"Where… the hell am I?"
Azel's eyes flickered open, meeting an unfamiliar ceiling bathed in sterile white light. The air was thick with strange scents — disinfectant, steel, something clean yet mechanical. He blinked slowly, his mind still burning from memories of death.
Wasn't I supposed to be dead?
The faint hum of machinery echoed around him. Odd shapes surrounded the bed — metal poles, blinking devices, soft-beeping monitors. They pulsed with an unfamiliar energy.
"What type of domain is this…?" he tried to say, but what escaped his lips was nothing but a string of soft, broken sounds.
"Gah… ugh…"
Azel froze. The sound wasn't his voice. It was weak, high-pitched — a baby's cry.
What?
His small chest rose and fell rapidly. His arms flailed helplessly, and the realization struck him like divine lightning. His limbs were short, his skin delicate, his body frail. He could barely move his head.
He wasn't just alive.
He had been reborn.
---
Warm hands lifted him gently, and a soft female voice spoke nearby — calm, melodic, and filled with affection. Her words were strange, foreign to his divine ears.
"Look at him, Elias… he's beautiful," Lena whispered.
Azel's crimson eyes turned toward her. She was breathtaking — long blonde hair cascading like sunlight, her pale blue eyes trembling with emotion. A faint glow of vitality surrounded her; her soul was bright, untarnished by corruption.
Beside her stood a tall man with short crimson hair and sharp golden eyes. His build spoke of battle and discipline — perhaps a warrior, or someone used to leading others. The man smiled faintly.
"White hair… red eyes," he said softly. "Strange combination, but he's ours."
Azel watched them silently, his baby face calm, unreadable. His mind — ancient, cold, calculating — began piecing things together. They think I'm their child… these mortals.
He looked down at his small hand, pale and trembling. So, this is my vessel.
Fragments of his past clawed at his mind:
The divine palace aflame.
The poisoned chalice offered by his wife.
The laughter of gods as his body shattered.
He remembered it all.
He — the God of Destruction and Chaos — betrayed, hunted, slain.
Hatred simmered beneath his newborn skin.
I will find all of you… and I will kill you again, he swore in silence.
But before the vow could fully settle, something stirred deep within him — a pulse. It wasn't heartbeat. It was darker. Ancient. Hungry.
A voice echoed faintly in his head, cold and mechanical:
> [System Integration: 7%… 18%… 47%… Complete.]
[Welcome, Azel.]
Azel's vision flickered. Strange glyphs filled his sight, weaving themselves into lines of data.
---
SYSTEM STATUS
Name: Azel
Race: ??? (Sealed Vampire Lineage)
Title: The Blood-Bound Child
Age: 0
Body Stage: None (First Seal Intact)
Cultivation Type: Blood Core (Not Dantian)
Evolution Path: Vampire Line — [Locked]
---
CORE ATTRIBUTES
Attribute Value
Level 1
HP 30 / 30
Blood Qi ??? / ???
Strength 2
Agility 3
Endurance 2
Intelligence 10
Willpower 15
Stamina 3
---
CURSES & SEALS
First Seal – [Locked]
Condition to Break – Unknown
---
UNIQUE TRAITS
Blood Core: Stores Blood Qi instead of qi.
Curse of Hunger: The stronger the body, the deeper the thirst for blood.
Evolution Instinct: Gains traits from absorbed beast blood.
---
SKILLS
[Absorb Blood – Lv.1]: Draws Blood Qi from spilled blood.
[Sanguine Instinct – Lv.1]: Detects nearby life when hungry.
[Blood Resonance – Lv.0] (Locked): Temporarily boosts Blood Qi conversion rate.
[Seal Break – Lv.0] (Locked): Activates automatically upon fulfilling conditions.
---
SYSTEM NOTE:
> "You are not blessed, Azel. You are chained.
Break them one by one — and the world will remember your hunger."
---
Azel stared into the glowing text within his vision, silent. His mind raced through calculations. A system…? No, a curse disguised as power.
"Just what kind of fate did that entity bind me with?" he thought grimly.
The warmth of the woman's hands brought him back. She rocked him gently, humming a soft tune. Her scent — human, gentle, full of life — filled his senses. It was almost intoxicating.
His fangs itched.
There were no fangs yet, but deep inside, something old stirred at the taste of her blood's presence.
He suppressed it. Barely.
Azel's crimson eyes flickered to the man — his "father." The man smiled down proudly, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"He'll grow strong, just like you," the man said. "Maybe stronger."
Azel let out a small, meaningless coo — an act, nothing more. Inside, his thoughts were blades.
If only you knew what strength truly means.
---
As the sun began to set beyond the metallic walls of the city, light poured through the window, bathing the room in amber glow. Outside, the hum of flying vehicles echoed. Towers of steel and glass pierced the clouds.
It wasn't a medieval world. It was advanced — powered by technology and energy. Yet beneath it, Azel sensed something ancient — qi. Life energy, flowing faintly through the air, structured into artificial grids.
"So… this world cultivates energy too," he mused inwardly. Interesting. If I can merge blood with their qi system…
His plan began forming, faint but solid.
He would start from zero, crawl, adapt, and consume.
Every seal would break.
Every god who betrayed him would regret leaving him alive.
---
Lena smiled softly. "Azel," she whispered, the name flowing from her lips like a prayer. "That will be your name."
For a moment, the god inside him went still. So that's what you'll call me again.
He could almost hear the laughter of fate in the distance.
"Welcome to the world, my little Azel," she said, kissing his forehead.
The red glow in his eyes deepened for a brief second, unseen by either parent.
Welcome indeed, he thought coldly. Let's see how long your gods can sleep once I start breaking chains.
Outside, thunder rolled faintly — as if the heavens themselves had heard his vow