“Why… are you here, Oswald?”
Vivianne’s voice was barely more than a rasp.
Even though she was weak and unsteady, her golden eyes were burning with intense golden light.
“I came for you.”
Her golden eyes shifted toward him.
Oswald immediately cut through the restraints and caught her before she could slump forward.
Vivianne was barely conscious.
Her body was weak and limp against his chest.
Another horrible cry tore through the room.
Miles’s body convulsed violently as he crawled on the floor and clawed at his throat.
Miles’s fingers dug into his own skin as he kicked helplessly against the wooden floor, unable to control the violent spasms tearing through his body.
“AAARGH!”
Samantha stumbled backward.
“Father!”
Miles’s skin had begun to redden like molten lava.
He coughed violently, more black blood spilling from his mouth as he clawed at his own throat.
A violent tremor ran through his body.
He clawed at his throat, his fingers digging into his own skin as though he could tear out whatever was scorching inside him.
“Hot!! It burns! Aarghhh—”
His broken scream cut through the chaos of the battle.
“My body—”
He writhed on the floor, twisting and jerking as if trying to escape the pain.
Something was terribly wrong.
It was as though a fire had ignited inside him.
Several Canavar warriors stopped fighting for a moment and turned toward Miles.
Black veins covered his neck and face, spreading beneath his translucent skin in a tangled web which resembled cracks through glass.
More of them spread rapidly beneath his flesh.
His body convulsed as another wave of pain tore through him.
His flesh began to blister and darken.
Steam rose from Miles’s skin as the smell of something scorched filled the room.
Samantha scrambled toward her father frantically.
“Father! Father, what’s happening?!”
Intense heat seared Samantha’s palm when she grabbed Miles’s arm, and she recoiled with a sharp hiss.
Steam rose from his body.
“Get it out! Get this fucking fire out of me!”
A mouthful of black blood splattered across the floor.
The nearest rogues backed away in horror.
“What the hell is happening to Elder Miles?”
“I don’t know!”
Miles’s screams grew weaker.
The remaining rogues finally lost their nerve.
Some fled through the nearest exit.
Others dropped their weapons and backed away from their Elder, too terrified to even look at him.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The Canavar warriors stood frozen with their weapons still raised.
They had been fighting only moments ago, yet the sight before them had completely broken their focus.
One warrior slowly lowered his sword.
“What… happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” another muttered.
Across the room, the remaining rogues stared at their Elder in disbelief.
Some had blood smeared across their clothes from the battle, but none of them seemed to care anymore.
The battle had completely stopped.
All eyes were on Miles.
His screams faded into ragged wheezes.
Another rogue swallowed hard and shook his head.
“He was fine a moment ago.”
“Did he drink too much Phoenix blood?”
“That was disturbing.”
His body was burned beyond recognition.
Only a charred, misshapen lump remained.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the whole tannery.
Samantha stood several steps away, staring at her father.
Her hands trembled as she sobbed at the charred remains on the floor.
“Father…”
Her voice was barely audible.
There was nothing left for her to save.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“By the Moon Goddess…” Oswald’s stomach lurched.
The sight was enough to make bile rise in his throat, and he immediately looked away.
Behind him, one of the Canavar warriors finally stepped forward.
“Alpha Oswald.”
“Check the survivors. Restrain any rogue wolves that you can.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
The warriors immediately moved again.
Injured rogues were dragged away from the battlefield.
A few Canavar warriors checked the bodies scattered across the floor while others secured the remaining exits.
But even as the room returned to motion, several warriors kept glancing toward the blackened remains of Elder Miles.
No one dared to approach the remains.
Nobody understood what they had just saw.
“Vivianne.” He tightened his hold on her.
She felt frighteningly light in his arms.
“I’m… fine.”
“You are absolutely not fine.” Oswald frowned.
“Get the healers. Now!”
The remaining Canavar warriors immediately moved to help.
One ran ahead to alert the healers while Oswald carried Vivianne toward Canavar.
By the time they reached the village, Vivianne was already unconscious.
The healers worked overtime for hours.
The poison had spread through her body, while the loss had left Vivianne dangerously drained.
Her regeneration had already repaired most of the damage, but it could not restore everything fast enough.
Even after the poison was cleansed, Vivianne remained unconscious.
Her breathing was soft and shallow.
Samantha was treated separately.
But she didn’t say much.
Not after seeing what had happened to her father.
Oswald refused to leave Vivianne’s side.
He spent most of his time beside Vivianne’s bed, staring at her sleeping face.
His mind kept returning to the same question.
He remembered how Vivianne had healed his wound and survived poison that should have left her paralyzed for days.
Then there was what happened to Miles after drinking her blood—and the Phoenix lore that Miles mentioned.
No other race in this Beast World could heal others.
Not a single one.
Only Phoenixes could.
She could heal me.
But when Miles drank her blood, why did it burn Miles from the inside?
Was it because Miles had taken her blood without her permission?
Oswald frowned.
His head hurt just thinking about it.
He carefully brushed a strand of hair away from Vivianne’s face and fixed her blanket.
“What exactly are you…?”
Vivianne’s breathing remained soft and steady.
But when he looked at her closed eyes, a faint golden glow suddenly flickered beneath her skin.
The glow disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Oswald remained still for a moment, staring at Vivianne.
Something was definitely wrong.
But he didn’t know what.
[Hidden Condition fulfilled!]
[New information regarding the Crimson Phoenix has been unlocked.]
[Phoenix Bloodline passive skill unlocked: Echo of Ashes]
[Would you like to view it?]
There are some disturbing gore and bloody scenes here.
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