[1% LIFESTEAL BOOK ONE FINALE] Chapter 41 - Revenge

[MINOR EDIT NOTICE]
In the previous chapter, Freddy notes that, in order to pass as Peter Vane, he has to reach the second star and find a way to temporarily undo Abyssal Depths.

That's it. Enjoy the Finale :)

[CHAPTER START]

Being dragged into the mouth of the beast left Freddy frozen stiff, terrified beyond what he believed was possible; his hand clutched the dagger in a death grip, but his shoulder was locked, making him incapable of even taking a swing, and as the numerous sharp teeth flew right by his face, he was left helpless, practically waiting for the creature to close its maw and skewer him with hundreds of spiked, needle-like protrusions.

But it didn’t.

Instead, he was dragged to the back of the throat as the giant monstrosity likely deemed him too small to even bother chewing; the tentacle squeezed hard enough to snap his spine and several other bones, then he was pushed down into pure darkness where, with his body mangled, he was helpless to resist as the hot, stinky, slippery throat swallowed, crushing his body again and pushing him further on a dizzying journey where up and down and left and right blended into a singularity he couldn’t escape.

He tried cutting with the dagger, but the flesh was more akin to slippery metal than actual tissue.

In an instant, the suffocating tunnel of tight muscle disappeared, and he fell in a short freefall, splashing back-first against liquid that immediately began sizzling.

He screamed, and the breath he took after burned so bad that his lungs felt as if they were melting.

The stomach acid of the beast was intense; the upper layer of his skin was already succumbing to its corrosive might, and with the depth of the liquid and the constant sloshing as the beast moved, he had no chance of making it anywhere.

He was rapidly approaching a state of unconsciousness, and he knew that if he did, it was over—death was inevitable.

A sudden lurch sent him tumbling against the wall of the stomach, and his dagger nicked the hard edge. Yet again, the stomach was far too strong to succumb to the sharp piece of metal in his hands, and in the next moment, he had already tumbled back into the liquid, continuing his swim to river Styx’s other shore.

Time was running out. Each moment, the distinction between the pitch-black darkness and the encroaching unconsciousness grew blurrier.

Freddy lifted his hand and cast Create Water. A large-basin-worth of water flowed out of his hand, washing over him and temporarily diluting the acid. With that, his mind cleared just a bit, but enough to think clearly for a moment—enough for him to swim forward, pushing through the pain until he reached the wall of the stomach and then take a swing imbued with Flowing Strike.

The dagger sank only a few centimeters into the surface, but it was enough for 1% Lifesteal to send a powerful wave of healing through his body, doing little of substance but clearing his mind enough to give him some hope that his plan was possible—until the entire world started vibrating.

The creature screamed with such fervor that the stomach acid began evaporating, and his hearing was destroyed in an instant. The intense vibration nearly shook his heart apart, but he pushed through and took another swing.

The leviathan began shifting, writhing in pain, and he was flung to the other side of the stomach, where he took another swing.

Time was running out faster than he thought. There was no way to breathe. His lungs had been corroded away, and he was rapidly suffocating. With the small dagger and his insufficient strength, there was no way for him to cling to the stomach for longer than a single stab, after which he’d be thrown back into the depths of acidic hell.

Only a single, reckless gamble stood before him, the only thing keeping the fear of unavoidable demise at bay—he dove into the pool of sloshing acid, its rotten, putrid currents near impossible to maneuver through.

But one Create Water after another diluted the thick liquid enough for him to swim forward, even though he had no clue where to go. Eventually, he reached the bottom of the stomach and followed the edge along the path he felt took him deeper, even though that was barely a reliable sign.

Luck was on his side, and fortune must have found his situation funny enough to humor him. There, he discovered the entrance that led him deeper into the intestines, where the liquid grew thicker—and the acid more powerful.

The entire surface of his skin was already damaged beyond repair through ordinary means, and death by shock was seconds away.

Engaging Hydraulic Flex, he braced his feet against one side of the intestine and pushed his dagger into the other, and despite putting damn-near everything he had into it, the blade barely sank into the surface.

He was completely deaf, but the vibrations traveling through the viscous liquid told him the intestine’s owner wasn’t happy with his plan.

Flowing Strike flowed through his body, and the momentum transferred into the dagger, pushing it deeper inside. Another wave of healing washed over him.

Deeper and deeper, the cut went, and soon enough, he could feel the warm flow of blood mixing into the ruthless digestive juice, easing the everpresent pain and encouraging him.

After what felt like an eternity of inching the tip to widen the gash, he thought that he had made the cut big enough to travel through. Grabbing a loose chunk of tissue, he pulled himself up with a death grip—and crawled his way out into the viscera of the leviathan.

***

After nearly an hour of digging through trash like a maniac, Janhalar still hadn’t come to terms with it. He had been so close, standing at what felt like the finish line to a long, grueling journey, only to suddenly find himself lost deep in the woods.

What the hell happened? What the hell could have happened? Anything short of reality itself stepping out of its way to bully him wasn’t rational enough to explain away this ungodly level of misfortune.

Then he felt it. In a moment, the connection between his ring and Bloodshed, which had been entirely dead a mere moment ago, sprang to life again. But something was wrong; it was different.

