Dawn Walker

The seed remained black. But Dickoff felt something. It was a pulse. Very weak one. It was so weak he might have imagined it.

His heart began beating faster.

"It works."

He grabbed another stone.

Then another.

The same thing happened.

Energy vanished into the seed. Dead powder fell from his fingers.

Dickoff stopped after the fifth stone.

Not because it had failed.

Because he finally understood how terrifying the consumption rate was.

Five stones had done almost nothing.

One hundred million.

Mihos had not exaggerated.

Dickoff placed the seed back inside the box carefully.

No.

He would not activate it now. He would wait.

Every second of power would matter.

He ordered the chaos stones packed into storage rings and positioned throughout the main hall where he could reach their energy quickly. He did not understand the artifact well enough to risk transferring everything beforehand. Better to keep the fuel prepared and wake the seed only when Sekhmet stood in front of him.

Then he began preparing the mansion.

The remaining guards received simple orders.

No one was to fight Sekhmet outside.

That confused them.

Yesterday, the entire house would have defended the walls.

Today, Dickoff wanted the opposite.

If Sekhmet came, they were to let him enter.

Do not challenge him.

Do not delay him.

Do not warn him.

Guide him toward the central hall if necessary.

The guards obeyed because their salaries still existed on paper, though several exchanged looks after leaving.

Dickoff did not care.

He wanted Sekhmet inside.

Close.

Confident.

Thinking Iron House had nothing left.

That part would not be difficult.

From what Dickoff understood, Sekhmet had every reason to feel confident now. He had won repeatedly. He had burned the business apart. His subordinates had defeated Iron House’s guards. Mihos’s reinforcements were dead. Dickoff had fled the underground market.

To Sekhmet, Iron House should look finished.

That was exactly what Dickoff needed him to believe.

Hours passed.

Morning became midday.

No attack came.

Dickoff ate almost nothing.

He stayed near the central hall, occasionally walking to the window overlooking the courtyard. Every unfamiliar movement made his hand drift toward the storage ring holding the black box.

Once a merchant carriage approached.

Dickoff’s heart jumped.

It was turned away.

Another time, three men appeared near the outer road.

Only city inspectors.

They left after seeing the closed gate.

Dickoff cursed them after they disappeared.

By afternoon his fear had changed into impatience.

"Come," he muttered while staring through the window. "You destroyed everything else. Come finish it."

Sekhmet did not come.

That made him more nervous.

"Perhaps Sekhmet knew. No. Impossible. Only Mihos, Stephen, and the private men in the camp knew about the black box."

Dickoff had told no one. Even his steward did not know what was inside it.

Perhaps Sekhmet had decided the mansion no longer mattered.

That thought was somehow worse.

Dickoff wanted revenge.

But beneath that, deeper and uglier, he needed Sekhmet to recognize him as something worth finishing.

Otherwise all this loss meant that Dickoff had become so unimportant his enemy could simply walk away.

"No."

He turned away from the window.

"He will come."

Meanwhile, far from Iron House, Sekhmet was not thinking about Dickoff nearly as much as Dickoff imagined.

Dawn House had other problems to handle.

Reports from the ruined Iron business were arriving steadily. Mira was already organizing seized records and checking which former Iron buyers might be approached before another merchant family moved first. Raka was counting the surviving members of his lower line and identifying who had died. The city was full of rumors, and this time most of them favored Dawn House.

Sekhmet sat in the strategy room and read one of the short reports.

Iron House business losses were worse than expected.

That was useful.

But one line mattered more than the others.

The main mansion remained sealed.

Almost no movement in or out.

No attempt to flee.

No request for negotiation.

Sekhmet read that line twice.

Vera stood near the wall. Vela sat at the side of the table with one hand resting near her sword.

Vera asked, "You think he is still inside?"

"Yes."

Vela said, "He ran once."

"He did."

"So why stay now?"

Sekhmet looked at the report again.

That was the question.

Cowards ran when afraid.

Dickoff had already proven that.

Yet after losing almost everything, he had returned to Iron House and closed himself inside.

Either stupidity had finally defeated fear.

Or something had changed.

