Three hundred nautical miles away, in a deep-sea trench.
Within an underwater palace constructed from the skeletons of colossal Sea Beasts and blood-red coral, crimson "seaweed" swayed with the undercurrents, emitting a faint, eerie light.
In the grand hall at the palace's deepest point, Blood Slaughter sat cross-legged on a massive black reef.
On a stone platform before him, twelve Soul Lamps made from human skulls were arranged in a neat row. Inside each, a small, ghastly green flame burned.
The flickering of the flames was intimately connected to the life force of the twelve members of his Blood Fox Squad.
Suddenly, the flame in one of the Soul Lamps swayed violently, then with a PUFF, it was completely extinguished.
Blood Slaughter didn't even raise an eyelid.
Then, the second, the third...
PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!
The sounds of the Soul Lamps going out came one after another, as rapid as the patter of heavy rain on leaves.
