The western marshlands reeked of death.
Jaewon crouched on a half-submerged tree root, scanning the fog-drowned horizon. Silver mist clung to the water like old breath, and the moon above bled pale light through the clouds. His Yin Compass flickered erratically, the needle spinning before jerking west again.
"Third time it's gone haywire," Sumi muttered, tightening her cloak. "Either the magnetic fields here are cursed, or something's toying with us."
"Or both," Jaewon replied.
A whisper drifted through the fog too soft for ordinary ears, but it slid through his mind like a blade against glass.
Come home.
He ignored it, rising to his feet. "We keep moving. The Seal's pulse is close."
They moved in silence, their boots sinking into black mud. Every step stirred the stench of rot. Old ruins jutted from the water ahead stone spires covered in moss and blood-colored fungus.
Sumi's lantern flared suddenly. "Qi distortion," she whispered.
Before Jaewon could respond, the ground trembled. Water rippled outward. From beneath the surface, skeletal hands burst through the muck.
"Back!" Jaewon shouted.
Figures dragged themselves from the mire Fang Sect disciples, their flesh gray, eyes milky with undeath. Silver needles pierced their veins, feeding them corrupted Qi.
Sumi drew her twin talismans. "They're already dead."
"Then we make it quick."
She flung the talismans. They ignited mid-air, slicing through two corpses in blinding arcs of light. Jaewon leapt forward, palm glowing with Yin Qi. He struck the nearest revenant's chest, Qi surged, and its ribcage exploded in mist and bone shards.
But the corpses kept coming.
A guttural voice echoed through the fog.
"You shouldn't have come here, hunter."
The mist split. A tall man stepped out barefoot, robes crimson and soaked, fangs glinting beneath his smile. His eyes glowed the color of spilled wine.
Jaewon tensed. "Fang Sect."
The vampire bowed mockingly. "Disciple Baek Ren, Keeper of the Crimson Gate. The Heir of Varos honors us with his presence."
Sumi's blade froze mid-air. "How do you know that name?"
Baek Ren smiled wider. "Because my master spoke it before the moon rose. He remembers his blood."
Jaewon's grip tightened around his weapon. "Then he remembers wrong."
Baek Ren's form blurred he vanished, reappearing behind Sumi. She spun, talisman flashing, barely blocking his claw strike. Sparks scattered, burning holes in the fog.
Jaewon lunged forward. His blade met Ren's in a shriek of steel. The impact sent shockwaves through the water, splashing up mist like smoke.
Ren laughed. "Still fighting it, aren't you? The voice in your veins. The hunger."
Jaewon's eyes flickered red for an instant but he forced them back to silver. "I'm not your kin."
"Not yet."
Ren vanished again. Jaewon closed his eyes, expanding his Qi field feeling the faint ripples of energy through the swamp. He ducked just as Ren appeared overhead, slashing downward with claws that hummed like tuning forks. Jaewon parried, drove a knee into Ren's ribs, then kicked him backward into the muck.
"Now!" Jaewon shouted.
Sumi hurled three more talismans. They ignited mid-flight, forming a burning triangle around the vampire. Energy crackled, sealing him in. But Ren only smiled and ripped the talismans apart with raw Qi.
Sumi staggered. "That's impossible—"
"His Qi's feeding on mine," Jaewon realized. "He's using the same resonance."
Ren grinned, blood dripping from his teeth. "You see? You belong with us."
He spread his arms, and the marsh came alive dozens of corpses rising again, their veins glowing crimson. Jaewon and Sumi stood back to back.
"Guess we do this the hard way," she muttered.
"Wouldn't be the first time."
They moved in perfect rhythm Sumi's talismans carving arcs of light, Jaewon's blade striking through shadows. Each kill burst into ash and steam. But for every one they felled, another clawed its way out of the mire.
Ren blurred between them, moving faster than the eye could track. His claws raked across Jaewon's chest. Pain burned, but Jaewon caught his wrist mid-swing, twisted, and slammed him into a stone pillar. Cracks spider-webbed through the rock.
"You bleed silver," Ren hissed, smiling through broken teeth. "How poetic."
Jaewon didn't answer he drove his elbow into Ren's throat, then kicked him backward into the swamp. The vampire sank, hissing, before the water swallowed him whole.
Silence returned, heavy and unnatural.
Sumi panted beside him. "Is he dead?"
Jaewon stared at the rippling surface. "No."
The marsh stilled completely. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Then, with a roar, the water exploded upward. Ren shot out like a spear of blood and shadow, his body fully transformed skin black as obsidian, veins glowing scarlet, wings of bone tearing from his back.
"Now you see!" he screamed, voice doubled and warped. "The Fang Sect does not die!"
He struck faster, stronger. Jaewon barely deflected the blow, sliding backward across the slick ground. His arm went numb from the force.
"Jaewon!" Sumi shouted.
He exhaled once, steadying himself. "Stand back."
"Don't—"
He closed his eyes.
The whisper came again. Let me in.
For a heartbeat, he hesitated.
Then he let it.
His pupils dilated. The mark on his chest flared crimson, spreading like fire through his veins. When he opened his eyes, they glowed the same color as Ren's but brighter, sharper, alive.
Ren froze mid-attack, disbelief flickering across his face. "You—"
Jaewon moved. One instant he was standing; the next, he was behind Ren, his blade buried halfway through the vampire's torso. Energy detonated outward, shattering the pillar behind them.
Ren choked, crimson smoke curling from his wounds. "You… shouldn't… exist…"
Jaewon whispered, "Neither should you."
He twisted the blade. Ren's body dissolved into ash.
When the smoke cleared, the marsh was silent again. Only the sound of water dripping from broken roots filled the air.
Sumi ran to him. "Jaewon—your eyes—"
He blinked. The glow faded, replaced by exhaustion. "I'm fine."
"That wasn't fine." Her voice trembled. "You—changed."
"I controlled it," he said, wiping blood from his mouth. "For now."
They both looked toward the shattered shrine nearby. The Yin Compass pulsed weakly, its needle pointing to the altar submerged in mud. On it lay a stone tablet, half-broken, carved with an ancient sigil.
Sumi brushed away the dirt. The words etched there made her throat tighten.
"The Fang awaits the Moon's Heir."
Jaewon stared at it, expression unreadable. "He knew I'd come."
"Who?" Sumi asked.
"Lord Baek," Jaewon said quietly. "Ren wasn't acting alone."
The mist thickened again, curling around their ankles like smoke. From far off, a bell tolled deep and mournful. In the reflection on the water's surface, Sumi saw two red eyes watching from the fog-covered cliffs.
Jaewon turned sharply, hand on his sword. Nothing there. Only silence.
But somewhere beyond the marsh, a whisper echoed low, amused, ancient.
"The heir has awakened."