Zatiel stood before the last house, situated at the center and the largest of them all. Its defenses were more complex than any he had encountered thus far, with even more obscure runes employed.
However, Zatiel wasn't overly troubled by this. What made him hesitate to begin breaking down the defenses was the feeling his instincts were giving him about this place.
Though premonitions and instincts might sound too vague to be reliable, they are actually feedback from the natural energies and laws about events that could affect you. The more powerful you become, the clearer these instincts are, to the point where you can glimpse into the future if you are strong enough.
Zatiel wasn't at that level of power yet, but Neo-Demons' affinity with energies and laws is the highest in the universe, especially after assimilating a bloodline.
"Whatever is inside there, I don't feel it's a direct threat to me. But still, those two will be in trouble if something truly dangerous happens, and they are still in rank 0. I wanted to explore everything first, but it seems they will have to use these bloodlines. Besides, I heavily doubt that this place contains a bloodline more powerful than Emperor-level ones."
Sophia and Ezequiel, waiting near where the houses began, saw Zatiel approaching them with two vials in his hands. Their faces lit up with excitement upon seeing the blood.
"You two got lucky; this place has the blood of truly powerful races! Little EZ, you will assimilate the bloodline of a Storm Titan, and you, Sophia, will assimilate the bloodline of a Styx Dragon."
Both Ezequiel and Sophia had no issue with Zatiel choosing for them. His knowledge far surpassed theirs, and while they might not have known the specific strengths of these bloodlines, dragons and titans were renowned as top predators in the universe.
"Master, are these bloodlines as strong as yours?" Ezequiel, having witnessed Zatiel's immense power upgrade, was curious about the potential of their own bloodlines.
Sophia, too, looked at Zatiel, eager to hear his response.
"Ha! Keep dreaming. If the person who owned this laboratory had bloodlines on my level, we would have died the moment we entered this place. The bloodlines you two will have fall in the rank of Emperor, one level beneath mine.
"But don't worry too much. Bloodlines can be upgraded, and the racial advantages you'll have are particularly powerful," Zatiel explained, seeing their initial disappointment turn to excitement. He smiled but kept to himself the near-impossibility of evolving a bloodline to his level. He already had plans to aid them, though it would be a long journey to upgrade an Emperor bloodline.
"Okay, I'll enhance the purity of the blood, and then we'll immediately start with the assimilation. Remember to always maintain focus, never let your will weaken, and try to engrave everything you see during your advancement in your memories."
Zatiel saw their focused expressions and began working on the blood.
The purity of a bloodline is crucial. It significantly influences the power upgrade it provides and the abilities and innate spells you unlock with your advancements. Low purity risks the bloodline declining into a lower subspecies.
Bloodline purity depends on the maturity stage of the creature when the blood was extracted and which part of the body it was taken from. The highest purity comes from blood taken from a vital organ of an adult creature, especially the heart.
The bloodlines here were extracted from vital organs but the creatures had not reached adulthood. While one could enhance purity with spiritual ingredients, Zatiel's recent advancement offered him a new approach.
The two vials in Zatiel's hands broke, and the blood inside was immediately engulfed in golden flames. The flames intensified, yet the bloodlines remained unharmed.
Finally, as the golden color peaked, Zatiel activated his third eye. The golden flames then began to transform, reaching their energy peak and fusing with the bloodlines.
Once he finished, the purity of the blood reached its zenith, with a faint golden glow visible within.
"Now, begin with the advancement!" Zatiel instructed.
Ezequiel and Sophia were prepared and made incisions in their chests that reached their hearts. Similar to Zatiel's experience, tentacles composed of runes emerged, ready to receive the bloodline.
Zatiel swiftly directed the orbs of blood towards their chests. The tentacles grasped the bloodlines, delivering them to their respective Chaotic Cores and sealing the wounds.
Both contorted in pain as the energies within their bodies surged.
Observing their commencement of advancement, Zatiel sat on the ground to rest. As he did, his Eye of Life and Creation closed and disappeared from his forehead.
"Using the eye for such a complex task takes a toll on it and my stamina," Zatiel mused, feeling that his third eye would require some recovery time before it could function at full capacity again.
While the purification process appeared straightforward, it was exceedingly intricate. Zatiel had to use the eye to pinpoint the bloodline's most potent heritage segment and then stimulate it with the life energy in the flames until it superseded all other parts and completely dominated the blood.
Exhausted yet vigilant, Zatiel kept his consciousness active, monitoring the surroundings and ensuring Ezequiel and Sophia's advancement proceeded without issue.
Over time, transformations began in both individuals.
Ezequiel's stature fluctuated dramatically, growing and shrinking repeatedly. Each time his height reached over 2.5 meters, it reduced back to its original 1.7 meters, though incrementally increasing with each cycle. The ground beneath him showed signs of strain, cracking under his increasing weight.
Sophia, meanwhile, became encircled by dark orbs of water, and dark-platinum scales emerged on her skin. The dark liquid formed a pool around her, causing the ground to decay upon contact, as if erasing the life within it.
As their advancement neared completion, illusions materialized behind them. Behind Ezequiel appeared a towering, muscular man with violet skin, dark blue hair, and silver eyes where lightning flickered. Behind Sophia, a majestic serpentine dragon with expansive wings emerged, surrounded by an impossibly dark river.
Both illusions roared, emanating immense bloodline pressure – a resistance to the Chaotic Core's assimilation from their ancestral connections. If these connections remained, Ezequiel and Sophia would be forever bound to the living ancestors of these races, making future liberation a formidable challenge.
Zatiel, observing this, responded decisively. Behind him materialized a magnificent golden sun, embodying the laws of life and creation. Its golden radiance overwhelmed the surroundings.
The Storm Titan and Styx Dragon, upon seeing this sun, exhibited fear akin to a hyena facing a lion. Despite both being ancestral beings, the golden sun's dominance was unequivocal.
However, the illusions backing Ezequiel and Sophia, fueled by courage, unleashed their full bloodline pressure against the golden sun. Yet their efforts proved futile, evaporating upon contact. The sun, seemingly affronted by the challenge, retaliated with a powerful flame that consumed both the titan and dragon. Their defiant roars turned to agonized screams as they disintegrated and vanished, along with the sun's illusion.
What the Styx Dragon and Storm Titan attempted was to use bloodline pressure to subjugate Ezequiel and Sophia's wills and solidify their ancestral connections.
Zatiel, unwilling to allow this, unleashed his own, far more potent bloodline pressure. The resulting clash was one-sided.
With the disappearance of the illusions, Ezequiel and Sophia successfully severed any connections their bloodlines had to their origins, achieving complete control. Their auras expanded, signifying their ascension to the power of a Rank 1 Neo-Demon.