Edward stared at the Hunter. The blackened cave walls shimmered with light as the Hunter's gaze bore down on them. Edward and Sam stood side by side, all 5,000 hollows arrayed behind them like a dark army. Cade and the other hollows locked their black eyes onto the Hunter, who smiled as he grabbed a strength pill from one of the multiple circles at his waist. He opened the container and popped the pill into his mouth.
"Well, let's say we settle this equally," the Hunter announced, his voice echoing through the cavern. "None of you interfere, and I fight my friend Edward here. Do that, and I'll let you all out of this cave."
Cade stepped forward, rage flickering across his face. "You think you can—"
Before he could finish, the Hunter launched a beam of light at him through a blaster. The energy rushed forward. Cade tried to dodge, but the attack came too fast. The beam struck him square in the chest and hurled him backward into the cave wall. Dust and debris exploded everywhere as Cade struggled to his feet again.
Edward, still lacking enough energy to launch any death energy attacks, rushed forward. He leaped up, planning to grab the Hunter, but his opponent dodged effortlessly.
"Come on," the Hunter taunted. "You really think you can beat me in a one-on-one fight, Edward?"
Edward shot back, "This isn't one-on-one. I have an army. What do you have?"
The Hunter's smile widened. "What do I have? These weapons, of course. And my strength pills. That's what I have."
"Your weapons and strength pills won't save you. You know that very well. So step back, show us the exit, and you'll be on your way," Edward said, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
The Hunter just stood there, his expression shifting. "I'm sorry, Edward. I really am. I didn't want to do this, but—"
"But what?" Cade snarled, suddenly grabbing the Hunter by the neck and lifting him off the ground.
The Hunter's eyes bulged as Cade's grip tightened. "You'll do something terrible, won't you? You'll hurt my new family. You'll kill every hollow, won't you? Well, that's too bad, because you can't."
Cade's fingers dug deeper into the Hunter's throat. "Even if you wanted to, even if you had the will to kill us all, no matter what energy you throw at us, we will come back."
The Hunter tried to pry Cade's hands away from his neck, but the grip was too strong.
Edward said, his tone casual and laid-back, as though the Hunter posed no threat whatsoever, "You're being very, very annoying. Back to our deal, Hunter. I'll propose this again: either do the harmless thing and—let's be honest—you're not going to fight five thousand hollows and win."
The Hunter smiled despite his predicament. "I don't have to."
He pressed a button on his waist. A clone materialized beside him. Though Cade still choked him, the Hunter managed to speak. "This clone has the same power as me, the same life force. He has all my memories, all my abilities. If I die, he'll still be alive. So there's no getting rid of me."
One hollow jumped forward—the same one that had been split in half by the parasite monster's blade-like hand back near the demon mansion. The hollow rushed toward the clone, dashing with supernatural speed. The clone tried to dodge, but the hollow was too quick. It punched the clone directly in the face.
The clone flew backward, skidding across the ground, though the force only pushed it back a few feet. It laughed. "How weak," it said, hurling a white ball toward the hollow.
The ball struck the hollow, and white chains erupted, wrapping around its entire body. The chains bolted to the ground, leaving the hollow immobilized. The Hunter's clone jumped forward and unleashed a barrage of punches to the hollow's stomach. The hollow felt nauseating pain, as though it wanted to vomit, but its body wouldn't allow it.
Finally, the chains dropped. With one vicious punch, the clone uppercutted the hollow through the air, sending it flying and smashing through the cave ceiling toward the second floor where all 5,000 hollows had originally teleported using Edward's death magic.
Suddenly, something burst through the entirety of the cave—something impossibly fast. It zipped through both the front and back sides of the cave in less than a second, a red blur. The hollows barely registered it before the Hunter felt a presence in front of him. The clone had already been killed somehow during the red blur's passage.
The man standing before him wore red armor and held two silver blades in his hands. He had a handsome face with dark hair that suddenly shifted color, turning crimson. Now he had red hair, red armor, and two silver blades crossed over his chest. A black star marked the center of his breastplate.
The man said with mock apology, "Oh, sorry. Did I ruin something? My bad. Well, I guess I have to leave."
"You're not leaving," Cade hissed, grabbing the man's arm and feeling the weakly hot metal armor plating underneath.
"Really? You do know I can kill you in less than a second, right? So how about you move aside, and we'll be on our way?" the man said coolly.
Edward and Sam both stared in astonishment at someone who could move so quickly.
