Casio glanced around but couldn't identify the source of the voice. He looked down at the mark on his right hand.
Suddenly, he understood something.
He immediately opened the box and pulled out a faintly trembling heart. This was the heart of the Blood Clan, which was extremely tenacious in its life force. Even after many days had passed, it still retained a trace of vitality, though its size had greatly reduced.
Now it was probably only two-fifths the size of a normal human heart.
Casio held the heart in one hand, stepped to the center of the secret room. In front of a stone column about chest-high to a human, the top of the column was formed by two rotating open hands.
He observed it briefly.
Then, he placed the heart of the Blood Clan in between the hands.
Whoosh...
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from nowhere and a black fog arose from the stone hands' surface, forming a miniature tornado.
A moment later, the air flow dissipated, and the heart was gone.