Sekhmet placed the report down. He did not know what yet.

But for the first time since the night ended, the surviving Iron House mansion stopped looking like a corpse.

It looked like a closed mouth. And Sekhmet had learned long ago that closed mouths sometimes hid teeth.

He stood from the chair.

Vera and Vela were nearby. Mira was looking through one of the seized business records while Lily sat a short distance away. All four noticed the movement immediately.

Mira closed the record in her hand.

"You decided?"

Sekhmet nodded.

"I am going to Iron House."

Lily looked toward him. "To finish it?"

"Yes."

There was no point pretending this was another small move. The city already understood what had happened. Iron House had lost nearly everything it used to operate. Leaving the main mansion alone after that would only give Dickoff time to gather whatever remained, beg for more help, or create another problem later.

Sekhmet had already dealt with enough small problems created by people who should have been removed earlier.

This one would end properly.

Vela adjusted the sword at her waist. "Then we are going with you."

Vera did not even ask. She had already started preparing.

Mira stood as well. "I am coming too."

Lily followed immediately. "Me too."

Sekhmet looked at the four of them.

He did not refuse.

Iron House was already weak enough that an army should not be needed. Still, something about the situation bothered him. Dickoff had survived the underground market and disappeared. He had not made any proper report afterward. He had not tried to move the remaining Iron House wealth out of the city. The mansion remained closed and quiet.

There was always a chance Mihos had done something.

Sekhmet was not going to ignore that possibility.

He thought about Sofia and Natasha.

Both women were currently inside the Void Land.

Their true strength was sealed, but if the situation became dangerous enough, he could release them.

Not only to Chaos Rank Five.

Higher.

He could give them access to their true Half-God strength.

That was dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Once the seals were removed completely, the difference between them and everyone around Sekhmet would become enormous. They had already claimed that they wanted to serve him. They had already fought for him. They had already helped destroy Iron House property and had willingly returned to the Void Land afterward.

But words were still words.

Even actions could be performed while waiting for a better opportunity.

If he released their true strength, he would be placing real power back into their hands.

Sekhmet understood the risk.

He also understood something else.

That would be the perfect test.

If Sofia and Natasha received their Half-God strength and still obeyed him, then their claim of loyalty would become much harder to doubt.

If they tried anything else, he would learn the truth immediately.

It was not a safe test.

But safe tests rarely told the whole truth.

Sekhmet had not decided to release them yet. He would only do it if something actually happened at Iron House that required that level of strength.

For now, they would remain inside the Void Land.

He was about to tell the others to prepare when another feeling rose inside him.

Thirst.

Sekhmet stopped for a moment.

It had been growing quietly since the previous night. The battle, the blood in the air, the wounded lesser vampires, the corpses, and the constant use of his blood abilities had all made it worse. He had ignored it while dealing with the reports and the aftermath.

Now it was becoming difficult to ignore.

His throat felt dry.

Not like ordinary thirst.

This was deeper.

The blood inside his body seemed to react to the thought of fresh blood nearby.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew what he needed.

Mira noticed the change in him first. "What happened?"

Sekhmet answered normally.

"I need to drink before we leave."

Lily understood immediately.

Vera and Vela did too.

No one made it into something dramatic.

That part of him was already known to them.

Sekhmet continued, "We have more than enough prisoners now."

The captured Iron House men had been sent into the Void Land the previous night. Many of them were unconscious when they entered. By now, some should have awakened. Others would still be weak from injuries.

There were more than two hundred of them.

It was enough for a feast.

Sekhmet opened the Void Land.

The dark entrance appeared in front of him.

Cold unfamiliar air moved outward into the room.

"I will not be long."

Vera stepped forward. "We can come."

Sekhmet shook his head.

"No need."

He entered alone.

The gate remained open only long enough for him to pass before closing behind him.

The Void Land had changed greatly compared with the empty rocky world he had first received.

Farther away, the beginning of the future city area was already visible.

It was not a city yet. Not even close. But the prisoners had begun working.

Author’s Note: Hey guys, sorry for the two days of absence! Had some urgent real-life stuff to take care of. Thanks for waiting, and the regular updates start back up now!

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