The Hunter said, his voice venomous, "Arrogance will be your downfall. And I'll be back."
"No, you won't," the man said, cutting the Hunter in half with a single slash.
"There we go," the man began, but before he could finish, a punch landed squarely on his head. He flew back several feet, slamming into the opposite cave wall.
The Hunter stood there, laughing hysterically. "Oh my God, this is hilarious! I can't believe someone as strong as you would be fooled by a clone. How ridiculous!"
The man named Stark just smiled. "Oh, that was a clone? Now I wonder—are your clones like fifty percent of your strength or something? Maybe you're stronger than your clone. Perhaps you're way stronger, and your clones are just weak, right?"
The Hunter's eyes blazed with fury. His clones were just as strong as him, so by saying that, Stark was emphasizing that the Hunter—the man who ruled many organizations—was weak.
Stark said, his tone shifting to boredom, "Listen, I don't want to ruin anything with you guys. So I'm going to leave. You can continue your little banter or whatever, and I'll just go see what else is around. That's the offer, I guess."
Stark immediately left. His extreme speed allowed him to cross the entirety of the cave and the level above in less than ten seconds. He vanished without warning.
Meanwhile, in Sin's apartment, he lay on the ground beside his bed, concentrating, trying to absorb blood energy around him.
Sin said, standing back up, "This is useless."
Elias would have smiled if he had a body. He spoke from within Sin's mind. "Look, it takes time. It takes time to gather blood energy and use it. It took me a very long time to do it myself. I have no doubt it'll take even longer for you to cultivate your blood magic."
Suddenly, Sin started to feel hungry. He remembered back when the system first appeared—if he didn't consume blood within a week, he would grow ravenous. Then, after a few days of that, his body would take control, finding blood on its own. It felt like a long while, a very long time since the system had occurred, but a week had passed nonetheless. He was starting to hunger for blood. After all, he was a shadow vampiric being, still a vampire in that sense, and he still needed blood.
Sin wandered—not where, but who could he get blood from? He pondered this for a few seconds, then decided on a final verdict.
This idea was probably the smartest thing Sin had ever come up with. "All right, Elias, take control of my body. See if you can make blood somehow and bring it back. I'm going to drink it."
"All right, go into the mind space," Elias said.
Sin went into the mind space. The dark void surrounded him. Elias stood in front of him—his right armor, pale face, and red eyes gleaming. The Shadow Demon stood a few feet away, still not attacking, still just standing there. Its uncanny smile sent chills down Sin's spine.
Elias said, "All right. Time to take control."
Elias opened his eyes. He looked around Sin's room, finding himself inside Sin's body. He began to move his hand through the air, and blood conjured. He grabbed a cup near Sin's nightstand and filled it with the crimson liquid.
Sin soon took back control and looked at the cup filled with blood. "All right," he said, preparing himself. He'd never drunk blood before. This was his first time. "Here I go."
He lifted the cup and held it to his lips. He drank the blood. Immediately, energy flooded his body. The blood was sweet—it didn't even taste like blood should. It tasted sweet, even addicting. He felt energized, stronger, faster, more sharpened, even after just a few sips.
"What in the world?" Sin said.
Suddenly, new features came over him. Other than his red eyes, which gleamed brighter, something else changed. The Shadow Demon inside his mindscape and Elias both sensed it. Something had changed. Sin had grown stronger—way stronger.
The blood left inside the cup glowed. It flowed upward, and Sin's mouth opened without his permission. The blood streamed in. The glowing liquid entered his throat and went down his esophagus. New strength surged through him.
A system message appeared in his mind. He looked at it. The text was red, which meant it had something to do with blood.
**Shadow Vampiric Being will now be upgraded. Evolution starting now.**
Sin's body convulsed. Pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced tore through every nerve, every cell. His bones cracked and reformed. His skin rippled as though something beneath it was trying to break free. The Shadow Demon in his mindscape began to move—for the first time since it had appeared, it took a step forward, its uncanny smile widening into something far more sinister.
Elias's voice cut through the agony, sharp with alarm. "Sin! Something's wrong. This isn't a normal evolution. The Shadow Demon—it's—"
But before Elias could finish, darkness exploded from Sin's body, filling the entire room. The windows shattered. The walls cracked. And somewhere deep within the void of his mindscape, the Shadow Demon laughed—a sound that promised nothing but chao
Volume one, volume two: The Blood Stars.