Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Visions of towering monoliths flooded Riven’s mind as his mana channels surged and reformed themselves. Riven wasn’t out cold or out of action like the humans around him thought him to be, but rather he was attempting to craft an evolution that was rapidly taking shape even as he lay convulsing on the couch. After he’d thought the fight was done when he’d basically blown up the entire parking lot, he’d had to make a choice due to a surge of inspiration that came with his massive attack: grasp the moment when it’d come to him and immerse himself in the visions - or ignore them.

He was guiding that evolution, molding it to his body, and simultaneously he was experiencing scenes that were not of this world.

He couldn’t quite interpret them yet, but he felt like he was on the precipice. Oceans of blood, tidal waves of death, and the birth of new life. Blood was the key to mammal physiology, the life-bringer, and when it was taken away it stripped that life with it. Even certain plants and elementals had blood in their bodies, though it came in different forms and shapes. Different colors flashed in front of his eyes while he occasionally glimpsed the real world around him in flashes of heat and light, but he struggled to continue the visions - one after another - while doing his best to interpret their meaning.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Each vision held immense amounts of meaning. Meaning that he could only glimpse snippets of, but held the truths of the universe in quantities far surpassing his own knowledge. His mind was expanding, his soul structure reaffirming the rightful place as the master of the sanguine while his pillar began to churn and change.

He almost had it... and yet, he grew frustrated as the minutes rolled by in what seemed like eternities to him. He was so close, yet could not reach the summit of that knowledge. He was only able to grasp part of it.

Not yet. Riven wasn’t able to unlock the entirety of the greater truths and insights of his pillar despite how hard he tried. Just not yet...

His eyes rapidly blinked and he came out of his pseudo coma with a frustrated scream that shook the room around him when his soul pulsed, giving off an aura of rage that wasn’t necessarily directed at anything in particular other than himself. Yet the people around him, the humans, all scrambled backwards with terror in their eyes while Azmoth continued to brace himself against Athela’s makeshift plug in the stairway.

The creature on the opposite side was now done massacring everyone upstairs and beating on the plug’s opposite side, tearing away little by little with its immense strength while Athela fidgeted nervously and children around the room began to cry. But upon his scream she whirled around, wide eyes not understanding how he was even awake after burning through his mana channels so thoroughly. Then she gawked as an aura unlike anything she’d ever felt out of the nether realms before began to simmer around Riven’s body - and it was the same power that'd been carried on his voice when he'd yelled out in anger.

Crimson eyes flared, and the vampire slowly sat up. When he stood, the floor underneath him shuddered and quaked, and the couch underneath him shattered while being flung back as his aura exploded. A vibrant red cloud of power engulfed his body, and everything within miles of their current position came to a standstill as he took a single step forward.

Even the beast on the other side took pause, and stopped its hammering to let out a low whine.

With lightning speed far faster than he’d ever done before, a blood lance charged and rippled up his arms with wisps of energy before ripping out of his outstretched hand to collide with the plug Athela had made.

It passed right inbetween Azmoth’s armored left arms and a feral scream of rage was heard on the other side of the plug as it shredded and began to fell apart. Riven’s staff shuddered with an influx of mana and his demons both hastily stepped out of the way when the blade blasted out from the top of the shaft and crashed through the decaying plug, whipping backwards and dragging a gargantuan beast back through with it. It was large, a grotesque clown’s head snarling with long, yellow, carnivorous teeth while it squealed and tried to latch onto anything and everything it passed by. Eel-like appendages with bulging muscles and maggot-ridden flesh whipped around and sought Riven’s death right before impact. But right before the monster reached Riven - a torrent of red ice torpedoed through the conduit of fleshy, whip-like rope attaching the impaled blade to the rest of the vampire’s staff.

*BOOM*

The room shook and Riven’s aura faded slightly when a torrent of power collided with the creature in the underground basement, eviscerating and mutilating the creature with thousands of spikes, needles and blades all created from the blood magic he’d just unleashed.

With a crash, the dead dream monster smashed into the cement walls of the stairway and then was buried in rubble when the stairway collapsed. Dust and debris was sent scattering amidst shards of solidified crimson magic, and when it settled the mangled remnants of the beast were partially seen scattered through the glass-like portion of the underground passage.

