Ludwig staggered one step, and his boot shattered the ground beneath it. His fingers twitched before lengthening around Nightbreaker's handle. The bones inside his hands expanded, his palms broadened, and his knuckles grew until the enormous mace began to look properly proportioned within his grip.
Nightbreaker responded to the change.
The dark metal hummed as a red glow pulsed through the weapon. Wrath remembered Nightbreaker, and Nightbreaker remembered Wrath.
Ludwig's forearm split open. Blood should have poured from the wound, but new flesh pushed through it instead. His arm thickened, and the tear sealed, only for another to open across his shoulder. More appeared over his chest and down his back.
Each wound existed only because the body growing beneath them was expanding faster than the old flesh could accommodate. Every split revealed more muscle, heavier bone and thick crimson energy before the Living Vessel sealed itself again.
Ludwig took another step.
