I surged down the reinforced iron corridor, my boots hammering against the cold masonry as I descended rapidly into the absolute baseline of the fortress: the first level. But the moment I rounded the final subterranean landing, I was met with a wall of blinding white light. A heavily fortified vanguard of elite knights was already dug into a permanent defensive formation, their heavy iron shields interlocked to seal the entire width of the corridor.
The moment their commanding officer caught sight of Keane's sprinting host body, he didn't hesitate.
"Target confirmed! Release the arcane volleys!"
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!
Dozens of heavy crossbow triggers snapped in perfect unison. A dense, lethal cloud of glowing projectiles flooded the narrow hallway. These weren't standard steel-tipped bolts; they were specialized, high-tier **Magic Arrows** infused with tracing runes that hummed with a low, menacing frequency. As I veered to the left, the glowing bolts violently altered their trajectories mid-air, tracking my heat signature with flawless homing capabilities.
"Sly fucker eh? Let's see about that."
Maintaining my completely nonchalant, aloof protagonist persona, I didn't slow my sprint by a single fraction of a second. I clenched my jaw, channeled my fully unsealed, mana pool, and violently expanded my circulating aura outward.
Instantly, a massive torrent of dense, hyper-pressurized crimson fluid erupted from my open palm, swirling rapidly around my frame until it solidified into a perfectly spherical, rotating Blood Bubble. The homing magic arrows slammed directly into the kinetic boundary of the sphere.
BANG. BANG. CRACK.
The explosive, arcane force of the homing projectiles detonated harmlessly against the dense surface tension of the barrier. The magical energy dissipated into raw static, the shattered remnants of the bolts bouncing uselessly off the crimson wall. Keeping my specialized bubble completely intact, I used the momentum to charge directly down the center of the corridor like a juggernaut.
As I closed the distance to their phalanx, I condensed a portion of the protective barrier into a volatile, swirling Blood Ball right in the palm of my hand. With a precise, high-velocity throw, I launched the sphere straight over the top of their interlocked iron shields.
SPLAT!
The ball detonated instantly upon impact with the rear wall. While the kinetic blast itself dealt zero actual damage to their heavy armor plating, the tactical execution was flawless: a massive, pressurized wave of thick, opaque crimson fluid smeared violently across the visors, helmets, and eyes of the entire front line.
"I can't see! My visor is completely blinded!"
"Hold the line! Don't let the formation break!"
Their sensory arrays were completely disrupted. The knights began stumbling backward in absolute panic, their flawless defensive synergy shattering into a chaotic, disorganized mess.
This was the perfect window of execution. I bared my sharp fangs once more, aggressively biting a secondary, deep incision directly into the meat of my left hand. With fresh, high-stat essence flowing freely from both of my palms, I activated my Blood Manipulation to its absolute limit. The cascading fluid hardened simultaneously into two identical, twin-edged Blood Swords.
Dual-wielding the crimson blades, I deactivated the protective bubble and glided into the fractured remains of their formation like a whirlwind of death.
SLASH. SLICE. CRACK.
My twin blades sang through the narrow hallway, the 4900 agility parameters allowing me to move faster than the human eye could track. I carved through their heavy chest plates, severed their sword arms, and sliced through their exposed neck guards with clinical, terrifying precision. Within a matter of seconds, the entire vanguard collapsed into a silent, overlapping pile of slaughtered flesh, the crimson emergency lights painting the corridor in deep shades of horror.
I stood over the carnage, breathing heavily as the twin blood swords dissolved back into a fine mist, seeping back through my pores. Looking down at the massive collection of high-stat corpses, my dark, consuming obsession with the absolute purity of vital force flared up instantly.
"I am an S-rank bounty hunter, I will never let such a magnificent banquet of precious blood go to waste."
Instead of dropping to my knees to feed manually, I took a step back and raised my open right palm over the pile of bodies, activating my advanced area-of-effect spell: Blood Siphoning.
The reaction was instantaneous. The pool of crimson collecting on the stone floor began to ripple and vibrate violently. Then, responding to the magnetic pull of my mana, thick ropes of rich, dark life force tore out from the wounds of the dead knights, arching through the air directly toward my hand. My palm acted like a high-powered vacuum cleaner, generating an irresistible biological vortex that sucked the fluid seamlessly into my internal reservoir.
[Blood Siphon Activated Extraction Completed consumed 25 liters of blood]
The air hissed as the sheer volume of essence drained from the bodies. In less than thirty seconds, the entire vanguard of Capital Knights was completely, systematically processed, their heavy, muscular frames withering away beneath their armor until nothing remained but pale, dry, mummified husks. And suprise, I gained 25 liters in eleven men.
My internal core hyper-charged, the massive influx of life force expanding my spiritual limits and ensuring my passive Blood to Mana Conversion kept my parameters peaking at absolute maximum. With my strength completely restored and my tracks utterly erased,
I ascended the stone steps leading directly into the primary threshold of the first level… the exact processing hub where I had first arrived at the Citadel in chains. The layout here was deeply etched into my photographic memory, but I couldn't simply sprint for the main gates. Bypassing the walls without the proper tactical assets was a death sentence. The jagged island perimeter was heavily fortified, ravenous sharks patrolled the freezing depths, and armored naval lifeboats were constantly scanning the surface with high-intensity spotlights. To execute a flawless, undetected escape, I absolutely needed to secure a specialized scuba diving suit to remain completely submerged and invisible to their radar.
