could be seen:

Sitha's, a light purple, hypnotic, almost hallucinogenic.

Flávia's, a heavy fog, like compressed water, hard to cross.

Selena's, a golden heat burning like a thousand embers per second.

If my Nox caused five burns per minute, Selena's caused a thousand in a second, and could still release medium fire attacks.

I could no longer see the fight — only shadows.

And then, five minutes later...

The mists vanished.

Under the fallen panther's body lay an ice rapier embedded in its heart.

Blood dripped from its mouth.

Flávia looked at me, her eyes watery.

— Bruno...

— We can talk later — I replied, with a tired half-smile.

— I just want to take a bath.

---

POV: Custos Nefarius

Under an eternally black sky, a new being was forged.

If Bruno were there to see... his blood would burn with rage.

For what was reborn before the eyes of hell was his oldest rival —

The one whose name carried rancor since childhood.

The one whose existence, even in life, reeked of disdain and conflict.

That place was known as Clivus Inferni —

The Wall of Hell.

Where the evil souls were cast, those who, even under faith, never touched the truth.

A vile reference to the biblical hell, this abyss was part of the Locus Obscuras —

A sector of the wall destined to rebuild distorted souls, feeding them with their own sins.

There, the dead were stripped of flesh and remade as demons.

If Flávia hadn't saved Bruno, he would have come here.

Catholic, yes... but not devout enough to avoid this fate.

Under the gigantic dome of the Locus Obscuras, a throne carved from flaming stone supported an ancient infernal being.

Custos Nefarius.

He wore a profane mitre that would make inquisitors tremble with fury.

His eyes... deep as the abyss between worlds.

His aura — toxic, venomous, maddening.

A white cloak stained with blood wrapped his body.

In one hand, he held a royal scepter.

On his fingers, three rings:

One with a snake.

Another with a dragon.

The last, with a hydra.

Around his neck, the symbol of a number two, crossed out.

On his arm, a bold tattoo: a dragon stealing death.

His true name... forgotten by the ages.

But for millennia, he was called:

Custos Nefarius.

And he watched, with silent cruelty, the soul of a new monster being recreated.

His voice, low as a whisper of agony, echoed through the walls of hell:

"Curiosum Monstrum... Ostende quis potes, insiste."

As his voice fell, the long chains that bound him trembled.

The prison's structure no longer seemed so solid.

Not after so many eras.

Not with so many wills awakened.

This could only mean one thing:

He would return to play.

---

POV: Bruno

Back in that room... that bathtub.

My thoughts tangled:

What to say to Flávia?

I thought of everything I had lived through.

I wondered why she hadn't come to get me.

And, as much as I understood the reasons... what I went through couldn't be ignored.

I'd never felt so much pain as in the last week.

I'd never been so close to death's mouth... so many times.

I missed the days with Flávia and Selena.

But... was it possible to go back to how things were?

Could I move forward?

When I looked in the mirror, I knew I wasn't the same.

My hair, now silver.

My body, taller — about 1.95m.

My expression... dark.

Far from the smiling Bruno I once was.

Scars covered my body.

My right arm was partially destroyed.

Two deep holes left by the wolf's claws of the Moon.

An intense mark from the puma's fangs.

And the bone... healed wrong.

It would need to be broken again to regenerate properly.

It wasn't just the body.

My mind had changed too.

While I lost myself in thought, Ignis — beside me, in a small basin — bathed enthusiastically.

After so many days in the snow and on the filthy ground, that spoiled little wyvern washed happily, eyes shining as always.

I wondered, confused:

Did I survive by myself?

Flávia, Selena, Ignis, Astrel...

Now they were all part of my life.

Could I really remain indifferent to them?

After all, did they really abandon me?

And... did they have a choice?

I wanted answers.

Not to forgive them —

But to find myself.

Who am I now?

Am I still Bruno?

That Bruno would kill hundreds of bloodthirsty monsters?

Would he have silver hair?

Am I really alive?

Or did the real Bruno stay back... at that ravine...

With the broken arm and leg pierced by a branch?

Did that Bruno die?

When I saw Ignis there... my tears ran uncontrollably.

Why?

Because I was alone. Lost. Desperate.

But the one who went down the ravine...

Who faced seven wolves.

Who took an arrow...

Was still Bruno?

Or... did the real Bruno die the moment I decided to live?

It was instinct... I know.

But would a human do that?

Was my body and mind ready?

When Ignis pulled the branch from my leg, and the hallucinations began...

The Bruno that emerged was cold. Calculating.

He survived like an old fox, acted like a serpent.

Which makes me think...

Did I go mad in that pain?

Without all that, would I have gone down?

Fought?

Killed?

Drunk the beasts' blood?

Me?

My mind plunged into an abyss.

The first time I drank blood was from desperate thirst...

But then...

I acted like a snow demon.

At no point did I think about the creatures I killed.

Most didn't even eat meat.

Most... didn't attack me.

The buffalo whose skin was melted.

The goat whose throat was pierced.

They were just living.

And I wanted to come back...

But for what?

To hold grudges against Flávia and Selena?

If that were the case, I should have stayed there.

Fighting. Killing. Dying.

I came back...

But why?

To blame them?

To make them suffer?

No... I...

Never wanted that.

I just wanted... to lie down one night without worrying about hunger, pain, and death.

I didn't want to die.

But I killed.

I wanted Ignis and Astrel to live.

But... I stole lives for that.

Why?

Why did I come back?

Who am I now?

A monster who moves by malice?

Or Bruno — that smiling boy who joked about everything... who fought for what he believed in?

Am I Bruno because I came back alive?

Or did I come back alive... because Bruno stayed to die?

Then a little thing approached.

Ignis.

My companion.

My brother in arms.

My savior.

He sensed my confusion.

Licked my face.

And lay down on my chest.

Then everything quieted.

Live for living.

Live for being alive.

Live by will.

Live by desire.

Live for me.

Live for them.

For those who were with me.

I live.

Bruno lives.

Not just the new Bruno.

But also the old, kind, smiling one.

Because they were never two Brunos. We were always us.

One being.

Living for everything we believe in.

Returning because we needed to return.

Return...

Where?

Home.

We live.

You live.

I live.

Together. As we always should be.

Alive.

At that moment, deep in my soul,

The black spots that stained my blood, body, Vitae, and mind...

Evaporated.

It was never malice.

It was instinct.

Like a child killing a scorpion out of fear.

It's not her fault.

It's just... how life dictates survival.

In the eyes that now shone, in the soul that once seemed shattered,

In the shadow that almost took over me...

Everything completed.

Since he came to the world of vampires.

I am Bruno.

And I always will be.