Bloody Odyssey-Chapter 44: Sterion.

Chapter 43

"I’m coming." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Dax swung Cil in a wide arc behind him. The nine-foot Slaughter Demon instantly pivoted, turning its massive back toward Nadia as if shielding its master. Then Dax moved.

A sudden, explosive burst of speed. Each step cracked the earth like thunder—fissures racing outward in radiating lines. In one blink he vanished from his spot; in the next he was a hair’s breadth closer to her.

Nadia’s senses screamed danger. Calmly—almost serenely—she began chanting long, intricate words at impossible speed, syllables tumbling out faster than thought.

I need to move.

She tried to read the battlefield, but the gap had closed too fast. Too tight. No room to breathe.

Dax cut downward—no flourish of aura, no oppressive pressure, just clean, inevitable motion.

In that same instant the Slaughter Demon appeared above him, leaping straight into the descending blade.

BOOM.

Insane pressure detonated from Cil—raw, focused, a concentrated storm contained in steel.

In the heart of that overwhelming danger, Nadia’s body ignited with life. Every nerve sang. She finished her spell in a breathless rush.

"Blessed Light."

Her aura exploded outward in beautiful, blinding radiance—pure white-gold that swallowed the plain in soft brilliance.

To Dax she was the revival of a dying star. His most precious work of art, reborn in light.

Joy flooded him—bright, almost painful.

But joy did not stay his hand.

Nadia dissolved into an image of pure light. No physical form. Untouchable.

Smart girl, he thought. But that doesn’t stop me here.

He coated Cil with Touch.

She moved—but it was already too late.

The blade sliced clean through the body of light.

Thud.

Her arm fell to the grass.

A soft, involuntary scream escaped her lips.

"Ahh!"

In that instant Dax’s cold eyes softened. He realized what he had done.

He knelt without hesitation, picked up the severed arm. His finger glowed with Synthesis.

He sealed the wound instantly, stopping the blood before it could spill too freely, then fused the arm back into place with careful, practiced precision.

"Forgive me," he said quietly.

Nadia stood silent after the initial shock. Her gaze turned inward, lost in thought—distant, unreadable.

Dax flicked his wrist, producing a small vial of shimmering liquid serum. While she remained still, he noticed something strange: a thin golden string drifting through the air with clear, deliberate purpose—floating straight toward her.

Before it could reach her, Dax’s hand snapped out and seized it.

The moment his fingers closed around the string, a surge of alien power erupted.

White flames roared to life across his body—covering him in an instant, burning without heat, without smoke, without mercy.

"What is this...?" He stared at his hand as the flames danced along his skin.

"Ahhh!" Nadia screamed. She doubled over, body arching in pain. "Hateful god... hateful god..." Tears streamed down her face as she watched him burn.

The memory crashed over her like a wave: the church flames, the jeering crowd, her childhood body writhing in agony while everyone ignored her cries. The same white fire. The same helplessness.

Dax felt it too—the burden those flames had carried for years, the weight of suffering etched into her very being.

Then a voice echoed—not from the string, but from somewhere deeper, older.

"Hateful being. I advise you to leave that child alone."

Dax’s lips parted in a slow smile, even as the flames licked higher.

"And if I don’t?"

"Then you will suffer."

The voice was calm, certain.

Dax’s smile widened.

"Then let me see you try... Sterion, is it?"

He parted his lips wider.

And began to drink.

The energy flowed into him—rich, ancient, intoxicating. The white flames did not weaken; they fed him.

Master is at it again, Inerous’s voice rang with gleeful excitement in his mind.

His aura began to swell.

+1000 World Ki

+1000 World Ki

+4000 World Ki

+3000 World Ki

He drank deeper.

Origin Core unlocked.

Dax ignored the notification and kept pulling.

"Stop it!" The voice roared in fury. The golden string severed abruptly—snapped like a cut thread.

The flames vanished as suddenly as they had come.

Dax exhaled slowly, savoring the aftertaste.

"Tasty."

He turned back to Nadia.

"I just wonder... how tasty his flesh will be."

You lay your eyes on what belongs to me. For that I shall consume you. Dax looked at the sky.

