[This Chapter Is Sponsored by Shin! Everyone, please thank him in the comment!] (4/14)
Boom!
The sky was filled with rolling thunder and endless lightning, covering the vast expanse of dark clouds with a sea of thunder. The endless flashes of lightning exploded wildly, causing the space between heaven and earth to cycle between darkness and light.
On the ground, the hills suddenly shook with a loud roar, as if a major earthquake had struck. The mountains and the ground split open, and countless cracks spread wildly like a giant spiderweb. Animals and birds from within these cracks screamed in terror and fled in panic.
Instinct drove them to escape the dreadful forbidden zone.
At the source of all this, within the Temple of Eternal Night beneath the surface, Blade seemed like a cannonball smashing upward, hitting the wall of the second-floor stone cavern corridor, creating a huge dent. His entire body was embedded in the wall, soaked in filthy blood, with his face, chest, and all exposed skin horribly mangled.
It was as if he had been scorched by flames, ghastly and terrifying.
Especially his face, which was no longer recognizable as Blade's, resembling a dreadful demon instead.
Blade, embedded in the wall, vomited blood profusely. The blood flowed down his body and the wall, forming a pool on the ground. The severe impact and turmoil had severely damaged his body, especially with the massive loss of blood. It was a testament to his willpower and strength that he was still conscious.
Even so, Blade now realized that he had lost his ability to fight. Any movement caused intense pain in all the burnt and bloodied parts of his body, continuously stimulating his brain nerves.
Blade finally realized what kind of monster those two were.
He also understood why the Book of Death recorded the descent of the Blood God as a great disaster for humanity, with blood drowning the world.
An ancestral Blood God was simply beyond his ability to contend with.
He had confidently thought that although the Blood God was powerful, he could still fight it, even at the cost of his own life, to inflict heavy damage on the enemy. But now, he realized how wrong his assessment had been; he wasn't even close to being a match.
Firstly, there was too great a gap in their underlying strength. Blade was still using weapons like samurai swords, silver bullets, and garlic, which were supposed to be effective against vampires.
His combat style was close-range fighting, but what about the Blood God?
A single spell of blood magic could annihilate Blade in an instant, with the disparity in strength vast as a chasm.
However, Blade was not disheartened because he saw in the blood-enshrouded Temple of Eternal Night a dazzling golden radiance like a blazing sun, burning away all filth and darkness.
The gushing blood evaporated. Bi Xiao held a cross-shaped longsword, standing resolutely on the altar, facing a grim and uncertain Blood God. The altar under his feet was cracked from a violent collision, with intricate patterns, and the twelve surrounding stone columns broke and fell chaotically.
The intense vibrations caused the ceiling and surrounding walls to continuously shed dust and debris.
"You are very special, one of the most special humans I have ever seen. How did you obtain this power? Was it bestowed? Borrowed? Or Contract?" the Blood God asked, his bloody pupils reflecting the image of the human boy opposite him, dressed in a black coat and shirt, and wearing a round hat like a noble prince.
As an ancestral Blood God with a long life tracing back to Earth's ancient times, he was a true old monster, having witnessed the splendor and twilight of the gods.
Of course, he was just a minor figure in the ancient times, nothing compared to the mighty ancient underworld gods, but surviving until now meant his experience was unmatched by ordinary people.
Originally summoned by his descendants, the Blood God arrived on Earth with enthusiasm, not to rule but to stir things up.
But right away, he encountered a monster he had never seen before.
Outwardly just a human, the Blood God could tell that Bi Xiao was a pure human but far too powerful, especially with the golden energy that countered his own. He had never seen such power among the gods.
He did not sense any lineage, soul, or divinity associated with those gods in Bi Xiao.
This meant that this person had no connection with the gods he knew.
But what did it matter if he had no powerful backers?
Compared to the gods of ancient times, Bi Xiao was clearly weaker, but he was very young, and that was his advantage.
The Blood God also doubted whether he could kill this young monster unless he could cross dimensions and descend to Earth in his true form, which was utterly unrealistic. He could not violate the ancient gods' pact made on Earth; even if he did, he probably wouldn't have encountered this human boy.
Then he would have been killed by other ancient gods crossing dimensions.
Now, he was just a wisp of consciousness occupying this body, similar to how demons and angels possess the bodies of believers to descend to Earth.
His true strength was severely suppressed.
With this level of power, he had to consider not just whether he could kill his opponent, but how he might escape from him.
As for the Blood God's doubts, Bi Xiao completely ignored them. He leaned forward, his feet staggered slightly as he squatted, his gaze intently fixed on the Blood God. He had only one thought: to kill the Blood God.
"It's really absurd, who created this monster?" the Blood God muttered to himself, his headache intensifying. He was certain this human boy wasn't a natural occurrence. Humans couldn't naturally possess such power; their lineage was too weak, the weakest among all civilizations.
It couldn't have been a natural birth.
It had to be some god he had never seen, or beyond his imagination, who had handcrafted this spokesperson.
So the Blood God balked; he really didn't want to continue the fight. The cost and benefit were entirely disproportionate. He wasn't senseless; a fight with no benefits was a losing battle. If he lost, he would lose the body he had taken over.
And if he won, if he accidentally killed this human child, there might be a god standing behind this boy who could cross time and dimensions to kill him.
Killing a spokesperson would be like slapping the face of their master; not going mad would be strange.
He couldn't afford it, so he chose to avoid it.
With a snort, the Blood God prepared to cast blood magic to make a quick escape.
But just then, a radiant burst of brilliance flashed in Bi Xiao's eyes, and a tempest of psychic power swept through like a storm, unabashedly assaulting the Blood God's mind and will.