The wound on Kael's thigh still ached. Each step carried a dull throb, but he welcomed it. Pain sharpened him. Pain reminded him that he was still flesh, still mortal—and that he had further to climb.
He sat cross-legged in the guildhall's training chamber, his body slick with sweat. Crimson chains lashed out from his arms, whipping the air, smashing stone pillars to rubble. Each strike pulsed with both lust and rage, fused into something new.
[Battle Evolution progressing.]
[Carnal Energy + Combat Experience: Synergy detected.]
[Host's potential continues to grow.]
Nyra lounged on the floor nearby, licking her claws, her wolf ears twitching. "You're pushing too hard, Master. You've barely healed."
Kael smirked. "And yet, stronger than ever."
Selene entered, her expression grim. "Master… something is stirring in the city. Disappearances. Entire households vanishing overnight. And…" She held out a scrap of parchment, her fingers trembling.
The mark was unmistakable: a serpent eating its own tail.
Kael's jaw tightened. The same mark branded on the assassins' bodies.
"Where?" he asked.
Selene's voice dropped. "The catacombs beneath the western quarter. They say screams echo from there at night. And moans."
Nyra's tail lashed, her golden eyes flashing. "A den of prey, then. Let's hunt."
---
That night, they descended into the city's underbelly. The catacombs were ancient, older than Veylorn itself. Walls slick with damp, air thick with the stink of blood and incense.
As they crept deeper, the faint glow of firelight flickered against the stone.
Kael raised a hand, silencing the women.
Voices drifted through the dark. Chanting. Rhythmic. Hypnotic.
They reached an opening—and what they saw made even Kael's breath catch.
A cavern stretched wide, lit by hundreds of candles. At its center, a stone altar rose, drenched in crimson. Around it, dozens knelt in black robes, their bodies swaying as they chanted in a tongue not meant for mortals.
And atop the altar lay a naked woman, bound in silver chains, her body trembling with both fear and arousal. Her cries were muffled, but her eyes were wide, desperate.
The cultists moaned as if in shared ecstasy, some stroking themselves openly, others locked in writhing embraces.
And presiding over it all was a woman cloaked in scarlet, her mask shaped like a serpent's head.
Her voice cut through the chants. "Tonight, we offer flesh to the Serpent God. Desire and death entwined, as it was written, as it must be. Soon, the Vessel will awaken… and all chains will shatter."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Vessel?"
---
He didn't have long to wonder. The Priestess's masked head turned directly toward the shadows where Kael stood.
"You may come out now… Kael Draven."
Selene stiffened. "How—?"
Dozens of cultists turned as one, their hooded heads snapping toward him. Moans rose, laughter, whispers.
Nyra growled, baring her fangs. "They know your name, Master."
Kael stepped into the light, aura flaring. "So. You've been waiting for me."
The Priestess laughed softly, the sound like silk over a blade. "Of course. Did you think your… system… went unnoticed? We have felt its birth since the night you arrived in this world. The Serpent God whispered of you long before you drew your first breath here."
Kael's eyes sharpened. "You know about the system?"
The cultists hissed, moaned, some falling to the ground in spasms of ecstasy at the word.
The Priestess raised her arms. "You are the Vessel. The flesh chosen to carry Desire's true form. You struggle, you conquer, you fuck, you bleed… all as the Serpent wills. Every chain you break only brings you closer to us."
Kael's aura surged with fury. "I belong to no god. I carve my own path."
The Priestess tilted her head, chuckling. "So proud. So arrogant. Just like all the others before you. But unlike them… you carry eternity in your veins. Soon, you will beg to kneel."
With a motion of her hand, the cultists rose, their eyes glowing faintly with crimson light. Their robes fell, revealing naked bodies etched with serpentine scars. Men and women alike, their flesh writhed unnaturally as if something beneath their skin twisted and coiled.
Selene gasped. "They're not… human anymore."
Kael summoned his chains. Crimson light flooded the cavern. "Then they'll die like beasts."
---
The cult surged forward. Dozens of bodies flung themselves at Kael and his companions. The cavern erupted into chaos—chains lashing, blades flashing, claws ripping.
Nyra tore through flesh, her fangs snapping bones. Selene's sword burned with holy light, cutting through corrupted bodies. Aurelia cowered behind Kael, clutching her collar, torn between terror and arousal.
Kael fought like a storm, his chains ripping through cultists in a frenzy of blood and screams. But for every one that fell, two more pressed forward, driven by lust and madness.
The Priestess watched calmly, her serpent mask glinting in the firelight.
At last, Kael struck her down, his chains wrapping around her throat, slamming her against the altar. The cult froze, moaning, trembling, as their leader gasped.
Kael tore her mask away.
Beneath it was a face of unnatural beauty. Her eyes glowed like molten gold, her lips curved in a knowing smile.
"Kill me, Vessel, and another will rise. Our god's hunger is eternal. And you… are already His."
Her voice slid into Kael's mind like venom. For a moment, his vision blurred—images of serpents coiling around him, of endless moans, endless chains.
The system screamed in his head.
[Warning: External Force detected.]
[System Integrity compromised.]
[Resist or Submit.]
Kael roared, slamming the Priestess to the ground. His aura exploded, chains lashing the cavern walls. "I submit to no one!"
The cultists screamed as his aura crushed them, breaking their corrupted bodies into spasms of orgasm and death. The cavern shook, candles extinguishing, screams echoing through the dark.
When silence fell, only Kael remained standing—chest heaving, body slick with blood and sweat. The Priestess's body was gone, vanished like mist.
Selene staggered to his side, her eyes wide with fear. "Master… what just happened?"
Kael's jaw clenched. "The cult knows me. They know the system. And they won't stop until they have me."
He looked down at his hands, trembling faintly. For the first time, doubt flickered in his chest.
Had he truly carved his own path… or was he playing into a god's plan all along?