The situation escalated into an undecided death match between the Emberwyrm and the Blood Bishop.
Having lost the opportunity to kill the Emberwyrm in one attack, Ace was left with the only other option left and that was to fight the beast himself with whatever weapons and skills he had.
Upon hearing the explosion, the other Hunters peeped from their hideouts, only to see a weakened and injured beast, but it wasn’t out of the fight just yet. The creature, although massive and powerful, was able to bleed and that alone was enough to act as a catalyst for the Blood Bishop to attack.
"If all options were available," he spoke to himself, assessing his surroundings and then those watching him. "I would transform into my Blood Mutant form but there are too many faint of heart weaklings here and I’m not about to start dealing with them."
Aside from having to worry about the other Hunters, Ace had to account for the other beasts lurking in the Cavern. Having not forgotten about the other beasts lurking in wait for the Emberwyrm to die so they too can strike, he opted to have his Blood Warriors deal with them while he finalized with the Emberwyrm.
"Blood Essence, manifest!!" He declared and from the wrist of his right hand appeared a large, thick cloud of clotted blood that took the forms of his Blood Soldiers, all two hundred and fifty-three of them with eight Blood Beasts. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝕟𝕖𝕥
"All of you, deal with the remaining beasts. Show no mercy. I’ll deal with this damned Emberwyrm myself." Eyes glowing red, body flowing with energy, and hands ready to draw blood, Ace ran into action with his hand stretching out, gathering every single drop of blood from the beast’s wounds.
With the power amplification coming from his gauntlets, the Blood Bishop was able to drain a large sum of blood the size equivalent in size, height, and weight to a human body. Using it, he created a thick and heavy Blood Sword that shimmered with every swing.
Heroically, Ace ran at the beast and slid under its body, penetrating the tips of his sword into its rock-hard body. To no effect, the sword proved to be useless against the beast’s armor so Ace opted to cause damage to it.
[Blood Weapon Type: Hammer.]
The Blood Sword morphed into a hammer, its front side having small teeth designed to crush anything they were slammed onto. Now with this weapon, Ace began his attack. The beast quickly fell on its belly, hoping to crush the Human underneath it.
Hastily, Ace rolled away from under its belly and stood next to it. The heat radiating from the beast intensified to the extent that Ace’s loose clothing started to slowly burn off but that wasn’t going to stop him just yet.
"HYAHH!!" Using all his strength, he slammed his hammer down as hard as he could and took off a large amount of the beast’s armor. The creature roared and swayed its body side-to-side, nearly crushing Ace in the process.
It then turned to look at its wounds, its eyes landing on the person responsible for it.
"CRAP!!" Quickly, the Blood Bishop turned the Blood Hammer into a thick shield which he used to protect itself from the creature’s breath attack. For over ten seconds, the beast blew hard and furiously, its hot and acidic breath burning parts of Ace’s skin and clothing.
Not strong enough to withstand the beast’s breath attack, Ace was pushed back heavily, his body slamming into the hot and partially molten portions of the burned Cavern.
[You’re suffering burn wounds. The Healing process has begun.]
The sides of Ace’s clothing were burned off his body, leaving him vulnerable to the scorching heat of the Emberwyrm. His forearms, shoulders, and abdomen sizzled with burn wounds but thankfully, he was able to heal from them. However, despite having regenerative abilities, the Blood Bishop knew how dangerous it would be to let his body take on multiple hits just to have him heal afterward. Firstly, his energy was limited and every time he’d heal, it would take a toll on said energy which he needed for other things at the moment.
"It’s going to take more than that to kill me!!" he mumbled and ran at the beast again. Running faster than the creature could react, the Blood Bishop leaped onto its back, running along its spinal area and onto the injured sides of its neck.
Using the tips of his gauntlets, Ace slit his wrists and drew out a large sum of his blood, coating it on the beast’s neck. The creature violently shook its body, thrusting the Blood Bishop off into the air.
Still in the air, the Blood Bishop aimed his gauntlets at the beast’s neck and prepared to unleash a scorching burn into its body. However, since he was in mid-air, Ace wasn’t able to dodge the beast’s energy-breath attack.
