The dawn after the battle was silent.
Ethan stood in the training grounds, watching the family gather the dead. Twelve warriors had fallen. Twelve Blackwoods who had given their lives to protect the mountain.
Their bodies were laid in a row, covered with white cloth. The morning mist clung to the ground, as if the mountain itself was mourning.
Eleanor moved among the bodies, her hands glowing faintly as she performed the last rites. Her face was pale, her eyes red from weeping. She had known each of them—had healed their wounds, had watched them grow, had buried some of them as children.
Thomas stood beside Ethan, his arm in a sling.
"We lost good people," he said quietly.
"I know."
"Twelve dead. Thirty wounded. And the Ashfords will be back."
Ethan nodded.
But his thoughts were elsewhere.
Silas lay in a room near the ancestral hall.
His body flickered constantly—flesh becoming shadow, shadow becoming flesh. His eyes were closed, but his lips moved, whispering words in a language no one understood.
Arthur sat beside him, his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
"He’s getting worse," Arthur said when Ethan entered.
"The curse?"
"Yes. The demon lord’s power is inside him. It’s fighting to take control."
Ethan approached the bed.
"What can I do?"
Arthur looked at him.
"The Blood Sacrifice. It can purge the curse. But it will cost you everything."
Ethan was silent.
"My cultivation. My lifespan. My bloodline essence."
"Yes."
"And if I don’t do it?"
"Silas will become what he fears most. A monster. A demon."
Arthur paused.
"And I will have to kill him again."
Ethan spent the next two days searching for another way.
He asked the system. He asked Vivienne. He asked Marcus. He even asked the ancestors who had not yet fully manifested.
The answer was always the same.
There was no other way.
『 The Blood Sacrifice is the only method to purge the demon’s curse 』
『 The curse is bound to Silas’s bloodline essence 』
『 Only a full sacrifice can remove it 』
『 Warning: The sacrifice will strip Ethan of all cultivation permanently 』
On the third day, a messenger arrived from the Ashford camp.
He rode a black horse, carrying a white flag. The guards brought him before Ethan, their weapons drawn.
The messenger dismounted and bowed, not respectfully, but mockingly.
"I bring a message from Lord Victor Ashford."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Speak."
The messenger smiled.
"Lord Ashford has captured three Blackwood scouts. They were found spying on our camp."
He paused.
"They will be executed at dawn tomorrow unless you, Ethan Blackwood, surrender yourself to Lord Ashford’s justice."
Silence.
Thomas grabbed the messenger by the collar. "You..."
"Thomas." Ethan’s voice was calm. "Let him go."
Thomas released the messenger, his face twisted with rage.
The messenger bowed again and mounted his horse.
"Tomorrow at dawn. The eastern gate. Come alone."
He rode away.
The family gathered in the main hall.
Thomas paced back and forth, his face flushed. "It’s a trap. Everyone knows it’s a trap."
"Of course it’s a trap," Eleanor said. "But if we don’t go, those scouts will die."
"They’ll die anyway! Victor Ashford doesn’t keep his promises."
"We don’t know that."
"We know enough."
Elder Marcus stepped forward. "I will go. I am old. My life means little."
"No," Thomas said. "I’ll go. Ethan is too important to risk."
"He’s right," Eleanor said. "Ethan cannot go. He is the key to everything."
Ethan listened to them argue.
He watched them debate who would die in his place.
And he made a choice.
That night, he found Lily in the training grounds.
The twelve-year-old was sitting alone, her wooden sword in her lap. She looked up when he approached.
"You’re going to do it, aren’t you?"
"Do what?"
"Go to Victor Ashford. Trade yourself for the scouts."
Ethan sat beside her.
"Yes."
"You’ll die."
"Maybe."
"And the Blood Sacrifice? Who will perform it if you’re dead?"
"I’ll do it before I go. I’ll save Silas first."
Lily was silent for a long moment.
Then she said, "You’re always sacrificing yourself. For the family. For Silas. For everyone."
"That’s what family is."
"It’s also what fools do."
Ethan smiled.
"Maybe I’m a fool."
Lily turned to him, her eyes bright with tears.
"I don’t want you to die."
"Neither do I."
"Then don’t go."
"I have to."
"Why?"
He looked at her.
"Because those scouts have families. They have children. They have people who love them. And if I let them die, I’m no better than Victor Ashford."
Lily wiped her eyes.
"You’re too good for this world."
"Maybe." He stood. "But I’m not going to let the world destroy my family."
The Blood Sacrifice was performed at midnight.
Ethan stood in the hidden chamber, the Sword in the Stone in his hands. Arthur and Silas were beside him. Arthur strong and steady, Silas weak but conscious.
Eleanor, Thomas, Lily, and the elders formed a circle around them.
Ethan placed his hand on the sword.
"I offer my bloodline essence," he said. "My cultivation. My lifespan. My strength. All of it."
He looked at Arthur and Silas.
"To bind them to this world. To protect my family. Forever."
The sword blazed with light.
Ethan screamed.
Pain.
Fire.
Darkness.
He felt his cultivation drain away—the spiritual energy that had sustained him, the connection to the ancestors, the bond to the system. It all poured out of him like water from a broken vessel.
He fell to his knees.
And then...
Silence.
Ethan opened his eyes.
He was weak. So weak. But he was alive.
Arthur stood before him, his form solid and real. Beside him, Silas—the curse purged, his eyes clear and human.
"You did it," Arthur said.
Ethan nodded.
"I did."
He tried to stand. His legs buckled.
Eleanor caught him.
"Rest. You need to rest."
"No." Ethan shook his head. "I need to go."
He looked at the eastern sky, where the sun was beginning to rise.
"The scouts are waiting."
『 Story Credibility: 100% 』
『 Family Faith: 100 』
『 Outsider Faith: 80 』
『 World Rebuttal: 65% 』
『 Ancestral Debt: 3 active 』
『 Arthur Blackwood: Fully Manifested 』
『 Silas Blackwood: Curse Purged 』
『 Ethan Blackwood: Cultivation Stripped 』
『 The Blood Sacrifice has been completed 』
『 New Quest Unlocked: Rescue the Scouts 』
『 Next Milestone: Confront Victor Ashford 』