### BLOOD DEBTS**
**Tone:** *A symphony of carnage and calculation—where every drop of blood holds a price.*
---
#### **OPENING: THE WEIGHT OF RANK**
The Hunter Association's licensure hall reeked of antiseptic and ambition. Hunters clad in armor polished to a lethal sheen clustered around holographic leaderboards, their bracelets buzzing with updates. Seun's own device vibrated—a harsh, insistent pulse—as golden text overlaid his vision:
**[GLOBAL RANK UPDATE]**
- **Seun "Shadowmancer" Lee**: #422 (A) → **#381 (A+)**
- **New Privileges Unlocked**:
- S-Rank dungeon access (unrestricted)
- Priority bidding at black-market auctions
- Hunter Association debt forgiveness (limited)
The air hummed with tension as Seun approached the licensure desk. The clerk, a gaunt man with augmetic eyes that flickered nervously, stammered:
**"C-congratulations, Shadowmancer. The Vice-Chair… she demands an audience."**
A hologram flickered to life above the desk—**Vice-Chair Hana Jung**, her features carved from ice and corporate precision. Her voice crackled with barely restrained urgency:
**"Clear the Sanguine Labyrinth. Eliminate the Bloodspeaker Cult. In return, your Syndicate bounty vanishes… and this."**
Her bracelet transmitted a file:
**[CONTRACT TERMS]**
- **Reward**: ₩40,000,000,000 (40 billion won), 1x **Hemolith Shard** (Tier S)
- **Hidden Clause**: Extract **Eunji Jung** (16, civilian ID#44829) alive.
Seun's System dissected the subtext:
**[EUNJI JUNG ANALYSIS]**
- **Relation**: Vice-Chair's illegitimate daughter
- **Status**: Hostage (Bloodspeaker Cult)
- **Value**: Political leverage (89% efficacy)
**"Coordinates,"** Seun said.
The Vice-Chair's hologram dissolved, replaced by a dungeon schematic—a labyrinth of pulsating veins and bone.
**[DUNGEON: SANGUINE LABYRINTH]**
- **Threat**: Bloodspeaker Cult (S-Rank, human/beast hybrids)
- **Primary Target**: **Vox Sanguis** (High Priest, S+)
- **Loot**: Hemolith Shard (Shadow soldier evolution)
Seun's lips thinned. *Another pawn. Another game.*
---
#### **PREPARATION: THE VILLA'S SHADOWFORGE**
The villa's war room hummed with lethal intent. Seun stood before the **Shadowforge**, its obsidian surface etched with glowing runes. His soldiers materialized in ranks:
- **Vorath**: Eclipse Hybrid (tank-class, 200 Mana/hour)
- **Lyssandra**: Assassin (seductive, 150 Mana/hour)
- **Keres**: Voidspine Serpent (newly named, 180 Mana/hour)
- **Unnamed Grunts**: 12 human/beast hybrids (disposable)
**Mirae** leaned against the doorway, her crimson bracelet casting hellish light across her smirk. **"Vox Sanguis was my mentor. He taught me how to make men *bleed*."**
Seun tossed her a **Soulfire Grenade**. **"You'll detonate this when he's vulnerable."**
Mirae caught it, her grin sharpening. **"No flowers first? How romantic."**
Seun ignored her, interfacing with the System Shop:
**[PURCHASES]**
- **Bloodbreaker Syringe** (1,200 SP): Neutralizes blood-based attacks
- **Rune-Carved Daggers** (800 SP): Lyssandra's upgrade
- **Shadowbind Chains** (600 SP): Restraint for Eunji
**[SHADOW POINTS: 2,600 → 0]**
Mirae's laughter echoed. **"Buying toys for your pets?"**
**"You're bait,"** Seun said, turning. **"Not a pet."**
---
#### **DESCENT INTO THE LABYRINTH**
The dungeon's entrance was a jagged maw in the side of Mount Halla, oozing viscous blood that sizzled against the snow. Seun's bracelet marked the threshold:
**[WARNING: BIOMETRIC SCANS DETECTED]**
**[COUNTERMEASURE: SHADOWCLOAK ENGAGED]**
Inside, the labyrinth was alive.
**Walls**: Ribbed with pulsating arteries that dripped black ichor.
**Ceiling**: Hung with chandeliers of fused bone, their candlelight replaced by bioluminescent larvae.
**Floor**: A mosaic of calcified skulls that *chattered* as they passed.
**[SYSTEM: DAILY QUEST]**
- **Slaughter 50 Bloodspeakers** (Reward: 1x Mana Surge Potion)
Seun's soldiers advanced:
1. **Vorath's Onslaught**: The Eclipse Hybrid charged, his shadowsteel claws shearing through a pack of cultists. Their blood ignited on contact with his core, filling the air with acrid smoke.
2. **Lyssandra's Dance**: The assassin blurred between pillars, her new daggers carving System-approved runes into cultist flesh. Each kill fed her **Soulhunger** trait, her laughter echoing like shattered glass.