Using the opportunity, they both unleashed their attacks, the beast breathing a large gush of energy at the Blood Bishop and the Blood Bishop unleashing his Blood Fire technique.
Thanks to the Blood Fire Skill, the beast shrieked and screamed in discomfort, setting its aim off course, sparing the Blood Bishop from a scalding experience.
Once he got back on the ground, Ace ran for the beast yet again, his wounds quickly healing while he retracted his Blood Hammer. Yet again, he resumed slamming away at the beast’s tough armor, exposing its weak and fragile underside.
[Your Blood Warriors have been upgraded to the Second Level]
[Your Upper Grade Blood Warriors have been upgraded to the third level.]
[+50 Blood Strength Stats earned.]
[Blood Strength:112>>>162]
The increase in his Blood Strength was felt almost immediately, enabling Ace to continue with his attacks. As the beast was still recovering from the Blood Fire attack, the Blood Bishop ran to its back legs with a large sword placed on them.
With each slam, the sword would extend parts of its edges into the beast’s leg, penetrating through the armor, the soft skin underneath, and finally into its flesh. The more he swung, the deeper the sword penetrated and the more blood it drained, adding to its size, durability, and sharpness.
At the right moment, Ace slid under the beast’s underbelly and went for the other leg, repeating the same move over and over again. With the help of his Blood Warriors, which kept the beast’s attention on them, he was able to confuse, frustrate, and disorientate the beast long enough for him to finally leave deep wounds on its legs.
Now the beast was trapped. Its back legs were not useless, but it still had four at the front which were also being attacked by the multiple Blood Warriors and Beasts. With the numbers on his side, Ace used that to his advantage to overwhelm the beast.
"I can feel it," he mumbled, having collected all of the Blood Mana from the other beasts his Blood Warriors killed. "My strength rises with each battle I face. If I kill this, I’ll receive a large sum of Blood Mana and have this beast under my control."
"Blood Essence, Manifest!!"
[+ 2034 Blood Mana Earned.]
[Blood Mana: 7,624/16,000>>>>9,658/ 16,000]
[You have Conjured Thirty more Blood Beasts. Your Blood Army grows.]
[Conjured Blood Beings: 286]
[The Iron Manipulation Technique has been applied. All your Blood Warriors are two times more durable than they were.]
"It’s time we end this!!" A red glow engulfed the Blood Bishop’s body as his gauntlets shone bright red. The environment grew intense as the fight between the two opponents approached its climax. The Blood Bishop began exploiting the powerful aspects as the beast entered a rage state. In Granian Nature and other natures across the universe, beasts would exhibit signs of added strength and vicious character whenever they felt threatened, cornered, or were about to die.
This, in return, would fuel their bodies with ridiculous amounts of energy that wouldn’t last very long but would be enough to at least enable them to escape and at the moment, the Emberwyrm was showing such signs.
Roaring, instead of screeching, the Emberwyrm turned towards the Blood Bishop while flinging its tail on his Blood Warriors, laying waste to all of them. With one last opportunity to kill its opponent, it took a deep breath, summoned as much strength as it could, and prepared to unleash another energy breath attack, one that would be more powerful than any it had shown.
Ace was also conjuring something powerful to counter the beast’s attack. Summoning all of his remaining Conjured Blood Warriors, Ace turned them into a spiraling orb of blood, hovering it over his head. As the blood orb spiraled, it sucked in every drop of blood that spilled, whether Human, Granian, non-Granian, or beast, resulting in it increasing in size and power.
[Energy: 430/530>>>290/530]
For it to work, Ace slit his wrists and added a large portion of his own blood, taking with it a large chunk of his energy. He didn’t matter how much damage it did to him, provided that it would result in his enemy dying.
"TIME WE END THIS!!" He screamed, his body bursting with the red aura pushing the spiraling Blood orb forward, turning it into a spinning blood spike. At the same time, the beast unleashed a powerful blast of energy, turning the fight into a battle of strength.
Ace vs. Emberwyrm. Whoever would come out victorious would get to walk away with their lives.