Villain Awakening: Rising to the Strongest Dragon God-Chapter 71: The Hound’s Wrath, Ashen Rot.

Garran finished having a meal and immediately he came out. He didn’t bother checking the mission boards or training yards of the guild.

He just knew she wouldn’t be there. This was Lyssa afterall. Walking to the building adjacent the guild, his eyes cautiously navigated the supposed temporary lodgings which in reality was merely private rooms for hire by the hour.

He sighed.

The clerk at the entrance barely looked up. When he asked.

"Vampire woman? The third floor, second door to the left. She went up maybe twenty minutes ago."

Garran nodded and climbed the stairs with the weary resignation of someone who’d walked this path in several other cities.

The hallway was dim with closed doors from left to right. He didn’t need to guess which room, he just let the sounds guide him.

He leaned against the wall by the door that was slightly ajar, Lyssa’s voice echoed within. Breathless and real and beneath her’s, at least two male voices responded, maybe three.

The rhythmic creak of furniture being pushed to their limit didn’t fail to irritate Garran even more.

He stood outside without knocking, his hand resting against the doorframe. This was what Lyssa did. How she coped with four years under bloodbond control, owned by masters who’d used her body however they pleased.

The contract Nika severed had freed her legally, but scars ran deeper than magic could ever reach.

Afterall, bloodbonds weren’t like dragonpacts. They burrowed into identity itself until you couldn’t distinguish your desires and commands you’d been conditioned to obey. It was why it would always be called the Dominion.

The Vampire Dominion

Garran sighed even as his fingers rubbed against the lacrima artifact embedded in his chest.

"I guess everyone carries their own scars in different ways," he muttered to himself.

The truth was that, understanding didn’t make listening any easier. Garran turned from the door and headed back downstairs to wait for Nika.

He knew where Lyssa was already.

—

At wood-creek. Nika leaned against lumber at the staging area, watching workers load timber onto carts that seemed to have no end.

’Harold should have been here twenty minutes ago,’ he thought

The location was a smart choice. It was Greenspire’s primary lumber production site. The very backbone of the province’s economy other than the guild of course.

Guards patrolled with visible weapons. The empire protected what generated wealth. Harold would have been safe meeting here. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Except he hadn’t arrived.

Nika’s mind drifted back to the Continental. The three men beating Harold in the alley. He’d sent them running but hadn’t tracked where they went. A tactical lapse on his side.

But he could’ve swore he saw them lingering near the entrance of the private wing where he saw Thraxx.

’They had to be Thraxx’s men right?’ he thought.

’What if they reported back that someone had interfered..’

The very thoughts pushed Nika off from the lumber stack. Harold wasn’t coming. Either the young man changed his mind which was unlikely given his desperate gratitude or something had gone wrong.

He looked to the left and then to the right. He used the exit opposite where he arrived from.

Nika took a service path around the perimeter toward the residential district.

Nika was taking a different path around Wood-creek’s perimeter toward the residential areas when the wind shifted slightly.

He sniffed softly then much harder.

"Blood" his mind rang.

Instantly his hand caressed Lightbane’s hilt as he followed the scent religiously while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

The scent led into a narrow alley between warehouses, shadows thick like ink in the late afternoon gloom.

His green eyes narrowed into slits.

"Harold," he whispered solemnly.

The young man lay crumpled against the wall like discarded trash, his limbs were bent at angles that suggested complete fracture and disorientation.

Even from a distance, Nika knew he was dead. No living thing lay that still. That empty. That hopeless.

Nika walked closer as the air around became colder. The smell of blood alot harsher and yet so disturbing.

The man who was healed by Lyssa only a few hours ago now just cooling meat in a forgotten alley.

Nika looked around the body that was now covered with cuts at literally every angle he could discern. The wounds were precise and yet carried an eeriness that spoke the tale of a slow and painful demise.

The wounds looked like frostbites. With the damage coming from the inside out even as black viscous threads of infection spread like veins in and around the seemingly endless number of cuts.

This wasn’t a beating that escalated. This was torture. intentionalky designed to make Harold suffer as much as possible before allowing him to die.

Nika’s hands curled into red fists. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding as coals of fire erupted from his eyes.

"Those bastards," he spoke as his body faded in a blur.

---

Meanwhile, in Aurelia, Auryn walked the streets with Claudia by his side, discussing potential locations for the new public library.

The morning had been remarkably productive despite having less sleep than he would’ve preferred. But the outcome wasn’t something, he wouldn’t want to go through for the second time.

He’d spent his morning learning more about consecration and the draconic ability he’d unlocked which was something he dared say was the best thing in his arsenal right now.

While still in Claudia’s company, they passed the Gold Flame Pavilion construction site.

Workers called out greetings that Auryn returned with casual acknowledgment, waving here and there like a politician.

Claudia studied the rising structure, asking questions about the design that proved she’d been paying genuine attention to Aurelia’s transformation.

"The servants talk about you, you know.." she said casually.

"Do they now?" Auryn asked with a smile. One that probably wasn’t leaving his lips after last night.

"What do they say?"

"They whisper that you change every time you travel back," Claudia chuckled.

Auryn lips trembled slightly. ’Those gossiping ingrates’

"You know.. they approve of you," Claudia continued.

"It seems there is more hope here than Valeroy,"

Auryn looked at her eyes with interest and a contagious.

’You damn right about that’ he bragged inwardly.

Auryn placed this in mind afterall public perception mattered, especially with the Gold Flame Festival approaching. If his own servants noticed the change and approved, the broader population was also.watching.

"The library should be near the market district," he said, steering back to practical matters.

Claudia’s eyes lit up. "Would there be natural lighting and reading alcoves for privacy. Separate sections for children."

Auryn nodded with his smile even broader now.

"It can be whatever you want. Afterall you are the one in charge."

Claudia almost leaped into the air in excitement but Auryn’s presence grounded her literally.

Auryn merely took another step when his mind went numb. His eyes flickered and in that moment. He found himself in Ashen grove again but this time the air didn’t just carry madness but decay.

[ Territorial Awareness - Active]

It pressed against his body and mind simultaneously as his hands trembled and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

The vision released him. Claudia was still talking, oblivious.

Auryn’s hand shot to her wrist. "We’re going back to the castle. Now."

A/N

The discord channel is now available as promised. Maps and character arts would be available there.