The Bloody Archduke is an angelic rank, and its authority is simple and terrible: dominion over the domain of Wrath and dominion over the domain of the Body.
The mythic form is complete: the bearer seems to be made of congealed blood and can both spread out and gather back together.
The advancement ritual is among the most monstrous in all of mysticism: to sacrifice to the Abyss thirteen settlements, each containing no fewer than ten thousand sentient beings, and no more than three months may pass between sacrifices.
The composition matches: a thousand milliliters of the Bloody Archduke's blood, forty-nine drops of blood from beings of different races, stations, and ranks, and one drop of a true god's blood.
It is precisely at this rank that it becomes finally clear how the path of the Abyss differs from other dark branches. The Demoness destroys gracefully, the Hanged Man by taking sin upon himself, while the Abyss simply takes by numbers: thirteen cities, ninety-nine hearts, ten thousand souls.
