The sky tore open like a wound that would never heal.
No lightning, no thunder—just silence so heavy it drowned every other sound.
The rift above stretched wider, swallowing whole blocks of warped cityscape, until the figure stepped through.
The Blood Architect.
Not a man. Not a vampire. Not anything mortal minds were meant to comprehend. His form shifted constantly—sometimes cloaked, sometimes faceless, sometimes a massive shadow with eyes burning like dying suns. His voice didn't echo through the streets; it rearranged them.
"You've tasted too much, little fang. Now you threaten the balance that keeps all worlds from collapsing."
Akira's breath came slow, measured—not from fear, but anticipation. Her Rank 7 aura surged, warping the world in retaliation, pulling whole buildings sideways to shield her from his gaze.
But it didn't matter.
With a single step, he erased everything between them. Streets flattened, walls dissolved, neon lights fizzled into nothingness. In that moment, Akira realized something horrifying—this wasn't even his full power.
Rin appeared at her side, tense but still calm. "You can't win this fight. You don't fight the Architect… you survive him."
Akira smirked. "Sounds like a challenge."
The Architect moved a finger—just a finger—and reality buckled. Akira's warped structures collapsed, her shadows dissolved, and the Rank 7 storm around her shattered like glass.
Pain ripped through her as she was pulled upward, suspended in mid-air, blood leaking into droplets that froze before hitting the ground. The Architect reached toward her chest—not to kill her, but to take something.
Her levels.
She could feel them peeling away—Rank 7 dropping, Rank 6 crumbling, Rank 5 fading like it never existed. Her mind screamed as her strength drained.
But then—instinct took over. She bit into her own arm, letting her blood ignite in a burning red flame. The world lurched, and instead of losing power, she locked it in, forcing the Architect's drain to stall.
For the first time, his shifting form hesitated.
"Interesting."
The ground below erupted as Sentinels swarmed to finish what he started, and Rin grabbed Akira's arm. "We run. Now."
Akira's eyes still glowed with defiance. "This isn't over."
Far above, the Architect's voice carried one final warning:
"No… it's just begun."
Cliffhanger: Akira has barely escaped with her Rank 7 powers intact—but now she's on the Architect's personal list, and his Sentinels will hunt her without rest.