---
Kael awoke beneath the pond again.
The waters were calm now.
His body wasn't.
The holy wound on his shoulder still sizzled beneath the skin, refusing to close even with his regenerative blood surging.
It wasn't just fire that had touched him… it was judgment.
He pulled himself out of the water, breathing slow.
The air stung.
His mutation held, but barely. His skin had gone pale and cracked along the burn lines, veins pulsing red like a map of pressure.
> "That inquisitor… didn't even use half his strength."
---
Kael clenched his teeth.
He had been prey again.
But not forever.
He reached into the book, pages now marked with singed edges.
Scars left by divine fire.
One page pulsed.
> [Technique: Hallowed Loop (Instability: 87%)]
▸ A distorted copy of the divine slash
▸ Reflects enemy pattern with blood-fueled mimicry
▸ Warning: High mental strain. Memory corruption risk
---
Kael closed his eyes.
Then bared his fangs.
> "If pain is the price of keeping pace with gods… fine."
---
He began immediately.
Practicing in silence, alone in a nearby clearing.
Mimicking the inquisitor's stance again and again.
Every repetition felt like swallowing glass.
His muscles screamed.
His shoulder bled.
His blood pulsed too fast.
---
And then… on the thirtieth swing…
His eyes caught the angle.
His fingers caught the weight.
His blood remembered.
A blurred image of the inquisitor flashed in his mind mid-swing.
Kael followed through.
And the wind snapped in a clean arc, searing the edge of nearby trees.
> "Again."
His voice was hoarse.
But steady.
---
By nightfall, Kael had collapsed from exhaustion.
But the scar remained.
Not the one on his shoulder. That would fade.
The one in his mind.
The crimson scar… burned in by the realization that the world's strongest were not beasts.
They were believers.
And they wouldn't stop just because he bled.
---
End of Chapter 14
---
/> Lore Fragment – "The Scarlet Doctrine"
"To scar a vampire is no easy feat. Their flesh heals. Their minds adapt. But divine steel doesn't just cut - it brands. It marks the soul itself. A scar left by holy fire does not warn… it declares."