Chapter 417: Since When?
Jonathan’s expression twisted into rage.
"LET GO! LET GO! WHY WON’T YOU LET GO?!"
His clawed foot came down and stomped on Damian’s back.
CRACK
Ribs shattered and organs ruptured as Damian screamed through blood-filled lungs.
But his hand stayed locked on Jonathan’s ankle.
Jonathan stomped again, his movements becoming frenzied.
CRACK
And again.
CRACK
"LET GO!"
His roar echoed across the battlefield.
But Damian’s grip only tightened, his broken fingers refusing to release despite bones grinding together wrong.
Jonathan stopped stomping, breathing hard, his demonic face twisting through confusion and rage.
Then... something shifted in his glowing eyes.
The madness receded slightly, clarity breaking through for just a moment.
"I’ve read about you in detail once I got back from the portal, you know..."
His doubled voice came out calmer now, like the rational part of his mind was surfacing.
"Damian Valcor... The brutal Godfather... You established the Mafia on bodies and blood... You’ve killed more people than I ever have..."
He crouched down, his glowing eyes meeting Damian’s pain-filled crimson ones.
The clarity in his gaze sharpened, genuine confusion replacing the madness temporarily.
"So why do you care if I kill this old man? You’re no saviour... You’re just as cruel as me... Maybe worse..."
Damian’s mouth worked, blood bubbling from his lips as he forced words through a throat that felt crushed.
"I... am no... saviour..."
He pushed himself up on one trembling arm, then the other, blood streaming from dozens of wounds.
’Since when did I become like this?’
The question cut through the haze of pain, deeper than any physical wound.
’When did their lives start mattering so much?’
He pushed harder, forcing his broken body to respond.
’I used to see everyone as tools... Resources to use and discard... Just like Alessio did...’
His legs found purchase, trembling violently.
The memories came unbidden, crashing over him one after another.
Zavier’s father, forced to eat his own wife while conscious, the sound of chewing and the broken apologies.
’Was it then? When I saw what my choices cost the people who followed me?’
A little girl in the orphanage, sleeping against his shoulder with chocolate on her face, trusting him completely.
’Or was it... When I realized someone could look at me and still see someone worth trusting...’
Castor destroying his own body to save thousands of children.
Gregor expanding his barrier over everyone, then charging at the strongest enemy alone.
Vash standing alone against the other two masked enemies, buying time with his own blood.
Vermont choosing death to protect Elizabeth.
Yara shielding thousands of children, then holding the line against Ashley and Admond
Mike standing his ground even when death came for him.
’Maybe... Maybe it was watching them... Seeing people choose to protect others even when it cost them everything...’
He stood fully now, swaying, barely upright, his broken axe blade still gripped in one bloodied hand.
’They all defied survival instinct... Put something else above their own lives... And somewhere in watching them... I stopped asking "what can they do for me" and started asking "what happens to them if I fail..."’
Blood ran down his face, dripped from his chin.
’That’s when I stopped being just Alessio D’Rossi wearing Damian Valcor’s name...’
"But... these are... my people..."
His voice grew stronger despite the damage and everything.
"My... responsibility..."
His crimson eyes burned with absolute conviction that transcended the broken body speaking them.
"And I... protect... my people."
The words hung in the air, absolute and final.
A promise carved in blood and pain and the first genuine choice he’d made free of Alessio’s emotional programming.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Jonathan’s clawed hand moved, faster than Damian could track, punched through his chest in an instant.
SHUNK
The talons emerged from his back trailing blood and torn organs.
"Then I’ll have to kill you first I guess."
Jonathan’s claws closed around Damian’s heart.
Time seemed to slow down.
Thump... thump...
Everything became syrup-thick, movements happening frame by frame.
Damian’s vision darkened at the edges, consciousness fading.
Thump... thump...
’Is this... how it ends...?’
His thoughts came distant, detached.
’Couldn’t... protect them...’
Thu... mp...
Then something shifted deep inside his chest.
CRACK
The sealed heart, that had been locked, hidden beneath layers of protection his mother had died to create, cracked.
Power flooded through Damian’s body in slow motion, ancient and absolute.
His peripheral vision flashed with text that burned itself into his awareness:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Blood Manipulation: SSS (Innate - Unsealed)
Blood Regeneration (Passive): The host’s blood carries regenerative properties. Wounds close faster, bones mend rapidly, and vitality restores continuously as long as blood flows.
Blood Sovereign (Active): When the intent to protect their people burns strongest, the host can ignite their own blood to enter a berserker state. The stronger the will to safeguard others, the more ferocious the host becomes.
Current State: 30%
??? ??? ???
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Damian’s lips moved, barely a whisper.
"Blood... Sovereign..."
Then his blood, the blood pouring from his wounds, the blood Jonathan was touching, the blood throughout his entire body... ignited.
BOOOOOOM
Translucent crimson marks began spreading across Damian’s skin, faint but glowing, starting from his heart and spreading outward like living veins of light across his chest, his arms, his neck and his face.
Each mark glowed as power flooded his broken body, bones snapping back into place with sounds like gunshots, torn muscles reknitting and shattered ribs reforming.
All in slow motion, reality struggling to keep pace with what was happening.
His hair began to grow longer, the crimson strands becoming more vibrant and intense, almost glowing with the same light as the marks on his skin, flowing past his shoulders like liquid fire.
His peripheral vision flashed with his status screen:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Blood Sovereign: Active
Strength: 753 → 979 (+30%)
Speed: 761 → 989 (+30%)
Stamina: 756 → 983 (+30%)
Vitality: 751 → 976 (+30%)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The numbers burned themselves into his awareness as power surged through every cell.
Jonathan’s eyes went wide behind his demonic mask, his clawed hand still wrapped around Damian’s heart.
’Wha–’
Damian’s free hand came up, the broken axe blade still gripped in his palm.
The movement was so fast Jonathan couldn’t track it.
SLASH
The blade cut through Jonathan’s wrist like it was paper, severed the demonic hand holding his heart, and sent it tumbling away.
The wound in Damian’s chest closed at visible speed, blood flowing backward, flesh knitting together and the hole disappearing within a few heartbeats.
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