“Don’t tell me… It became a spirit!?”

If that was the case, there was only one explanation for what had happened, and as soon as he made the conclusion, the ring flared up again. In his mind's eye, he saw a path. Without hesitation, he ran down it.

A mile or so away, it took him underground. Digging through trash with fervor unlike anything he’d displayed in his life, he reached a buried old carriage and saw it.

There was a passage that delved into a perhaps B-grade-sized desert realm. And the path in his mind's eye was already leading to another passage, all the way on the other side.

***

All sense of time vanished as Freddy desperately clung to the last string of hope he had. Again and again, he cut through flesh, unsure of where he even was anymore. His body was cooking alive in the intense heat. The lack of oxygen made him feel like he was constantly on the brink of suffocation.

But thanks to the miraculous work of supreme healing supplied by his talent, he was still alive.

Swinging the already bent dagger like an animal swung its claws—all instincts heightened to their maximum—at that moment, he was but a beast trying to survive.

Although at first he thought that was his imagination, by then, he was confident his body was shrinking. Such a fervent, intense hunger raged in his gut that he knew his body must have been eating itself alive, be it through the insane calorie consumption or through discarding tissue that had been boiled to well done.

Either way, it was a crisis; his swings were already weakening, and the dehydration was getting critical as well. At some point, he started biting away without even realizing it—swallowing flesh and drinking blood like a parasite.

It wasn’t tasty, and it was clearly not suitable for human consumption. Every crumb and drop of meat and blood was like swallowing a thunderstorm that threatened to obliterate his body with whatever ether was concentrated within, and it was only through his talent continuously repairing the damage that he could push through it.

Every so often, he had to dive into the fleshy confines of the netherecho to replenish his essence reserves—and every time, he found more and more blood wisps surrounding him.

At some point, his weakness started leaving him. Although his body felt like little more than a skeleton with a few strings of flesh attached to it, unbelievable strength filled it to the point where his bites alone could tear flesh apart as it were raw dough.

The endless suffocation no longer bothered him. Thoughts of escape fizzled out, and he simply indulged in the neverending stream of life force flowing into his body.

Then, it began weakening. And whatever effect the flesh had on his mind was briefly pushed aside as he had a terrifying thought—the leviathan had died—and he was still trapped deep within its body.

A newfound fervor now born of panic flushed him as he clawed forward like a mole burrowing through dirt, desperately seeking the way out.

With each swing, the life force grew thinner; soon, he was suffocating again. Gripping torn flesh with the power of a vice grip, he kept pulling himself forward as one downward slash after another forged a path—until his blade struck bone and its tip chipped.

‘Shit!’ He screamed internally, terror filling him.

Making his way around the bone, he kept pushing, increasingly uncertain of where he was even going. But eventually, he broke through and dropped into an open space—a slippery tunnel he immediately started gliding down.

Stabbing the dagger into the wall, he took deep breaths, but the air felt thin. There wasn’t much oxygen here, and a powerful smell of fresh meat filled his lungs. Taking effortful breaths, he picked a way to go and clawed his way up. There was a fifty-fifty chance that he was going the right way, he thought; what if he couldn’t push past the maze of teeth, he worried.

Then, the path before him disappeared again, and he dropped down—right back into the stomach acid.

“Fuck!” He screamed and rushed to get up. The darkness was absolute. There was no way to tell where the way back was. He braced himself against the side of the stomach and leaped with Hydraulic Flex anyway, but he slammed into a solid surface, bouncing off it and right back into the stomach acid.

The lack of oxygen was well past making him merely dizzy. If it weren’t for his peak-one-star reduced need for oxygen, he would have likely already been dead.

The stomach acid, although much weaker, was eating his flesh. But he got up again. And failed to make the jump the second time. And then, the third time. The fourth time, he reached the hole and barely managed to cling to it. With a few desperate pulls, he brought himself back up.

There was another crisis to face. The throat of the beast, as the muscles relaxed, was beginning to close up. The way back wasn’t a climb through an open tunnel; it was a crawl through a tightly shut barrier of meat flaps. He thought he would push them apart and make his way through, but it was easier said than done. The mucus was drying, turning into a glue that sealed the flaps shut.

But that just happened to be precisely what he needed. It was no longer slippery, and despite yet again facing a lack of air, he at least didn’t need to claw his way up with the dagger.

Crawling through the slippery passage, he did his best not to think about how long the neck of the beast was. Instead, he hurried along. At one point, he lost consciousness for a mere moment and decided that he couldn’t afford to stop taking swings at the flesh, even though the healing grew thinner by the second.

His exhaustion kept getting worse. The throat kept growing stickier. It wasn’t going to happen.

Panicked, he rushed to claw at the throat again, then he pushed his way into the muscle. In death, the beast's flesh seemed to have gotten a bit more tender, and he found himself emboldened, swinging the dagger faster and praying he didn’t hit bone again.

At one point, cutting became more difficult, and he struggled to make much progress. Until, suddenly, he saw a faint ray of light—and water poured into the gap.

Widening the opening, he pushed himself out and swam. The entire world spun, and instead of getting brighter, it felt like the surface was growing darker. With each moment, the last bits of his strength thinned, and the wall of absolute exhaustion grew closer.

