[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dawn-walker":3,"chapter-dawn-walker-dawn-walker-chapter-54":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Dawn Walker",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1836912,2443,"Chapter 54: Between Hunger and Choice VII","dawn-walker-chapter-54",54,"\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their faces were smeared with blood. Their eyes glowed dull red. Their mouths opened and closed slightly as if tasting the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked less like Slik guards now and more like creatures wearing guard uniforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s stomach twisted again. He could not take them with him. Not without Lily seeing. Not without Lily asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not without Lily fearing. And he did not want fear in her eyes yet. Not until he could explain in a place that was not trying to eat them. He could put them in the void land. Because Lily was there. When she wakes up she will see them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s voice came out low, firm. \"You two,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghouls turned their heads toward him instantly. Their obedience thread pulled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" the first rasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold here,\" Sekhmet ordered. \"Kill anything that enters.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second ghoul’s eyes flickered, hunger and rage mixing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And you,\" he asked, voice rough. \"Where do you go.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not answer fully. He said only, \"I bring her out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he stepped back into the cave, away from the entrance. He moved fast toward the deeper pocket where he had opened the void tear earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He focused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whooom...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The void tear opened again, trembling in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stepped through. Sound muted. Quiet returned like a blanket. He rushed to Lily and knelt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes fluttered. She was waking. Her lashes trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She murmured faintly, confused. \"Sekh... met...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s chest tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to tell her to stay asleep. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to protect her from what he had become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he could not knock her out again without making this worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he leaned close and spoke softly, voice lower than he usually allowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lily,\" he said. \"Listen to me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes opened halfway. She looked at him, disoriented. \"What... happened...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet kept his tone calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We are hiding,\" he said. \"You are safe. Do not stand. Do not shout.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily blinked slowly, trying to understand. Her gaze drifted to his mouth. There was still a faint smear of blood at the corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes widened. \"Blood,\" she whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s jaw tightened. He wiped his mouth quickly with his sleeve, too late to undo what she saw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s breathing quickened. \"You... you are hurt,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet shook his head. \"No,\" he said. \"I am not hurt.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily stared at him harder, then looked around at the void land, confusion turning into fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where are we,\" she whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet exhaled slowly. \"A place where I can hide things,\" he said. \"A storage land.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s brows knit. \"Storage,\" she repeated, voice thin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet nodded. \"I will explain later,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily swallowed hard. Then, faintly, even through the muted void, they could hear echoes of violence outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A kobol scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ghoul growl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRUNCH —Shhk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily froze. Her eyes widened further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is that,\" she whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s chest tightened. He forced his voice steady. \"Enemies,\" he said. \"My... allies are delaying them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s gaze snapped to him. \"Allies,\" she repeated slowly. \"Who.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not answer. He could not. Not yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system spoke inside Sekhmet’s mind again, reminding him his time inside void land was limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Ding! System notification-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warning: host presence in Void Land exceeding safe threshold soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estimated remaining safe duration: short.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet clenched his jaw. He stood and lifted Lily again, this time more carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold on,\" he told her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily’s hands gripped his coat instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sekhmet,\" she whispered, voice shaking. \"What is happening.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes softened for a moment, just a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am keeping you alive,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he stepped back through the void tear with her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whooom...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sound slammed back in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cave entrance roared with chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fang-captain had pushed forward, barking orders. Kobols climbed over their dead, trying to force the chokepoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghouls fought like demons. The first ghoul had its teeth in a kobol’s shoulder, tearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRUNCH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second ghoul’s claws raked a kobol’s face, ripping an eye out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scrrrk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fang-captain stabbed with a heavy spear, trying to skewer a ghoul through the chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spear struck the ghoul’s armor and glanced off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed. He could not let the fang-captain break through, not while he carried Lily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed an opening..He lifted his hand, focusing Blood Control Lv2. He reached for the blood inside the fang-captain’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was harder than manipulating spilled blood, but not impossible now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet felt resistance, like trying to pull a rope tied to a wall. He pushed anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fang-captain stumbled. Its eyes widened. It snarled, confused, feeling something tug inside its veins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet used that half-second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He formed a blood tether from spilled kobol blood and wrapped it around the fang-captain’s spear arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>TCH—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He yanked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fang-captain’s arm jerked sideways. The spear missed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stepped forward and kicked the fang-captain in the chest with nightmare-boot strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fang-captain slammed into the wall outside the entrance, ribs cracking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRACK!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It gasped, stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not waste the moment. He formed a hardened blood spike and drove it through the fang-captain’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shhk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captain gurgled, eyes wide, then fell with a Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kobols froze. Their strongest was dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear rippled through the pack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s voice came out like a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Run,\" he snarled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kobols hesitated, then their instinct screamed louder than their hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They backed away, dragging wounded, howling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>KRAAAH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They retreated into the canyon shadows, not fully gone, but pushed back enough to buy minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not chase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned and ran with Lily again, leaving the cave behind, leaving the ghouls behind for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghouls watched him go. The first ghoul’s face twisted, something like betrayal flickering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the instinct thread held. They stayed and held the line, because he ordered it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet ran into the night, carrying Lily away from the cave, away from the smell of blood, away from the sight of changed guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lily clung to him, eyes wide, voice trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>",1001,"2026-06-09T06:31:32.937Z",1,"novelbin.me","6c612d84dcf188df86c28fc9c4e8987c653fdf863ea3a32d25b8aafebf0d00d3","dawn-walker-chapter-2","dawn-walker-chapter-53",359,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdawn-walker-cover.jpg"]