Riven glared at the dead foe, continuing to seeth and radiate power that rippled the very air around him. Slowly though, as Athela's hand gently touched his shoulder, he calmed down and closed his eyes. The route up was sealed off, and the monsters in the immediate vicinity were all dead.

The demoness turned gracefully to focus on Riven ignoring the shocked looks of horror written on the mortals around her. “Was that a Dao vision you were experiencing earlier? You’re able to produce an aura now. Oh, and I highly suggest that you keep these people as subjects. Finding cattle to feed on regularly will mean you don’t have to hunt, and it can make finding a good thrall or two a lot easier.”

He ignored her first question and narrowed his eyes. Riven didn’t even know what a thrall was, but he was more concerned about how she was openly talking about turning these humans into cattle and scaring the living daylights out of them after they’d just been trapped in a basement with him and his demons. He gave her an openly angry glare, and her smile turned sheepish when she realized she’d fucked up and mouthed the word ‘sorry’ his way with a pout. She truly looked bad about it too. Habits were tough to break, but at least she was trying.

Even the teenage kid who’d come up and shared his mapping ability with them for a bit looked visibly shocked at Athela’s words, and people began silently looking for another way out soon after.

A small child with a pink bow in her blonde hair, about 6 years old with a teddy bear held to her chest, slowly inched out from behind her mother near the cushioned chairs on Riven’s left. “Are you a vampire mister? I heard that lady talking and she said you were.”

“A friendly vampire!” Riven said awkwardly, taking off his mask and smiling gently down at the little girl. “I promise.”

Another burly man with a basketball logo on his shirt scoffed nearby and folded his arms. “Vampire? Really? You’re going to make us buy into that? You just look like a creep in a cosplay outfit to me.”

Riven’s smile turned to the man and he extended his fangs for everyone to see. A couple people took in sharp gasps and even more backed away, but Riven’s smile returned to normal seconds later. “Is it really that hard to believe after everything that’s happened? I cast magic, have demonic summons with me, and you're questioning... that? Are you a fucking idiot?”

He shook his head with a snort. “Unlike all of you, I was flung into a hellscape. I was changed because of it. If you don’t want to stay due to that, I’ll let you all leave after this is over... but you’re all going to have to wait for those monsters to leave first.”

Murmurs flooded the room as they looked to the area where the door had been and then to Riven. Some of them continued to inch back with fearful looks cast his way, while others were just simply curious.

“So you were human at one point then? How does that work, exactly?” The doctor that’d been performing surgery not even 5 minutes ago asked with a curious glare. She was tall, thin, middle aged and had blood spots along her blue scrubs with a nametag that read ‘Dr. Beth Waters’ and ‘Physician’ across the front. She stepped forward, brushing her brunette hair to the side and peering at Riven’s face. “Open up again.”

Athela sneered at the absolute lack of awareness on the doctor’s part for personal space. Or at least that’s what Riven assumed she was sneering for.

“Sure...” Riven stated hesitantly, opening up and extending his fangs for the doc to take a look at.

Ten seconds later Dr. Waters nodded absentmindedly and shut his mouth for him by lightly pushing up on his jaw. “Fascinating. We should talk later, but I have to make sure my patient in the other room remains stable. Keep me posted if anything happens.”

The woman walked back into the operating room with a nurse in tow, obviously a no-nonsense kind of person and seemingly not bothered at all by everything that was going on around them.

“I’ll not have my kids around monsters like you three.” A latina mother snarled from across the room, holding a little boy in her lap as her heavily tattooed husband next to her sat tensed and ready to spring. He was with another mean-looking bald man that wore no shirt and carried a baseball bat on his left. “You’ll keep your word and let us out when those creatures leave?”

Riven snorted, partially in amusement and partially in disgust at the way she was talking to him. “You’ll be more than free to leave. I could give less than a flying fuck about where you go, lady. For now, I’m going into OR 5. Don’t come in without knocking first and try not to bother us unless something interesting happens. Athela, Azmoth, – let’s go.”