Chapter 41 Bloodright

Morning filled the Sterling arena with relatives who had spent breakfast deciding which injury would end Damien’s claim.

Three hundred silver seats surrounded a circular ward floor, while Cassius stood beside Aldous beneath the family crest.

’Everybody arrived dressed for tradition and possible death, damn, rich clans really know how to combine entertainment.’

Verdict rested against Damien’s hip when the first champion entered wearing heavy red armor around a shaved head.

[Garran Sterling]

[Level: 511]

[First bloodright champion]

"Withdraw before this fight becomes humiliating for your mother’s remaining name," Garran said, locking both gauntlets around a broad spear.

"Insulting a dead woman before breakfast makes your confidence look hungry," Damien replied, drawing Verdict beneath rising laughter.

The spear crossed twelve meters before its shaft finished bending, forcing Iron Veil open against Damien’s chest.

He slid backward through silver dust while Eye of Reckoning found a weak line beneath Garran’s forward knee.

’One hundred nineteen levels higher and built like a siege door, do not trade strength, you absolute clown.’

Damien Flickered beside the marked knee, then cut its armor through Silverlight Draw after Garran committed to another thrust.

The champion turned faster than his build promised and struck Damien’s ribs using the spear butt.

[Flesh Debt: 91]

Iron Pulse hardened Damien’s shoulder before he rammed the damaged knee and carried Garran outside the inner ring.

Verdict stopped beneath the champion’s jaw while both boots crossed the boundary together.

[First champion defeated]

The audience lost its laughter before Garran finished staring at the saber near his throat.

"Yeah, Mother’s name survived every disappointing second of your pathetic effort," Damien said, withdrawing Verdict as healers dragged the larger man away.

’One down, side hurts, mana acceptable, and Cassius still looks irritatingly comfortable.’

The second champion arrived before the ward reset, a narrow woman carrying twin hooked blades beneath silver sleeves.

[Selene Sterling]

[Level: 548]

She attacked during her own profile, catching Damien’s thigh before the announcement barrier closed.

"Complaints belong outside succession combat," Selene said, turning one hook toward his wrist, "keep your hand if reactions permit."

"Finally one relative who threatens something useful and painfully specific," Damien replied, letting Stay catch her second blade near his elbow.

[Stay of Execution]

[Damage deferred: 60%]

Her hooks trapped Verdict from opposite sides, then twisted until gold sparks fell between their faces.

Damien released controlled Debt through the weapon instead of pulling, sending conductance into both hooked blades.

Selene lost her grip when twelve extra percent crossed the metal, and Threadcut severed each wrist binding before recovery.

He kicked one hook beyond the ring while Verdict stopped against her breastplate over a glowing heart line.

[Second champion defeated]

’She nearly removed my hand in nine seconds, fuck, save the relief until nothing else enters this arena.’

The third champion stepped forward carrying no weapon, his bare arms covered in old trial scars beneath a sleeveless black uniform.

[Marek Sterling]

[Level: 603]

"Your tricks rely on distance and timing," Marek said, cracking one scarred wrist as the floor ward sealed, "I will remove both."

"Relatives keep announcing plans before trying them," Damien replied, shifting Verdict behind his forearm, "that habit seems expensive."

Marek appeared inside the saber’s reach without Flicker, driving one palm into Damien’s sternum through Iron Veil.

The barrier shattered while a second strike folded his stomach and lifted both feet from the floor.

[Flesh Debt: 288]

’Too fast to read his hands, watch the hips, idiot, every punch begins somewhere larger.’

Damien landed near the boundary and saw Marek’s right hip turn before another invisible step.

He dropped beneath the arriving palm, placed Verdict flat against one ankle, then released Silverlight Draw upward.

Marek changed direction midstrike and caught the saber using both scarred hands around its harmless flat.

Gold tally marks burned his palms while Damien triggered Reckoning through the contact.

[Reckoning]

[288 Debt × 2.0]

[Verdict conductance: 20%]

[Damage released: 691]

The champion crossed the boundary through silver-black force and struck the lower seating barrier hard enough to crack it.

[Third champion defeated]

Damien remained standing until the ward announced victory, then one knee touched blood-spotted stone.

’Three victories and the real chamber has not opened, damn, Mother, your inheritance process needed friendlier scheduling.’

Mina shouted something from the guest section while family noise swallowed every word except the insult at its end.

Vivienne sat beside her with both hands around one white sheath, and Isolde occupied the next chair without invitation.

Cassius raised one palm toward the final ward as healers finished sealing Damien’s sternum beneath a flexible bandage.

"My brother has proved remarkable courage, so the house should permit recovery before proceeding," he said, facing every witness.

"Concern arrived after your champions finished softening my ribs," Damien replied, standing before attendants could hold him down.

