Chapter 347: It has begun.

"I thought they were using processed blood."

Lucian frowned and Neroth just laughed.

"Things are rarely as they seem."

Lucian narrowed his eyes at those words and Neroth’s voice became more and more lax and full of amusement.

"The Arcelis believed they were merely changing his body, and in a sense, they were. They were slowly injecting my blood into him.

Yes, it was processed blood like you said, but...

When you inject enough of it, it gives me a connection, even when the subject is not in close proximity to my Heart and is exiled from the territory."

Lucian’s face changed.

So that’s it, as the Arcelis repeatedly injected Neroth’s blood into Varek’s body and Varek’s body began to absorb and adapt to that blood—

A connection formed between Varek’s now demonic-influenced body and Neroth’s demonic Heart, allowing Neroth to influence the Vampire.

"So this is how you told him where your Heart was."

"Oh Lucian."

Neroth chuckled.

"I told him many more things."

Lucian remained silent.

Neroth enjoyed that and continued.

"How about I tell you another interesting story?"

He chuckled.

"Varek knew what they were going to do to him if he returned."

"...what?"

Lucian’s face changed.

"He knew the Arcelis were going to betray him."

"Then why did he..."

"I convinced him."

Neroth laughed.

Lucian didn’t and the Archdemon didn’t care.

"It wasn’t even difficult, he was obsessed with strength."

Lucian knew that.

That much had been obvious from everything Lucian read about him, the man volunteered for an experimental project whose success wasn’t guaranteed just because the result promised more strength.

"I didn’t even lie to him. I told him they needed him alive, at least till his Third Ascension. Which was true, Arcelis has invested centuries’ worth of experiments in him, they weren’t going to kill him the moment he returned.

So he listened and took the gamble."

"On you."

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"On himself."

Neroth corrected with a chuckle.

"He believed he was using me.

I found that rather charming."

The confidence and amusement laced within the Archdemon’s voice were almost... unsettling.

"What did you promise him?"

Lucian asked another question.

"Promise?"

Neroth sounded offended.

"I promised him nothing."

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"As I said, I did not lie to him, I told him the truth. I told him that his body was still incomplete and yes, his Ascension would stabilise the changes and strengthen him to a certain extent, but...

If he had access to my original blood and my Heart, he could take those changes to an entirely different level.

He would become someone he won’t even recognise."

Neroth laughed.

Lucian narrowed his eyes at that wording.

He would become someone he won’t even recognise.

He did not wish to think about the other meaning those words might have.

"...so he came back to get your original, non-processed blood."

"And my Heart."

Neroth specified and Lucian did not like that specification, not one bit, and Neroth could sense that and Lucian could feel his grin widening, if his grin even existed in the first place.

"You’ve read the reports, what do you think Project Crimson Crucible was doing?"

Neroth asked with amusement.

Lucian’s face became ugly.

"They were forcing Vampire bodies to adapt to your blood."

"Correct."

Neroth sounded approving.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Is that it?"

The Archdemon laughed again.

Lucian narrowed his eyes and the Archdemon continued.

"Think.

Thousands of failures before Varek, bodies that ruptured, bodies that mutated, marrows that collapsed, cases where regeneration became uncontrollable, again and again and again and every time, the Arcelis learned from their mistakes and continued experimenting.

"A little less blood, a slightly different process, a different recovery period, a different method of introduction.

A different way to force the body to... accept me."

The final two words stood out.

Lucian’s face became even uglier.

Neroth laughed at that.

"There.

You see it too, don’t you?"

"..."

Lucian did not say anything but...

His doubts became stronger.

The Arcelis thought they were teaching Vampiric blood to tolerate Demonic blood but... viewing it from a different perspective, they were doing something else too.

They were discovering exactly how much of Neroth a Vampire could survive, how much could be introduced before rejection, how much could be integrated, how the tissues, the marrow, the organs changed, century after century of trial and error...

Until the first success.

"Varek."

Neroth said the name with a very proud tone.

"The first truly compatible body they made."

"Compatible..."

Lucian did not miss that word.

"Yes."

Neroth laughed softly.

"A body compatible with me."

Lucian’s face hardened as the possibility in his head practically became a certainty.

Neroth continued.

"House Arcelis believes Varek’s Third Ascension will make his adaptations permanent and they are correct.

His body will change, his marrow, his heart, his channels, his entire Vampiric foundation will be broken apart and rebuilt, all while decades of my blood remain engraved throughout his body."

The Archdemon took a small pause, relishing the moment to its fullest extent.

"They believe that when the process ends, they will have the final result, a perfect body that has no restrictions, a body that can grow infinitely, like a Vampire and like a Demon.

But...

What they have actually spent centuries creating...

...is a body capable of holding me."

And the moment he said those words, it happened—

THUMP

Lucian’s expression changed as the darkness around him flickered.

THUMP.

The sound came again.

The familiar black space around him began to crack and crimson light entered through the fractures.

Lucian blinked at everything that was happening, then suddenly—

BOOOM

The darkness around him shattered and Lucian returned to the underground chamber, only this time, the place wasn’t as calm as before, the ancient formations placed on it were now activated, the entire room was pulsing with a strong crimson light and Lucian—

He could finally see it floating right in front of him.

Neroth’s Heart.

The black-red grotesque thing, it was larger than a Human Heart, with dark veins covering its surface, each one pulsing independently, making the entire Heart beat with strong thumps.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Lucian saw drops of fresh blood forming on its surface, then, instead of falling, they rose in the air.

"What the..."

Lucian frowned.

"What is happening?"

He asked out loud, hoping Neroth would answer.

And he did—

"It has begun."