Chapter 982
Chapter 982 - 968: The Bloodsucker
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9 min read
"....Is this, my dead end?"
"The power is already exhausted, the reserved life has been wiped out, I can no longer remember how many times we’ve died..."
"They have gone mad, they actually used their only life, to trade blows with me, a person of Resurgence, life for injury..."
Three voices, echoing back and forth on the battlefield of despair.
Each time transforming into a mist of blood, each time attempting to break through the encirclement, that man, would always stand in front of him.
The man who already appeared as a living skeleton, his flesh hanging off him like the dying.
Clutching the Demon Sword that draws his own life, every time, he just forcibly blocked his way.
"Die, die! Why won’t you fall!" Zhao Yan erupted in another round of blood rain, but this time, it was still fruitless.
Rage? Hatred? Even Damu himself did not know how he managed to reach this point.
That arm, comparable to white bones, just kept instinctively swinging the sword.
The Demon Sword and the Sword Master were both constantly summoning new torrents of fresh blood, forcibly forcing Zhao Yan to counter, to consume... and then reclaiming the remaining blood back into the sword.
Both parties were constantly clashing, vying for control over blood... and falling at a disadvantage, was Zhao Yan!
The blood repeatedly solidified, shattered, dissolved, evaporated; in the realm of blood control, the skills and tactical proficiency of the ’Resentful-spirit in the Sword’ were even clearly superior to Zhao Yan!
"Enough! Why don’t you fall!"
This time, Zhao Yan’s violent outburst was once again meaningless.
The skeletal figure, pierced by countless "blood arrows," still stood before Zhao Yan, silently swinging the sword again.
This time, Zhao Yan could only retreat helplessly... and so, the Hunters on the periphery began a new round of bombardment.
He no longer had the strength to split himself into three, and could only awkwardly dodge in the hail of bullets.
He didn’t even have the strength to control the Blood Shield, because every remaining drop of "blood" was the Power Source that kept him alive... To put it more colloquially, "blood" is not only the ’Delicacies’ "Life" points but also the "Magic" points for the Blood Feast, and squandering it would lead to quick death.
"....This, is your time of death."
The Damu, raising his war sword, had somehow oddly recovered some spirit, and his body regained some color as well.
In the midst of battle, he continued to look like a dried-up corpse, growing more and more haggard the longer he fought, but always, mysteriously gaining some strength to carry on.
He was like a puppet controlled by the Demon Sword, always hovering between half-dead and half-alive.
The greedy Demon Sword, however, became even more "nourished".... that eerie red glow was several times what it had been before.
"...Take it, take all my life...."
Once again, a significant blood loss made Damu even weaker, but even at this moment, he still did not fall.
On the contrary, the wounds that had been inflicted healed rapidly..... At this moment, he had actually fallen into the Illusionary Realm.
"...My people....." In the corridor of dreams and memories, he saw his native land, the beautiful home he had been exiled from.
"...Son..." Wasn’t the little cub already dead? Oh, is he alive again?
"Are you all there..." The figures of those who had died, or maybe were about to die, appeared one after another.
The delirious Lion Man appeared again, but this moment, he struck even more fiercely and swiftly.
His consciousness, however, was lost in confusion.
He remembered all that he had been through on his journey, his tribespeople who were ostracized in the Refugee Camp, and his kin killed by the Blood Feast and the Monster before him in the underground area.....
"Take it, take it all..."
The greedy Demon Sword gave him the dream he most desired and happily drained even more from him.
Perhaps, walking to the end in the realm of dreams, entrusting everything to this cursed sword, was a good ending for him as well.
Suddenly, a bizarre flash of golden light vanished in the blink of an eye....
"Haha, Damu, of course I can lend you this inauspicious Demon Sword, and I’ll take good care of your clansmen and your family, at least, by giving them enough wealth. But as you know, if there’s no one at home to hold up the fort, that money can become a curse instead."
Mr. An Nan’s words, for some reason, echoed in my ears again.
"Do you want your people to have a future by relying on someone else’s promise? It’s better you strive to survive and take my reward, to give your people a good life. Outsiders can never be relied upon."
At that moment, the usually cheerful Mr. An Nan seemed to show a rare burst of anger, as if he too had suffered some misfortune.
"...Yes, Mr. An Nan is right; for the sake of my people, I must survive! I am now the strongest in my clan, I am the King! If I fall, how can I expect those outsiders to..."