Then something bit him.

He screamed in reflex and lost what little air he had in his lungs as he turned around to face his assailant. It was a massive fish with giant, serrated teeth, most of which were embedded deep into his leg where they, admittedly, had little to bite on and didn’t do much damage.

A flock of these things surrounded him, and he swung the dagger down, empowering his movement with Hydraulic Flex, which worked better underground than Flowing Strike.

The dagger stabbed into the head of the beast, and the intense rush marking the critical strike to its brain made the world brighten again.

The rest of the flock circled him, eyeing him warily, and he panicked. Why didn’t they come closer? Were they waiting for him to drown? If so, they didn’t have to wait for long! In his desperation, he cut at his own body, hoping that the smell of blood would be enough to bait some of them to come closer.

It worked immediately. Three of the flock broke away and rushed him, but instead of salvation, he faced another crisis. Their attacks were merciless, taking sharp, nasty bites at his body. His attacks weren’t fast enough.

One of them grabbed his arm, and he caught something in its throat to keep it in place as he stabbed at it. Through sheer chance, his many swings killed another. While he was keeping suffocation at bay for the moment, the loss of blood would finish him off first.

Another of these demon spawns rushed at him, and in a reflex reaction, he hugged it. The fish swam away at insane speed, and he barely clung to its slippery skin, staying attached through nothing more than his extensive practice in sticking to greasy surfaces.

To his immense displeasure, the fish dove down, and if he wasn’t tempered by Abyssal Depths, he was sure that he would have lost consciousness due to the intense pressure. But then, it changed course. It started swimming up.

He watched with trepidation as the surface rapidly rushed to meet him, and rather than chance the monster turning back down, he let go when he was ten meters from the shore, where he swam up.

Inch by inch, the glorious promise of air reached closer, and with a decisive push, his head finally popped above the surface.

Taking his first breath in what felt like forever was the best feeling he had ever experienced in his life. Granted, the fish that bit his foot the moment later ruined it, but landing a solid stab on its stupid head and killing it improved it again.

Although his focus was on swimming back to shore, he couldn’t help but notice the state of his body—the surface of his skin was snow-white, all his hair had been melted off, his nails were crimson red, and he was so skinny he more resembled a skeleton than a human.

In fact, if he didn’t have the aid of his water manipulation, he would have been sinking due to how dense he was, both because he had no fat tissue to speak of and because of Abyssal Depths.

Still, effortfully, he pushed his way to the shore and landed. As he pulled himself up on the sand, he felt too tired to even breathe.

Just as he was about to succumb to temptation and fall asleep, a man’s voice roused reached his ears, “How incredible…” someone mired, and Freddy quickly rushed to get up—and failed.

He couldn’t get up to his feet, no matter how hard he tried, and all he could do was raise his head.

Two people stood before him—a short man and a tall woman. The woman stood, carrying a crystal saber which she had slung over her shoulder, and the man squatted unarmed, cocking his head at him.

No matter who they were, he wasn’t happy to see them, and their strange, eerie, square eyes raised every hair on his body—or it would have if he had any hair left.

“Do you think he will pass the trial?” She asked.

“We shall see,” he answered. “I am curious to witness the means of these dwellers. Let us watch.”

‘What the hell are they talking about?’ He wondered, but then he realized something.

Although it was through absurd means, he had technically just slain a creature God knew how far above him. Why hadn’t he felt any ether entering his soul?

Then, he looked into his ethercosm.

“Oh…. fuck,” was all he could say when he saw the storm roiling around his star.

Wisps of dark, shadowy water coiled around it, orbiting it, but none of them sank in and absorbed. Instead, they began dispersing, seemingly disappearing, until—

“Ack—!” Freddy gasped as he suddenly felt as if something was trying to burrow its way out of his soul, and as he opened his eyes, he realized that that feeling wasn’t far from the truth.

What appeared akin to a painting etched into reality, one of a long neck carrying a monstrous head that resembled the leviathan he had just slain, but angrier, more sinister, and malicious, stared down at him with murder in its eyes.

“Unacceptable,” it said in a deep, thundering voice dripping in venom. “This… it cannot be forgiven. I will not fall to a worm as tiny as you!” It bellowed, bending down to bite into Freddy’s soul like it was trying to take a chunk out of an apple.

Pain far transcending the worst he had felt engulfed his entire being, and it was a miracle that the soul attack hadn’t knocked him unconscious.

“Unbelievable…” the man whispered. “I just realized that he is of one star…”

“A shame,” the woman said. “Without a talisman, his soul is too exposed. Should we end his suffering?” She asked. “Wait, what is that?”

Suddenly, Freddy felt the burden he was suffering reduce significantly. With blood dripping out of its bony hands, a mirage of his long-lost—no, wait, it was Bloodshed!

The skeleton remnant… or rather, the skeleton spirit as it now seemed to be, gripped the head of the leviathan and pulled it back.

“Master…” it said. “I am sorry for being late.”

