The forest was silent again too silent.
Even the wind refused to move. The ashes of the slain beast drifted through the air, dissolving into the fog like dark snow.
Jaewon stood among the remains, his sword Bloodvein dripping with black ichor that hissed and ate into the ground. "Its blood's alive," he muttered.
Sumi knelt beside the carcass, her talisman hovering over the ruined soil. "No heartbeat. No Qi signature. But…" Her brow furrowed. "The corruption isn't fading."
"It's feeding," Jaewon said quietly. "Something deeper is pulling it."
Behind them, the Silver Fang Sect approached armored hunters with crescent insignias across their chests. Their leader, Jinwoo, stepped through the mist, his blade gleaming cold under the dying moonlight.
"There's movement ahead," Jinwoo said. "Our scouts found a tunnel beneath the ridge. It reeks of blood."
Jaewon met his eyes. The tension between them was a living thing, sharp as any sword. "Then we move before the scent fades."
Jinwoo's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Try not to lose control before we get there."
Sumi shot him a glare but said nothing. Jaewon simply turned away. The hunt had no room for pride.
The tunnel mouth gaped like an open wound in the hillside, exhaling a chill that smelled of stone, dust, and old iron. The deeper they descended, the colder it became.
Crimson veins of crystal lined the walls not naturally grown, but cultivated, pulsing faintly as if alive. Each beat synchronized with the throb in Jaewon's veins.
Sumi brushed her fingers along the wall. "These aren't normal minerals. They're… crystallized blood Qi."
"From what creature?" one hunter whispered.
"The kind that used to rule before men learned to hunt," Jaewon replied.
The passage widened into an ancient temple buried deep beneath the earth. Pillars of cracked obsidian rose around them, carved with runes so old their meanings had been lost to time. Shadows crawled between them like things half-alive.
Murals covered every wall scenes of warriors kneeling before a single figure seated upon a throne of fangs. The carvings shimmered faintly as if painted with blood that refused to fade.
Sumi's torchlight passed over the central mural. She froze. "These markings… they're from the First Age."
Jaewon stepped closer. "Before the sects?"
She nodded. "Before the Yin Order. Before the Hunters divided their paths."
The image showed a warrior holding a blade of light and blood, his face split half human, half fanged, eyes like twin moons.
Jinwoo's jaw tightened. "Varos," he said coldly.
Jaewon shook his head slowly. "No. Something's wrong. Look at the runes near the base."
Sumi traced the inscription. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "It doesn't say The First Vampire. It says The First Hunter."
The silence that followed was heavier than stone.
"Impossible," Jinwoo muttered. "Varos was the enemy. The Devourer of Suns."
"Maybe once," Sumi said, "but this… this shows he began as one of us."
Jaewon's chest burned suddenly a deep, rhythmic pain pulsing beneath his ribs. The red veins in the walls brightened in time with his heartbeat. His mark began to glow faintly through his robes.
Sumi turned, alarmed. "Jaewon, your seal—it's reacting!"
He gritted his teeth. "It's… answering something."
A low hum filled the temple, vibrating through the stone. Dust drifted from the ceiling. Then, from somewhere deeper in the darkness, a voice spoke smooth, ancient, and unbearably calm.
"So… the blood remembers its home."
Every torch guttered out at once. The only light came from the glowing crystals and from Jaewon himself.
The shadows moved. They didn't shift like natural darkness they flowed, rising from the cracks in the floor, taking shape.
Figures formed half men, half beasts, bound in chains of living Qi. Their eyes burned red.
"Guardians!" Jinwoo shouted.
The chamber exploded into chaos. Hunters leapt into motion, blades flaring with silver and Yin light. Claws met steel in showers of sparks.
Jaewon moved like a storm. Bloodvein sang through the air, every strike unnaturally precise, driven by instinct older than memory. His Qi surged wildly, spilling out in waves of red and black. Each movement left trails of burning light that tore through the shadows.
"Jaewon!" Sumi called. "You're losing control!"
But he couldn't stop. The voice in his head grew louder with every heartbeat.
"You know this dance. You've bled in this hall before."
The mark on his chest seared with pain. His breath came ragged. He drove his sword through another guardian, shattering it into mist — and the mural behind him cracked from the force.
Stone split open, revealing a hidden passage. Within it lay a massive coffin made of black glass, etched with silver sigils that shimmered like moonlight.
The voice sighed with satisfaction.
"There… my prison."
Sumi turned toward it, horror dawning in her eyes. "That's not a tomb," she whispered. "It's a seal."
Jaewon staggered toward the coffin, as if drawn by invisible chains. The mark on his chest pulsed in rhythm with the sigils.
The air trembled. Jinwoo shouted something behind him, but the world had narrowed to a single point the whisper threading through his blood.
"Wake me, my child… and I will end your hunger."
Jaewon's hands shook. His vision swam red. "No… I'm not yours."
The ground erupted. Red energy burst from the coffin, hurling everyone back. The ceiling cracked; dust and shards rained down. The lid of the coffin shifted open, just an inch.
A single drop of black-red liquid slid out, landing on the stone with a hiss that echoed like thunder. The ground beneath it scorched, pulsing outward in veins of molten red.
Sumi crawled to Jaewon, gripping his shoulder. "We have to go—now!"
He stared at the coffin. The whisper hadn't stopped. It was inside him now, deeper than thought, older than his name.
"The moon remembers its son."
Jinwoo pulled one of his hunters up from the debris. His face was pale. "We're standing in a living seal. If this collapses—"
The temple shook violently, answering him. Cracks split the floor, glowing red.
Jaewon forced himself up, breathing hard. His Qi was unstable, flaring uncontrollably. He sheathed Bloodvein and steadied himself, though his vision blurred with red light.
He looked at the coffin one last time. It pulsed not like an object, but like a heart.
"Varos isn't sleeping," Jaewon said quietly. "He's listening."
Sumi grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the tunnel. "Then we run before he answers."
The hunters fled through the collapsing corridor. The walls bled light, runes bursting like dying stars. Behind them, the coffin's glow intensified and from deep within, a heartbeat sounded.
Slow. Deliberate.
Alive.