Reincarnated as the Death God's Vessel

The exaggerated laughter, the agonizing cries, and the sound of whispers ironically harmonized into the madness brought by Lidien as the people watched the beastfolk massacre their own kind.

Lidien raised a finger and twitched it, signaling a soldier on standby. The man immediately knelt before him.

Then, Lidien pointed towards the black-cloaked beastfolk, still oblivious that he had been targeted.

"Capture that beastfolk. Alive."

The soldier's eyes traced the line of Lidien's finger through the crowd. The moment he identified the figure, he gave a sharp nod, bowed, and departed the watchtower with haste.

Now, the only thing Lidien needed to do was watch the carnage below and wait for the soldiers to report that they had captured the black-cloaked beastfolk.

Lidien was confident; he had been captured once by Mad Dog's soldiers on the way, let alone inside Blood Rose Clan territory, where soldiers were everywhere, waiting for merit that could change their lives.

Azer watched everything unfold and just smiled at Lidien, for he could actually feel the hatred in his eyes as he stared at the black-cloaked beastfolk.

While Kyer, just grinning from ear to ear without care for whatever Lidien did, only cared about the happiness of tens of thousands of merit slips in his hands from the betting, though he would only get ten percent of it.

Lidien watched the beastfolk kill each other; there were almost a hundred of them at first, but now only a few remained. As he analyzed their bodies with Incite of Blood, every time they killed one of their kin, its flow was getting finer and finer.

The one that had killed almost ten of his kin had already regenerated back to his peak condition; his ears that were once cut clean were now back, complete, every wound knitted, including the fangs that had been pulled out.

A horror that only a few realized, but despite its changes, no one cared. Not because the people were not afraid, but because the soldiers at the perimeter were pointing their bows at them, ready to rain arrows upon the beastfolk.

Azer faintly smiled and called a servant to fill his teacup with his favorite drink. As he gulped and emptied its content, he stared at Lidien, who still had his eyes focused on the ongoing battle below.

"They're inherently Blessed of Life from birth... including all Demihumans you will see," Azer said, still smiling.

Lidien then glanced at Azer, squinting his eyes, then back to the fight.

"Then why can they be so easily captured as slaves if they're Blessed of Life to begin with..."

Azer shook his head and watched the battle with Lidien.

"Because they still need an Awakening Ceremony, or... something that would ignite that slumbering Essence hidden deep within themselves..."

Then, Azer's smile turned sinister.

"And this is the kind of Awakening Ceremony the Dark Wolf Clan uses on their kin... to kill each other."

Lidien only smirked and just watched the battle unfold, disregarding Azer's words.

As his eyes darted towards a beastfolk woman that had white fox ears, he was shocked by her features that were different from the black pointed ears of the Dark Wolf Clan.

"What kind of breed is that?" Lidien pointed at the white fox-eared beastfolk curiously.

Azer laughed upon hearing his words and was proud at the same time that Lidien treated the Beastfolk just like an animal.

"Snow Fox... maybe the last of its kind."

Lidien's focus was now on the woman, killing ruthlessly as she smiled every time she bit the neck of a Dark Wolf.

Until only two of the beastfolk survived, facing off.

The Snow Fox woman, and a Dark Wolf man.

Cheers erupted, prompting another frantic round of betting--a last, desperate gamble for those who had lost everything, and a play of pure greed for those already ahead.

The Dark Wolf man stared at the Snow Fox intently, as he grinned, showing his fangs full of blood and meat.

"What are you fighting for? The Snow Fox Clan is already gone... just die for the sake of me, a Dark Wolf!"

The Snow Fox only smirked and lowered her body... her arms slowly turned hairy and her claws elongated more, while her ears and tail glowed whiter.

Upon seeing it, the Dark Wolf transformed into his beast form... a towering black werewolf that surpassed two meters.

"Look at that, Lidien. That transformation is the ability of a Blessed of Life who took the Path of Metabolism, which is unique to the Beastfolk..."

Lidien focused his ears on Azer's words as his thoughts ran wild.

'Metabolism? But every living being has it... so, what makes them unique?'

Lidien thought of his unique essences as a Blessed of Death; he knew of three types of Spiritual Essence based on it: The Blood Essence, Soul Essence, and Necrotic Essence.

'Does the Blessed of Life also have three unique types of Essences?'

Lidien closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as the realization of his lacking knowledge about the world made him irate.

"Big brother, is Metabolism the only ability of the Blessed of Life?"

Azer shook his head and stared at the clouds, as if reminiscing about something... funny, as he smiled.

"No... there are three different paths for each Blessed, and for the Blessed of Life... it has the Path of Metabolism, which uses Vital Essence as the source of its power, the Path of Nature that uses Verdant Essence, and the Path of Reproduction that uses Propagative Essence..."

Azer then laughed so hard that it echoed along with the clashing claws of the beastfolk as he added.

"If ever you meet a Man who is a Blessed of Life with the Path of Reproduction... you need to run for your life."

Lidien didn't voice it out--the only thing he could do was open his mouth wide, for he understood exactly what Azer meant.

A few minutes passed, and the duel between the Beastfolk ended...

In a surprising flash of movement, the Snow Fox woman severed the towering Dark Wolf's head from his shoulders, and its still-bleeding head became a personal jug for the Snow Fox, who drank its blood to ease her thirst from an hour of endless fighting.

After filling her stomach, she kneeled in front of the watchtower, prostrating.

"My Prince... please honor your words!"