Tears rushed to his eyes, and he felt overwhelmed by emotion. Not once would he have believed to be capable of feeling such joy at the sight of something so… No, Bloodshed was a precious little munchkin worth every tear he shed, but surrounded by mysterious people and pretty sure they wanted him dead, he didn’t know what to do.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted a crimson trail descending from one of the floating island-stones. The red blur dropped unnaturally fast, and as the kicked-up sand cleared, the image of a man peered through.

He stood tall in his crimson robes, his red tattoos marking numerous lines over his cheeks, and his white hair draped over his back. An angry, furious expression hung on his face, and he instantly rushed at Freddy and Bloodshed.

“This fucker—” was all Freddy could manage before, suddenly, a massive explosion of fire engulfed the bloody archhuman, and a saber flew at his face with the speed of a fired arrow. The metallic blade was deflected, and the fire poofed out of existence with a burst of bloody mist.

“Who the hell are you!?” Janhalar screamed, eyes bloodshot and body swirling with crimson mist. “I knew someone powerful had to be involved! You wretched scum will face the consequences of your sins!”

“Kaefalge!” The woman yelled.

“I know, this warrior is strong. Stay close to…” he started, but his words were cut off as a sharp projectile of coagulated blood flew past his face.

The Kraven patriarch ran at them, keeping one eye on Bloodshed as he rushed to finish the fight as soon as possible.

That instant of distraction hadn’t been a good idea. In that brief moment, the short man conjured an intense orange orb, and seconds later, that turned into a massive explosion of bright, hot fire.

Freddy was caught in the blast and thrown into the ocean with the leviathan and Bloodshed, who was holding onto it.

His skin was severely burned, and the impact had dazed him. Perhaps if he had been awake, he would have had the strength to do something… But there was no more strength left.

As the ocean's surface grew more distant, he, too, sank into the depths of unconsciousness.

***

Bloodshed could tell that the situation was desperate, but as long as it stood, it wouldn’t give up the fight.

“Let go of me, you vile thing!” The annoying violator screamed, but Bloodshed gripped it tighter.

Pulling itself forward, it used the gap that this pest created in Master’s soul to crawl into it as well. The beautiful blue star, roiling with the cool, methodical mercilessness of its master, and the scattering of tiny specks surrounding it was a sacred, holy sight—

—and not something to be defiled with such wanton vulgarity!

With a primal scream, Bloodshed dug its clawed hands into the neck of the wretched scum impeding on this pristine temple, and the beastly creature bit back, breaking one of its bones.

Although Bloodshed had no intent of surrendering the fight, it could tell that it was greatly outmatched.

“Tell me, oh great Master!” It begged. “What is it I should do!?” It craved the wisdom, the infinite well of knowledge it knew its master possessed.

It was then that it saw other vile things invading its master’s soul—but this was different. They were caged like the animals they were, and rather than wreaking havoc, the power of these creatures was constantly being sapped, their might thoroughly dominated by Master’s will.

‘Of course…’ it was enlightened.

That was precisely how such beasts should be handled.

With the toothy grin permanently etched into its face growing wider, Bloodshed peered past the surface layer of Master’s soul. As always, the aura of bloodshed was thick—this time, numerous times more than ever before. It sank a single claw into it, temporarily borrowing from Master and promising it would work hard to repay this debt.

***

Freddy was roused awake, but he appeared not in his body but in his projection, surrounded by the flickering of distant stars.

‘Am I dead?’ He asked, but he soon recognized it to be the inner sanctum of his ethercosm—the inside of his soul.

Why was he here? It was then that he saw the thundering storm of blood wisps roiling in a giant vortex.

‘What the fu—!?’

Deep within, the wisps crystallized, transforming into an uneven, messy cage.

Mind flooded with questions, he floated forward, desperately trying to discover what the hell was happening. As the storm cleared, he saw something that blew him away.

Bloodshed stood—nearly torn to pieces—as it placed the final rune on an oddly shaped cage. Within it, the floating head of the leviathan was trapped entirely, completely unable to break past the barrier. Its roaring quieted, and it gradually went catatonic like the other ether constructs trapped in his soul.

“Blood…shed…” he called, feeling a lump welling in his projection’s throat. “What are you doing?” He asked.

“I… I am unraveling… Master,” it said as one of its bones began turning into wisps of blood. “I can no longer sustain myself… but it is alright. I have done all I could… I have fulfilled my purpose.”

“N… No,” Freddy denied it. This couldn’t be happening.

Thoughts of power were pushed aside as he cried genuine tears of sadness. For all the people he had met… for all the wretched, unworthy scum he had come across, it was this goofy, bloody skeleton that had loved him the most.

A small laugh escaped him as he thought of it. How absurd. He wanted to deny it, wanted to pin its behavior on nothing but a quirk of its nature, but he knew that wasn’t the case. Not entirely. Bloodshed was unique. It had a true soul.

In a sense, it was a person. It wasn’t just a mindless construct of ether. And its life, which he had so liberally abused, was at that moment being forfeited to save his own.

There was no goddamn way he would let that happen.

“Bloodshed!” He commanded.

It perked up weakly. “What is it, Master?” It asked.

“Hang on just a bit…” he said, voice shivering. “I am going to save you,” he promised with a smile.

With all the effort he could muster, he forced himself to shake awake.

