Chapter 11 BLOOD PRICE

I slammed my palm down on the cracked basement floor, fingers digging into the pulsing vein lines. “Extract! Everything you’ve got, you bastard! Now!”

Power exploded upward like a geyser. Golden-blue energy ripped from the ground, from the fallen warriors’ bodies, from the very air around us. It flooded into me so hard my back arched and a scream tore out of my throat. “Scar…hold on! I’m not letting you die here!”

Scar was on one knee, blood pouring from the deep gash across his ribs and back. “Chen… don’t!” he growled, voice already weakening. “You’ll lose yourself again!”

Too late. The rush hit me like lightning in my veins. Strength surged through every muscle. My wounds closed instantly. I felt like a god. I laughed, wild, raw, unstoppable, as I turned on the remaining strike team.

“You wanted the system?” I roared at them. “Come take it!”

Three warriors charged me at once. I moved faster than thought. My hand shot out and clamped onto the nearest man’s arm. The system responded hungrily.

[Cultivator Vein Fragment Detected.]

I pulled. Hard. The man screamed as glowing threads of spiritual energy tore out of his body and into mine. His face twisted in agony. “What… what are you…”

His scream cut off as he collapsed, dry and empty like a drained husk. The power felt incredible. Addictive. I spun and grabbed another, draining him mid-swing. His sword clattered to the floor.

“Monster!” one of the survivors shouted, backing away. “He’s draining us alive!”

“Stay back!” I snarled, but my voice sounded deeper now. Not fully mine. “Or join them.”

Scar tried to stand, blood slicking the ground beneath him. “Chen! Fight it! That’s not you talking!”

The Emperor’s voice slid through my mind, smooth and warm. “Let me help, Chen. Your friend is dying. Give me the reins for just a moment and I will end this.”

“No!” I shouted, even as my body kept moving on its own, faster, deadlier. I drained two more warriors before they could even raise their weapons. Their fear, their pain, their last memories flooded into me, soul fragments mixing with the raw power. A wife waiting at home. A son’s laugh. All of it crashed through my head until I couldn’t tell what was mine anymore.

“Get out of my head!” I screamed, but I kept pulling. The basement lit up with blinding spiritual light. Warriors tried to run. I chased them down, hands like claws, draining vein after vein. Their screams echoed off the walls.

Then everything went black.

~~~~

I blinked.

The basement was a slaughterhouse.

Bodies lay everywhere, twisted, shriveled, some with their chests caved in like something had reached inside and scooped out their cores. Blood painted every surface. The air stank of death and burnt spirit energy.

Scar leaned against the far wall, barely sitting up. His face was pale as death, one hand pressed hard against the worst wound on his side. Blood kept leaking between his fingers. He stared at me with wide, haunted eyes.

I looked down at my hands. They were covered in fresh blood. Not mine. My clothes were torn, new cuts already healing over. The power still hummed inside me, stronger than ever.

“What… happened?” I whispered, voice cracking. I took a shaky step toward him. “Scar? Talk to me.”

He didn’t move at first. Just kept staring like I was the monster that crawled out of the dark. Then, with a pained grunt, he lunged forward and grabbed my collar with his bloody hand. His grip was weak but desperate. His face was inches from mine.

“You weren’t you,” he rasped, blood flecking his lips. “You laughed again. That same laugh. You walked through them like it was nothing. Drained the last ones while they begged. Told them their veins tasted better than beasts.”

I felt my stomach drop. “I… I was trying to save you. They were killing you.”

Scar’s eyes didn’t soften. “Next time you wake up… I might not be here to stop you.”

His words hit harder than any blade. I grabbed his wrist, holding on like he might disappear. “Don’t say that. You’re still here. We’re both still here. I can fix this. I’ll get you help. There’s got to be medicine in one of these packs…”

The system chimed coldly in my vision.

[Emperor Resonance: 4.8%]

A deep, ancient satisfaction bloomed in my chest. Not mine. The Emperor was smiling inside me, slow, content, like a dragon stretching after a good meal. It felt warm. Proud. Like we had done something right together.

I shuddered and tried to push it down. “Get out,” I whispered. “This is my body. My friend. Stay the hell back.”

Scar’s grip loosened. He slumped heavier against me, breathing shallow. “You’re accelerating it, kid. Faster than the last one. I can see it in your eyes sometimes… that old look.”

I held him up, my hands shaking as I pressed against his wounds. “I’m still me, Scar. I chose to pull for you. Not for it. For you. That has to count for something.”

He coughed, blood on his teeth. “Doesn’t matter what you choose when you black out. The thing inside chooses then.”

The Emperor’s whisper returned, gentle and terrible. “He is right, Chen. But I can keep him alive. All you have to do is let me stay a little longer.”

I ignored it and looked around at the carnage I’d caused while unconscious. All those bodies. All that power I’d stolen. The safe zone I saved earlier felt like a distant dream now. This… this was the price.

Scar’s eyes started to flutter. “If I have to put you down… I will. Don’t make me.”

I swallowed hard, tears mixing with the blood on my face. “Then stay alive long enough to do it, you stubborn bastard. I’m not losing the only person crazy enough to stick with me.”

The distant sound of more horns echoed through the ruins. Reinforcements coming. Always more.

I felt the Emperor smile wider inside my chest, pleased with the blood, the power, the

growing bond between me and Scar.

And I knew the next blackout would be worse.