Path of BlooDld

The faint light seeping from the cave walls pulsed in rhythm with the giant heartbeats, as if the entire place had become a living creature — watching, breathing.

In one corner stood Ashen, his eyes fixed on the strange human-shaped shadow emerging from the blood gate. It resembled no one he had seen before. Silent — yet his silence cut the air like a blade.

The stranger stepped forward calmly, scanning the place with an indescribable gaze, as if carving into the very walls of reality. Then he spoke, his voice neither loud nor soft, but with a tone that sent chills down the spine:

"So this is it… where the lifeblood of the wilderness pulses."

He stared at Ashen for a long moment, then mocked:

"Low refinement… and yet, you're still alive in the heart of this madness?"

Ashen didn't flinch. He looked back with a cold confidence and replied:

"Even if I'm at the peak of Blood Trainee, so are you. Why shouldn't I be able to survive if you can?"

The stranger chuckled lightly, then waved his hand through the air as if brushing off words unworthy of him.

"I have treasures that protect me from the heart's influence… These sigils etched on me since entering this place, they seek to spy and control. But I resisted them."

"But I don't see anything on you — just ragged clothes made from beast hides."

Ashen took a step forward, his eyes narrowing:

"Who are you? And why do you carry the same aura as this heart? Are you… connected? What's your purpose in dragging people like me into this hell?"

The stranger gave him a mocking look.

"You think too much… It's strange for an ant to question its connection to the sun. This heart, boy, cannot be measured, understood, or bound. I, like you, came here to investigate… and was struck by these sigils."

He continued:

"But the strange thing is… you have none. No sigils, no marks. Nothing. How? Even I couldn't remove them — so how did you?"

Ashen answered quietly:

"I don't know."

"Hmph. As if I'd believe that."

Behind them, the heart's pulse intensified, watching them in silence. But this silence felt as heavy as an ancient law.

Ashen asked:

"Do you know a way to escape this place?"

The stranger replied:

"I have one. But why would I help you?"

Ashen narrowed his eyes.

"That debt will be a blade over my neck."

The stranger contemplated Ashen's words, then said:

"Big words for a weak kid… but I like you."

"Maybe this meeting isn't a coincidence. And maybe… you're not just a nobody. But before I help you escape, I'll test you. I have followers outside the wilds. If you survive, we'll meet again — and I'll see if you're worth keeping in this game."

At that moment, a deep voice echoed from the heart:

"Escape? From me? From the root of all fate? How pitiful you both are."

The space around them erupted with a force that nearly shattered their bones.

The heart laughed:

"You think you're strong?"

The strange youth threw a carved stone to the ground. It shattered — and a blood throne emerged, forged from thousands of veins, fangs, and glowing symbols.

The heart recoiled briefly, its eyes narrowing:

"Hmph. So you have some background. But you're just lucky — I'm currently bound by the heavens. Otherwise, even the throne's master wouldn't have the right to breathe before me."

Then it turned to Ashen:

"And you… the fate-shifter, the one who walks outside the timeline… know this:

I am the ultimate nightmare — the hand behind the stage. When annihilation arrives, your name will be drenched in its final scream. Then you will all know… true horror."

The space around Ashen and the stranger tore open, forming an indescribable vortex — filled with suspended bones and whispers of the dead.

They vanished.

And the heart remained… gazing into the darkness, whispering:

"The fracture has begun… the heavens are watching, and I am writing:

Who watches, who lives, who dies!!"