After briefly swimming back up to the surface and gulping several deep breaths, he dove straight down. Anything he came across, be it fish or algae, was torn apart as he went on a rampage. Every shred of focus he could muster went into controlling water to propel him further, and with a brief flash of will and a splash of etheric water in his soul, it crystallized into an ability.

His mangled body was slowly pieced back together, and the carnivorous fish appeared yet again. This time, he welcomed their rush, brawling with them. He bit right back and used the power of Hydraulic Flex to split their jaws apart, barely keeping himself from drowning.

He momentarily peered back into his soul. “Bloodshed!” He demanded. “Lend me your help!”

He had no idea what he wanted it to do, and it had no idea what it could do to help, but it nodded its head anyway. With a moment of concentration, he began meditating. The thoughts of serene water and calm lakes were wholly pushed aside as he imagined rivers of blood instead.

Instantly, an intense backlash struck his soul. Indeed, he didn’t have a blood affinity. There was no way he could attract wisps of blood.

But Bloodshed had sensed what he was trying to do, and with a faint light in its eyes, it floated over to his star. Standing next to the roiling mass of ether, it reluctantly dipped a claw inside.

Freddy felt as if the core of his being was being pierced, but the smallest of hints of red appeared. Then, he returned to meditating.

He nearly gasped in shock once he did. The water around him was thick with numerous wisps of blood, and, ignoring the fish ravaging his body, he focused on absorbing them.

Eventually, he had to fight back, if anything, just to undo the damage the lack of oxygen was doing; then, he quickly glanced at his soul—and froze once he did.

There, orbiting his star, was another uneven cage. Bloodshed was inside it, whole but unresponsive.

“Bloodshed!” He screamed. “Bloodshed, no!” He cried as he grasped the cage of runes. “Why would you do this…?”

“This was the best way to keep myself alive,” it responded.

“Oh,” Freddy stepped back. “Oh shit, you’re alive!”

“Master, I need your consent.”

Before he could ask for what, he felt it. And with a grin, he gave Bloodshed a nod. A raging red light ignited in its eyes, and the cage solidified in its odd shape with a giant splash of blood that traveled over to his star.

A massive surge of power entered him as he felt the blue mass of light slowly split into one half entirely blue—and another half red.

But before he could ponder his new affinity, he rushed back outside. There, he was still in a fight with several fish. He swung over and over, healing himself, but…

‘Oh, shit…’ was all he had the time to think as the blood loss suddenly caught up with him and he lost consciousness.

As he did, the faint voice of Bloodshed echoed from his soul, “Don’t worry, Master… I will take over from here.”

***

Janhalar ducked beneath a lance of flame and kicked away the woman’s wrist as he deflected her saber.

Who were these people? Only at the peak of two stars, they had such skill and power that they could nearly stand up to him in a fight. Nearly.

The woman was severely injured, with his recent kick wounding her right wrist and several previous strikes bruising her stomach. One of the man’s eyes was closed shut, and his gait was uncertain. These fools wouldn’t last much longer, but they weren’t his primary concern anyway.

Just a few moments ago, the nature of his ring’s bond with the spirit had changed again. He could still feel where it was, but there was something concerning about that connection.

He had to quickly—

In his moment of distraction, the woman suddenly summoned a phantasmal blade mirroring the shape of the other she still held in her hand and threw it at him. The sudden appearance of the weapon was unexpected, and as he hadn’t been prepared for it, it lightly grazed his cheek, causing a few drops of blood to fly off and drop into the ocean.

Perhaps he should hurry and use Blood of the—

Suddenly, something felt deeply wrong. His senses flared up, and he could feel something extremely concerning. A titanic mass of blood was shifting in the ocean, and the few precious… dangerous specks of his blood were among them.

The man prepared to launch another lance, but before he could, Janahar screamed and rushed into the water.

There, he saw the massive carcass of an oceanic monstrosity… and all of its blood flowing through a wound on its neck, gathering around where he felt Bloodshed was located.

***

Freddy’s consciousness was lightly stirred as he yet again appeared before Bloodshed’s cage. He felt floaty, and he wasn’t all there. His mind was primarily asleep, tired, waning as his brain cells screamed for oxygen.

“I have gathered enough blood,” Bloodshed declared.

“For what?” He asked numbly.

“With my presence in your soul, Master, you have attained a new ability,” it said.

“And what is that ability called?”

***

Firrita and Kaefalge remained on the surface, cradling their wounds.

The woman breathed heavily. “That man… He lacks skill, but he still holds the power of four stars. Should we retreat?”

Kaefalge frowned. “That might be the best choice,” he said. “But I believe that would be a wasted opportunity. That blood skeleton—it was a true ether construct.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s indeed a great opportunity,” she said, a slight edge to her voice. “For one of us, at the risk to both our lives.”

He smiled. “You are right to be skeptical, woman, so I will tell you openly. I want that thing for myself.”

She scoffed. “And I do not want to engage in this. I will drag you away even against your will.”

Suddenly, they both froze. An immense, otherworldly pressure enveloped them, and it felt as if reality itself was bleeding. The ocean rose in a titanic wave as a massive bloody spinal column shot up to the sky, followed by another, and then another. On all three spines, there was a skull dripping in blood, and more, thinner columns appeared, rising like tentacles out of the water and whipping the island with immense, earth-shattering force as the entire sea adopted the color of blood.