The holder of the Demon Sword regained his reason and faintly, it seemed as if he could hear the resentful spirit’s sigh of regret.
However, his battlefield remained arduous and his weapon, powerful but cruel.
This Demon Sword, when facing opponents who weren’t from the Blood Feast or related to the blood system, couldn’t activate its primary ability, but that didn’t mean it was a mere blank slate.
On the contrary, its secondary function was even more powerful and more dangerous...
[Feature 2: The Regret of Loyalty (Quasi-rule Level): It constantly craves blood, whether it’s the enemy’s or the Sword Master’s. Each time it draws blood from an opponent, it will also draw blood from the Sword Master in proportion (Life Force), but if the Sword Master is on the verge of death, it will ’nourish’ in return.]
This is an extremely strong and pure ’blood-sucking characteristic’, even capable of giving the Sword Master a certain degree of Undying-nature. But don’t think the Demon Sword is really that kind-hearted.
[Note 1: During the repeated process of ’nourishing’ in return, the Sword Master’s body will be filled with life force and blood bestowed by the Demon Sword, obviously not without a cost. As its use continues, the Sword Master’s life will be replaced by the Demon Sword... After being completely eroded, and before physical collapse, the Sword Master will become a puppet to the Demon Sword.]
[The deathbed conversion of a villain? Perhaps, there is some, but more so, it is still just greed and regret, regret that one did not eat enough, regret that there is not one more chance to feast...]
"Blood-sucking" or "drawing blood" characteristics are common abilities of the Blood Feast and even low-level Life systems, but they are used daily even at high levels up to Rule-level.
Blood is the currency of life force, and in the internal strife of the Blood Feast, it often also begins as a fight for the control over "blood."
Loyalty’s "Quasi-rule" is just that plain ’Drawing Life’... Plain, yet powerful.
Whatever ability Zhao Yan used, as long as it related to blood, the Demon Sword just needed to draw life force desperately.
Drawing, transferring, controlling—a simple ability characteristic that is ideal for internal strife experts.
And among these soul currencies, Loyalty, who had elevated "blood-sucking" to his ’Unique Rule’, was obviously not innocent.
Known as a Gourmet among his peers, he was long since captured by the joy of devouring life; that former officer had long perished, leaving behind only a greedy and never-satisfied ghoul.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
"Wanting to devour more life even in death... This Demon Sword truly is pure."
Once the life force inside the Sword Master was completely eroded by the Demon Sword, perhaps that resentful spirit would return to the world of the living. But a Sword Slave driven purely by instincts would only create new massacres.
Such a characteristic, paired with its self-harming ability "Grudge of the Dead (Self-Consumption Acceleration Quasi-Rule Level Penalty)", meant that insufficiently strong Sword Masters would probably just be fodder.
But now, with his astonishing will and life force, Damu successfully withstood the Demon Sword’s erosion countless times... Which meant, unfortunately, his opponents were in trouble.
This Demon Sword might contain Loyalty’s "I don’t want to die" grudge, along with deep-seated hatred for his own kindred and the Blood Feast.
In every aspect, he was specialized in fighting the Blood Feast... And a Sword Slave who is "locked in blood" and "Undead" is hardly likely to lie down in such a blood mastery confrontation.
"... Why did you encourage Damu to survive and even spend Gold Coins, isn’t this preventing a perfect recovery of his currency?"
Big Cat was somewhat puzzled and didn’t understand why Lu Ping’an suddenly spent Gold Coins to bring back Damu’s reason.
Wouldn’t letting him become an Undead Sword Slave be more effective?
"An Undead puppet driven by instinct, how can it compare with a man who has a home to return to... Fine, listen up, at least I think doing this makes me a bit happier. There are not so many calculations, it’s just an act of convenience."
Lu Ping’an shrugged his shoulders, without saying much.
"Anyway, victory is just a matter of time; let me be capricious for a while."
Lu Ping’an closed the book with a smile, and on the chessboard in front of him was a black King Chess piece that had completely fallen and was about to be checkmated.
It was already isolated and alone, surrounded only by white Chess pieces... Any move it made would signify its end.
Blood is indeed the currency of life, but Zhao Yan, who had been drained of all his "currency," no longer had the possibility to survive.
"Let’s go, it’s time to harvest."
— End of Chapter 982 —