Chapter 53: Between Hunger and Choice VI
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The second guard was tearing into a kobol with clawed fingers, ripping flesh with savage strength.
Scrrrk!
Blood sprayed.
The smell hit Sekhmet again, thick and hot.
The hunger stirred.
But Sekhmet forced himself to remain focused.
He watched the entrance.
The narrow mouth limited kobols to one or two at a time. That was the only reason the guards were still standing.
But kobols adapted quickly.
They began climbing the rock outside, trying to drop down through the opening from above, trying to overwhelm the chokepoint.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.
He had regained some function from drinking blood, but his chaos energy was still not full. He could not sustain long combat.
But he could do one decisive thing.
He could upgrade a skill.
A level-two skill would not just be a small improvement. In systems like this, level thresholds often opened entirely new functions.
He needed something that increased control.
Something that helped him fight crowds.
Something that helped him restrain bloodlust and not lose himself.
Sekhmet’s gaze sharpened.
He spoke inside his mind.
"Status."
The system answered instantly, showing the upgrade prompt.
[Skill Upgrade Available.
Choose one skill to upgrade to Level Two.
Options: Blood Control, Blood Sword, Blood Eye, Blood Summon, Blood Puppet.]
Sekhmet’s thoughts moved fast.
Blood Sword would increase weapon strength and possibly unlock more shapes. Useful.
Blood Eye would expand appraisal range, detect threats, possibly see hidden tracks. Useful.
Blood Summon would improve minions, maybe allow better quality from lesser blood. Useful.
Blood Puppet was powerful but dangerous and not testable in this chaos. Also, he did not want more servants right now. He wanted survival.
Blood Control was the foundation. If he could control blood better, he could shape it into traps, spikes, shields, restraints, and he might control his own feeding better.
He chose.
"Upgrade Blood Control."
The system responded.
[Ding! Skill Upgrade Confirmed.
Blood Control Lv1 → Blood Control Lv2
Initializing upgrade...]
A faint sensation ran through Sekhmet’s veins, like a cold thread weaving into his arteries. It was not pain. It was awareness. He could feel blood in the cavern more clearly now, as if the air itself had become filled with invisible red lines.
The upgrade completed fast, because the system did not waste time.
[Ding! System notification-
Blood Control Lv2 acquired.
New functions unlocked: shaping refinement, multi-form manipulation, temporary blood hardening, blood tether.]
Sekhmet inhaled sharply. His senses changed. He could feel every spilled drop. He could feel blood splashed on the stone. He could feel blood pooling near the entrance. He could feel the kobols’ blood pumping inside their bodies, faint but present.
That last part made his stomach twist.
"This is too dangerous."
But it was also too useful.
Sekhmet stepped forward and raised his hand toward the cave mouth. He focused.
Blood tether.
The blood spilled from the dead kobols near the entrance lifted off the ground like it was waking up.
Ssshhh...
It coiled into thin ropes, stretching toward the kobols trying to climb.
One kobol hissed in surprise as the blood rope snapped around its ankle.
TCH—!
Sekhmet yanked.
The kobol was ripped off the rock face and slammed into the ground.
THUD!
Another kobol tried to rush the entrance.
Sekhmet hardened blood into spikes and sent them forward like arrows.
Whoosh!
Shhk! Shhk!
Two spikes pierced the kobol’s shoulder and thigh. It fell screaming.
Sekhmet did not stop.
He used multi-form manipulation, shaping blood into a broad sheet like a red shield across the entrance for half a second, just long enough to block a spear thrust.
Clang!
The shield splashed apart, but it bought time.
The guards fought harder, fueled by their new ghoul hunger and increased endurance. They moved with savage efficiency now, not soldier discipline alone, but predator violence.
The first guard ripped a kobol’s throat out with his teeth.
CRUNCH —Shhk!
Sekhmet flinched. "So that is what I made them."
The second guard sliced through a kobol’s wrist, then clawed its face.
Scrrrk!
Kobol screams filled the entrance.
"Aaa—!"
"Monster!"
"Back!"
The kobols hesitated again, shocked by the defenders’ ferocity.
Sekhmet exploited hesitation. He formed blood into a thick slick on the ground outside the entrance.
Splat...
The first wave of kobols slipped as they tried to rush again.
Thud! Thud!
They fell into a pile, snarling.
Sekhmet hardened the blood slick into a sudden crust, trapping them for a moment like insects in sap.
The guards stabbed downward.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
The kobols died quickly. The entrance became a mound of bodies. The blood smell thickened again.
Sekhmet’s hunger stirred. He clenched his jaw hard enough to ache.
Then he heard it. A new sound. Not kobol howling. A deeper bark. A command. And footsteps that felt heavier.
Tap... Tap... Tap...
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.
He activated Blood Eye toward the shadows outside.
A larger silhouette moved beyond the pile of bodies. Not huge like an orc, but bigger than the kobols, wearing scrap armor that looked reinforced with chaos stones. Its eyes glowed brighter than the others.
[Name: Kobol Fang-Captain. (Stronger of the group.)
Overall Battle Power: 6400]
Sekhmet’s chest tightened.
Over six thousand. Not by much, but enough to matter when numbers were involved.
The kobols parted slightly for it. It snarled in chaos language, voice thick.
"Break them. Take the girl. Take the human."
Sekhmet’s jaw clenched. "So the kobols knew Lily mattered. They are intelligent enough to understand."
That meant they were not only hunting for food. They were hunting for value. A city lord’s daughter in purgatory was a prize.
Sekhmet’s mind raced.
If the kobols had a fang-captain, they might have more. They might have a whole pack network. If this turned into a prolonged chase, Lily would never be safe.
"What if someone sends them here for Lily? What if it isn’t a coincidence?" There were a lot of questions inside his mind.
He needed to end this encounter. Not win a war. End the pursuit. He looked at the two ghoul guards.