“Vivianne!”
Oswald’s roar shook the entire building.
Vivianne’s skin was frighteningly pale against the dark planks.
Her golden eyes were half-lidded and unfocused.
Every breath came shallow and uneven.
A sickening pool of blood had gathered beneath the frame.
Fresh blood glistened across the cuts covering her body, dripping steadily onto the floor.
The Canavar warriors who had followed Oswald finally rushed into the room.
They did not hesitate.
The moment they crossed the doorway, they charged the rogues.
The tannery erupted into chaos.
“Take them down!”
Rogues grabbed their weapons and rushed forward to meet them.
Steel clashed against steel as the first two groups collided in the cramped room.
One rogue swung a machete at a Canavar warrior’s head.
The warrior ducked beneath the blade and drove his elbow into the rogue’s stomach.
Before the rogue could recover, another warrior slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of his head.
One of the Canavar warriors glanced toward the back of the tannery and finally saw Vivianne strapped to the wooden frame.
His expression changed instantly.
Several stopped short when they saw the horrific scene.
Some turned away and retched, while another covered his mouth as the stench of blood filled the room.
But there was no time to stop.
The rogues were still attacking, forcing the Canavar warriors to push their horror aside and keep fighting.
A Canavar warrior caught one rogue by the arm and threw him into the wooden wall.
Another rogue attacked from behind, forcing the warrior to turn and block the strike.
One rogue tried to retreat toward the back of the room, but a Canavar warrior tackled him before he could escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The warrior punched him across the jaw.
Canavar warriors kept pushing deeper into the tannery, forcing the rogues backward.
But the rogues refused to retreat.
“Protect Elder Miles!”
“Don’t let them reach him!”
Several rogues formed a defensive line around Miles.
Miles, however, only smiled as he took another gulp from the goblet in his hand and gathered more from bleeding Vivianne.
He didn’t even bother to register the chaos around him.
The entire room could have burned around him, and he wouldn’t have cared.
His eyes moved past the rogues.
“Phoenix blood is a benediction. A panacea.” He took another slow drink and waved his hand to make his point.
“Do you know what makes the Phoenix clan so special, unlike other beastmen, Alpha Oswald?”
“No other race in this Beast World could heal others. Not a single one.”
He raised the goblet.
Behind him, the tannery erupted into another burst of violence.
A rogue charged at a Canavar warrior with a roar.
Their weapons collided with a deafening clang, forcing both men several steps backward.
Another pair crashed into a wooden table.
The table splintered beneath their weight, sending dried hides and old tools scattering across the floor.
Someone screamed as a blade sliced across his arm.
The Canavar warriors pushed forward, but the rogues fought desperately to hold their ground.
Several of them kept forming a wall around Miles, refusing to let anyone get past them.
The entire room shook with snarls, shouting, and the crash of breaking wood.
Yet Miles remained strangely calm in the middle of it all.
He simply stood behind his table, clutching his golden goblet as though the battle around him meant nothing.
His words made Oswald flinch.
Miles wasn’t lying.
Memories flashed through his mind.
The rusty bear trap that had torn into his hind leg when he was doing border patrol.
It was when Oswald met Vivianne for the first time in the forest.
She pried open the trap and healed his leg.
The healing spell was weak but it was enough to let him feel his leg again.
Vivianne’s gentle touch had closed his injury.
At the time, Oswald had thought it was simply some strange ability she possessed.
Now, Miles’s words made that memory feel entirely different.
Only the Phoenix.
Oswald’s gaze shifted toward Vivianne.
He listened closely to Miles, trying to understand what the madman had done to her.
If it involved Vivianne, he listened to every word.
“Phoenix beastmen can cure sickness. Their tears are a powerful cure for deadly poisons. Their blood can restore the body and extend the life of those who consume it.” He lifted the goblet.
“That is why their blood is called liquid gold.”
Oswald’s claws dug into his palms.
“You sick bastard.”
Miles ignored Oswald and continued, “Phoenixes can easily live for up to two thousand years. Their Emperor and Empress can live much longer. When a Phoenix dies, its body burns to ashes. According to the legends, the Emperor and Empress can be reborn from those ashes.” He lifted the goblet again.
“That is why the Phoenix is called an immortal Divine Beast.”
Vivianne’s eyelids fluttered weakly as she muttered some cursed words at the deranged man.
Miles paid no attention to her colorful words.
“And the men, or should I say… chosen husbands bound to them, share in that blessing.”
Oswald’s stomach twisted.
In other words, he could live for up to two thousand years. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
So could the other four husbands Vivianne had mentioned to him.
Was that even a blessing?
Or a curse?
“Such is the nature of a Crimson Phoenix,” Miles continued.
“An immense life force given flesh. The embodiment of life itself.”
Miles extended the golden goblet toward Oswald, a sick smile spreading across his face.
“Would you like a taste?” His eyes gleamed with something almost feverish.
This man was beyond saving.
“SHUT UP!”
Oswald lunged at Miles.
He didn’t even bother drawing his sword.
His claws had already emerged.
His wolf rose violently beneath his skin.
All he could think about was tearing the bastard apart.
But before his claws could reach him—Miles choked.
Wet, horrible coughs escaped his throat as he stumbled backward.
His hands were clutching his chest as though something had suddenly crushed it from within.
“Ghk—”
The golden goblet slipped from his fingers and rolled on the floor.
Spilling the rest of the blood inside it everywhere.
Miles dropped to one knee.
His entire body trembled as he struggled to breathe.
One hand clutching his chest while the other pressed against the floor to keep himself from falling completely.
Blood suddenly spilled from the corner of his mouth.
His face had gone pale.
No, not pale—ashen, as though all the blood had been drained from it.
Oswald froze.
Miles wheezed again.
The old man vomited black blood across the floor.
“What happened…?”
He glazed at the black blood on the floor and his robe.
For the first time, the madness in his eyes disappeared.
Replaced by confusion and fear.
His gaze shifted to Vivianne.
And Vivianne’s hazy golden eyes slowly opened, glowing with bright molten gold.
There are some disturbing gore and bloody scenes here.
Reader discretion is advised!