*BOOM*
A deafening BOOM reverberated through the battlefield, shrouding the area near the altar in a thick cloud of smoke.
The intense clash between the sisters and Yorak had reached its pinnacle, with Yorak finding himself at a distinct disadvantage in most of their encounters.
It had to be noted that while the fight was going on, the others were still finishing their own battles.
Still, with the element of wind at his disposal, his unparalleled speed was not something the sisters could deal with, proving to be a challenge for them.
Unbeknownst to them, the scattered blood that stained the hall began to writhe and squirm, gradually converging on top of the altar. As the blood coalesced, the present swirling mass of blood, grew larger with each passing moment.
"Lunar Mirage!"
Luna stepped forward, as a complex light flashed in her eyes. In an instant, two identical bodies of Luna materialized beside her, forming a trio.
*Whoosh*
Without allowing Yorak a moment to process the situation, the three Lunas launched a synchronized assault.
Yorak furrowed his eyebrows in extreme concentration as he narrowly dodged their attacks. The triple threat of Lunas left him with no breathing space, their attacks coming from multiple angles, forcing Yorak to employ the full power of his speed to dodge their strikes.
Suddenly, one of the Lunas' lunged at him in close proximity, leaving her defenseless. Seizing what appeared to be a golden opportunity, Yorak swung his blood-red sickles at her, intending to shred her into multiple pieces.
To his astonishment, the sickles passed through her ethereal form, as if she was a mere illusion, and she vanished before his eyes.
A chilling realization dawned upon Yorak, causing his heart to race with a tinge of fear.
"Twilight Spheres!"
Multiple glowing orbs materialized in the air behind him, transforming into deadly projectiles of lunar energy. These orbs possessed incredible speed and accuracy, so even if Yorak wanted to dodge, he couldn't do it in time. The orbs hurtled towards Yorak's vulnerable back, leaving him little time to react.
*Boom*
The orbs struck their mark with pinpoint precision, unleashing a burst of lunar energy upon impact. The ensuing explosion enveloped Yorak, engulfing him in a dazzling display of radiant moonlight.
"AARGHHH!"
A roar of pain escaped his lips as the force of the explosion left him disoriented, his body adorned with charred wounds that marred his once formidable frame. Kneeling on the ground, Yorak's spirit wavered under the weight of the devastating attack, his mind reeling from the assault.
As the smoke slowly dissipated, revealing the aftermath of the battle, Yorak remained in a weakened and vulnerable state.
Luna stood there with a triumphant expression, masked with a mix of focus and relief. The power of Twilight Spheres expended quite a lot of her energy, and she was happy that her plan worked.
"Good job, sister." Selene appeared beside her and praised her.
"It is only our duty." Luna smiled.
"Ke…ke…"
A low throaty chuckle sounded out from below. Luna and Selene looked at Yorak, who stared back at them with a victorious gaze.
"Do you think you've won?" Selene said with pure dislike.
"Victory…defeat…"
*Cough*
"It all…doesn't matter." Yorak coughed out a spittle of blood.
*Whoosh*
Ray and Bryan had finished their battle and appeared beside them. Exchanging a nod with each other, the two didn't interrupt the conversation.
Luna frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yorak ignored her and instead, asked the Ray and Bryan, "My clansmen…?"
"Dead." Ray uttered a single word.
"Haha…wonderful!" Yorak had a maniacal smile on his face. Coupled with his disheveled state, he truly looked like someone who had lost his marbles.
"I think he's gone crazy." Bryan spoke.
"No…he's not." Ray frowned. The other three looked at him for answers.
Ray ignored their inquiring gazes and asked Yorak, "Are you buying time?"
Yorak froze for a moment but then he laughed again, "Hahahaha…you've got it right, weakling."
"For wha-" Ray interrupted himself and looked at the altar.
Yorak noticed his gaze and smirked mockingly, "It's too late. Here 'he' comes!"
*BONG*
A thick ear-piercing sound of a bell resounded in the hall and an eerie gust of wind, screeched the air.
Ash, who stood next to the half-frozen ice sculpture, frowned as the sound shattered the ice sculpture into pieces. The Eternal Frozen Scythe in his hands, hummed and pulsated in response.
"Dangerous…"
A dangerous sensation tingled through their bodies as they watched the swirling blood menacingly rise up from the altar.
"HAHAHA!"
"YOU'RE ALL DEAD NOW!"
"My…"
"God…is finally here!"
Yorak prostrated towards the altar with reverence. A sign of a mad fanatic under the guise of a secret cult.
As the swirling mass of blood floated above the altar, it grew more larger until it resembled a portal, for someone's arrival. A sense of abhorrence and disgust permeated the air.
*Whoosh*
"Selene, I thought you told us that this was a ritual for creating the blood-type energy fruit?" Ash arrived and was suspicious after watching the spectacle.
Bryan and Ray would have congratulated him for fighting and beating a Shattering Sea Realm cultivator one on one but circumstances doesn't allow them to do so.
Selene shook her head and said, "I said 'highly likely', which means I wasn't 100% sure about their purpose."
"It's safe to say…something monstrous is going to emerge!" Luna muttered in a grave tone.
