"Urghhh..."
Kael doubled over the toilet as another violent wave of nausea overtook him. His stomach convulsed painfully before another mouthful of bitter fluid splashed into the bowl. The force behind it made his entire body tremble.
For several long seconds, the only sound inside the bathroom was his uneven breathing.
His appearance had completely changed within the span of a few hours.
The healthy complexion he had possessed earlier had long since vanished, replaced by an unnatural paleness that made him look as though every drop of blood had been drained from his body. His lips had become dry and cracked, while dark circles hung beneath his eyes. Those once calm pupils had become hollow, carrying the exhausted look of someone who hadn’t slept for days.
Anyone seeing him in his current state would immediately assume he was suffering from some terminal illness.
His legs suddenly gave out.
Thud.
Kael collapsed onto the cold tiled floor, barely having the strength to keep himself upright. His chest rose and fell heavily as he stared blankly ahead.
He had lost count.
How many times had he vomited tonight?
Ten?
Twenty?
Even he no longer knew.
At first, he had assumed the discomfort would disappear after some rest. After all, he had just fought an enormous beast horde almost entirely by himself. Mental exhaustion wasn’t impossible.
But instead of fading...
It became worse.
Much worse.
The smell of blood had become so overpowering that every single breath he took felt like torture. It wasn’t merely unpleasant anymore. It invaded every one of his senses until it was all he could perceive.
It was thick.
Heavy.
Rotten.
Yet strangely... that wasn’t what disturbed him the most.
There was something hidden beneath that smell.
Something he couldn’t properly describe.
Every instinct inside him rejected it. It filled him with a discomfort so overwhelming that he found himself wanting to rip his own nose off just to make it stop.
Slowly, Kael forced himself back onto his feet.
"This can’t continue..."
His voice sounded hoarse.
Something was clearly wrong with him.
This wasn’t simply because he had been drenched in blood during the battle. He refused to believe something so trivial could reduce him to this miserable state. There had to be another reason.
A psychological one.
Or perhaps...
Something even stranger.
Fortunately, he knew someone who might have the answer.
Without wasting another second, Kael staggered out of the bathroom. He didn’t even bother washing away the mess left around his mouth. Grabbing neither his phone nor anything else, he hurried out of the apartment before disappearing into the night.
Boom!
The concrete beneath his feet cracked as he shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
Cold night winds slammed against his face as buildings blurred past him. His brown hair whipped wildly behind him while the city lights became nothing more than streaks of color.
Yet despite travelling at terrifying speed, the smell remained.
It refused to disappear.
It clung to him like an invisible curse.
The rushing wind couldn’t dilute it.
The fresh night air couldn’t cover it.
Nothing changed.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
As expected, the smell wasn’t real.
Or rather...
Not entirely.
Whatever was affecting him had gone beyond something his nose could simply perceive.
It was attacking something deeper.
His mind.
His instincts.
Perhaps even his very soul.
Soon enough, he arrived at the same deserted area he had visited previously.
Before doing anything else, his senses expanded outward.
Like invisible waves, they swept across the surroundings, scanning every corner with absolute precision.
Only after confirming he was completely alone did Kael establish his connection with Varek.
Almost immediately, space before him distorted.
A swirling vortex slowly unfolded, twisting reality into a circular gateway that pulsed with ancient spatial energy.
Without hesitation, Kael stepped inside.
The familiar sensation of space folding around his body returned. His vision warped as countless streams of light flashed past him before everything stabilized once more.
The next instant...
He arrived back inside the ancient throne room.
Standing several meters away was Varek, he had already been waiting.
Through the bond connecting the two of them, Varek had sensed the urgency in his master’s call and opened the portal without delay. Yet the moment his gaze landed upon Kael, his expression subtly changed.
He immediately understood.
Before Kael could even explain anything, Varek spoke.
"Master... you appear to be suffering from the manifestation of your bloodlust."
Kael froze.
The words stopped him completely.
He hadn’t even spoken yet.
Yet Varek had identified his condition with a single glance.
As expected of someone who had once stood near the pinnacle of existence.
Suppressing the nausea threatening to overwhelm him again, Kael immediately asked,
"What does that mean?"
Varek remained silent for a brief moment before replying with a question instead.
"Master... have you taken an enormous number of lives recently?"
Kael nodded without hesitation.
"I have."
Not merely hundreds.
Nor thousands.
During the beast horde alone, he had slaughtered an absurd number of monsters.
Seeing the confirmation, Varek gave a slight nod.
"That is the cause."
"Killing such an immense number of living beings within such a short period has triggered the manifestation of your bloodlust."
Kael frowned.
"My... bloodlust?"
"Yes."
Varek folded his hands behind his back before slowly beginning his explanation.
"It is difficult to give it a perfect definition, but the simplest way to understand it is to think of it as intent."
"Intent?"
Kael repeated.
Varek nodded.
"Yes. Intent... or more precisely, intention."
"Every living being acts according to intention. Every action, no matter how insignificant, begins with a thought. A desire. A purpose."
"To walk."
"To speak."
"To protect."
"To kill."
"All of these are intentions."
"Ordinarily, those intentions remain locked within the body and mind, never affecting reality itself. However, when a particular intention becomes powerful enough... when it is reinforced over countless repetitions until it reaches a critical point... it begins to transcend the limits of the body."
"It starts to manifest."
Kael listened silently despite the constant nausea twisting his stomach.
Varek continued.
"The moment an intention attempts to manifest into reality, it begins violating the natural order of the world. Such things were never meant to exist physically."
"And because of that..."
"The will of the world rejects it."
"It pushes back."
"The stronger the manifestation..."
"The greater the resistance."
Kael’s brows knitted together.
"So what I’m experiencing now..."
Varek nodded.
"Is the backlash."
"Your body is attempting to manifest an overwhelming bloodlust born from the countless lives you’ve ended."
"The world is resisting that manifestation."
"And this resistance is expressing itself through your current condition."
Kael fell into thought.
The explanation still felt incredibly abstract.
He couldn’t claim he fully understood everything Varek had just said.
Intent.
Manifestation.
The will of the world.
It all sounded far beyond anything he currently knew.
But right now...
Understanding the theory wasn’t important.
The overpowering scent of blood still assaulted his senses every second.
His body felt like it was reaching its limit.
He needed a solution.
Immediately.
Raising his head, Kael looked directly at Varek.
"So this backlash..."
He paused briefly before asking the only question that truly mattered.
"Is there a way to stop it?"