3. **Keres' Ambush**: The Voidspine Serpent coiled in the shadows, striking only when a Bloodspeaker neared Seun. Its fangs injected voidvenom, reducing victims to bubbling sludge.
Mirae lingered at Seun's flank, her bracelet scanning for traps. **"Vox will be in the Sanctum. He'll sense me before we arrive."**
**"Good,"** Seun said. **"Draw him out."**
---
#### **THE SANCTUM OF SCARRED SKY**
The labyrinth's heart was a cathedral of nightmare divinity.
**Altar**: A massive ribcage cradling a beating heart the size of a car.
**Congregation**: Hundreds of cultists, their bodies fused with shadowbeasts—wolves with human hands, serpents with screaming faces.
**Vox Sanguis**: The High Priest hovered above the altar, wings of crystallized blood spreading from his back. His face was handsome, cruel, and *familiar*.
**"Mirae,"** Vox purred, talons flexing. **"You return as a traitor… and a whore."**
Mirae's smirk didn't waver, but her knuckles whitened around the grenade. **"Miss me, old man?"**
Vox's wings twitched. The air thickened with the metallic tang of blood.
**[VOX SANGUIS (S+)]**
- **Ability**: Blood Puppetry (Controls circulatory systems within 100m)
- **Weakness**: Hemolith Core (Embedded in chest cavity)
Seun's soldiers attacked:
1. **Vorath's Charge**: The hybrid lunged, claws aimed for Vox's throat. The High Priest flicked a finger, and Vorath's veins *bulged*, rupturing through his skin in crimson geysers.
**[VORATH STATUS: CRITICAL]**
**[MANA DEDUCTION: 200 → 0]**
2. **Lyssandra's Gambit**: The assassin phased behind Vox, daggers plunging toward his spine. Vox's blood-wings hardened into blades, slicing her arm off at the elbow.
**[LYSSANDRA STATUS: REGENERATING (8 SECONDS)]**
3. **Keres' Strike**: The Voidspine Serpent struck from below, fangs sinking into Vox's calf. The High Priest roared, blood tendrils spearing Keres' skull.
**[KERES STATUS: DESTABILIZED]**
Mirae seized the opening. **"Now!"**
---
#### **THE GRENADE'S KISS**
Mirae hurled the Soulfire Grenade. Vox caught it mid-air, sneering—until Seun's **Bloodbreaker Syringe** pierced his neck.
**[BLOOD PUPPETRY NEUTRALIZED]**
The grenade detonated, soulfire consuming Vox's wings. He crashed into the altar, Hemolith Core exposed.
**"Finish him!"** Mirae shouted.
Seun's gauntlet plunged into Vox's chest, shadow-energy crackling.
**[SHADOW CONVERSION INITIATED]**
**[COMPATIBILITY: 44%]**
Vox laughed, blood foaming on his lips. **"You think… you control *anything*?"**
His remaining cultists *screamed*, their bodies melting into a blood tsunami. Seun's unnamed grunts dissolved, their mana funneled into stabilizing the conversion.
**[MANA RESERVES: 1,800 → 400]**
Lyssandra rematerialized, daggers carving a ruinous pattern into Vox's core.
**[HEMOLITH SHARD ACQUIRED]**
**[RANK PROGRESS: A+ (8%)]**
---
#### **AFTERMATH: THE GIRL IN THE CAGE**
Eunji Jung crouched in a bone-barred cage, her wrists raw from shackles. Her eyes—wide, too old for 16—locked onto Seun.
**"You're him,"** she whispered. **"The monster they warned me about."**
Seun's System scanned her:
**[EUNJI JUNG ANALYSIS]**
- **Latent Ability**: Bloodspeaker (Suppressed by implant)
- **Threat Level**: Low (Current), Catastrophic (If awakened)
He shattered the cage with a backhand. **"Walk."**
She stumbled, clutching his arm. **"Why save me?"**
**"Leverage,"** Seun said, binding her wrists with shadowbind chains. **"Your mother owes me."**
---
#### **THE SYNDICATE'S MESSAGE**
Back at the villa, Kaito's voice memo played from Seun's bracelet, warped by static and malice:
*"You think rank matters, Lee? The Syndicate owns the board. Jakarta. Black Market Auction. Come kneel… or I'll peel your soldiers apart."*
**[NEW QUEST: JAKARTA NEXUS]**
- **Objective**: Steal the **Voidspike Naginata** (Kaito's signature weapon)
- **Reward**: 25,000 EXP, 1x **Syndicate Master Key**
- **Penalty**: Hunter Association bounty reinstated (₩5,000,000,000)
Seun watched Eunji through the villa's surveillance feed. The girl traced the scars on her wrists, unaware of the power sleeping beneath her skin.
**"Mirae,"** he said, not turning. **"Prep the Legion. We hunt in Jakarta."**
She materialized, her breath hot against his ear. **"Will you finally let me play with Kaito?"**
Seun activated her **obedience rune**, watching her grimace in pain. **"You'll do what you're told."**
---
**End of Chapter 38**