Chapter 10: The Rise of Genesis

The sun never rose over Valenfort again.

Since the night Astra exploded, the city’s sky had been dyed black and crimson clouds of blood swirling like a dying beast. A column of energy pierced the heavens from the ruins of the research institute, tearing open a violet rift and open gate between two worlds.

Genesis had been born.

And it began devouring all life.

---

Hunter Guild Headquarters – 04:00 A.M.

Alarms screamed through the corridors.

On the central monitor, the map of Valenfort was almost entirely covered in red biomass. The entire northern district had gone dark.

Alaric Graves, head of the Guild, stared at the live feed mutated creatures crawling out of the ground, their flesh overtaken by blood, ripping apart both humans and vampires alike.

“Genesis has started releasing the blood contagion,” a trembling scientist reported. “It’s transforming every living organism into… Superior Blood thralls.”

“There’s no longer a difference between human and vampire,” Alaric muttered, his voice burnt to ash. “What I created… has escaped control.”

A field agent burst into the room, breathless.

“Sir! The Crimson Pact is engaging the creatures on the front lines. They’re requesting a truce!”

Silence fell over the room.

A commander whispered, “You’d ally with vampires? You’d betray the Guild?”

Alaric turned sharply, eyes like blades.

“This isn’t betrayal. It’s survival.”

---

Valenfort Outskirts – Crimson Pact Temporary Base

Evelyn stood atop a shattered rooftop, watching the city drown in blood. Red flames devoured the horizon. Below, Kael and Selene coordinated human and vampire refugees escaping together for the first time in history.

Lucien approached, his face paler than ever, the wound on his shoulder still bleeding.

“The Guild sent word. They want to meet.”

Evelyn didn’t turn. “Guess they ran out of choices.”

“No,” Lucien said quietly. “Neither do we.”

He looked down at the burning city thousands of screams echoing, the last prayers of a dying world.

“Genesis feeds on the blood of both races. Every death makes it stronger.”

Evelyn gripped her silver dagger, veins burning beneath her skin. Her blood… was moving.

A single drop fell to the ground and burst into black smoke.

“Lucien…” she rasped. “Something’s happening. My blood it's changing.”

Lucien grabbed her wrist, golden eyes flickering.

“Genesis carries your blood. If it awakens, so does the bond. Which means”

“I can control it.” Evelyn finished the thought, voice trembling between fear and resolve.

Lucien nodded grimly. “Or it can control you.”

---

Underground Bunker Two Hours Later

In the dim light, Alaric Graves sat across from Lucien Draventwo men who once swore to kill each other. The air was thick, volatile.

“So, the Blood King is willing to talk to a hunter now?” Alaric sneered.

Lucien’s voice was low, rough. “I’m talking to the man who unleashed a monster on this worldnot to your Guild.”

Evelyn cut in sharply, eyes like steel. “Enough. If your egos keep talking, Valenfort won’t last till dawn.”

Alaric studied her, then sighed. “You’ve changed, Cross. You used to be the pride of the Guild.”

“I used to believe in the Guild,” Evelyn replied, voice heavy. “I don’t anymore.”

Lucien interjected. “We need to combine forces. The Guild has the tech, I have the bloodcraft. Together, we can seal Genesis before it becomes a supreme blood god.”

Alaric hesitated, then nodded. “Fine. I’ll share what’s left of Astra’s data. But if this alliance fails… I’ll kill you both myself.”

Lucien smiled thinly, a smile like a blade. “You can try. If you live that long.”

---

Battle of Valenfort – Dawn

The city had become hell.

Blood-born creatures crawled along skyscraper walls, clinging to tanks, tearing through metal like paper.

From above, Genesis stood in the central boulevard, its wings spread wide, eyes black voids, voice blending man and demon.

“Creation was a mistake. Blood will remake the world.”

Everywhere, those once human, once vampire, now screamed as blood thralls, slaves to Genesis’s will.

Evelyn led the united front hunters and vampires fighting side by side. Plasma fire burst from her gun, burning through twisted flesh. Lucien followed close behind, his blood shaping into thousands of crimson blades swirling around him.

“Evelyn!” Kael shouted, tossing her a containment core. “Use the Astra cell to lock Genesis’s energy!”

She caught it just as Genesis turned its gaze upon her. Their eyes met.

And in that instant, Evelyn heard her own voice echo inside her head.

“You are me. I am you. Let go… and Valenfort will be ours.”

Evelyn staggered, trembling. Blood dripped from her palms, rising into the air spinning around her like crimson stars.

Lucien shouted, “Evelyn, fight it! Don’t let it take you!”

Too late.

A surge of energy exploded outward, shaking the battlefield.

The blood beneath the streets rose, linking Evelyn and Genesis in a colossal crimson chain.

Genesis smiled. “Good. Together, we can erase the boundary.”

Evelyn’s eyes burned half red, half black.

“No. I am not your reflection.”

She raised her hand, and the black blood in the air obeyed. It spiraled, forming massive wings of her own.

Lucien froze in awe. Evelyn was no longer a hunter, nor a human, she was something else. A bridge between two worlds.

---

Genesis screamed, lunging forward. Two tides of dark blood collided detonating in a blinding crimson explosion that split Valenfort’s sky apart.

The ground quaked. Buildings fell.

From afar, Alaric watched through his scope.

“If she wins,” he murmured, “Evelyn Cross will die. What remains… won’t be her.”

Kael clenched his fists.

“Then let her become the Blood Lord, better her than Genesis.”

---

Amid the smoke and fire, Evelyn stood among the ashes.

Genesis lay broken, half its body melting away.

“You… will destroy… everything…” it rasped.

Evelyn looked down, no hatred left, only sorrow.

“No. I’ll save it.”

She extended her hand. The black blood of Genesis surged back into her, merging into one.

The sky burst into light.

The crimson clouds faded as if Valenfort itself was freed from the nightmare.

Lucien ran to her, catching her as she collapsed.

“Evelyn… you just…”

She looked up weakly, a faint smile trembling on her lips.

“I absorbed it. Genesis… is inside me now.”

Lucien gripped her shoulders, voice shaking.

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

Evelyn’s eyes, glowing dark red through the dust, met his.

“Yes. I am the line between blood… and humanity.”

---

“You buried Genesis.

But Genesis never truly died.

It’s merely sleeping inside your heart.

When blood and humanity become one…

Who will truly survive?”