CHAPTER 85: A COLD WHISPER

Seth stood with his hand calmly placed above Akhil’s mouth, and then—

Drop!

Hands tightened. Breaths caught. No one blinked.Hope, fear, and anxiety met at a point as they all whispered hopeful prayers.

As the blood fell into his mouth, a hush followed. Everyone waited to see something, anything at all, but the time ticked by slowly. After one whole minute, there was yet to be any reaction.

Slowly, a look of confusion spread across their faces, their thoughts swirling with questions.

’Perhaps it could be someone he knew before the game started?’ Langdon pondered. Seeing how fanatic Seth was when it came to Akhil, he couldn’t believe there could be anyone with just as much admiration for him. ’The system should have only taken into account the characters he has already met, shouldn’t it?’

At this point, no one knew what else to do.

But while doubt spread across everyone’s face, Seth stood above Akhil, calmly staring at him, without any ounce of doubt, fear, or worry in his eyes. He stood almost as though he was just waiting for him to suddenly wake up. Watching him from the side as he stood doing nothing but look blankly at Akhil, Aria couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

She strode forward, her annoyance visible on her face as she approached Seth. "If you’re going to stand there while keeping your face like that, you should leave!" She shot a sharp glare at Langdon. "How does this guy have any ounce of admiration for Nexus? He doesn’t even look like he cares about him! Do you guys think we’re joking here or something?" Aria demanded, her eyes shifting between the two humans.

Seth glanced at her, a lazy smile climbing up his face. He stuck out his tongue slightly before shifting his gaze back to Akhil.

A vein popped at the side of Aria’s head, her jaws tightening.

"You annoying piece of shit!" Without warning, she dashed straight at Seth, unrestrained rage burning in her eyes.

Seth’s eyes narrowed with sharp battle instincts, a cold smirk climbing up his face.

{Skill: Fore-perception activated}

{Phase One: Wind powered attack coming from the left}

But right before the two could clash, a powerful wave of energy burst out from Akhil. The two stopped in their tracks, instantly gaping at Akhil’s still frame.

{Ding!}

{Clearing Conditions for the scenario; The King’s Dearest has been met}

’What’s this?’ Seth felt something strange. He stared down at the hand he had cut open; strings of blood slowly floated out, moving toward Akhil. "Hasn’t the scenario ended?"

"What’s happening?" Aria asked him with a calm voice, quickly forgetting that they had almost fallen into a fight. Seth stared down at his hands confusedly. "I don’t know," he said with slight confusion.

He didn’t know why, but as the blood left his body, a strange weakness overcame him. His body became weaker, and his head felt slightly dizzy. He almost fell, but Aria, who was closest to him, quickly held him up.

With every passing second, he felt weaker and weaker, and his body felt as light as a feather. "Stop... it," he stuttered weakly, his lips turning pale white.

"Get him out of there!" Langdon’s sharp voice tore through the air, bringing Aria back to her senses. But a disturbing thought was left in her mind: ’If I take him from here, will Akhil still wake up?’ She looked at Seth, who looked to be getting weaker with every passing second, and then toward Akhil, whose eyes were still closed.

What was going on?

As each drop of blood landed on his tongue, it slowly slipped down his throat. Before it could even land, the particles started breaking apart. The very constituents of the blood were being torn down and slowly devoured.

It was like savoring a delicious meal one didn’t want to finish.

The mixture broke into compounds, then each compound into its molecular structure, and that into small, barely visible atoms. Then, slowly, every particle was absorbed into his body.

It flowed through his bloodstream, moving through every vein and artery. As soon as the last blood particle completely faded, a powerful surge of energy coursed through his body. But it wasn’t just energy—an instinctual, almost primal hunger followed: a strong, consuming desire to absorb more of that delicious blood.

Oblivious to the actions of his own body, Akhil felt a sudden, sharp pull in the Waiting Lobby. Before he could even react, his mind drifted, his eyelids grew heavy, and darkness instantly claimed him.

While drifting in the pitch-black space, barely conscious, all Akhil could feel was an insatiable, stomach-wrenching hunger. And it wasn’t for food; this was hunger for blood.

But while this hunger grew stronger, a delicious taste followed it, so sweet that Akhil felt himself growing drunk from the sensation.

’More... I want more. More blood...’ A voice echoed in his mind. It was his own, yet it felt different. It was a dark, emotionless voice that only seemed to care about one thing. Akhil’s chest tightened upon hearing the chilling demand.

He tried moving, but he felt a force wrapping around him, restricting him, almost as though his very own consciousness was trying to devour him. Images flashed violently in his mind: all the humans he had killed, the blood he had absorbed. And as the images flashed, Samxon’s voice echoed: "Tell me you aren’t a monster. Don’t lie—you liked their blood. You want more... Kill everyone, take their blood."

Hearing the voice in his mind, Akhil’s face contorted into a deep frown. "No, I don’t want more blood... Stop!" he commanded with cold finality.

The dark voice paused, the horrifying images stopped, and then a low chuckle escaped from the void. It wasn’t Samxon’s voice; this time, it was his own voice again.

"Your hunger grows," the entity whispered with a chilling, possessive tone.

Just then, Akhil’s eyes snapped open. He stared up at the darkening sky, completely drenched in sweat.

{Ding}