The crowd erupted in fear as the old man’s words gave voice to a horrifying possibility: blood sacrifice. The realization was overwhelming. Such a method was deeply sinister, and only ancient tombs sealed for millennia demanded a price mortals could barely fathom.

Faces marked by shock and unease, everyone cast furtive glances at one another, knowing what a blood sacrifice meant. Someone would need to be offered up, but who? No one was willing to volunteer as it meant certain death. The stronge