Red knew his seed giver had entered his temple.

That is because the walls no longer pulsed with Deniz's life force; they pulsed with his own. He controlled every inch of this place because it was now his temple.

The sneaky puppets that lurked about the dark halls were clever enough to avoid the black marble walls. That didn't matter, though, and the only reason Red didn't capture them right away was the meeting he needed to finish. He was still in control and aware of every heartbeat, breath, or step in his temple. There was no danger to them simply roaming around.

That is until Kaan decided to go after Merin. His naive Russus was wandering the halls. The bright light that pulsed off her attracted all the dark, ugly things. Red wasn't surprised Kaan decided to go after her.

The reticent man didn't bother excusing himself from the meeting. He stood up and, like the drop of blood he shed before, sunk into the floor.

Red emerged behind Merin, and the world slowed down for a heartbeat to catch up with his speed. Kaan's outreaching arm was slashed clean from his body with a mere gesture from Red.

Red ignored Kaan when he spoke and turned to Merin. She was standing near Kaan's poisoned blood. There was just enough for Red to attempt something he'd only done with his own blood.

Red closed his eyes, and within his next heartbeat, he was standing in the pool of blood. He pulled off teleportation via the spilled blood. And so he was now standing before Kaan.

A savage grin cracked his lips as he met the eyes of Kaan's puppet. There was palpable fear in the other man's eyes, and it was the first Red had ever seen it.

He wanted to see the other man sweat some more.

Red wasted no time and grabbed the puppet by the thoart. The body dangled in the air as he choked the air from its lungs. Kaan attempted to say several things, mostly swears undoubtedly, but Red ignored them.

Red used his free hand to draw the blood off the ground and into his palm. He could destroy the puppet and absorb its energy into him. But that wouldn't get him very far. His father was watching him through this walking corpse. That meant Kaan's magic and blood were attached to it. Kaan couldn't manipulate the creatures effectively without such ties. Couldn't Red just teleport through the blood that connected the puppet to Kaan?

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Red's brain raced as his red eye glowed brightly. Several ideas came and left his mind as he sorted through the possible outcomes of whatever choice he made.

"Fuck it." He said, tightening his grip on the puppet's throat. Red closed his eyes and connected to the temple. Each of Kaan's puppets was attempting to flee.

Red used his magic to pulse around the walls and stop each puppet in its tracks. He could hear his heart pounding as one with the temple as he exploded all ten puppets into pulp.

The murky, sticky blood was directed to come back to him as the bones, tissue, and other disgusting bits were swallowed by the temple. Instead of needing at least another night indulging in Merin's light, Red would be ready for the next phase tonight.

It felt like hours had passed by the time Red opened his eyes. It had been only a handful of heartbeats that he pulled all of this off.

Merin's face was pale when he turned to face her. For a moment, he could see his reflection in her big eyes. Both of his eyes were glowing. His black one looked like obsidian set on fire. Before Red could dwell on this, Merin fainted. He captured her before she hit the marble. The energy he'd taken from her during their coupling had drained her. All the snacking in the world couldn't help her when he infused his bloody magic into her veins as well. She was drained but would have time to rest now.

Red held her in his arms as he used the thrumming black walls to teleport them to their bed.

Acuzio was dozing in the covers, and Red ignored the Dragon God to put Merin down.

"You should have left me a bite," Acuzio said with a grumble.

Red met the dragon's eyes and said, "Stay in the temple until further notice."

Red left without waiting for an answer to inform everyone else the same thing. He was done waiting, and it was time to move forward with the plan.

Deniz wasn't the only God who left their flesh behind to grow the temple.

This wasn't a startling fact for Red to realize. The broken pieces that resembled the fallen God were just a decorative idol that symbolized his fall. The magic that swirled in the black marble depicted that at least three other Gods had met their demise here.

They had left this temple for another to pick up, and Red would have been foolish not to do so. He could strip the magic out of it and empower himself, but that would be shortsighted of him. At least until Red could create the world-ending magic he'd seen Mordecai weld with ease. This temple was essentially a set of training wheels for a growing God.

Red closed his eyes as he connected with his temple. It took seconds and was as easy as breathing. The magic hummed to life as he used the magic pulsing around him to lift the black marble off the ground.

Red could feel sweat drip off his brow as his concentration was pushed to its limits. His teeth ground into his cheeks, and the taste of iron was the only indication he'd drawn blood.

One day, he could teleport the temple with a mere thought. But for now, he would have to settle for moving the massive temple with his mind slowly. Once they reached Ceren, it was time for Merin to break the curse.

And then Red was going to hunt down Kaan.