🩸 Shadow of Blood and Flame
Volume 1 – Rebirth of the Assassin Clan
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Prologue – The Experiment
The night sky over Avelion burned red.
Lightning crawled across the clouds as if the heavens themselves rejected what was about to happen.
Inside a hidden chamber beneath the Assassin Clan's fortress, an old man stood before a crystal altar. His hands trembled, stained with dragon scales and blackened demon ichor.
> "The union of dragon and demon blood… the bridge between heaven and hell…"
whispered Ryozan Kurozane, the former leader and now exiled alchemist of the clan.
"Tonight… we create perfection."
On the altar lay a child — only three years old — his silver hair glimmering faintly under the red moonlight.
The child's eyes were open, but lifeless. His name: Ryu Kurozane.
Ryozan poured two vials into a single rune-etched circle — one glowing crimson, the other black as the abyss.
The symbols flared, shaking the room. Power roared like a dragon's breath.
> "Forgive me, my son," Ryozan murmured. "But this world needs a monster… not a hero."
The fusion began.
Screams tore through the underground hall as the energies collided. Shadows burst like flames. The ground split.
Then — silence.
When the smoke cleared, the child was alive… breathing… but his eyes burned red and gold — a dragon's wrath and a demon's curse.
Ryozan smiled faintly. "Seventy percent success… The rest, fate will decide."
Moments later, the entire fortress shook. A vortex of black light swallowed Ryozan whole, his voice fading into the void.
> "Live… my grandson… live and show them the true power of the Reaper's blood…"
And then he was gone.
The Assassin Clan buried the truth.
But truth has a way of returning — soaked in blood.
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Chapter 1 – Ten Years Later
Ten years passed. The world forgot the name Ryozan Kurozane, but it never forgot the fear of demons.
Within the borders of the Human Empire, whispers spread — that the Assassin Clan had defied humanity by fusing demon blood into a child.
The king called it Treason of Humanity.
The order was clear: "Destroy them all."
Inside the Assassin Clan's hidden fortress, Lord Kaien Kurozane, the clan leader and Ryu's father, stood in front of his people.
Hundreds of assassins knelt before him, silent but burning with rage.
> "They call us traitors," Kaien said, voice echoing like steel.
"They call us monsters… But tonight, it is humanity who will learn fear."
Behind him, five figures stood — one of them a boy with silver hair and crimson-gold eyes.
Ryu, now thirteen, watched silently. He remembered nothing of the experiment — only that his grandfather vanished, and the clan bore the curse.
Kaien turned to the five.
> "Ryu… Kane… Rei… Lyra… Shin. You are the future of this clan."
"Take the hidden path to the Abyssais Forest. There lies our secret refuge — the vault of forbidden skills. You will train there until you surpass even me."
Ryu frowned. "Father, why send us away when war is coming?"
Kaien smiled — tired, yet proud.
> "Because the Reaper must survive… even if the clan does not."
Ryu clenched his fists. He didn't understand, but deep inside, something told him — this was farewell.
That night, as the moon bled over the fortress, Ryu and his four comrades left through the shadows, carrying scrolls, weapons, and the crest of their fallen clan.
Hours later, fire engulfed the Assassin fortress.
The screams of his people echoed through the valley.
And from the hill above, Ryu watched the only home he ever knew burn into ash.
> "I swear…" he whispered, as the ashes rose around him like dying stars.
"One day, the Reaper Clan will return. And the world will kneel before us."
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Chapter 2 – Shadows of the Abyss (Preview)
(coming next )
Ryu and his team enter the Abyssais Forest, where time and life bend under ancient curses.
There they find the Vault of Shadows — home to forbidden assassin skills and a spirit that guards the power of their ancestors.
Ryu's demon-dragon blood awakens for the first time… and something inside him begins to whisper his true destiny.