Aldous struck his cane once against the platform, silencing the arena before Cassius could answer.

"The claimant alone chooses whether this bloodright continues," the patriarch said, fixing severe eyes on Damien, "speak clearly only once."

"Open that final ward before my injuries decide the answer instead," Damien replied, lifting Verdict toward the sealed chamber beneath the arena.

Silver wards carried him downward while the system measured depleted mana and opened the fatal quest.

[Final bloodright ward]

[Opponent: Unknown]

[Fatality: 97%]

’Dramatic speeches or audience tricks cannot help inside there, good, survive first and embarrass Cassius afterward.’

The chamber contained an empty suit of ivory armor beneath the black sigil seen through yesterday’s crystal.

It stood when the barrier closed, filling its hollow helm with faceless script instead of a guardian’s head.

[Correction vessel]

[Level: 1,940]

[Objective: Erase unauthorized bond]

Black chains erupted from its chest and wrapped Verdict before Damien completed Eye of Reckoning.

The saber’s golden tally turned silver one mark at a time while Seraphine’s restored claim vanished from its profile.

’It is deleting Mother’s bond before killing me, no, grab the chain and make the bastard acknowledge my hand.’

Damien caught one black link, receiving enough cold pressure to split skin across every finger.

[Flesh Debt: 471]

[Verdict bond: 72%]

The Correction vessel swung its ivory fist, driving him through one ward pillar before the chain dragged Verdict away.

Stay opened around the second impact while Iron Pulse kept his shoulder inside its proper socket.

Damien Flickered along the chain rather than toward any visible target, landing against the vessel’s armored chest.

Eye of Reckoning found no heart line, though three editorial hooks connected its hollow neck toward the arena above.

’Cassius opened the route, but something else supplies this body, cut upward before the bond reaches zero.’

Threadcut severed the first hook, making black fire pour from the empty helm around Damien’s face.

The vessel grabbed his throat and slammed him repeatedly against ivory armor until vision broke around each impact.

[Verdict bond: 48%]

[Flesh Debt: 802]

Damien released Reckoning through his trapped body, but the Correction rejected damage before it crossed the vessel’s chest.

[Outcome corrected]

[Verdict bond: 31%]

’Normal payout cannot stick, shit, use the blade before it forgets whose blood holds the grip.’

He pulled Mina’s recall wire while Verdict fought the black chain across the floor.

The weapon moved one meter, stopped, then cut its own silver sheath apart through raw gold conductance.

Damien released every held Fortune Debt into the wire instead of targeting the vessel.

[Fortune Debt released: 190]

The next chain link failed at the exact point where Verdict struck, returning the saber into his bleeding hand.

[Verdict bond: 19%]

Memory flooded through the grip, showing Seraphine refusing elders while young Damien hid beyond the armory door.

’She never begged them to love her, damn, she only demanded the right to carry what she earned.’

The vessel opened both arms and pulled every severed hook back toward its hollow neck for one full correction.

Damien drove Verdict through that gathering point before black letters could decide the weapon belonged elsewhere.

[Reckoning]

[802 Debt × 2.0]

[Verdict conductance: 20%]

[Correction resistance applied]

Gold force entered the hollow helm, turning each black hook bright enough for the arena crystal to display.

The vessel tried reverting Damien’s position, though Verdict remained anchored through Seraphine’s claim inside its core.

"This blade already survived your revision once," Damien said, twisting the saber deeper while ivory armor split, "you do not get her twice."

[Correction vessel destroyed]

[Verdict bond restored]

[Final bloodright ward cleared]

The chamber opened above him as every elder watched the black sigil burn away from Mother’s weapon.

[Death Refund issued]

[Hidden kill event failed]

[System Points awarded: 7,980]

[System Points: 13,900 → 21,880]

[Ascension Board: 41]

[Public measure: Level 380]

Cassius stood first, though Aldous reached the arena floor before his heir could speak.

The patriarch looked from the dead Correction toward Verdict buried inside its core.

"Keep the blade," he said, turning his cane toward gathered elders, "he survived what this house failed to detect."

’That is his version of praise, fine, Mother deserved more, though Verdict finally leaves here under her name.’

Two elders watched Cassius depart while servants carried broken ivory plates away from the bloodright floor.

"The heir requested that missing guardian change through his personal seal," one whispered, hiding his mouth behind a red sleeve.

"Then forget you witnessed the request unless survival has become unfashionable," the other replied, following Cassius’s empty doorway.

Damien returned to his room after healers closed the worst wounds and Mina threatened three specialists into repeating every scan.

Black heat reached him before the bedroom door opened fully beneath his hand.

A hooked sigil burned across the wall despite twelve active Sterling wards surrounding the residence.