"Enatsu, hang in there," Yoichi said, narrowing his eyes for a few moments. Behind him, Shioko held the merchant still near the wall, using a piece of cloth ripped from her pants to wrap Rokuro's deep wound.

In front of him, however, the black mud had reached Ogai's hands, gathering on his palms and taking the shape of two small dark spheres.

​​

Kamakiri's Void Summoner ignored Kenji's nature, and, in his eyes, the little dragon was just a strange reptile demon capable of manipulating fire. Thanks to his occult arts, however, he seemed to be able to sense the power of his opponent.

Ogai had focused more on Shioko, noting from the beginning that Yoichi was an unarmed, young warrior. The red-haired archer's level of strength was much higher than Yoichi's, and the sorcerer also managed to sense the magic from his ancient relic, the quiver.

Kenji continued to exhale flames from its scaled skin, and Yoichi's arms were wrapped entirely in the upgrade of his Oracle. Anger is devouring me... Enatsu's going to die, and... and it's all this man's fault! He popped out of nowhere! Yoichi thought, trying to make rational reasoning, knowing that the chances of victory against such a strong enemy were restricted.

If he knows my strength level, I can't use dragon flames now. I have to wait for the right time, or he might find a way to evade my attacks. The young tamer's angry, tearful eyes shifted from the figure of Ogai to what was behind his shoulders.

The giant rhino demon hadn't moved an inch and kept snoring. Any form of life would react to that bustle by waking up, but that demon must have been under the influence of some mysterious spell. Was it Ogai's secret weapon? Perhaps all the Komoerus would come out of their hiding place any second, exploiting the vulnerability of the Nightblades warriors.

"Fighting is useless, little brat!" Ogai stated, breaking his silence. Yoichi's eyes were pointed at him as the black claws on his fingers continued to stretch and become more durable.

"I sense a strong feeling coming from within you. Take it easy, your friend will stop suffering very soon, and you will no longer be able to remember anything about him", the sorcerer added. "If your body resists Blackblood, your strength level will rise substantially, and you will be able to manipulate matter as I do."

After those words, Ogai was enveloped by a rising stream of air. The air rotated around the body from the floor to the sorcerer's head, following an upward trajectory. When it wrapped his upper body, the hood was lifted and fell backwards, finally revealing everyone the true face of the Void Summoner.

Dozens of tribal tattoos covered the man's bald head, drawing sinuous shapes containing the same ancient runes depicted on his arms. Ogai's mouth was torn on the right side, and a deep cut gave a glimpse of the lower row of his yellowed, rotting teeth.

The same scratches covered part of the neck and face, extending over the cheekbones and ears. In particular, the warlock's left ear was devoid of the lobe and had evidently been damaged, as if it were about to detach from his head.

Two white, pupilless eyes sprang from the sunken face to crown that terribly disturbing vision over black dark circles and bruises. Ogai's facial skin, like the one on his hands and feet, was purplish and yellowish only in a few places.

During the channelling of his next attack, the air current also uncovered the chest of the Void Summoner, now ready to hit his opponent. The skin colour, the serious wounds reported in scattered places of his body and the stench emanating from it, were all typical elements of a corpse in an advanced state of decomposition.

It was as if that man had died and then returned to life possessed by a new spirit, an evil and dark soul that had turned his fate upside down forever, forcing him to obey the orders of Kamakiri's bloodthirsty ruler and Lady Tamiko, his advisor.

"My host body took a while before accepting the power of the Blackblood. My wounds are my legacy. They are proof of the struggle I fought against myself to become a Void Summoner, one of the most powerful warlocks the world has ever known!" Ogai shouted, opening his zombie mouth and looking at the cave ceiling.

The air current increased its intensity, creating a kind of vortex around him. In the vicinity of his bare feet, the air was so strong that it lifted the layer of mud off the ground, creating a kind of whirpool that gave a glimpse of the floor below. The bare rock and the red soil have been mixed in swampy terrain.

The Immortal Emperor of Kamakiri was able to manipulate people, bending anyone to his will. All the black mud that was spreading like wildfire south of Tentochu... was it really the result of the power of a single drop of his blood?

In Yoichi's mind there was no room for all those questions. He had to find a way to heal his friend and, to do so, he had to defeat Ogai and get out of the Blackvault Mines.

The young warrior looked at Kenji out of the corner of his eye. The upper body of the little dragon demon was entirely engulfed in flames: from the tail to the back, till the head. Kenji was as angry as his tamer and, like him, it shared a desire to defeat that evil being.

Suddenly, Ogai leaned his head forward, lowering his gaze towards Yoichi. His white eyes reflected the image of his young opponent, and when the two equidimensional mud spheres were ready to be hurled, the air current stopped rotating.

That unexpected event trapped the cave in an unforeseen silence. That silence was filled with anger and sadness, power and magic. It was the calm before the storm.