Corr wiped sweat from her forehead as sparks flew from her workstation.
Metal plates, wires, and glowing cores lay scattered around her.
She tightened a bolt, adjusted a joint, and stepped back.
Four gleaming mechanical limbs—two arms, two legs—hung from a support frame.
Light pulsed through them like veins.
Her project.
Her answer to feeling powerless.
Corr exhaled shakily.
She rolled back from the forge, her chair squeaking softly.
She glanced toward Camelio's sleeping form.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should've protected you. I should've protected all of you."
Camelio didn't stir.
Corr looked again and froze.
Camelio's teeth had lengthened.
Her nails sharpened.
Her hair stretched unnaturally.
Her eyes opened, glowing faintly.
Camelio stood.
Silent.
Then walked out of the room without a word.
Corr's breath caught.
"…Camelio?"
But Camelio was already gone.
An hour later, Camelio woke up again.
But not in the base.
She stood in a crimson‑lit cavern, surrounded by jagged stone and roaring fire.
"Gudan!" she shouted. "Where— how did I end up here?!"
A shove knocked her forward.
She stumbled into a crowd.
People — or things — surrounded her.
Claws.
Fangs.
Eyes glowing red.
Camelio backed up, heart pounding.
"What… who are you?!"
A booming voice echoed overhead.
"Welcome, newcomer."
An announcer stepped forward, dressed in ceremonial robes.
"You may not know where you are, but this is the realm of vampires. And you… are one of us."
Camelio shook her head violently.
"No. No, I'm not—"
"If you can subdue your inner self," the announcer continued, "you may leave. If you defeat the Vampire King, you may leave with royal abilities."
Camelio's breath caught.
She didn't hesitate.
She leapt onto the heads of the crowd, bounding upward with impossible agility, landing before a towering throne.
The Vampire King rose.
Camelio slapped him across the face.
"Challenge me!"
The king blinked, surprised.
"And why," he asked slowly, "do you need to leave?"
Camelio's voice cracked.
"For love."
The king's expression shifted—not pity, but understanding.
"Then you will be challenged."
A weight settled on Camelio's chest.
Her sins.
Her past.
Her truth.
Camelio fell to her knees as visions flooded her mind.
She saw herself as a child —
training with bow and blade,
fighting beasts twice her size,
surviving trials no child should face.
She saw the bear that nearly devoured her.
The mercenary who almost ended her life.
The endless battles she was forced into.
She saw the ceremony —
the ritual meant to make her an enlightened archer,
to bring her closer to the divine.
But the price…
The side effect…
A voice whispered in her memory:
"To ascend, you must sever your attachments."
She saw her village.
Her sister.
Her baby brother.
Her hands trembled.
"This is my fault," she whispered. "Why did I do this? I hate this part of me…"
The Vampire King watched silently.
Camelio clenched her fists.
Then slowly stood.
"No. I don't hate it. I don't run from it."
She placed a hand over her heart.
"It's me. All of it. The good. The bad. The broken. The strong."
The cavern shook.
Her aura flared.
Her eyes glowed with a new, steady light.
"I accept myself."
The Vampire King bowed his head.
"Then you have already won."
Camelio exhaled — a long, shaking breath.
The crowd knelt.
The king stepped aside, revealing a glowing exit.
"You may leave," he said. "And you may carry the strength of royalty with you."
Camelio stepped forward.
Not running from her past.
Not drowning in guilt.
But walking toward her future.
Toward Gudan.
Toward William.
Toward her friends.
Toward love.