The city was no longer a city.
It was breathing.
Skyscrapers bent like ribs expanding with each pulse of Akira's aura. Neon lights bled color into the streets, pooling into liquid streams of violet and red. Civilians—normal humans—were trapped inside the warped geometry, walking in circles, screaming for exits that no longer existed.
Akira stood at the epicenter, her crimson cloak fluttering unnaturally, eyes glowing brighter than the chaos around her. Rank 6 power throbbed through every vein. She could feel the city's fear… and its fascination.
Rin landed beside her, eyes scanning the growing distortions. "You've triggered a full-scale Blood Resonance. If you don't shut it down, you'll turn the entire district into your personal feeding ground."
Akira tilted her head. "And that's a problem… why?"
Before Rin could answer, the sky split. A rift—wide, jagged, dripping shadow—tore open above them. From it descended figures clad in black armor with blood-red visors. Their movements were mechanical, but the scent they carried was unmistakable: vampire blood.
Rin's voice dropped low. "Blood Sentinels. The Architect's enforcers. They only appear when someone threatens the balance."
The first Sentinel landed, cracking the warped street beneath it. Its weapon—half-spear, half-scythe—glowed with runes designed to slice through immortality itself.
Akira smirked, licking a drop of blood from her lip. "Guess I'm finally worth sending soldiers for."
The Sentinels moved in unison, their attacks carving through the warped city. Every strike they landed restored a small fragment of reality, countering her influence. Akira's Rank 6 aura fought back instinctively, creating an unstable tug-of-war.
Humans screamed as buildings folded in and out of existence. Blood mist drifted in the air, amplifying her hunger. Each Sentinel cut down was a burst of fuel, sending her even higher toward Rank 7—but she could feel the Architect's gaze pressing harder, like a hand on her throat.
Rin shouted over the chaos, "If you keep feeding now, you'll skip control entirely and burn out—"
Too late.
Akira tore through another Sentinel, drinking deep, and the entire city shivered.
Level Up: Rank 7 – Blood Overdrive
Her aura exploded into a storm, drowning out the screams. The Sentinels faltered. The Architect's voice rumbled in her skull, deeper than thunder:
"You were warned."
Cliffhanger: Akira's leap to Rank 7 has broken the Architect's patience—what comes next may not be a fight she can win.