"…"
*Skrrreeeeaaaakkkkk*
A terrible and ear-screeching sound echoed from the blood portal, signifying the existence of a terrifying creature. A sickening anticipation filled the hearts of Ray, Bryan, Ash, Luna and Selene as they watched with growing horror.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Yorak, driven to the brink of mad fanaticism, knelt at the side, his laughter echoing through the hall.
Luna stepped forward and said with a serious tone, "Let's try and attack the portal to see if we can disrupt it."
"Alright!"
*Boom*
*Boom*
The group launched a relentless barrage of attacks at the blood-red portal, pouring their combined strength and their abilities into their strike.
*Clunk*
Ash's scythe clashed against the portal with a thunderous force, Luna and Selene bombarded the portal with techniques from the Infinity Lunar Palace, Bryan rained down Phantasmal Fists, Ray bashed the portal with his Lightning Wings and yet, the portal remained unyielding, as if mocking their futile efforts.
"How foolish…" Yorak muttered, watching their useless attacks with a mocking and disdainful gaze.
The blood portal seemed impenetrable, its unholy power fuelling the emergence of the creature, which increased the arrival time of the creature beyond the portal.
Not even Ash's Eternal Frozen Scythe could make a dent to the surface of the portal, signifying its potency. Maybe, if Ash was at the Elemental Fusion Realm or higher, he might have a chance to do something to the portal, but that's far-fetched for now.
"It's not working…" Bryan stopped his attacks to conserve his energy.
Ray shook his head in frustration, "Nothing's happening!"
*THUD*
"It's time…" Yorak muttered with a fanatic gaze.
With a sickening and gut-wrenching slowness, an abhorrent creature began to emerge from the blood portal. It was as if time itself held its breath, each second stretching out into an eternity, amplifying the terror that gripped the hearts of the group.
"What the…"
"…"
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
The creature took its first step and it sent shivers down their spines, as if its very presence defied the laws of nature. Its limb was misshapen and twisted, resembling a grotesque amalgamation of various creatures. Its skin was a sickly shade of grey, mottled and marred with oozing sores and pulsating veins that throbbed with a sickly glow.
As the creature's form slowly appeared in front of their horrified eyes, the air became suffocatingly heavy, thick with an otherworldly aura that sent waves of dread coursing through the group. Its mere existence seemed to defy the trio's comprehension; an utter abomination born from the depths of a nightmarish dream.
"U-Ugh!" The group pinched their nose in disgust.
The creatures' presence exuded a putrid stench, a nauseating combination of decay and malevolence that assaulted their senses and threatened to overwhelm them.
*Skrrreeeeaaaakkkkk*
As the creature inched closer to the altar, the group felt an insidious fear gripping their hearts, a deep-rooted fear that penetrated their minds. Each step it took sent tremors through the ground, a chilling reminder of the impending doom that awaited them.
"Right now, it would be a good time for me to stop dreaming…only if I was dreaming!" Ash tried to alleviate their fear but they could not tear away their gaze from the nightmarish entity that stood before them.
The sisters, Luna and Selene, esteemed disciples of the Infinity Lunar Palace and seasoned cultivators, found themselves utterly bewildered by the repulsive and abhorrent creature that emerged from the depths of the blood portal. In their years of cultivating and training, they had encountered formidable masters and witnesses strange beings, but never before had they laid their eyes upon such a grotesque and horrifying entity.
"I feel like…I'm in an episode of the Goosebumps show…" Ray felt the ick tingling his skin from the creature's mere presence.
*Inhale*
*Exhale*
Bryan drew in a deep breath, his features hardening with each passing moment. His eyes grew colder and colder, reflecting the chilling resolve that settled with him. He was primed and ready to unleash the Infernal Rage.
But what he and the others saw next stumped their minds.
Yorak, his eyes filled with a fanatical devotion, approached the abhorrent creature with a mixture of reverence and madness.
'Oh boy…' Ash had a bad feeling about this.
Yorak knelt in front of the creature and proclaimed, "O Dark Lord, I kneel before you in reverence, ready to carry out your nefarious will with unwavering loyalty."
"I implore you to grant me the strength to unleash havoc upon the world, leaving nothing but darkness and blood in my wake."
His voice trembled with a twisted devotion as he uttered words of worship and adoration, speaking as if addressing a deity of evil and darkness.
Ash muttered, with his face scrunched up in disbelief, "Now, that's a total numbnut!"
"Evil Spies? Dark Lord?" Luna muttered with a frightening gaze. Selene understood her thought process and her face became heavy with what's about to come.
Yorak continued proclaiming his devout worship to the disgusting creature as he kept prostrating to the ground.
"O Dark Lord, I prostrate myself be-"
*Chomp*
In a horrifying twist, before Yorak could finish his unholy proclamation, the creature lunged at Yorak with a terrifying speed. Its monstrous and rotting maw opened wide and bit down at him. In a gruesome display, it devoured his body, tearing him apart in its mouth with a sickening crunch.
"…"
The group were speechless and recoiled in disgust, their eyes wide with a mixture of revulsion and horror. The creature, having devoured Yorak, grew slightly larger and stronger, its grotesque form pulsating with increased power.
"That's…troublesome!" Ray sighed as the sight was a grim reminder of the creature's ability to assimilate the lifeforce of its victims, growing more formidable if it devours more victims.
"We're next in its plate." Ash said, as he and the others got into a battle stance.