Red strode down the familiar streets of Habrin's Captial. His expression was blank as he took in the abandoned hollowed-out buildings. The only thing that pulsed in his veins was relief.

He was finally going to erase this parasitic country from the map by ripping away its roots.

There was a hint of blood in the air. A faint whiff told Red that maybe Kaan had disposed of Habrin's citizens. The putrid blood that flowed through their veins wouldn't be enough to give Kaan a fair shot at battle.

Red held out a palm as his steps continued to slap the ground. In his palm, he rested tiny balls of his blood. He sent them out to hit the buildings. There was an explosion whenever his blood met anything, but Red didn't so much as blink. Marble, wood, or whatever had been utilized to create homes was destroyed and laid in shambles. It only took seconds to do.

Red heard what sounded like a burp and looked down to see Acuzio. The dragon had what looked like a shit-eating grin on his face as he spat out fire. His dark red flames licked the ruins Red had created. The heat turned everything to ashes in mere moments.

"You didn't think I was gonna let you have all the fun, did you? I have a bet to win." Acuzio said with a grin.

Red gave a grunt as a response. He didn't care what the Dragon God did if it didn't get in his way. The beast seemed content with helping him raze Habrin to the ground right now. So he wasn't going to complain if it stayed.

Red barely glanced at the beast, which had suspiciously grown another foot in the past hour. Then, his hardened gaze was directed at the palace where the other half of him was. Despite the walls and miles that separated him from Kaan, Red could see him. He easily spotted the bright red blood bag that was his seed giver. The man was pacing, and with every explosion Red created, the other man moved faster.

Red continued to destroy everything along his path. He knew this was the slow route to hazing it to the quick. But it felt good. The hatred he never dared to stoke burned like a furnace, and his blood sang as it destroyed.

His maternal grandma was right when she told him the only way forward was to burn what remained. Red was burning up the last piece of his humanity and getting revenge for Elan.

Merin had cured the curse, but even now, Red could see traces lingering in the air. It would never truly be gone, and everyone who tasted Inni's blood was tainted. He would track and kill every single person regardless if it was of their own volition. He believed in what he told Merin. A parent's sin wasn't something a child had to inherit.

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But Merin needed to hear those words to soothe the past away. After what was done to Elan, the only way to move forward was to erase all traces of the original sin. This was the only reason he had to come to the Capital alone. The last thing he needed was Merin's mercy coloring his perception.

Red used his free hand to touch the red Inni vapors that floated in his face. Kaan had lost his touch because there were citizens he missed.

Red grabbed the traces, but he didn't stop walking forward. While gathering the curse's remains, he used his blood to erase everything along the way.

By the time he got to the palace gates, the only thing behind him was ashes and dust.

Red's eyes strained for moisture as he kept his attention on the blood he was getting closer and closer to. He was worried that if he blinked, Kaan would vanish, and the hunt would be prolonged. Red wanted to extend Kaan's mental torture and anguish as he loudly made his entrance. He didn't want the man to disappear as a result of Red's assault.

The palace gates burst into flames before he could destroy them. Red glanced at Acuzio. The Dragon God was chewing on the melted hinges that had fallen on the ground.

Red opened his mouth to speak, but instead, he closed his mouth. The soldiers he'd been expecting to see had finally arrived.

These men had magic coursing through their veins, but the colors were the hue of decay. Red wanted to cover his nose at the stench of rotten flesh that rolled off them. There wasn't much that could make him gag or flinch. But Red could tell what kind of flesh these men had ingested to create the magic running through their veins.

Kaan had kept some of Inni's blood and fed it to these men. Red could feel a multitude of emotions unfurl and twist him from the inside as he stared at these men. He could feel Merin, through their bond, reaching out in concern, but he couldn't say anything back to her.

How could he when the reminder of such sin was flaunted before him? How did Kaan keep the dead around this long?

"Ah...God's don't rot." Acuzio said around the melted iron in his mouth. "No matter how removed, a drop is sufficient to keep the flesh from falling apart."

Blood roared in Red's ears as he stepped over the burning remains of the gate. The soldiers had eaten the flesh of the Inni people. He could see it and hear the anguish that flesh had gone through. Even now, the bond of Elan cried out to him with the same siren song as always. Only the flesh sang for release, not connection.

Red didn't even have to lift a finger to grant that request. He exploded each of the men that moved to attack him. For those that remained, he ripped apart their stomachs that still carried chunks floating in their bowels. Red lost sight of Kaan for the first time as he mutilated every soldier with Elan's blood in their bodies. And then he destroyed the rest. He had no room for mercy.

By the time his vision cleared, it was still covered in red. Acuzio didn't chew on the bodies he laid out for the first time since Red met him. The dragon set them on fire and walked around the remains.

Red was tired of wasting time or slowly destroying the Captial. He could always circle back and ruin everything.

It was time for Kaan to die.