Adrean alucard's Arc

Chapter 3 of 28

Adrean left the alley with the dead man's blood still warm on his tongue. He walked toward the edge of the slums, where the castle waited. But the god's warning stuck in his chest like a splinter. Every kill fed his system. Every kill drew the god's eye. He needed a way to hide the glowing words from those golden eyes before the god came to take his life back. He did not know how. He only knew he had to run. Three strangers stepped from the dark and blocked his path. They were vampires. He felt it the way he felt heartbeats now. The first wore shadow like a second cloak, and their red eyes cut through the gloom. "You reek of a fresh kill," they said. Their voice was flat and cold. This was Umbra Nightshade, and the shadows bent toward them as they spoke. The second laughed. Their coat was deep red, and their hair fell black and red down their back. "He is the bloodline's stray. The last of the old seat." This one moved like water, quick and loose. Crimson Sanguine circled him once, sniffing. "Freshly turned. Weak. But the blood is right." The third said nothing at first. Skulls marked his dark robe, and a bone charm hung at his throat. When he raised a hand, the dead man's body behind Adrean twitched and sat up. Salvo Delhavia had pulled it back with a flick of his fingers. "The castle sent us," Salvo said. "You will come. Willing or not." Adrean's system flashed a warning before his eyes. He set his feet and reached for the cold strength inside him. He would fight. He would run. But Umbra's shadow wrapped his legs like rope, and he could not move. Crimson gripped his arm with a strength that made Level 2 feel like nothing. "Save it," Crimson said. "The god hunts you. We saw the gold light in the sky. He will come again, and he will unmake you." They leaned close. "The castle can hide you. Its walls are older than his church. Behind them, no god sees." Adrean stopped struggling. The words landed hard. Behind those walls, no god sees. That was the shield he had wanted. The one thing he could not build alone. His system's power might grow there, unwatched. "Then take me," Adrean said. Salvo's mouth curved. The reanimated body fell still again. The shadow released Adrean's legs. The three vampires turned and walked, and Adrean followed them out of the slums. The castle of bone and blood rose ahead against the night. Adrean stepped through its gate. The moment the walls closed around him, the pressure of the god's gaze lifted from his skin. He was safe from those golden eyes. But he was inside the seat of his bloodline now, and its masters had not come to serve him. They had come to test him and help him grow.