The soil was still trembling.
The ribcage of the buried monster jutted from the necro-field like the ruins of a cathedral half-unearthed. Its hollow glow pulsed, faint and hungry, each throb in rhythm with the new-born lilies swaying at its feet. The air tasted of iron and ash, of earth that had swallowed too much and was not finished chewing.
Lucas stood at the edge of the pit, hand resting on the cold stone of the Relay, his eyes fixed on the glow inside the ribcage. Selena was beside him, pale hands dripping with blood, eyes wide with delight.
"My King," she whispered, voice shaking with hunger, "the ground has brought us an altar of its own. It would be rude not to feed it."
Lucas turned his gaze to the Red Vault. Inside, chained and bound, the captured Lords trembled. Their eyes burned with the last scraps of hatred, but their bodies sagged with exhaustion. They were still alive—but not for long.
"Bring them," he said.
Mirk and Var obeyed, dragging the prisoners across the yard by their hair and shoulders. Their chains scraped the stone, leaving sparks in their wake. The Sentinels stood like black statues, shields in place, crimson filigree pulsing with each heartbeat of the fortress. The feeders in their barracks cried out in unison, sensing what was about to happen.
Selena licked her lips. The blood that had dried at the corner of her mouth cracked into a smile. "Let me take their souls," she breathed. "Not just their blood. Not just their screams. Give me everything they are, and I will give it to the Core."
Lucas nodded once. His hand tightened on the Relay. "Do it."
The system answered, its voice colder than ever.
[Ding!]
[Crimson Core Ritual unlocked.]
[Sacrifice: Lord-class souls ×3.]
[Effect: Crimson Core strengthens → Sovereign Resonance +, Blood Mutation +.]
[Warning: Irreversible. Sovereign hunger will increase.]
Selena's eyes flared like twin suns drowned in blood. "You hear that, Lucas? It wants them. And so do I."
The ghouls forced the first Lord to his knees before the ribcage. His face was pale, his lips blue, his eyes sunken. He tried to shout a prayer, but Selena was already upon him.
She moved with elegance, kneeling before him like a lover, cupping his chin in her soft hands. "Shhh," she whispered, her fangs flashing. "Don't waste your last breath on gods who never cared for you."
Her mouth closed over his throat.
The Lord screamed—not with pain, but with something deeper. His body convulsed as blood drained in great heaving waves. But this time, Selena did not stop at blood. Her nails dug into his chest, slicing through skin and bone like silk. She pulled.
Something red and glowing tore free from him—a soul, trembling and frantic, shaped like the man but shrieking like no mortal voice. Selena inhaled, and the soul poured into her mouth, vanishing into her throat.
The Lord's body went slack. His eyes turned black, his skin gray. He fell forward like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
[Ding!]
[Lord soul consumed.]
[Selena Draculea: Sovereign Resonance +12%.]
[Crimson Core saturation +15%.]
[Mutation: Blood Frenzy growing.]
Selena's head rolled back. Her hair spilled like a curtain of pale silk. She moaned softly, the sound echoing against the spires. Blood dripped down her neck, mixing with the faint glow still leaking from her lips.
"Ohhh," she whispered. "It burns. It sings. It loves me."
Lucas watched without expression, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "Feed the next."
The ghouls dragged the second Lord. This one spat in Selena's face, snarling. "Monster! Abomination!"
Selena's smile deepened. "Yes."
She bit. She tore. She drank. Blood sprayed against the bones of the ribcage. The Lord's body writhed, twisted, then cracked as his soul ripped free. Selena devoured it whole.
[Ding!]
[Lord soul consumed.]
[Selena Draculea: Sovereign Resonance +14%.]
[Crimson Core saturation +18%.]
[Side effect: Hunger ↑. Restraint ↓.]
Her eyes glowed brighter now, red halos burning around her pupils. Her fingers trembled, not with weakness but with need. She licked her lips furiously, smearing blood across her face like war paint.
"More," she growled. Her voice was lower now, rougher, edged with something primal. "My King, give me the last. I need it."
Lucas studied her, calm as stone. He saw the cracks forming—the way her elegance trembled under the weight of new hunger. He saw the system warnings already whispering at the edge of his vision. But he didn't stop her.
He gestured. "The last."
The final Lord tried to crawl away, eyes wild, chains rattling. But the ghouls were faster. They threw him at Selena's feet. He sobbed, shaking, his body twitching with fear.
Selena crouched over him, her hair spilling like a veil around his face. Her lips brushed his ear. "You should be honored," she whispered. "You will live forever… in me."
Her fangs sank in.
This time, the blood came in a torrent, splattering across her gown, pooling around her knees. She drank greedily, hungrily, her throat working in frantic swallows. Then her claws dug deep, pulling his soul out with a ripping sound that made the feeders scream behind the barracks walls.
The Lord shrieked once, twice, then his voice broke into nothing as his essence poured into Selena's waiting mouth.
[Ding!]
[Lord soul consumed.]
[Selena Draculea: Sovereign Resonance +16%.]
[Crimson Core saturation +20%.]
[Mutation: Blood Frenzy at threshold.]
Selena staggered to her feet. Her body trembled. Her eyes burned like two suns of crimson fire. Blood poured down her arms, her chest, dripping from her chin in rivers. She gasped, moaned, laughed—sounds that were too human and not human at all.
She threw her head back.
"YESSSSS!" she screamed. Her voice shook the walls of the castle. The spires shuddered. The feeders collapsed, clutching their ears. Even the Bone Dogs whimpered low, uncertain.
The ribcage before her pulsed violently. The glow inside it flared, reaching up like a hand of crimson light. It struck Selena in the chest. She arched, back bending unnaturally, her body glowing with red fire.
[Ding!]
[Crimson Core — Awakened fragment received.]
[Bonded Sovereign: Selena Draculea.]
[Selena: Tier ↑. Abilities evolved.]
[New Trait: Blood Sovereignty — Selena's aura now compels all undead within range to obey her as if they were extensions of her will.]
[Warning: Hunger scaling ↑↑. Sovereign will demand more blood regularly.]
Lucas stepped closer, his boots sinking into the blood-soaked soil. He looked at her as the crimson glow faded, leaving her standing, trembling, smiling with madness and devotion.
She turned to him slowly. Her lips were drenched, her face radiant, her eyes wide. She looked beautiful and terrible at once.
"My King," she whispered, her voice shaking with delight. "I am stronger. So much stronger. The Core has kissed me, and now I crave more."
Lucas tilted his head slightly. "Then you will take more. Tomorrow, the fields will drink again."
Her laughter spilled into the night, elegant and horrific, echoing across the necro-soil, bouncing off the spires, filling the feeders with despair.
The system whispered, quiet and grim.
[Ding!]
[Global Announcement.]
[Unknown Lord's Sovereign has absorbed three Lord-class souls.]
[Warning to all players: Soul Devourer Emerged.]
[World Attention: Maximum. Sanction forces accelerating.]
Lucas turned back to the ribcage, the glow still lingering faintly within. He placed his palm on it. It was warm—warm with hunger, warm with promise. He smiled, faint but sharp.
The night listened.