The embers still glowed faintly, a thousand tiny eyes in the ruins, watching in silence.
Selene lay against him, her silver hair spilling across his chest, her breath shallow but steady. The proud warrior who had met his gaze with steel hours ago now clung to him with trembling hands, her body still betraying the storm he had drawn from her.
Her face was half-hidden, pressed against his skin. Yet even so, he saw it—the faint line of her furrowed brow, the small bite of her lip, the shimmer of conflict in her half-lidded eyes.
Shame. Desire. Relief. Chains breaking and new ones forming.
She whispered at last, voice hoarse, almost inaudible. "…I hate you."
His lips curved faintly. He didn't look down at her. His gaze stayed on the horizon where smoke thinned into night. "Good," he said simply. "Hatred keeps the fire alive. Love dulls it. Obedience… binds it."
Her breath caught, but she said nothing more.
The silence pressed in once again, but it was no longer suffocating. It was heavy with meaning, layered with the faint warmth of her body against his, the sharp contrast of her conflicted expression.
The System pulsed.
[Bond Status: Selene – Loyal, Fragile, Obsessed.]
[Carnal Resonance Unlocked – Intimacy now amplifies combat power when partner fights at your side.]
His smirk deepened. Already the reward unfolded in his veins, a subtle surge of strength, his awareness sharper, his control over the atmosphere more precise. Her submission was not just flesh and heat it was power.
A sudden sound broke the stillness.
He shifted. Selene stiffened against him, lifting her head just enough to listen. From beyond the ruins came the faint echo of iron boots against stone. A dozen, maybe more. And beneath it a guttural snarl, bestial and hungry.
Selene's breath hitched. Her silver eyes flashed back to him, wide, alert again, though still carrying the tremor of their intimacy. "The hunters…" she whispered. "The Church's hounds. They must have tracked the village."
The smirk didn't fade. He rose smoothly, slipping free of her grasp, and extended a hand. For a heartbeat, she hesitated her pride warring with instinct before she placed her trembling fingers in his. He pulled her to her feet as though lifting a piece on a chessboard.
The night wind shifted. The air grew heavy, thick with iron and smoke, and the first shadowed figures emerged at the edge of the ruins armored men marked with crimson crosses, torches in hand, beasts straining against their chains.
Selene's hand went to her sword, lips pressing tight, her earlier vulnerability vanishing beneath the sharp edge of survival. But her eyes flicked to him once, searching, almost unconsciously waiting for his lead.
He smiled. Slowly. Darkly. The System pulsed in time with the curve of his lips.
[New Quest: Annihilate the Hounds of Faith.]
[Reward: ???]
He stepped forward, his shadow stretching long across the ash. The hunters shouted. The beasts snarled. The night itself seemed to hold its breath.
And his voice cut through it all, calm, measured, sharp as steel.
"Good," he murmured. "Let them come."
---
The hunters fanned into the ruins, their torches bleeding orange light across the broken stone. Ash spiraled up around their boots, disturbed by every heavy step. Behind them, chains rattled as three beasts lunged forward, skin stretched too tight over their hulking frames, eyes glowing with the sickly yellow light of forced divinity.
Selene stiffened, her sword sliding from its sheath with a sharp hiss. Her body trembled faintly, not with fear, but with the raw aftertaste of what they had shared moments before. Her flushed skin and flushed pride made her feel exposed yet her eyes sharpened, steel replacing softness.
"Fanatics," she spat under her breath. "They won't leave until this village burns down with us in it."
He smiled faintly, stepping forward, boots pressing the ash into silence. His presence was a shadow draped across the ruins, stretching further with each deliberate pace.
The nearest hunter barked. "Identify yourselves! By decree of the Holy Flame, you stand condemned as heretics—"
"Condemned?" His voice cut like a blade through the night, calm, deep, and laced with amusement. "Condemnation is only power given to those who can enforce it."
The hunter faltered. Just for a heartbeat.
The beasts snarled. Chains snapped taut. The night trembled.
The System flared in his vision.
[Carnal Resonance Active.]
[Selene's Loyalty Boosts Combat Power: +23%]
[New Ability: Whisper of Obedience – Command influence through voice and gaze.]
His smirk sharpened.
"Selene."
Her head snapped toward him instinctively, breath caught in her throat. The faint flush on her cheeks deepened—her body reacting to the weight in his tone. "Yes…"
"Stay behind me. Watch. Learn."
For a heartbeat, she froze, pride flickering—but the memory of her own whispered surrender still lingered in her lips. Her voice came low, reluctant yet undeniable. "…As you command."
The hunters shouted again, raising their torches and steel. The beasts surged forward, chains breaking, claws carving trenches in the earth.
He didn't move until the last possible instant. Then, with a slow inhale, he raised a single hand.
The air bent.
Ash swirled violently in a spiral, rising like a storm. The beasts lunged into it, blinded, snarling, claws slashing at shadows. And then his voice rang again, smooth and merciless.
"Kneel."
[Whisper of Obedience Activated.]
