"Stop, Cruxius, you cannot ruin your life again!"
Sugar's voice sliced through the thick tension, trembling with authority and desperation.
But it wasn't her voice that stopped them.
SPLAT!
A grotesque splash of blood slammed against the glass window behind Cruxius.
It didn't drip.
It didn't fall.
It hovered—suspended in mid-air, shivering unnaturally like it was alive. The lights in the cabin flickered once... then died completely. Darkness swallowed everything as a strange low hum began to pulse through the air.
Every breath halted.
Every heartbeat became thunder.
Cruxius turned halfway, his golden eyes narrowing, his mind sharpening like a scalpel.
Darithi moved first.
Her usually lifeless expression crumbled into raw, instinctive terror.
"MASTER!!"
She screamed.
Feet skidding back, she drew her blade in one motion—knuckles pale, grip unsteady.