As I stepped onto the cold tiles of the main corridor, three standard facility guards stepped out from a security alcove, their weapons drawn.
"Stop right there, Inmate 345!" the first one yelled, lunging forward.
I didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second. Embodying the ruthless efficiency of an S-rank predator, I surged forward in a seamless blur of 4900 agility. With three precise, lightning-fast kinetic strikes to their vital points, I shattered their defenses and ended their lives before they could even sound their localized whistles. The moment their bodies collapsed to the floor, I raised my right hand, activating Blood Siphoning. The high-efficiency vortex generated from my palm acted like an absolute vacuum, sucking the rich crimson essence from their wounds in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but three pale, dried-out husks on the stone floor.
[Blood Siphon Activated Extraction Completed consumed 8 liters of blood]
With my mana pool completely topped off, I systematically searched through the adjacent logistical rooms of the lower level. I glided down the service hallway and kicked open the heavy iron door of the main storage room. Inside, two heavily armored Capital Knights were waiting in ambush, their broadswords raised.
SLASH. SNAP.
Using my unsealed strength, I disarmed the first knight and drove his own blade through his chest plate, pivoting instantly to cave in the helmet of the second with a concentrated kinetic palm strike. Their lives ended in an instant. Without breaking my stride, I extended both hands, letting the advanced Blood Siphoning ability violently strip the vital fluid straight through my palms, mummifying the two knights where they lay.
[Blood Siphon Activated Extraction Completed consumed 7 liters of blood]
I left the storage room and advanced toward the final sector of the first level: the primary inspection room. This was the exact chamber where the facility guards had stripped my gear and inspected my host body before processing me into the general population.
The moment my boot crossed the threshold of the doorway, the air shifted. A heavy, dual-bladed battle axe sliced through the shadows from a blind spot, striking me violently directly across my back.
CLANG! SPLAT!
The heavy iron blade cut through my jumpsuit, tearing a deep, bleeding gash across my shoulder blades. The baseline 100-stat durability of Keane's skin couldn't fully absorb the kinetic impact of a localized ambush. Two elite ambushers stepped out from the darkness, grinning as they prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
But my protagonist reflexes were far too advanced. Ignoring the flash of pain, I spun on my heel, my eyes glowing a dangerous, piercing crimson in the dark. With two savage, hyper-pressurized blood spikes manifested directly from the air, I impaled both ambushers through the throat, dropping them instantly.
The moment they died, my passive Lifesteal Effect triggered automatically. The violent, kinetic termination of my targets instantly channeled a surge of raw life force directly back into my own biological matrix. I felt a warm, soothing sensation ripple across my spine as the deep, bleeding wound on my back instantly knit itself together, the flesh and skin closing up flawlessly without leaving a single scar.
I raised my palm over the two fallen ambushers, unleashing the Blood Siphoning vacuum one more time. The ropes of crimson fluid arced through the air, completely draining their bodies until they were pale and dried out.
[Blood Siphon Activated Extraction Completed consumed 8 liters of blood]
I wiped a stray drop of blood from my cheek, my eyes scanning the inspection room lockers. The scuba gear had to be close, and the countdown to the watchtower detonation was reaching its absolute limit.
I stepped past the dried, mummified husks of the two ambushers and glided toward the final heavy door at the back of the inspection sector: the high-security Citadel Armory. With a single, concentrated burst of my unsealed strength, I shattered the heavy iron locking mechanism and threw the door wide open.
I stepped into the room, my crimson-tinted vision instantly scanning the perimeter. As expected, the room was completely vacant. The alarm sirens wailing across the upper levels had successfully drawn every remaining knight and sentry away from the logistical depots, leaving the armory entirely unguarded.
"Perfect, everything is falling perfectly into place according to my mastermind calculations."
I marched past the rows of standard-issue iron longswords, heavy halberds, and reinforced steel shields, heading straight toward the specialized naval reconnaissance lockers at the very back of the room. I ripped open the secure glass casing, and there it was, resting beautifully under the dim crimson glare of the emergency lights: a high-tier, airtight tactical scuba diving suit, complete with a pressurized oxygen apparatus and streamlined swimming fins.
With this gear secured, the treacherous ocean depths, the ravenous shark packs, and the sweeping searchlights of the naval boat patrols would mean absolutely nothing to me. I would be completely invisible, breathing effortlessly beneath the freezing waves as I navigated the secret sewage paths back to the mainland.
I grabbed the heavy neoprene suit, my fingers tightening around the material. The preparation phase was officially complete. All that was left was to put on the gear, slip into the drainage tunnels, and snap my fingers to unleash the cataclysmic blood bomb that would bring Captain Friedrich's entire fortress crumbling down into the sea.