The carriage sped away from the Blackwood Valley, leaving behind a column of black smoke that rose toward the moon like an accusing finger. Inside, the silence was broken only by Alistair's shallow breathing, thrown across the floor like a sack of grain, and by the crackle of Selene's mana as she tended to Lucian's wounded shoulder.
Lucian sat with his eyes closed, his head resting against the leather backrest. The adrenaline was fading, replaced by a chilling exhaustion that seemed to seep into his bones. Draining Alaric's mana had not been a mere transfer of energy; it had been an ingestion of bitter memories, cold methods, and methodical cruelty, now attempting to take root within his own mind.
— Do not resist what you have taken, Master, murmured Aria. She was seated at his feet, her head resting on his knees, her red eyes burning with an almost religious fervor. Your father's blood was rancid, but his power is now yours. Digest it. Become the predator he feared.
Shizuka, sitting opposite, regarded Alistair with evident disgust. She brushed a smear of blood from her cheek before meeting Lucian's gaze.
— We cannot return to the Academy as if nothing happened, Lucian. The explosion will be heard all the way to the capital. The Blackwoods were pillars of the aristocracy. The King and the Council will send investigators, perhaps even high-ranking Inquisitors.
— Let them send whomever they wish, Lucian replied without opening his eyes. Officially, the manor was attacked by a terrorist faction or a shadow beast escaped from the ruins. Alaric is old; he lost control of his experiments. Who would believe that a "Zero" and a foreign student named Kurogane razed the most protected estate in the country?
— And him? Shizuka asked, pointing at Alistair with the tip of her boot. Why didn't you let him burn?
Lucian finally opened his eyes. They were dark, deep, devoid of any trace of mercy.
— Because death is too sweet an end for him. He will return to the Academy. He will witness my rise. Every day, he will see what he could have been, and every night, he will remember that I took everything from him. Shame is a far more effective prison than any stone cell.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NARRATIVE TRAJECTORY: ACADEMY ARC – PHASE 2]
[YOUR HIDDEN INFAMY INCREASES YOUR SOVEREIGN CHARISMA BY +10]
[NEW PASSIVE SKILL: "TYRANT'S GAZE" (INSTILLS FEAR IN LOWER-RANKED BEINGS)]
The return to the Royal Academy of Solstice occurred under the cover of dawn. The young girl rescued from the ritual, whom Selene had named Elara, was entrusted to the secret care of the loyal Hoshi family servants. To the rest of the world, Lucian Kurogane and his companions had merely returned from a three-day "training retreat."
However, the atmosphere within the school had shifted dramatically. News of the Blackwoods' fall had spread like wildfire. In the great hall, students clustered in nervous groups, whispering increasingly wild rumors.
— Have you heard? said a viscount's son. They say a primordial entity devastated the estate. The Patriarch went mad and blew it all up.
Lucian strode through the hall with Aria and Shizuka at his side. He no longer lowered his gaze. His posture was upright, his contained aura radiating a natural authority that forced students to instinctively give way.
— Look, it's the Zero… Kurogane, murmured a Rank C student. He looks… different, doesn't he?
— Must be Lady Shizuka's influence, replied another, jealous. She must pity him.
Suddenly, silence fell. At the entrance of the hall, a staggering figure appeared. It was Alistair. His clothes were tattered, his face ravaged by tears and sweat, and above all, his magical aura—once so brilliant—was completely gone. He looked like a ghost wandering among the living.
Professor Garrow stepped forward, his face grave.
— Alistair? What happened? Where is your father?
Alistair lifted his head. His eyes met Lucian's. For a second, the world seemed to stop. Pure terror swept through the fallen heir's gaze. His lips trembled, ready to scream the truth, to denounce the monster standing there under the guise of a mediocre student.
But as he began to speak, Lucian discreetly activated [Chains of Blood] at the subatomic level. An invisible link constricted Alistair's throat, and a mental shockwave reminded him of the moment Lucian had drained their father.
— Speak one word, little brother, and I will rip your tongue out in front of everyone, Lucian projected directly into his mind.
Alistair collapsed to his knees, crying in rage and helplessness.
— The manor… the flames… it's all over… he muttered before losing consciousness.
That evening, Lucian summoned his companions to their new secret headquarters: an abandoned training room deep within the Academy, which Shizuka had refitted.
Selene was there, her wings glowing with a steadier light. Aria lounged on a velvet chair she had "borrowed" from the dean's office, while Shizuka sharpened her sword, her expression thoughtful.
— Phase one is complete, Lucian declared, sitting at the head of the table. We struck at the heart of the aristocracy. But the real enemy does not hide in manors. It hides behind faith.
He placed on the table a seal he had ripped from the throat of the Chief Inquisitor: a stylized sun encircled by silver thorns.
— The Church of Light invested millions in my father's experiments. They will not leave us alone. They will seek their "catalyst," Elara. And they will seek the one who killed their agents.
— Let them come, said Aria, licking her lips. My blood is itching to taste that of a cardinal. Their apparent purity masks such delicious corruption.
— We can't just kill everyone, Aria, Shizuka tempered. We need to play the political game. Lucian, you now have A-Rank mana. If you pass next week's promotion test, you will be officially recognized as a genius. You can claim a noble title and gain diplomatic immunity.
— That is the plan, Lucian nodded. But to do that, I must "reveal" a portion of my power. A sudden blood mutation from trauma… it's an explanation the Academy mages will accept.
He turned to Selene.
— Selene, you are our hidden asset. Your power over Light is the only thing that can counter the Inquisitors without betraying my nature as the Blood Monarch. You must learn to control your emanations. If the Church detects you, they will raze this school to reclaim you.
The angel bowed deeply.
— My essence is yours, Creator. I will be the wall between you and their false paradise.
Suddenly, Aria rose and approached Lucian, her undulating movements betraying impatience. She pushed aside Lucian's hair to reveal the mark she had left on him.
— All of this is very serious, Master… but you forget one thing. You absorbed a massive amount of unstable mana. If you don't stabilize it… you risk exploding before the promotion test.
Shizuka raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding where the vampire was going.
— She is not wrong, even if her motives are purely selfish. Your mana is… agitated. I can feel it from here. Like a storm trapped in a bottle.
Lucian felt the heat rising within him. Aria was right. Since draining Alaric, he had felt unbearable pressure coursing through his mana channels.
— What do you suggest? he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Aria smiled, mischief and desire glinting in her eyes.
— A triple synchronization ritual. Selene to purify excess Light, me to absorb surplus blood, and Shizuka to anchor everything into the physical reality.
She shot a challenging look at the samurai.
— Unless the little human is too shy to share her Monarch's bed?
Shizuka did not flinch. She sheathed her sword and stood, her violet aura crackling faintly.
— My loyalty is tied to his blood. If he needs stability, I will be his anchor. No matter the cost or method.
Lucian looked at his three guardians. A possessive vampire, an obsessive samurai, and a devoted angel. He knew this ritual would not only stabilize his mana; it would forge an unbreakable—and dangerous—bond between the four of them.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[PRIMORDIAL COMMUNION RITUAL DETECTED]
[BENEFITS: MASSIVE STAT BOOST / HAREM HARMONIZATION]
[SIDE EFFECTS: INCREASED EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY / CRITICAL JEALOUSY]
— Very well, Lucian said, his voice deepening. Prepare yourselves. Tonight, we will no longer be individuals. We will become a single entity.
As the room's lights dimmed and the mana curtains closed, Lucian knew that the path to the throne would not be forged by steel alone, but by the total union of those around him. The "Zero" was truly dead, and from its ashes, a God of Blood began to awaken.