Chapter 188: Bloodlust? III
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Days... Not months. Only Days...
The auction was next week. Iron House was moving now. Predators from the middle domain were traveling. And now his own blood was becoming a timed threat.
Sekhmet laughed once. A short, sharp sound with no humor in it.
"Of course," he muttered aloud. "Why would the nightmare wait politely?"
He sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, and forced himself to think like a strategist rather than a frightened man.
Panic would not help. Only structure.
"What are the release conditions?" he asked the system. "If I have to do this, how do I avoid disaster?"
The system seemed almost prepared for that question.
[Recommended Release Conditions:
1. Isolated location: The release zone should be physically separated from civilian population centers, allied structures, and uncontrolled witnesses.
2. No allied non-combatants nearby: No trusted persons, servants, bonded dependents, children, or emotionally protected individuals should be within accessible range.
3. Presence of valid hostile targets or prepared prey source: The Bloodlust State requires a discharge medium. Release is most stable when the body is given acceptable hostile targets to kill, maim, pursue, or feed upon.
4. Clear forbidden target list established before state begins. Examples: Lily, Elena, Bat Bat, Vera, Vela, Dawn House staff, identified allies.
The more specific the list, the stronger the system’s guidance lock.
5. Recovery window secured after release: The host should have a safe return point, rest period, and no immediate social obligations after discharge.
6. Containment of aftermath: Visible destruction, mass witnesses, and unexplained corpses increase political and operational risk.
7. Emergency override intent: Host should enter release with a clear dominant purpose: target purge, criminal culling, hostile elimination, or controlled venting.]
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.
So it could be controlled. Not safely. But managed.
A ritualized violence. A planned purge. A venting of ancient hunger into chosen direction.
He hated how practical it sounded. He hated even more that it made sense.
"Can I delay it by feeding normally?" he asked.
[Normal feeding may reduce immediate strain slightly but does not fully resolve accumulated bloodlust.
Standard feeding satisfies biological vampire hunger. Bloodlust is not simple hunger.
It is pressure from contained divinity. Feeding may ease surface agitation. Feeding does not remove deep accumulation once threshold pressure has formed.
At most, ordinary feeding can buy small amounts of time if no additional triggers occur.]
That answer settled like iron in his stomach. So he could not eat his way out of it.
"Of course not. This was bigger than my appetite."
This was the price of carrying a god’s blood in a mortal structure.
Sekhmet leaned back slightly and looked at the ceiling. Then he asked the most important question.
"What happens after release?"
The system answered.
[Post-Release Outcome: Bloodlust percentage decreases according to discharge intensity. Higher kill / feed output usually results in deeper reduction.
Insufficient release may lower the percentage only partially, requiring another discharge sooner.
The host regains primary body control after the state ends. Short-term exhaustion is expected.
Mental strain is expected.
Body heat fluctuation, predatory after-echo, irritability, and temporary emotional numbness may occur.
Physical recovery may be required depending on injuries sustained during release.
If release is successful and target conditions are met, soul strain risk is reduced. If release is interrupted early, denied sufficient discharge, or triggered under chaotic conditions, rebound instability may occur.]
Sekhmet closed his eyes for a moment. That was the shape of it then.
A storm that had to break. A beast that had to be let off its chain before the chain cut deeper than the beast.
When he opened his eyes again, the fear was still there, but fear had changed shape.
It had become planning.
He stood up. He moved back to the desk. He pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward him and began writing, not because the paper mattered, but because putting the problem into visible form made it smaller.
Possible release sites; Outside city walls. Abandoned quarry road. Lower ravine past the west trade path. Deep scrubland beyond the old toll marker. Inside the purgatory.
He wrote locations.
Then conditions.
No allies. No civilians. Criminal targets only. Possible use of captured enemies. Emergency recovery afterward.
His handwriting remained steady. He was calmer when his hand moved. Then he stopped. One more thought hit him.
The twins.
They were true vampires now. Bound. Loyal. Useful. But if he entered a bloodlust state around them without warning...
Would they submit?
Would they panic?
Would they feed too?
Would Bat Bat think it was a game and turn the whole night into a massacre with jokes.
He exhaled slowly. "No."
When the time came, he would not do this inside Dawn House. Not inside the city. Not near anyone who mattered.
He would plan it like a battle.
Because that was what it was. A battle against the thing wearing his own blood.
The system rang again, softer this time.
[System Advisory: The host is responding correctly. Recognition of danger is stabilizing decision quality.
Preparation reduces risk. Denial increases risk. Delay without planning increases risk. Controlled release is preferable to forced failure.]
Sekhmet stared at the words.
"You sound almost pleased," he thought.
[System function is host survival.]
That was not humor. But it was close enough.
Sekhmet set the pen down. Then he did something he rarely allowed himself to do. He admitted the truth out loud, if only to the dark room.
"I am afraid of that state," he said quietly.
The room did not answer. But the system did.
[Fear is rational. Fear indicates correct threat recognition. Preparation is superior to denial. Caution improves survival odds.]
Sekhmet let out a slow breath. That was probably the most useful thing it had said all night.
He walked back to the window and looked out over the dark city again.
Slik was sleeping badly, the way big cities always did. Somewhere out there, thieves were moving. Somewhere, nobles were drinking. Somewhere, Iron House was making plans. Somewhere farther away, real monsters were walking toward his region with blood in their mouths.
And inside him, another monster was keeping count.