Reincarnated with a lucky draw system

Chapter 420: INTOXICATING FEAR

The night cloaked him like an old ally, shadows deepening in the corners of his quarters as he slipped away unseen, the faint hum of the city fading behind him.

His heart beat with a different rhythm, anticipation laced with hunger, the thrill of the hunt calling him into the void.

"Let’s make this quick, pal," Aaron informed Flameborn as they both invaded another galactic cluster.

The dragon’s massive form loomed beside him, obsidian scales gleaming under distant starlight, wings flexing with restrained power that sent subtle tremors through the vacuum.

The cluster sprawled before them, a vast web of twinkling stars and swirling nebulae, hues of purple and blue painting the blackness, the faint metallic scent of cosmic dust tickling his senses even in the airless expanse.

As usual, Aaron sealed off the entire space of the galactic cluster with a flex of his will.

Invisible barriers snapped into place, warping reality like a dome of shadowed glass, cutting off escapes, communications, the outside universe fading to a muffled whisper.

The stars beyond the seal dimmed slightly, as if mourning the isolation, the void growing heavier, more intimate.

Covered in shadows that writhed like living ink, cool and pulsating against his skin, Aaron appeared at the main military base of the galactic cluster.

The structure loomed massive, towers of gleaming alloy piercing the starry sky, floodlights casting harsh beams that sliced through the darkness, the hum of generators vibrating through the ground like a distant heartbeat.

"Gen... general... He is here," one of the soldiers on watch duty communicated to the general, his voice shaking over the comms.

He trembled in his boots, armor clinking faintly with the quiver, eyes wide behind his visor as he stared at the shadowy silhouette of Aaron.

The fear gripped him like icy claws, heart pounding in his chest, the metallic tang of sweat mixing with the sterile scent of the base’s recycled air.

"Hmm?" Aaron from afar stared at the soldier, a surprise look crossing his shadowed features.

The man stood isolated on the sentinel platform, a lone figure against the vast night, his uniform crisp but posture crumbling under the weight of dread.

With his mystic eyes, Aaron could sense the emotion of fear from the soldier, a palpable wave radiating like heat from a flame, raw and unfiltered.

But something about the emotion felt appealing to Aaron, drawing him in like a siren’s call.

It stirred a strange warmth in his veins, a pull that resonated deep within his bloodline.

It felt intoxicating as well, a heady rush that made his pulse quicken, shadows around him deepening as if feeding on the sensation.

The void seemed to close in, the distant stars blurring, the soldier’s fear a beacon in the night.

Moving like a shadow, fluid, silent, a blur of darkness against the base’s harsh lights, Aaron appeared before the soldier, staring at him curiously.

The man’s breath hitched, the comm device slipping from his trembling fingers, clattering to the ground with a metallic echo.

"Please... Don’t come any closer... I beg you..." The soldier pleaded, fear etching deep lines on his face, eyes wide with terror that glistened like unshed tears.

His voice cracked, hands raised in futile surrender, the isolation of his post amplifying his vulnerability, the empty platform stretching around them, the hum of distant machinery a mocking backdrop.

The soldier was alone, watching the sentinel amid the quiet night.

What Nick and the rest of the Sovereigns had not accounted for was the reduced number of soldiers protecting galactic clusters due to the event.

Bases stood understaffed, patrols thinned, the bulk of forces diverted to assessments and spectacles, leaving vulnerabilities like open wounds in the cosmic fabric.

Due to that, most galactic clusters were left with little guards to protect them, low ranked crews manning defenses that now felt laughably inadequate against the encroaching shadow.

"System, what is this hunger I’m feeling?" Aaron asked, drawn to the soldier like a moth to flame.

The pull intensified, a gnawing ache in his core that made his shadows twitch eagerly, the fear-scent thick and tantalizing in the airless void, his mystic eyes locking onto the man’s trembling form with newfound intensity.

Aaron’s senses sharpened to a razor’s edge as he stood before the trembling soldier, the void of the galactic cluster pressing in around them like an endless, suffocating blanket.

The base’s harsh floodlights cast long, jagged shadows across the metallic platforms, their beams slicing through the darkness but failing to illuminate the growing hunger gnawing at his core.

He felt it, a deep, insistent craving that pulsed through his veins like liquid fire, drawing him closer to the man whose fear radiated outward in waves, thick and palpable, almost tangible in the cold, sterile air.

The source of the craving was no other thing than the fear the soldier emitted.

It hung in the space between them, a shimmering aura that Aaron’s mystic eyes perceived as swirling tendrils of dark energy, coiling and twisting like smoke from an unseen blaze.

The soldier’s wide eyes, glassy with terror, reflected the shadowy silhouette of Aaron, his uniform damp with sweat that carried the sharp, acrid scent of pure dread.

[You’re the night father. What you feed on is fear,] the system explained, its voice echoing calmly in his mind, a neutral anchor amid the storm raging within him.

"I know," Aaron replied mentally, his hands already gripping the soldier’s shoulders with unyielding strength.

The man was petrified by fear, his body rigid as stone, breath coming in short, ragged gasps that fogged the inside of his visor.

The fabric of his uniform felt rough under Aaron’s fingers, the rapid thump of the soldier’s heartbeat vibrating through the contact like a distant drum.

"But I have never felt this hunger for it. Neither have I felt the need to feed on it."

His voice in his mind was steady, but underneath, a tremor of unease flickered, the pull was stronger than anticipated, a siren call from his origin bloodline that whispered promises of power and restoration.