Power came with a price.
Kai Arashi knew it the moment he woke up, hours after the Guild massacre.
His body — no longer fully human — pulsed with unnatural energy.
The stolen Sigils crackled under his skin.
The Abyss writhed in his veins, hungrier than ever.
And it demanded more.
His reflection in the cracked mirror of an abandoned motel stared back at him.
Not the broken boy from the Academy.
Not the weakling the world had discarded.
But something else.
Something darker.
Something hollow.
Kai touched his face.
His skin felt colder than before.
Paler.
Faint black lines — like hairline fractures — spiderwebbed across his chest, near his heart.
The cost of mutation.
The cost of evolving powers the human body was never meant to wield.
The System chimed coldly:
[Abyssal Contamination: 6%]
[Warning: Excessive Contamination May Result in Physical Mutation or Loss of Sanity.]
Kai stared at the warning, unmoving.
Loss of sanity?
Mutation?
Was that supposed to scare him?
After everything the world had done to him —
after everything he had suffered —
madness didn't sound so bad.
Still, he needed to be careful.
The Abyss granted him strength — but it also craved destruction without reason.
He needed to keep control.
At least… for now.
Kai stood, flexing his fingers.
Electricity sparked between them.
Blood mist curled in the air.
He grinned — a savage, broken grin.
He wasn't done yet.
The System flickered again:
[New Target Available: Minor Guilds Eliminated (2/20).]
[Next Phase Unlocked: Bloodline Trials.]
Bloodline Trials?
Kai's smile widened.
Whatever it was…
he would crush it.
He would crush everything.
Because the truth was simple:
Power was worth any price.
Even his soul.
Even his sanity.
As long as he could tear down the world that once tore him apart,
nothing else mattered.
Nothing.