The wind carried the scent of blood.
Fresh. Heavy. Close.
Quinn stood in the middle of the ruined temple, Velux's ring thrumming violently against his skin. Around him lay the aftermath of a massacre—broken columns, scorched floors, bodies drained of both life and shadow.
"This wasn't done by mortals," he muttered.
It wasn't, Velux replied. The Crimson Order has arrived.
Quinn's brow furrowed. "Vampire blood cult."
Not just vampires… sorcerers who learned to twist blood into shadow. They kill to perfect the Crimson Eclipse.
---
The ground shook as a figure emerged from the darkness of the altar. He was tall, armored in obsidian plates, eyes burning a deep scarlet. In his hand, a blade that dripped both blood and shadow.
"Quinn Talen," the figure's voice was like a drumbeat. "You wear Velux's Ring. That means you are my prey."
Quinn rolled his shoulders. "I'm getting tired of being hunted. Let's flip the script."
The warrior lunged, his blade screaming through the air with Bloodshadow Slash—a hybrid attack of pure nightmare. Quinn barely dodged, the energy tearing a trench in the stone floor.
---
Velux's voice was sharp. You can't win like this. He's mastered the blend.
"Then teach me," Quinn growled.
It is forbidden. If you fail, the shadows will consume your body, and the blood magic will burn your soul.
Quinn blocked another blow, his knees buckling under the force. "Sounds like a fair risk."
---
Velux finally relented. Merge your shadow core with your blood essence. Do not resist the pain—become it.
Quinn closed his eyes for a split second. Inside, he pulled the two forces together—shadow's cold hunger and blood's burning fury. They collided violently, screaming in his veins, threatening to tear him apart.
His heartbeat slowed. Then roared.
His shadow expanded like a living beast, veins of crimson light running through it. His eyes glowed both black and red.
The Crimson Eclipse was born.
---
The cult warrior hesitated for the first time. "That… should be impossible."
Quinn smiled darkly. "I'm good at impossible."
He moved—faster than before, his body flickering between reality and shadow. The whip of darkness in his right hand now burned with bloodfire, slicing through the warrior's armor like paper.
The cultist countered with Bloodshadow Storm, but Quinn absorbed it into his own form, twisting the attack back on its owner.
Every strike from Quinn now drained not only qi but the very will to fight.
---
The battle ended in a brutal flash—Quinn's Crimson Eclipse Breaker tearing through the warrior's chest. Shadows and blood exploded outward, staining the temple walls.
The body fell.
Velux's voice was quiet now. You've done what even I feared to attempt. But every time you use this… you bring yourself closer to something you won't be able to control.
Quinn stood over the corpse, the crimson glow slowly fading. "Control's overrated."
Outside, thunder rolled. Somewhere in the dark, other hunters had felt the power—and were coming.