The Countess's words were still dripping into the air when another sound cut through them, a scream.
It was Leon.
They turned just in time to see him crumple to his knees.
His back arched unnaturally, every muscle in his body straining against itself as if some unseen force were trying to rip him apart from the inside.
Dark veins erupted across his neck and face, pulsing in time with the Countess's glowing Heart. His eyes rolled back, the whites flooding with inky black until no color remained.
"Leon!" Sasha's cry sounded as she moved to him, only to freeze when his head snapped toward her. An expression twisted across his face that didn't belong to him. His lips peeled back in a snarl, and when he spoke, it wasn't his voice.
"Finally… Took way too long."
The parasite's tone was outright triumphant.
Bastet's eyes narrowed. "It's feeding off the artifact's pulse."
