Blood Prophecy and breaking all seals

Kai woke up 5 minutes before the end of his Identity Period.

They had gathered around him, going about their business. Cersei noticed his lifted head and slipped another HP capsule between his lips.

Consecutive consumption of HP capsules was pretty much useless as, if taken within the gap of 3 hours after the 1st HP capsule, you would get only half the HP stored in the 2nd one. Moreover, the amount gained would keep on halving with every next capsule, unless you waited for 3 hours.

Still, with a hole in his chest, Kai had no grounds for complaining about it.

Cersei slipped another capsule between his lips. "Damn…" Kai almost cursed, feeling the sting of flesh regenerating. "Don't waste them!"

Cersei pursed her lips into a thin line. "You have only 5 minutes remaining, Kai," she said. "Don't you want to use Blood Prophecy?"

Kai winced. "Yeah…" he let out an exaggerated sigh and pushed himself up, Cersei helping him with a hand on his back.

They had decided against collecting the last marble immediately, as it would free the Lord of Azkaban. According to Death, the Undead Horcrux, Ekrizdis, won't interfere with Kai and his plans, focusing on the Order and Merlin, who was hibernating. Still, they could contact each other using Death's epithets.

Nonetheless, Kai found it prudent to use Blood Prophecy before actually freeing the Inferi. Ekrizdis wasn't the Ekrizdis from before. Death had been corrupting him, amplifying his desire to end Merlin, acting on the undead's vengeance.

No matter if Death had hired Kai to do HIS dirty work. A Deep One was still a Deep One, and one of the most cunning one out there.

"Here…" Item-M approached him and gave him a shot of brandy. "It should do the trick."

Kai nodded at her and downed the shot, the hit burning his throat. That did do the trick. "Let's do it, then. But first, where's the sword?"

Red Sun flashed the Excalibur for him, swaying it up over his head. Kai sighed in relief.

There were 13 holes in the door at the Tomb's entrance, with a vertical slit at the center. A slit, perfect for a sword.

Kai had concluded after careful consideration that leaving the Tomb of the 13 Guardians after breaking all seals won't be as easy as leaving it before. The difficulty lay in the vertical slit, as one not only needed to defeat King Arthur's Inferi, but one must also defeat him before the knight could make Excalibur disappear.

This was also the reason behind Kai ending up using the Destiny Bond move, as it guaranteed such an outcome.

Red Sun, Moraine, and Item-S circled him, each holding 2 HP capsules, and ready to burst out with a power beyond their limit. Kai had told them what was at the stake.

An Old One's interference was one of those things that could shake the most courageous men in the Primordial Tower.

Good thing was, Kai had updated Cersei's Tale. Now the tale covered her life till the time just after her marriage with Robert Baratheon. As nothing substantial had happened in her life till then, the Book had instead upgraded her ACT, just like Petyr's.

And Kai had nothing but appreciation for the Book doing so, for he direly needed an upgraded Blood Prophecy.

Moreover, the Book considered Kai's Mission Difficulty, upgrading the ACT, not by 1, but by two grades.

[

Story: The Lioness of Casterly Rock

Story Status: Incomplete

-Primordial Theater-

Act 1: Blood Prophecy

Grade: C+

Specification: The Skill will let the Contestant prophesy certain things depending on the blood sacrifice. More blood sacrifice would let the Contestant see things more clearly and farther into the future.

Requirement: HP>0

Attributes: Limited to the Contestant

Effect:

 1. Show glimpses of the future centered on the Contestant

 2. The Contestant can break the Prophecy anytime he wants

 3. The Contestant can direct the Prophecy in a general direction

 4. The Contestant can direct the Prophecy toward a general event or an individual

Note: Updating the tale will update the Skill as well

Warning: Future subjects to change according to Contestant's actions

]

The Cuirass granted by Petyr's upgraded tale was also from C+ ACT.

Kai had potent reasons to believe that with D+, he would have only gotten either the breastplate or backplate. He also believed that the with each successive upgrade, the armor would keep on expanding, covering his entire body.

If he would get more ACTs or note, of this he was unsure. Still, that it said ACT 1, as a matter of fact said that he would. Who knew he would get more than one ACT in a single upgrade? Petyr had jested with this question. Kai thought Littlefinger was just trying to show his worth to him.

Only Rintaro's Tale's upgradation differed from Petyr and Cersei's.

Cersei nicked her finger and put it against his lips.

Kai licked it.

The entire world vanished for Kai. An ocean of blood appeared in his vision as if he was dreaming of it. Though it looked like Kai's Reality Marble, there was something different about it. Something more unnatural and beyond. Kai just couldn't put his finger on it.

Clearing his mind, Kai focused the ACT toward the next 30 minutes in his future, thinking of Ekrizdis. He dared not think of Death, lest something unexpected happened. Corruption he could handle, but not the entire thing.

The blood ocean churned mightily, devouring Kai's HP. Like becoming lucid in a dream, Kai saw figures sprouting from the ocean's surface. The figures took the shape of Darcie holding a rectangular object and others surrounding her. All had varieties of expressions on their faces, but the primary emotion was shock and surprise.

Suddenly, the entire land vibrated, jolting the blood figures.

Kai's heart thumped wildly. Still, he had gained patience enough during the over 1300 years of life to not act rashly. When he looked again, he found it wasn't the Blood Ocean that was quaking, but the figures themselves, and the rough form of land under their feet.

The 13th Circle itself was trembling, it seemed. However, nothing happened after that.

Kai narrowed his eyes, waiting for some ill event, but suddenly felt a pain in his chest. His HP was on the brink of running out.

He ended the prophecy there.

Kai came back and found himself devoid of the last bit of energy. He swallowed the offered HP capsules and waited for some strength to return.

It was also when his Identity Period ended.

A black fog covered him, seeping out of his shadow. Lilith, the Lethifold, also flew out of the shadow and draped itself around Kai's shoulders.

Because there was no relation between Kai and Darcie in this Random World, he didn't feel the effect of low HP while wearing her face. A bit of tiredness remained, though, lingering somewhere deep within.

"Let's go," he said, looking up at them. "We need to be quick about it."

They flew toward the distant gravestone, crossing burned, bloody land full of depthless ditches and glossy earth. Kai couldn't fly in this form, but Lilith had wrapped herself around him, bringing him with her like a piece of cloth folded around a wooden log.

It was crude, true enough. But it was still better than letting them carry him on their backs.

They landed near the gravestone.

"Be careful, master," Item-M said. "Though you have used Blood Prophecy, Merlin is also known to be well-versed in this field. Moreover, the moment the last seal breaks, Ekrizdis will be freed, and the Order will know about it. It will be wise to leave right after gaining the potion's recipe."

Kai nodded. "Reasonable."

The gravestone split apart as Kai read the name, revealing the last black marble. With a deep breath, Kai bent and pulled the marble out.

A sudden silence occupied the surroundings as if something had been sucked out of this place just now.

It was then the Portkey in Kai's hand burned and burst alight with a dark glow.

Kai looked down at the woodcut, and others surrounded him, trying to see the last ingredient.

Red Sun's lips twitched. Moraine's eyes went wide. Item-S shuffled on her feet.

And Item-M and Cersei put their hands on Kai's shoulder as he gaped… in pure shock and surprise. "What the…?"

********

AN: You can access up to 21 Chapters ahead of WN on Patre0n and Ko-Fi. Links available in Synopsis.

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