“On second thought,” Kaefalge surrendered, “I think it’s best we leave.”

***

Janhalar flew out of the water, pushed back by an intense wave of water as he was washed ashore. “What on New Earth…!?” He stared in terror at the being radiating immense levels of bloody aura.

This couldn’t be. This was impossible. He still sensed the spirit and where it was, so what on earth was this thing? It couldn’t have possibly evolved into an eidolon, and even if it had, this was far bigger than any eidolon he had ever heard of.

The thoughts of turning around and escaping, however, were not on his mind. Instead, a pure, primal rage boiled as he roared at the sky. No matter what, he would walk out of there with the spirit in his hands!

***

Freddy slowly woke up. It felt as if a massive river of life force was flowing directly into his body, rapidly pushing the suffocation away. The water around him was tinged red, and he could feel that that wasn’t a benign trait. This… No, he… was killing everything in the ocean… But how?

As he floated back up to the surface, he froze still, mind uncomprehending as he stared at the titanic creature of blood and bone.

“B–… B–… B— Bloodshed?” He asked, fearing the answer.

One of the titanic heads turned to him, and he heard the voice in his head. “Yes, Master,” it answered.

Freddy grinned. A crazed, unbelieving grin spread from one ear to another.

Then, he heard the roar coming from the beach.

Any questions he might have had were interrupted by the massive spear of hardened blood that pierced right through his back, crushing his heart.

He gasped, turning around to face the culprit, who stared at him with a manic look in his eye. Before death could come, however, he felt the spear being pushed out of his body. And as soon as it was out, the damage it had left was gone as if it hadn’t even been there.

“Holy shit,” he said. “That’s a lot of lifesteal…”

With fury in his eyes, he also turned to face the Kraven patriarch. “Bloodshed!” He screamed. “Attack!” He commanded, unsure of what to expect.

One of the three massive heads dove down, rushing towards Janhalar, who was already running to get out of its way. Numerous tentacles impeded his progress, while a second skull bit into a floating island that it threw at the patriarch.

Whatever he had expected, it definitely wasn’t that.

The first skull slammed into the landmass, kicking up a giant cloud of dust and sending a shockwave, while the landing meteorite had an even more significant impact. Despite all this, the image of the Kraven bastard appeared, running over the surface of the bloody ocean right toward Freddy.

Right. An ocean of blood was probably good for him, too, it seemed.

He quickly dove underwater, aiming to hide from the crazed clan leader, but it was useless. The white-haired man was after him instantly, traveling with the speed of a torpedo as he rushed to collide with Freddy’s body.

A large spike of blood appeared in his hand, and he swung, cutting Freddy’s body apart with nearly no resistance—and with even fewer consequences. No matter what Janhalar did, Freddy’s near-immortality seemed enough to keep him alive.

As he reached for the head, however, the near-immortal wasn’t keen on questioning the limits of his current state, and luckily, neither was Bloodshed, who swung its third head at the two of them, kicking up a bloody tsunami and separating them as a spine pushed Freddy up above the surface of the ocean.

The spinal columns created a large bridge in the sky that he could travel over, and without hesitation, he used Hydraulic Flex to run forward. While he rarely had trouble with essence, he was almost completely tapped out by that point, and it wasn’t like he could take casual strolls in the netherecho to recover.

Opting to conserve his essence, he simply ran—but that wouldn’t be enough.

Rising out of the ocean like a bloody dragon, Janhalar jumped on the spine right ahead of him, and in a flash, he appeared next to Freddy. Just as he was about to turn Freddy’s brain into mush with a bloody spear, another spine smashed into his side with a flick and threw him into the water again.

The massive heads tried their best, but Janhalar was a tiny, fast target. While he had been confident moments ago, Freddy suddenly felt that once the ocean was done dying out or his new ability reached its limit, he would be left defenseless.

And it wasn’t like running away was possible.

The Kraven patriarch jumped again, bouncing off three consecutive columns, and made his way to Freddy. This time, his swing reached, and Freddy’s head was instantly cut off. Fleshy tendrils grew out to try and reconnect his head to the rest of his body, but the patriarch kicked his head away before that could happen.

Dropping into the ocean, he was still alive, although he was quite literally just a head. The blood around him shifted, seeping into his skin as his healing worked overtime to reconstruct his cells. Bit by bit, he felt the rest of his body growing back out, but the patriarch was already on his way to finish him off.

‘Shit, shit, shit, shit!’

The situation was desperate, and in his moment of panic, he realized one more thing. That was right! He hadn’t crystallized the leviathan!

As he entered his netherecho, he saw the floating head staring him down with murder in its eyes.

“Sorry, pal!” Freddy said and, with a burst of will, crystallized its shell.

“Nooooo!” It roared defiantly, but it could do nothing to stop it as its runic cage formed.

A splash of dark, ghastly water with shapes shifting inside it entered Freddy’s star, splitting it three ways as it added a third component.

