"Between broken promises and bleeding light,
some hearts still dare to awaken the ancient darkness."
The air smelled of iron. Of ancient things. Of broken promises.
Each step toward the Exempt felt like crossing through centuries.
And at the end of the path… something pulsed.
Something that had never stopped watching.
Not all truths set you free. Some... open cages that were never meant to be broken.
The dampness thickened as Arisha and Baco descended through the forgotten cracks of the world.
The Exempt, hidden deep within the catacombs' womb, was older than the city itself.
They hadn't found it by chance.
It was the stone, the symbols, the voices slipping into their dreams that guided them.
And there it was.
The bottle.
Suspended midair, trapped between floating chains and pulsing runes, it glowed with a dark light.
A whisper in Latin slithered through the air, chilling Arisha to the bone:
"Et lux in tenebris... Et lux in tenebris..."
She instinctively took a step back.
The Slavic runes encircling the vessel flared to life at her presence:
"Sanguis Ultimus. Lux Devastata. Exilium Aeternum."
—It's him... —Baco murmured, stepping closer.
Lio.
The pureblood vampire.
His voice reached her mind before any sound escaped his lips:
—At last...
Arisha shuddered.
Something called to her—a buried longing.
The answers were right there, within reach.
She only needed... a little more.
—Don't do it —Baco warned.
But it was already too late.
Arisha extended her hand.
She pricked her finger with her own fang; a single drop of blood fell onto the sealed surface.
The chains shivered.
The runes burst into light.
The bottle cracked.
And Lio was set free.
A tall figure, ash-skinned and with eyes as red as madness itself, emerged from the dark mist.
His body was covered in cursed runes, branded deep into his flesh by fire.
—The last... Nevri descendant —he whispered, brushing Arisha's hair with cold fingers.
And then his face shifted.
"Your father sealed me away out of fear. Out of love for your kind.
And you... you carry his blood.
Do you know what that means?
It means I am doomed to hate you."
With a brutal gesture, he hurled Baco against a stone pillar.
His fingers dug into Baco's throat.
—Even your parents didn't want you! You're nothing but a failed vampire. A shadow that should have never been born.
His blackened nails elongated, slicing into Baco's flesh.
Flash:
"Before men and hybrid beings, you will be torn apart by my own son.
That is my prophecy for you, Lionel."
Arisha blinked through the horror, seeing Baco and herself utterly at Lio's mercy.
She tried to move, but couldn't.
Lio's gaze held her captive, as if history itself gripped her limbs.
—Two bastards —Lio spat.
Baco, gasping, spat blood onto the ground.
—I already gave you what you wanted.
Keep her... just tell me where my father is.
Arisha felt a lash of pain across her chest.
His words scorched her.
—You're an idiot! —she screamed, breaking the paralysis and striking Baco with her weapon. —You're the one who should think before speaking!
Lio recoiled, surprised.
Then smiled.
—You have your mother's fire... but the cursed Nevri's eyes.
In a swift movement, he seized Arisha by the arms.
—With a bit more of your blood, I will be free forever.
His fangs descended.
The shot rang out like a roar.
"Then hate me. But leave her."
Baco's voice was barely a whisper.
Lio growled.
The pain wasn't hers.
When she opened her eyes, the blood dripping onto the ground wasn't her own… it was his.
—Baco...
He had stepped between them.
Again.
Baco, half-smirking through the blood, muttered:
—Arisha is my problem… not yours.
His fangs gleamed, stained red.
Lio stepped back.
—Interesting. Very interesting...
Wiping dark blood from his mouth—a blood so black it burned his lips and throat—he turned.
That was when Balt fired.
Lio vanished into the darkness, leaving behind a cursed echo and the scent of an ancient war.
And with him, the old war whispered by the ancestors began to stir once again.
Not a war of armies.
But of blood. Of destiny. Of broken promises.
In the cold silence of the ruins, Arisha and Baco stood at the edge of something far greater than themselves.
Their hearts still beat.
For now.
Because in a world where even light can bleed...
only those who dare to burn will survive.