"Again..." a deep, booming familiar voice that the Blood Bishop recognized echoed in his ears again with a terrifyingly loud magnitude, one that did more than startle him. Looking ahead, Ace expected to find himself in the afterlife, the place where the dead were supposed to be. Instead, the Blood Bishop found himself in a completely strange and unsettling setting, one that would scar a feeble-minded individual for the rest of their miserable days. The place was dark and soulless with nothing pleasant. The ground, the only thing that wasn’t as dark as everything else, was covered by a few inches of red blood filled with body parts of the unfortunate victims Ace killed throughout his days as a Blood Mutant. All the Granians, Ethisians, humans, other intelligent sentient lifeforms, beasts, and other creatures that succumbed to his deathly traps were present...but they weren’t alive here either. Instead, what was left of them were pieces of their bodies which reminded Ace of just how much killing he had done. The blood itself was warm and was as red as human blood. It smelled but the scent was rather sweet and intoxicating at the same time. The Blood Bishop, in horror, stood to his feet and was immediately pulled back down by the arms, hands, hooves, claws, and tentacles of all his fallen foes. As many as they possibly could latch their ugly selves to his body, dragging him back into the lake of blood. "...even with a fraction of a fraction of my power, you’ve still managed to die for the second time." The voice returned yet again as Ace struggled to set himself free. He struggled, desperately attempting to free himself from the grasp of the appendages that did nothing but keep him stuck in the blood. Confused, the Blood Bishop remained still and replied, "I didn’t intend for it to happen." "Sure you didn’t," the voice echoed again in a condescending tone, its volume once again shaking the blood-covered ground, "no one intends to die, right? It was all a mistake, wasn’t it Blood Bishop." The appendages lifted Ace above the blood again and threw his body forward before another set grabbed him, only to pin him back onto the ground again. Instead of struggling, Ace remained motionless, only relying on his eyes and ears to help him understand what was going on and who it was that spoke to him. "Tell me, Ace," the sound of feet pushing blood with each step resounded in Ace’s ears, telling him that someone was approaching him. And indeed someone did, someone that Ace had nearly forgotten even though they were responsible for his power. "Did you forget about me so quickly?" The Blood Bishop lifted his head, his eyes quickly rushing to meet those of the person speaking to him before another set of appendages slammed his head back into the ground, letting more blood splash on his face. "I didn’t forget..." he answered, remembering the pact he made with the Blood God, Vorathrax. The very being who lent the Blood Bishop his power was the one standing over Ace. However, judging by the sound of his voice, he wasn’t pleased, not one bit. "...trust me, I didn’t forget our pact." "You lie, human," Vorathrax sighed and then began to chuckle, "It amuses me that this is the second time you’ve died. You, the alleged strongest Blood Mutant, the one to whom I lent my power, have died for the second time. "Do you know what infuriates me, human? It isn’t the fact that you forgot our pact, or abandoned the very goal you promised you’d follow. No, it’s the fact that you let a simple High-Grade suppress your...my power and kill you. How pathetic." With a wave of his hand, the Blood God flung Ace’s body away from him, sending him skidding across the blood-covered ground like a skipping stone on a lake. After a few short seconds, Ace stood up and looked at where he thought the Blood God would be, but he had vanished. Not just that but the entire place they were in changed. It was no longer dark but instead brighter with what appeared to be a white sky with a gray-red gradient. For as far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but blood covering the ground, almost like one, big, giant blood lake with bodies everywhere. "I’m sorry, okay," he shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping to get his point across to the Blood God, "I didn’t know that could happen. I didn’t know that’s what she planned. And you can’t blame me for this entirely. I haven’t had that much guidance before." Again, the appendages grabbed Ace, but this time, they pushed him forward, toward a throne that appeared from nowhere. On the said throne sat the Blood God whose countenance screamed nothing but disgust at the Blood Bishop. Vorathrax and Ace looked at each other for what felt like hours. The human remained silent while the Blood God looked at him unwaveringly, his gaze fixated on Ace’s guilty eyes. "I have the power to bring you back to life," he said, "just like I did last time, I can do it again. But I do not trust that you’ll keep your word." "I will," Ace pleaded, "trust me, I..." "Enough," the Blood God waved his hand, and immediately, more appendages shoved themselves into Ace’s mouth, silencing him, "it’s pathetic to see how mortals everywhere throughout the entire universe do not change. You’re all the same. You take what isn’t yours and don’t even use it for its intended purpose. "You lie through your teeth as easily as breathing and absolutely nothing good can come from you...." As he spoke, the Blood God stood from his throne and circled Ace as he placed his hand on his forehead. "...but that can change. One thing I and the rest of my kind admire about you mortals is your adaptability. You can all change...or be changed." "What are...you insinuating?" Ace asked as soon as the Blood God got the appendages out of his mouth. "What are you..." "I’ll give you another chance. One without strings attached, one without any attachments, one without any conditions. Forget about the old pact you and I made." For more chapters visıt 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱 Ace couldn’t believe his ears nor could he understand what he was seeing with his own eyes. The Blood God, the one who made a heavy pact not to long ago, was willing to drop everything and give Ace one more chance...with no strings attached. "What will you get in return?" Ace asked but the Blood God didn’t answer straight away. Instead, he stuck his hand out and said; "Take my hand. Take my hand and all of my power will be yours. Or, you could refuse and remain dead...the choice is yours."