Blood Realms: Infinite Level
Episode 7 — Crimson Hunt
The forest was quiet.
Not the natural kind of quiet — not the stillness before a storm or the hush of snowfall. This was the quiet that came when everything with sense knew something was hunting and wanted no part of it.
That something was me.
The caster's ashes still clung to my boots, and the Mark of the Prey was gone. But the moment I'd torn his heart out, the hunger in me had shifted. It wasn't just gnawing anymore. It was directed. It wanted more.
And I intended to feed it.
⸻
[Blood Sense] painted the world in heartbeats.
Five of them. All moving together through the northern treeline, keeping tight formation. They were loud — not in sound, but in confidence. They thought they were the hunters.
They were wrong.
[Entities Detected:]
— Veyra Bonecaster — Level 19
— Veyra Graveblade — Level 20
— Veyra Warclaw — Level 21
— Veyra Blood Archer — Level 19
— Veyra Silent Fang — Level 22
An elite kill squad.
Perfect.
I moved parallel to their path, keeping low, letting the trees swallow my outline. My new Blood Sense wasn't just showing me where they were — it was feeding me intent. I could feel the tension in the Warclaw's muscles, the lazy arrogance in the Silent Fang's steps, the pulsing caution of the Bonecaster.
They didn't know.
The hunger inside me purred. Test it.
I whispered the words that had burned into my blood when I killed the caster.
[Crimson Dominion — Activated]
The world bled red.
⸻
It wasn't just the trees or the ground — even the air shimmered crimson, every enemy heartbeat pounding slower, every movement dragging like they were wading through syrup.
The Graveblade was the first to notice something was wrong. His step faltered. He turned toward the treeline — too late.
I was already inside his guard. My claws took his throat in one swipe.
[LEVEL UP: 25 → 26]
The Blood Archer tried to react, fumbling for an arrow, but his slowed fingers couldn't nock it before I was on him. I ripped the bow from his hands, snapped it over my knee, and drove the broken half into his chest.
[LEVEL UP: 26 → 27]
The Bonecaster began chanting, but every syllable stretched, sluggish, as if the air itself fought against him. I crossed the gap in two steps and crushed his skull against a tree.
Blood sprayed in a slow, beautiful arc.
[LEVEL UP: 27 → 28]
⸻
The Warclaw — the biggest of them — roared and came at me, claws wide. Even slowed, he hit like a falling boulder, knocking me back a step. But Crimson Dominion wasn't just slowing them — every second it was active, I felt faster.
I slipped past his swing, tore into his ribs, and wrenched until bone snapped. His howl broke into a wet gurgle as I ripped his heart free.
[LEVEL UP: 28 → 29]
⸻
Only the Silent Fang remained.
Even under Crimson Dominion, he moved better than the others — a flicker in the air, a whisper of shadow. An assassin's assassin.
He appeared behind me, dagger raised for my spine. My claws met his blade in a shower of sparks. His eyes widened. He tried to vanish again — I caught his arm, yanked him into a knee to the gut, then another to the jaw.
He spat blood. I drank it straight from his mouth before tearing his head from his shoulders.
[LEVEL UP: 29 → 30]
[Crimson Dominion — Duration Ended]
The forest snapped back into normal color. My breathing was steady, my hunger sated for the moment.
I looked down at the carnage — five elite hunters, dead in less than ten seconds. Their ash drifted on the wind, carried north.
They'd know.
⸻
[Quest Update: Blood Feud]
— The death toll you've dealt has accelerated the Clan's mobilization.
— Expect high-level retaliation.
— Optional Path: Strike first at a Veyra fortress before reinforcements are fully assembled.
⸻
The hunger inside me was already whispering: Don't wait for them. Go.
My Blood Sense stretched outward again, searching. This time, I felt not five, not ten — but dozens of signatures, clustered together, their heartbeats echoing off stone walls.
A fortress.
If I moved now, I could reach it before they scattered or fortified. It would mean fighting through everything they had left in the region — a siege with no backup, no retreat.
Exactly the kind of fight that made my blood sing.
⸻
I stepped over the ashes, rolling my shoulders, feeling the weight of thirty levels in my muscles.
Once, I'd been prey, cornered and running.
Now, I was the storm.
I started north again, the fortress's heartbeat calling to me like a drum.
[New Quest Available: Crimson Siege]
Objective: Breach Veyra Fortress, eliminate commander-class targets.
Primary Reward: Tier II Bloodline Skill Unlock.
Secondary Reward: Veyra Clan Reputation — "Apex Threat" Status.
Somewhere far ahead, in that fortress, someone would be giving orders. Someone who thought numbers, walls, and weapons would keep them safe.
I smiled, teeth aching for the taste of their blood.
"They're going to learn," I whispered to the trees, "that nothing keeps me out."
And the forest shivered in agreement.