Chapter 121: The Blood That Obeys III
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Behind him, Bat Bat snored softly, completely unbothered by destiny.
Sekhmet’s eyes flicked back to the new skill.
Vampire Creation.
The system did not explain more, which annoyed him. It gave him the outline and left him to guess the costs.
Female only.
Why female only? Because bloodlines. Because reproduction. Because gods were sick. Because the Blood God had a sense of humor. Because the system liked to watch him suffer embarrassment.
Sekhmet frowned at the thought.
Bat Bat would absolutely make jokes about it if she understood.
Lily would absolutely call him a pervert.
Elena would absolutely stare at him like she was deciding whether to hit him with a broom or a frying pan.
Sekhmet exhaled and forced himself back into practical thinking.
Shared slots.
Three total.
One already taken.
Raka.
That meant two remaining.
Two was not a kingdom.
Two was not an army.
Two was an experiment.
Two was a foundation.
If he filled those slots with vampire converts, he could not puppet additional criminals unless he upgraded further or made choices. If he used the slots for puppets, he could not create vampires.
The system was forcing him to choose what kind of future he wanted.
An underground network.
Or a bloodline.
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened again.
He did not like being forced.
He also understood why it happened. A man with unlimited puppets and unlimited vampires would become a threat too quickly. The system was controlling his pace.
Or controlling his risk.
Or controlling his story.
Sekhmet’s lips pressed into a thin line.
His mind immediately did what it always did. It searched for candidates.
Lily appeared first.
The image formed automatically: her face, her eyes, her laughter, the way she had carried Bat Bat like a spoiled baby and called him a pervert with full confidence. The way she had looked serious for a moment and told him not to pretend he was fine just because he had returned to a house.
Then logic struck like a slap.
Lily was the city lord’s daughter.
Turning her was not just dangerous.
It was stupid.
If anything went wrong, if anyone noticed, if her father discovered the change, Sekhmet would not be fighting merchant rivals. He would be fighting the city itself. And even if Lily accepted it willingly, even if she trusted him, the city lord would see it as corruption. A violation. A kidnapping of blood.
Sekhmet had just returned. He did not have the foundation to survive that kind of storm yet. He pushed Lily’s image aside, firmly, like closing a drawer on a dangerous knife.
Elena appeared next.
Old but strong in spirit. The head maid. The woman who raised him. The woman who kept Dawn House running with discipline sharp enough to cut steel. The woman who could scold a grown man into apologizing like a child.
Turning Elena felt wrong.
Not because she was old. Age did not matter much in Null. There were elders stronger than gods and children more poisonous than demons.
It felt wrong because Elena was the pillar. If she changed now, everything in Dawn House would shift. Servants would notice. Rumors would spread. People would whisper that the old maid became young again. That the Dawn heir was doing forbidden blood rituals.
And Elena was old enough to be suspicious of gifts that came too easily. She would ask questions. She would demand answers. She would not be impressed by the word "trust me."
Sekhmet did not want to look at Elena’s face and see blood law written under her skin. Not yet. He will do it when necessary.
He pushed her aside too.
Then the servant girls. A dozen faces flashed in his mind. Excited eyes. Whispering mouths. Hands that trembled when they offered him towels and food.
They admired him. Some probably fantasized about him in bed. Some wanted status. Some wanted safety. Some wanted a story to tell their grandchildren, if they lived long enough to have grandchildren.
But admiration was not trust. And vampire creation was not a joke.
It was commitment.
A chain that lasted until death or godhood.
Sekhmet exhaled slowly. "I need someone I can control without destroying my life," he thought.
Then another idea formed, quieter, colder, and more practical. There are people who sell themselves.
Slik City was large. It had wealth and it had hunger. It had proud houses and it had broken families. It had people buried under debt, people who lost everything to gambling, people whose lives were measured in chaos stones because nobody else cared.
The Contract Market existed because the city allowed it. The city allowed it because the city needed it.
A place for the desperate to be bought. A place for the powerful to collect tools and servants and bodies.
Sekhmet did not like it. But liking had nothing to do with whether it existed. He could find a candidate there.
Someone with potential. Someone with reason to accept the change. Someone who would not bring city lord trouble. Someone who could become his foundation quietly.
He glanced at the status window again in his mind. Shared slots. One used. Two free.
He would need to choose carefully.
He could create a vampire who was weak but loyal, or he could create a vampire who was strong and dangerous to control at his current rank.
He did not know the eligibility rules yet. The system simply said female targets. It did not specify battle power limits.
That made him uneasy. If there were no limits, he could theoretically convert a woman with higher battle power than himself if she was willing.
But willingness was a problem too. How did one ask someone to become a vampire without sounding like a lunatic?
"Hello, I am Sekhmet, please allow me to bite you and change your species. Also, do not tell anyone. Also, you are now loyal to me by blood law. Also, please do not betray me later. Thank you."
Sekhmet rubbed his forehead again.
Bat Bat snored louder, as if laughing at his thoughts.