With no time to ponder his new affinity, he left the netherecho. He didn’t know why, but both his new abilities had to be named to be used. Spotting the angry patriarch making his way through the water, Freddy’s lips uttered, “Leviathan’s Fury…”

Suddenly, bone-like protrusions grew out of his head, cracking his skull and shredding his flesh as they formed a large head just like that of the leviathan that bit down on the patriarch.

Janhalar was caught off-guard, likely as being attacked so viciously by a floating head wasn’t something one usually expected to face and suffered a massive bite on his leg.

The intense burst of healing that flowed into Freddy as he damaged Janhalar’s body directly was several times greater than the constant stream he was receiving. His entire neck and some of his left shoulder were reconstructed in a second, and a moment later, Leviathan’s Fury vanished as if it hadn’t even been there.

There was a somewhat awkward moment as Janhalar glared at the disembodied floating head, staring in disbelief, and Freddy, not knowing what to do, uttered “Leviathan’s Fury” again.

Once more, the same thing happened, but this time, the patriarch defended himself.

This new ability of his seemed to cost absolutely nothing in essence—but it dealt tremendous damage to his body in return. As he missed, he realized the true weight of using Leviathan’s Fury as the influx of lifesteal slowly undid the damage.

In the next moment, a massive skull crashed down on them again, and Freddy was once more pushed away. A second head grabbed him in its teeth and raised him on one of the floating rocks. From there, all he could see was the shifting blue ceiling, which was reflecting some of the red, and all he could hear was the intense showdown happening below as Bloodshed continued the fight.

As his arms gradually grew back out, he crawled over to get a better look. It wasn’t looking good. Although he’d used a tremendous quantity of blood with his new ability—Blood Sacrifice—and summoned a powerful manifestation of Bloodshed, bridging the gap against an elite four-star arch was no joke.

He was gradually destroying Bloodshed, and soon enough, one of the three giant skulls fell as the spine was shattered at its base. There was no easy way to win this if there even was a way at all, but he knew one thing.

If he was going to die, he wouldn’t do it before he could punch that bastard in his stupid face.

With Hydraulic Flex, Freddy pushed himself into freefall and flew towards the fight.

“Bloodshed!” He commanded, and one of the giant skulls moved down to redirect his fall. “Throw me at that piece of shit! Full speed!”

Obediently, Bloodshed did, and he, who hadn’t even grown his legs back yet, came crashing down with the force of a shooting star. Flowing Strike coursed through his body, and he readied himself to land a massive punch. Instead, he completely missed. But before he could crash into the sea, he screamed, “Leviathan’s Fury!” and the head rushed towards the patriarch again, biting into his arm and yanking him off the column he was standing on.

“You bastard!” Janhalar yelled. “What have you done!?”

“Eat my ass, Janny!” was all Freddy had to say to that.

The head of the leviathan vanished again, and Freddy was falling freely, his legs halfway grown back. Both the men crashed into the ocean, and the blood arch rushed at him.

There was a tension to the blood arch, and Freddy could tell he was apprehensive. So he mouthed Leviathan… but stopped there as he instead yelled for Bloodshed. A moment later, one of the giant skulls grabbed him out of the water with its teeth, and the other launched a huge sky rock at Janhalar.

Freddy was dragged back to the island's shores, where he felt his legs finally grow back out. His body was horribly skinny, barely more than skin and bone. But he still felt that the effects of his tempering were there. Good… For a moment, he had been afraid that losing his body would mean losing the tempering. That didn’t seem to be the case, though.

He braced himself as the most recent of the tsunamis was about to wash over him, but a helpful spine tentacle lifted him above it. Good Bloodshed.

That crazy bastard was nowhere to be found, but he knew better than to believe that had finished him off. Indeed, the next moment, he spotted a red flash jumping out on the beach and rushing at him at impossible speed, showcasing the physical capabilities of a well-tempered four-star arch.

Janhalar slashed at Freddy’s head, but a spine tentacle had predicted that move, blocking his attack preemptively. The target tried retaliating with a kick, but that was swiftly dodged as the patriarch repositioned for another strike.

Rushing directly at Freddy, Janhalar was right about to stab again, but then he jumped back. A resolved look flashed on his face, and he opened his mouth to say, “Blood of—”

“Leviathan’s Fury,” Freddy cut him off.

Given that his entire body had grown back, it seemed that the extra tissue wouldn’t be spared. His admittedly reckless use of a mysterious ability he wasn’t familiar with was clearly not within the patriarch’s expectations, nor was the sudden extra speed and power behind it.

Janhalar’s entire body was grasped in the maw of the leviathan, and Freddy, through a mouthful of blood, muttered “Bloodshed…” and moments later, the titanic head came crashing down on both him—and Janhalar.

It took a few moments for Freddy to regain his consciousness. But as he did, and as he got up, he quickly realized that he was in far better shape than the blood arch, who was still forcing himself back up despite the extensive damage his body had suffered.

Freddy’s eyes widened. Bloodshed was gone, and it seemed that his ability had run out of time or fuel or whatever.

He didn’t know what to do.

Janhalar was already back on his feet. “You…” he said. “What… did… you do?” He cried. “What did you do!?” He demanded an answer.

Feeling a sudden outburst of emotion welling up, Freddy yelled, “I didn’t do anything, you piece of fucking shit! From the very goddamn beginning, I haven’t done a single thing that deserves your judgment. And you have taken all the liberty you could, every step of the way to—”

“Shut up!”