The lead beast staggered mid-lunge, its eyes clouding with unnatural haze. It crashed to its knees, chest heaving, chains dangling from its throat. The hunters cried out in panic, their formation breaking as disbelief spread like wildfire.
He stepped forward through the storm of ash, cloak snapping in the sudden wind. His gaze locked on the nearest zealot, torchlight glinting in his cold eyes.
"You came to hunt heretics," he said, low, measured. "Instead… you found prey."
And then he moved.
Faster than their eyes could follow, he seized the hunter's wrist, twisted, and drove the man's own blade into his throat. Blood sprayed across the ash, swallowed by the dark. The second hunter lunged, screaming, but a snap of his fingers sent the kneeling beast reeling into its master, crushing him beneath claw and fury.
Selene gasped behind him not in fear, but in awe, silver eyes wide as her lips parted unconsciously. His power was overwhelming, yet controlled, every motion a deliberate display of dominance.
The System pulsed.
[Enemies Subdued: 3.]
[Quest Progress: 27%.]
He turned slowly, meeting the gaze of the remaining hunters. They faltered, torches trembling in their grips, the bravado of faith cracking under the weight of his presence.
Selene's voice broke through the tension, hushed but fierce. "…What are you?"
He glanced back at her. His smirk curved, sharp and certain.
"The beginning of your salvation. And the end of theirs."
The beasts lunged, jaws snapping, claws ripping grooves into the broken earth. Their guttural roars rattled through the ruins, echoing like thunder in the hollow night.
He did not flinch.
One step forward measured, deliberate and the ash around him surged in a vortex, pulled by something more than mere wind. His cloak billowed outward, a banner of shadow, his eyes gleaming cold with the fire of calculation.
The first beast struck.
Claws like daggers came for his throat.
His hand rose lazily, catching the strike mid-air. Flesh tore, bone groaned but he twisted, forcing the beast's limb sideways with a sound like cracking timber. Its howl split the silence before his knee slammed into its chest, caving ribs with brutal precision. It collapsed in a heap, choking on its own blood.
Selene's gasp carried through the haze, sharp, disbelieving.
The second beast circled low, snarling, saliva trailing from fangs as long as daggers. It leapt. He didn't move. Not until the last heartbeat then his finger flicked.
The ground split.
Ash and shattered stone erupted upward in a jagged spear, piercing through the beast's gut mid-flight. Its scream was brief, cut short as it writhed and impaled itself deeper, blood painting the spear black in the firelight.
The hunters faltered, their formation fracturing.
"Monster—!" one shouted, voice breaking.
His smile returned, slow and merciless.
"You're only just realizing?"
The third beast, driven mad by blood, rushed with reckless fury. He raised no hand this time. Instead, his voice rolled out, smooth and commanding, heavy with an invisible weight.
"Submit."
[Whisper of Obedience – Success.]
The beast faltered mid-stride. Its claws dragged trenches as it slowed, panting heavily, muscles shaking under the weight of an unseen chain. And then it lowered itself, trembling, eyes clouded in submission as it bowed its monstrous head before him.
The hunters' cries of horror rang like brittle glass.
Selene stood frozen, silver eyes wide, her sword forgotten in her hand. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, face flushed not just from the battle, but from the raw, undeniable pull of what she had just witnessed.
The System flared.
[Quest Progress: 86%.]
[Optional Objective Available – Bind the Beast.]
His smirk sharpened as he laid a hand on the beast's skull, pressing down with a casual dominance that made the creature whimper despite its size. The air shimmered, threads of light twisting around his palm before sinking into the beast's flesh.
[New Minion Acquired: Ashfang, the Bound Hound.]
The hunters broke. Panic turned their faith into dust. They turned to flee into the darkness but his voice followed, low and merciless.
"Run, then. Carry word of what you saw. The Church will know… I've come."
Ashfang's roar shattered the night, a guttural, hell-born cry that chased the zealots into the forest until their screams were swallowed whole by distance.
Silence returned.
He turned slowly, dusting blood from his hands, gaze settling on Selene. She hadn't moved frozen there, chest heaving, eyes locked on him with a mixture of terror, awe, and something darker coiling low within her.
Her lips parted, but the words caught in her throat. Finally, a whisper escaped.
"…You can't be human."
He stepped toward her. One pace. Two. His shadow fell over her, heavy, inevitable. His smirk lingered, but his eyes gleamed with something colder, sharper.
"Human?" His voice was a caress of steel. He leaned close, close enough for her to feel his breath ghost across her skin. "I told you already."
His hand tilted her chin up once more, fingers firm, unyielding.
"I am the beginning of your salvation. And the end of theirs."
The System pulsed again, triumphant.
[Quest Complete: The Hounds of Faith – Annihilation.]
[Reward: 2,500 Dominion Points | Skill Unlock – Dominion Shroud.]
The ruins lay still, drenched in blood and ash. But in that silence, something had shifted irreversibly.
Selene's heart no longer beat with only fear or resistance. Now it raced to the rhythm of something she could not name—something dark, intoxicating, irresistible.
And deep down, she already knew… she would follow him.
Even if it damned her.