The black mass stirred the moment Neo brought it closer to the twin blades.
It never moved like metal. The surface slid over his wrist, climbed across the back of his hand, and stretched toward the paired swords with a hunger so obvious that even Neo felt it through the bond.
Venomfang reacted first. A faint tremor ran through the blade, not fear, not quite resistance either, more like a weapon realizing it had just been placed in front of something higher on the chain. Gravefang answered a heartbeat later. That one felt different from the start. Heavier in intent. Meaner. Like it preferred to stay buried in flesh and ruin whatever tried to live through it.
Neo watched the relic creep farther over his skin and gave the order anyway.
"Go on," he said, lifting the blades a little. "Eat."
The Thousand-Form Relic moved at once.