—-

Far in the distance, atop a beautiful black fortress carved from obsidian and starlight, the wyvern squad stood on a wide balcony.

Their eyes were fixed on the distant sky where flashes of light and pressure still rippled across the horizon.

Anastas broke the silence first.

"Everyone... huh. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need to do our best tomorrow."

The others nodded wordlessly.

The weight of what they had witnessed settled over them like a promise—and a warning.

—-

Hours later, Nadia guided the wyverns back toward the emerging base.

"Impossible." Nadia eye widened seeing the insane structure before her.

The squad watched her land, their faces a mix of relief and quiet curiosity. She dismounted Cain with her usual grace, the golden runes on her battle dress still faintly glowing in the fading light. No one asked about the events; the distant flashes and pressure waves they’d felt earlier had said enough.

Dax, however, remained out in the wilds.

Night had fallen over the Vados plains, transforming the golden sea of grass into a silver-black ocean under the moon’s cold, unblinking gaze. The moon hung massive and bright high above, bathing everything in pale, almost liquid light. Shadows stretched long and sharp; every blade of grass seemed edged in mercury.

The night was alive with sound—distant howls rolling like thunder across the plain, deep roars echoing from hidden valleys, the sudden screech of something winged slicing overhead. Predators and prey moved in their endless dance, and the air thrummed with raw, untamed life.

Dax moved through it all with soft, deliberate steps, guard lowered for the first time in what felt like ages. The tension of the day’s assessment had bled away, leaving only quiet curiosity. He breathed in the cool night air—earth, dew, distant blood, the faint metallic tang of mana saturating everything.

Tiny motes of light drifted lazily through the grass—pale blue, soft violet, occasional flickers of gold. They floated like fireflies that had forgotten how to blink, parting gently whenever anything drew near.

Dax reached out toward one, palm open.

The mote brushed his skin... then slipped away like smoke, reforming a few inches beyond his fingers.

He froze, genuinely surprised.

"What are these floating particles?"

Inerous’s voice answered immediately, warm and informative.

Master, these are spirit creatures—born from the pure essence of mana. They are not truly alive in the way beasts are; they are fragments of the world’s breath, drawn to places of high ambient energy. They avoid contact instinctively, as though protecting something fragile inside themselves.

Dax leaned back slightly, a faint, amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Interesting..."

Suddenly, a chorus of sharp, wet cackles erupted around him—low, guttural, multiplying from every direction.

Master, Inerous warned, tone sharpening, multiple life forms converging. At least two dozen. Closing fast.

Dax’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

"Finally," he murmured, "I can eat."

He vanished.

One heartbeat he stood motionless; the next he reappeared behind the nearest stalker—silent, inevitable.

The creature was small, green-skinned, wiry. Pointed ears, yellowed fangs, crude bone knife clutched in clawed fingers. A goblin—but not the starved, pathetic things from old tales. This one carried lean muscle and feral cunning.

Dax mused aloud, almost fondly.

"A goblin... I see there are varieties here worth testing."

He lifted it one-handed, fingers closing around its throat like iron. The creature thrashed, legs kicking, knife scraping uselessly against his forearm.

With casual ease, Dax brought it to his mouth and bit.

Warm blood sprayed across his face—hot, coppery, alive. The taste of iron flooded his tongue, rich and primal. He savored it slowly, chewing the tough flesh with deliberate care.

+5 agility.

The goblin was still alive—still struggling, gurgling wetly as blood poured from the wound.

Dax closed his eyes, letting the sensation wash over him.

"Ooooh... I’ve missed this."

The rest of the pack charged—dozens of green shapes bursting from the grass, shrieking, blades raised.

Inerous’s voice came again, surprised.

Master... your hunger was cured long ago. Why—?

Dax swallowed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"My hunger being cured doesn’t mean the act loses meaning. Satisfaction only means I can finally enjoy this world to the fullest—without desperation clouding it."

He opened his eyes. They glowed faintly in the dark, crimson-edged.

"So I’m simply... enjoying myself."

The goblins reached him.

Dax smiled—slow, genuine, terrifying.

And the night swallowed the sounds of their screams.