Satou turned slowly to face Zik. His eyes were no longer the yellow of a Hobgoblin, they were glowing crimson, traces of the transformation that had killed Vegeta threatening to resurface.
"Did. You. Know. About. This." Each word was punctuated by a pulse of bloodlust so intense that Zik was driven to his knees, gasping for air under the pressure.
"N-no!" Zik stammered, his entire body shaking. "I swear! I didn't know! I've never been down this passage! Only the elders go here! They said it was forbidden! That it was sacred ground! I thought, I thought they meant it was a shrine or something!"
His terror was genuine, absolute. He was telling the truth.
Satou's bloodlust didn't diminish. If anything, it intensified. Sacred ground. They called this nightmare sacred ground.
"Satou," Cassius said carefully, his hand not going to his weapon but positioned to restrain if necessary. "You need to breathe. Control yourself. This rage won't help these women."