“You have been—”

“I said shu—”

“No, you—”

“Shut up, vermin!” Janhalar screamed.

“I won’t shut up!” Freddy refused. “Let me speak!”

“I won’t let you speak! You have no right to speak in front of me!” Janhalar screamed out, madness in his eyes. “Kneel and apologize!”

“Leviathan’s Fury,” said Freddy instead, sending a sudden attack that the patriarch was helpless to defend against as his body was bitten down on and mangled further.

The damage he did offset some of the damage he took, but not a lot. Freddy’s entire body was left full of holes, and several of his bones were broken. He was barely standing on his feet.

But Janhalar couldn’t get up anymore, even though he desperately tried.

“Have you been like this your whole life, you miserable twat?” Freddy asked. “Do you really… need power that badly… that you’re willing to destroy everything else in your path to get it?”

“Sub… human… waste…” the patriarch returned.

“I see…” Freddy said. “Leviathan’s Fury.”

The ability flew out again, and this time, the Kraven patriarch no longer moved.

Freddy cackled on the ground. He couldn’t move, either. Perhaps this last move was a bit too reckless, but he couldn’t take any risk when faced with someone who should, by all rights, completely overwhelm him in power.

There was only one way, at that moment, for him to recover his body enough to move. With every new star, an arch acquired certain physiological changes, and with that came a smidgeon of healing.

And he was right at the completion of his first star. Having just achieved something quite remarkable, he had high hopes. Discarding the several trash abilities he had and giving himself a once-over again, he focused on his star.

It was split three ways by his three affinities, which was an incredible thing to think about.

That was enough for delays.

With a burst of will, he focused. Rather than attracting wisps, this time, they materialized out of thin air. Small, smudgy patches of blue, red, and dark blue flowed into his soul, spinning in a vortex beside his first star.

A voice rang through his soul, the sweet call of a long-forgotten prime, as the violent, yellow eyes opened again.

‘Unshackled to bear the weight it demands, unlimited, unscarred of fate’s filthy hands.’

***

Benjamin shook profusely as he walked through the caves near Camp Violet. He was still new to the job, so being sent out into the wilderness, where something had burned hundreds of people to death, put him just a bit out of his element, to say the least.

He stood beside his two colleagues, the beautiful Elena and the tight-arsed Liam.

The danger had been well-scouted, he knew; they were relatively safe, he worked to convince himself, but with each step they took further into these haunted caves, he felt his knees grow weaker.

The sudden ringing of Liam’s phone caused him to yelp, and he turned around, blushing as Elena looked at him weirdly.

‘Oh, crap,’ he regretted. ‘I had to go and…’

He froze. His stomach dropped. A ghoul of some sort shambled toward them, and before he could even scream, he launched a Stone Bullet at it. The man-shaped monster buckled over, and he prepared to attack again, making sure Elena saw how cool he was—

Suddenly, Liam rushed at him and grabbed him by the arm, yelling, “Idiot! That is a person!”

“Wh… What?” He asked dumbly.

Liam pushed him roughly as he walked forward.

“Oh…. fuck,” he cursed as he realized that, indeed, he was… a survivor. A man with severe burns all over the upper part of his body, oh shit. He just attacked a heavily injured survivor.

Liam carefully pushed the man over into a more comfortable position and examined him. Then, he spoke into the phone, which was still on line with the sergeant, “Sergeant Afronte, I have found another survivor. Appears to be male, severely injured, with heavy burn scars all over the upper side of his body. My colleague prematurely identified him as a threat, and he had suffered an attack by Stone Bullet, stage one. I’m requesting backup on my location. Send medical support.”

Then, Liam saw a strange object that the burned man was clutching tightly in his hands. After extracting it carefully, he added, “I would like to request higher priority. The man has been identified as a staff member, an official employee of Camp Violet…

“His name is Peter Vane.”

[1% Lifesteal]

[BOOK ONE]

[END]

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
First of all, hello everyone! Second of all, no this isn't a hiatus notice, you can unshit your pants now :D.
Third of all, wow that was a wild ride, wannit? This whole book was a crazy experience for me, I do have to say, I think I still have a thing or two to work on, but I believe I did a rather good job.
Now, few things to get out of the way. First, this book is signed with Aethon (yay), so that means it's getting fully published and an audiobook (wooo).
And second, thank you all so, so much for reading the book and supporting me. Writing is my full-time job, so being able to afford a living makes me a very happy man.
If you've enjoyed the book, please, please leave a review on Royal Road! That helps me a ton, and I love getting feedback on my work. As I said, I'll be working on fixing a thing or two, so if you have noticed any specific problems, do let me know, and I'll do my best to correct them.
I'll be done with Jester book three soon, but I probably won't be putting the new version up on RR or Patreon, there isn't much of a difference, it's just an extensive fix of basic writing errors, and I cut some crappy parts down to make it less painful to read. Hopefully, I'll be starting book 4 soon, so look forward to that :D
That would be it. Have a glorious day, and see you all Tuesday with Chapter 1 of book two.
If you have any questions, DMs are open and comments are perfectly fine too. 

CYA!