Those were the only two things Neraxis had been doing for the last hour, and still, the army's numbers did not seem to dwindle in the slightest.
He was beginning to suffer some injuries as well, which he healed with his Unyielding Vitality perk, as well as Vampiric Dominion's Partial Vampirism.
While drinking the blood of his foes seemed vile, it was that or death, so Neraxis naturally chose to do what he could to survive.
Now, his body and clothes were in tatters—the sheer amount of blood spilled was overwhelming.
Even after using Crimson Sovereignty's Blood Sovereignty to create constructs, they were all easily destroyed.
When will this end? Neraxis thought, cleaving tens of soldiers in half, his sword breaking in the process.
Before the next batch arrived, he picked up one of the hundreds of swords scattered across the ground and soon used Simple Horizontal Slash to kill everyone in his sight.
Yet, just like before, the onslaught did not stop—in fact, it almost seemed like their numbers had doubled.
Is this it? he let out a sigh, slicing a few more soldiers in half.
Neraxis could not do this forever. Even though his injuries were healing, the fatigue from suffering those injuries in the first place was steadily increasing.
Stellar Dominion's Cosmic Cascade appeared before him, quickly killing hundreds of soldiers at once. After swiftly turning around, he used Vampiric Dominion's Blood Rend.
So many skills to use, but way too many people to use them on.
I have to retreat. Neraxis decided quickly, narrowing his eyes on a gap in their seemingly impenetrable formation.
If only he could take a small break—a few minutes even—his chances of winning would greatly increase.
However, as he began running, a spear appeared out of nowhere, catching him off guard and piercing straight through his shoulder.
Neraxis cut down the person who had thrown it, but the damage was done. He quickly pushed the spear out and drank the soldier's blood.
But before he could finish, he noticed a peculiar green substance in the man's blood that caused him to halt.
His blood is poisoned. Shit...
While he didn't know the actual limits of his skill, poison immunity was likely not one of them.
Nonetheless, he locked onto a faraway soldier and used Sword Dash, cleaving him in half and moving on.
Yet, not even a few moments later, he was surrounded.
Fuck... Neraxis exclaimed inwardly when, all of a sudden, he saw a figure fall from the sky.
Realizing who it was, he moved quickly, catching the falling figure in his arms and looking down at them with a flabbergasted expression.
"Aella... What are you doing here?" he asked, receiving a slap on the cheek in response.
However, that slap healed him, slightly recovering his fatigue.
"I asked that icy bitch if I could help you, and after a bit of persuasion, she agreed," Aella explained with a frown. "Why didn't you ask me to come with you? I already said I'd follow you up the mountain, and I wanted to follow you here too."
"Unbelievable..." Neraxis couldn't help but exclaim. Yet, at the same time, without her, this fight did not seem winnable.
"I want you to support me from behind like you've always done. In the meantime, I'm going to kill them," he instructed sternly and received a nod in response.
But suddenly, Aella walked up to him and stabbed him with some sort of syringe.
"What did you just do?" he asked, startled.
She waved her hand dismissively before injecting the same syringe into herself.
Then, she spoke directly into his mind.
Noticing her confident tone, he didn't turn her down. "Got it. I leave it all up to you—stay close to me."
His words traveled directly into her mind, and as they did, the fight resumed.
The army on horseback approached, but with his fatigue practically gone, he easily sliced through them, using a Simple Stab to pierce an entire line forward.
At the same time, he kept close to her, occasionally pulling her arm back to forcefully dodge an attack aimed at her.
What he noticed in the heat of the moment was that his Aura of the Abyss didn't affect her.
He could only assume it worked on those he considered enemies—and allies were exempt from its effects.
Aella's urgent voice rang out, and as he turned, Neraxis was met with a spear piercing straight through his leg.
Ignoring the pain, he swung his weapon at the soldier, disintegrating him instantly.
She ran up to him and began pounding his back.
Immediately, the injury healed, and he felt even better than before.
It really was like total magic.
This kind of battle continued for what felt like hours until finally, Neraxis noticed their numbers dwindling.
But he hadn't accounted for the exhaustion Aella would face. Soon, she tripped on the uneven ground and fell.
Before a soldier could strike her down, Neraxis used Sword Dash, appearing behind the attacker and slapping his head clean off.
she said through rough breaths.
"Yeah, they're retreating." Neraxis nodded, focusing on all the blood in the surroundings and quickly using Crimson Sovereignty's Blood Sovereignty.
[152x Blood Constructs Summoned! Type: Combat—Homing Blood Needle]
That worked, huh? He smiled with satisfaction, watching as the blood needles tracked each soldier down. Finally, the battlefield grew still.
Aella's deep exhale resounded as she plopped down onto the ground, sweaty and exhausted.
Neraxis looked at her with a smile, but deep down, he knew this was likely not over.
Despite his expectations, a hand suddenly appeared out of thin air—the same pristine white hand identical to Seraphina's—as she lifted both of them by their collars and yanked them upward.
He watched as the bloody, war-ridden world grew farther and farther away until he found himself plopping down on the gazebo's chair, Aella landing right beside him.
However, the lack of the stigmata system messages slightly alerted Neraxis.
"That's good enough, darlings," Seraphina said with a clap. "I wanted to evaluate what you were capable of, but your girlfriend was very insistent on tagging along."
Girlfriend...? Neraxis raised a brow, watching as Aella's cheeks visibly reddened.
Seraphina didn't elaborate. Instead, she shifted to other matters.
"I've had a talk with Evangeline, and I believe we got along pretty well!" she said with a small smile as Evangeline floated past her and back into Neraxis's tattoo.
[She's a crazy woman, but not necessarily an enemy. At least, that's what I gathered. Just go along with her delusions. I made sure to convince her to back off,] Evangeline explained with a scoff.
Neraxis glanced into Seraphina's white eyes before saying, "I believe you'll hold up your end of the bargain, so ask away."
Seraphina's smile faded, replaced by a serious expression.
"You see... I want to get out of this place. I don't even remember how long I've ruled over this desolate land," she trailed off. "A few weeks ago, I managed to connect to the world where you humans are from, and that's why I want out."
"So, is your plan to conquer humanity or something?" Neraxis questioned with a raised brow.
But she merely chuckled in response. "Of course not. I don't want to conquer anything. I just want a new place to stay."
Seraphina leaned in closer.
"So, would you please take me with you, darling?"