The entity did not breathe.
Mio noticed that first.
Its chest did not rise. Its shoulders did not tense. It simply existed in the doorway like a sentence already written.
"Ledger incomplete," it repeated, softer this time.
Sevrin stood between them, massive and silent. The wolf's silver-lit fur shimmered faintly, but its paws made no sound on the floor.
Mio's father held the branding rod steady.
"You will not take him," he said.
The entity tilted its head, red script sliding along its skin like living ink.
"Take?" it echoed. "Collection is voluntary."
The word scraped against the room.
Mio felt the door inside his chest widen. Not pain. Not yet. Just pressure. Like something had been sealed too long.
"You killed my mother," he said.
"Incorrect," the entity replied calmly. "She fulfilled a condition."
His father moved first.
The branding rod struck forward, pressing into the entity's shoulder. The symbol at its tip flared white-hot, and the air snapped like breaking wire.
For a moment, the script on the entity's body fractured.
For a moment, it looked almost human.
Then the red lines rearranged.
The rod bent.
His father staggered back.
"You are no longer authorized to enforce balance," the entity said.
His father's breath shook now. Not from fear — from strain.
"Mio," he said without looking at him, "listen to me. Whatever it offers you, it is not survival. It is ownership."
Mio's eyes never left the entity.
"What happens if I refuse?" he asked.
The entity regarded him carefully.
"Refusal maintains present trajectory."
"And that is?"
"Gradual depletion. Environmental correction. Termination."
The room seemed to shrink around the word.
Sevrin's amber eyes flickered toward Mio.
Not urging.
Waiting.
Mio understood something then.
The wolf was not here to protect him.
It was here to witness him.
His father lunged again, this time with a blade pulled from the metal case. It cut through the entity's midsection.
The blade passed through like slicing smoke.
Red script reassembled instantly.
"Interest accrues," the entity repeated.
It extended one hand.
The air tightened around Mio's father's throat.
He dropped to one knee, choking on nothing visible.
"Stop," Mio said.
The pressure increased.
"Decision required," the entity replied.
Mio stepped forward.
The door inside him opened fully.
The metallic taste returned, stronger than before. The skyline of F-Scape flickered at the edges of his vision. Neon veins. Towering silhouettes. Currency drifting like ash.
"You said collection is voluntary," Mio said steadily.
"Yes."
"Then I sign."
His father's eyes snapped to him.
"No."
The entity released its grip slightly, enough for breath but not relief.
"Clarify," it said.
"I take the debt," Mio continued. "Transfer it. Close my father's ledger."
Red script paused along the entity's skin.
"Terms adjust."
"I don't care."
His father struggled to stand. "Mio, you don't understand what they make you into."
Mio finally looked at him.
"I understand what we are without it."
That was the truth.
Small.
Waiting.
Hoping mercy would last.
The entity stepped closer.
"Acceptance requires seal completion."
Mio felt heat bloom at his collarbone.
Sevrin moved then — not forward, not aggressive. It lowered its head beside Mio's shoulder.
The orange strike across its fur burned brighter.
The entity observed the wolf.
"Manifestation aligned with survival instinct," it murmured. "Unusual."
"Just do it," Mio said.
The entity pressed its hand against Mio's chest.
There was no explosion.
No scream.
Only a sensation like ice sliding into bone.
The incomplete sigil burned into fullness beneath his skin. Lines connecting. Curves sealing.
Something inside him snapped — not breaking, but rearranging.
The world did not darken.
It sharpened.
He could hear the hum of electricity in the walls. The pulse of blood in his father's neck. The faint rhythm of distant traffic five floors below.
And beneath it all —
F-Scape.
Not distant now.
Breathing alongside this world.
The entity stepped back.
"Ledger transferred," it said.
His father collapsed, air rushing back into his lungs.
Mio swayed but did not fall.
The metallic taste faded, replaced by something colder.
Hunger.
Not for food.
For density.
For weight.
For something to quiet the hollow forming under his ribs.
Sevrin stood taller now, fully solid. Its fur glowed brighter than before.
The entity studied Mio one final time.
"Hybridization detected," it said softly. "Demon inheritance active. Vampiric adaptation initiated."
Mio felt it in his teeth.
In his pulse.
A shift in what sustained him.
"What does that mean?" his father demanded.
"It means," the entity replied, "he will not feed as others do."
The red script along its body began dissolving into ash.
"Collection complete."
It stepped backward through the thinning air and vanished.
The room settled.
Silence returned.
But it was not the same silence as before.
Mio touched his collarbone.
The sigil glowed faintly beneath his skin.
His father looked at him like he was trying to memorize something before it disappeared.
"You feel different," he said quietly.
Mio searched for the right word.
"Yes."
The hunger pulsed again.
Stronger this time.
He looked toward the hallway.
Through the walls.
Beyond them.
He could sense something now.
Not a person.
A pattern.
Greed. Fear. Desperation layered in the building like heat.
He understood it instinctively.
He did not need blood alone.
He needed vice.
He closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, the gray one remained the same.
The other burned crimson.
Sevrin's amber gaze reflected both.
His father took a careful step back.
"Mio," he said, voice unsteady, "what did you do?"
Mio considered the question.
Outside, somewhere far beyond their apartment, something stirred in response to his awakening.
Not a person.
A hunter.
A pulse of disciplined energy cutting through the city like a blade.
Mio felt it notice him.
He did not flinch.
"I survived," he answered.
And for the first time in his life, the room felt too small to contain him.