Kael stood before the second coffin with his heart beating with a silent anger. The room grew dark, the shades growing black as ink. This time the lid opened without a hiss, but with a brittle crack, as though a raging doom had been pent in.
Inside... was him
but this Kael were of red-blood fangs, blacked sclera, and crazed feral eyes. His unclothed chest went with scratches of claws and burns of sigils and the blood was oozing out of his fingers as oil.
He stepped out barefoot, grinning wide, head tilted.
"You ran, I killed."
"You begged, I tore them open."
"You trained to survive, I fed on their screams."
Kael knit his brows.
This was the Kael who went mad, when he lost himself that week in the miasmic forest... who savored the kill when for the first time the hunger came.
The echoee charged.
Skill Activated: [Crimson Bloom: Phase I]
Buffs: +40% Agility, Afterimage Dash
Duration: 5s | Cooldown: 30s
Kael dodged the slash, barely. The echo's claws grazed his shoulder, hot and numb like venom. They clashed across the stone floor, two reflections of a broken soul.
The echo laughed in pure delight.
> "You're still scared of what we are."
Trait Triggered: [Bloodburn Overload Lv.1 – Active]
Trigger: HP < 25% or when he's enraged
Buffs:
+25% Atk Speed
+20% Move Speed
Blood Skills: No Cost
Lifesteal +10%
Duration: 6s | Cooldown: 5 min
Kael snarled back. He wasn't afraid.
He was done denying what he had become.
He lunged with a low sweep and drove his palm into the echo's chest. The blood resonance connected, heart to heart.
Skill Activated: [Pulse Sync: Crimson Heart]
Effect: Force resonance with mimic-type echoes
Overload Chance: 95%
Cost: 20% stamina
Duration: 3s
With a start the eyes of the echo bulged. Blood was coming out of his mouth, then he smiled even bigger.
"Seems we aren't so different."
The second rebound broke in smoke of blood.
Kael sank on one knee, wheezing.
> [Burden Trial: Progress 2/5 Complete]
The rage within. Embraced, not denied.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and stood, shaking.
Two coffins left.
And the weight of himself grew heavier with each step.
---
End Chapter
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