The dust covering the book had initially prevented Lidien's Echoes of the Flesh from activating automatically, but his fingers accidentally brushing the cover forced the vision upon him.

Lidien watched the memory unfold at the back of his mind... the skin being detached from its owner, still chained and screaming, skinned alive... before he could pull his hands away.

Taking a deep breath, Lidien touched the book again and closed his eyes.

As the scene replayed, another memory layered over it: the skin being used as a record for an experiment... a brutal account of a living subject being dissected.

Lidien panted after removing his hands. With the old Lidien's corrupting brutality gone, he once again almost retched from the inhumane experimentation.

He gulped, forcing down the contents of his stomach.

Lidien steeled his resolve as he had promised himself to endure the monstrosity of the world he now lived in.

'I ate a heart... this is nothing!' He clung to the thought, a desperate anchor.

He faked a smile, the only tool he had to fool his own mind into embracing the monster he needed to become.

As Lidien gripped the book tighter, he instinctively channeled more verve into his palms and pushed his Echoes of the Flesh to the limit of its current stage.

Now, he didn't just watch the memory... he relived it.

After the skin was detached from its owner, it was immediately washed and made into a cover... spending most of its time trapped in the prison, forced to watch and hear the screaming agony of people being butchered.

Then, a man wearing leather clothes... with a mask made from another man's face, was writing on it with blood...

The symbols were familiar, yet... Lidien didn't know how to read the ancient text.

Then he saw it... hundreds of dead bodies being thrown into a pit, their blood pooling together... creating a paradise for flies swarming over the pile of corpses.

The man raised his arms... and spoke words so ancient, yet familiar to Lidien's mind.

As the blood of hundreds of corpses churned and amalgamated, a dark vortex swirling above the pit, the man spoke words that bypassed Lidien's ears to etch themselves directly into his soul.

"Let death be the end of all things..."

Lidien was pulled from the memory, the entire experience having lasted only the blink of an eye.

Panting, he gripped his chest...

"If it's the only path I can take..." he clenched his fists, his Blood Form activating instinctively.

"Then I will walk it." he vowed to the silent room, his voice steady now, the last of his revulsion hardening into purpose.

"I will walk the path of blood."

Lidien stored the book with human skin in his space ring, believing the only thing worth his time was reading it... to understand what blood is.

As he left the room, he was met again with the Old Man, scrutinizing him with his very gaze.

The Old Man didn't talk, or ask him anything as Lidien left the Fourth Floor of the Knowledge Spire.

He just gazed into the room, smiling from ear to ear before the door could fully close.

***

Lidien walked down the stairs, looking at the night sky as he stared out of the windows down the Knowledge Spire.

He smiled as he looked at the people below... more beastly than the beastfolk they were dragging towards the Rift entrance.

'Is it the clothes that separate us from becoming beasts? This needs more experimentation.'

Lidien was amused, not by them but with himself... for he was validating his reasons even though he knew he was morally wrong.

However, as he thought deeply about it, he questioned himself... does morality really exist in the world he was living in now?

In the end, he realized it didn't matter... for the only morality he could afford was the one that protected the few people he deemed worthy of his trust.

'Lily... Nyomi... wait for me.'

Lidien walked out of the Knowledge Spire, and slowly, he proceeded to where the mass of people congregated.

Soldiers ran here and there; even people who thought they could change their life with a hundred merit slip were dragging beastfolk slaves.

Lidien, with his simple words, had created total chaos that made the Blood Rose Clan's Ten Founding Tribes move to maintain control over the crowds forming like ants in front of the Rift of the Shattered Mirrors.

Even Aria, Azer, and Kyer stood in front of the Rift with their Demonic Transformations, waiting to pounce on any people they deemed necessary to kill.

Though fear could control powerless people, it was still not enough to stop the chaos.

And as Lidien walked slowly into the open...

He clapped... soft and slowly, stopping everyone from moving, and only their eyes followed him.

"I see everyone is really participating in this event!"

Lidien laughed as he eyed the people in front of him.

"But it's not time yet! Tomorrow noon! We will start... so for those who still don't have their beast, it's time to find more! The Blood Rose Clan territory is for you to take! Steal! Kill! Anything! Just put that beast here!"

And as his smile turned sinister, he added.

"Remember..." his voice dropping to a sinister whisper that somehow carried across the chaos.

"the one who presents the beast to me claims the prize. Not their chief, not their tribe... them. Personally."

Lidien then turned around and immediately left, getting inside the Rift of the Shattered Mirrors, leaving his brother and sister stuck in awe.

"L-Lidien! Wait!" Aria shouted, running towards the Rift.

Kyer could only laugh, leaving Azer to maintain the security before following Lidien.

While Azer shook his head.

"Mother... what are you thinking..." he whispered, staring at the back of Lidien before he was gone inside the Rift.

The moment Lidien crossed into the Rift, a suppressing pressure slammed down on him, forcing him to his knees.

Every fiber of his being screamed in protest. Gritting his teeth, his Sparkline flaring in agony, he forced himself to stand, his body trembling as he stared at the woman draped in a Crimson gown, oozing with gold-like Verve.

"Tell me, Lidien, what was the reason behind this chaos you've created in my Clan."

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