As the beast’s restraints snapped loose, the creature let out a low, primal growl that reverberated through the chamber. It stood on all fours, its massive muscles rippling beneath its mutated hide. The bright, pulsating crystal pulsating within its chest flared dangerously, brightening the room with a pinkish hue. Its crown of jagged horns cast eerie shadows across the chamber floors, and its piercing eyes locked onto the Grand Duke, who sat unmoved on his throne, his air of superiority unchanged. For a moment, the Cyclitharan ruler remained seated, lazily dismissing the Granians with a flick of his hand, unaware of the imminent danger barreling toward him. The beast, now fully free and already agitated from the prods of the electric rods, lowered its head and scraped its hooves against the pristine floor. The ground trembled as the creature snorted, releasing hot steam from its nostrils, and without warning, it charged. The air in the chamber shifted instantly—Lord Gravax’s lips curled in satisfaction as he watched the scene unfold. His eyes flickered to Grim, who stood in cold silence, the edges of his mouth twitching ever so slightly. The presence of the beast, unknown and unplanned by Lord Gravax, was a neat and clever fallback plan orchestrated by the former Lord, Grim. Having negotiated with hundreds of species before, the Granian became well aware of the types of tactics to use on specific ones. Tactics like bribery, fear, love, hate, and absolute terror were some of the many he had in his arsenal and right now, he decided to play his fear and absolute terror cards. Oh, how perfect this was for Lord Gravax. Even after being mocked indirectly by the Grand Duke, he still felt a need to at least get some form of vengeance, no matter how small it was. The new Lord felt pleased with himself, knowing he played the right cards by bringing Grim and Cherry along with him whose actions were going to fulfill his need. What looked like a failure was about to turn into an absolute table flip for the Granians and the Grand Duke. Now back to the scene, the Grand Duke’s confidence faltered for the first time as the thunderous hooves of the beast echoed louder as the beast was quickly closing in on him. His bodyguards and advisors froze, paralyzed by the sudden chaos, unsure of how to react. Even the Cyclitharans, with all their poise and intellect, hadn’t anticipated this. The beast’s horns glowed faintly as it charged, the energy in its crystal core pulsing in sync with its already racing heartbeat. The distance between it and the Grand Duke was closing fast—too fast for anyone close by to intervene. The creature was mere moments away from goring him through his luxurious robes and casting him across the floor like a ragdoll. Between it and the Grand Duke sat the Council Members who were around a large, round table. Much like the Grand Duke, they too were taken by surprise at the creature’s sudden attack. Instead of moving away quickly enough, they took their sweet time to do so, only for them to fall victim to their sloppiness. The creature, not wanting anything to get/remain in its way, lowered its already glowing antlers and latched them underneath the table. Then with a mighty tug, the beast lifted the table off its legs, flipped it in the air, and watched as it lunged itself deep into the floor of the Council Chamber’s floors. A few Cyclitharan council members were injured, and others had the opportunity to walk away without a single scratch. They had learned their lesson; never remain still when an enemy is charging. Well, all of them learned, all except for the Grand Duke himself. ’Oh, great heavens!!’ Because of fear, the Grand Duke’s body started to react negatively, a flood of fear overwhelming him. As quickly as it started, the event seemed as though it was taking forever given that time itself seemed to slow down for this moment. The Grand Duke couldn’t help but stare in slow motion as the monster of a creature ran at him. His hands, shaking in the utmost form of terror, were too weak to catapult him off his chair. His legs were glued in place, welded in fact, since they seemed to have an attachment to the floor. His body, already aching in anticipation of the beast’s body making contact with his, remained still on the chair, acting as though it and the chair were one immobile piece of furniture. He was in utter shock and before he could even think of getting up, it was too late for the beast was only ten inches away from his body. "Cherry." At the last moment, Grim gave the Crimson Knight her signal, feeling as though he milked the situation long enough. Now that pure terror had sunk into the Grand Duke, it was time to show his true trump card, a super soldier with a terrifying ability. "Drain it." Following orders, the Crimson Knight, Cherry, stepped forward from her standby position with her hand outstretched toward the charging beast. Similarly to her brother, her expression was calm and focused but her eyes—the same darkened crimson as her title—were burning with intent. In an instant, the air itself seemed to bend around her as soon as she folded her hand into a fist. The charging beast, moments from impaling the Grand Duke, froze mid-step, its hooves skidding across the marble floor as though it had been struck by an invisible force. There was no sound. No dramatic clash. Just a stillness—like the beast had been frozen in time. The room fell into dead silence. The beast, fully immobile, hung in the air just inches from the Grand Duke’s throat, its horns mere centimeters from piercing his skin. Its body trembled with the sheer force of its charge fighting against the invisible grip that held it back. The bright crystal in its chest continued to pulse, but it too was locked in Cherry’s control. Cherry’s fist twitched slightly, and in response, a horrifying scene was displayed for all the Cyclitharans and some of the Granians to see. The beast’s own blood began to coil and ripple beneath its skin, snaking like invisible ropes that bound its limbs. Its veins bulged grotesquely across its massive frame and then popped under the intense buildup and pressure. The once ferocious, grand, and power-crazed beast was slowly being drained into nothing but a husk of its former self. In seconds, great volumes of its blood and energy were pulled out of it like a thirsty child sucking the contents of a cold juice box on a hot summer’s afternoon. Its once muscular, luscious, and powerful body was reduced to a thin, skinny husk of skin, shriveled muscles, and bones. Even its energy core began to grow dim and was turned into nothing but a piece of glass in a chest. The Grand Duke blinked, his arrogance evaporating in the blink of an eye as he stared at the frozen beast inches away. Slowly, he turned his gaze toward the Human, his face pale and mouth slightly open, trying to comprehend what had just occurred. His guards, who had finally snapped out of their stupor, rushed to his side, but it was clear to all in the room that it was Cherry alone who had saved him from certain death. "Well well well, Grand Duke..." Lord Gravax, calmly walking with his hands placed behind his back, approached the Cyclitharan while Grim and Cherry remained back. The rest of the officials in the room remained silent, even the guards who, instead of protecting the Grand Duke, stood as far away as they could from the Crimson Knight. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥 "...what you had just seen was another...representation of what we can do," The Granian Lord grinned with an eerie glint in his eyes. "I trust we still have much to discuss, yes? You wouldn’t want what happened to retake place, would you?" "Y-yes...Gravax. We all do..." "No. Only you, Grim, and I. The rest can leave, including the Blood Mutant for your safety." Hearing these words, the Grand Duke flicked his wrist and dismissed everyone present with his eyes fixated on the red-haired Human walking out. ’The power to drain blood. I’m starting to feel won’t be a fair trade. More like demands.’ The Grand Duke thought to himself while he, Grim, and Gravax placed the table back on its legs and sat opposite each other. "Let’s continue from where we stopped, shall we?"