Kingdom's Bloodline, page 189
Asda raised the ball of light in his left hand and glared at the Blood Mystic while a blue light shone in his eyes.
"Don't, Giza," he said in a low tone.
Thales panted, still yet to recover from his shock. He stared at the sharp, terrifying thorns in front of him.
He made a panicked giggle.
Those roots moved about as if they possessed lives. They shrank back before they shot forward again.
"Ah!" This time, Little Rascal let out a shriek as she reacted to the situation.
Asda snapped his fingers lightly.
*Bang!*
Several powerful streams of air swept out in torrents around Thales and forcefully cut off the roots.
"Really, Giza?" With a steely expression, the Air Mystic said coldly, "We suffered great losses during the Battle of Eradication. Don't destroy everything after we've finally reached this state."
The sliced roots shuddered, and sharp thorns grew on them again before they shrank back to the Blood Mystic's side.
At that moment, Giza suddenly scoffed and said, "Hmph, how hilarious. How dare you mention the Battle of Eradication? You speak as if you feel proud because of it."
When Asda heard her words, a light crease appeared between his eyebrows.
"We are one," the Air Mystic said in a serious manner, "Dividing ourselves into factions will just injure us, and it is not beneficial to us as a whole."
"One?" Giza let out a snort and her voice turned cold. "One!"
The Blood Mystic walked forward slowly. The roots by her side followed her unhurriedly. Her eyes looked as if there were flames dancing in them.
"When we were bathed in blood and fighting for the future of Mystics, where were you cowards? When we were fighting against the Obscurists to the point that we could not tell friend from foe, where were you deserters? When we were set up by the two empresses to the point that we were driven to a corner, where were you pests?
"L, Bryan, Lebla, B, Erik… When we fell one by one, where you so-called Moderators?
"One? Bah!"
Thales listened to Giza's words, stunned, but mentally noted down all the names, titles, and nouns used.
He might use them in the future...
Even though he was up against most possibly the most dangerous enemy in his life.
Asda's expression turned cold.
"Don't stick your labels on us." The Air Mystic's words were cold and aloof. "We are not known as Moderators."
Giza's smile became even brighter. "Of course, that was the title Lebla designated to your faction. Before that, B called the lot of you…
"'Taurus' lap dogs'."
Asda's expression became even more sullen.
"Are you saying that there are no grounds for negotiation?" Asda sucked in a deep breath. "No matter what, we are partners."
Giza nodded, smiled sweetly, and said, "That's right. You just have to work with me, isn't that so?"
Asda sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was only a coldness in his eyes.
The Air Mystic snorted coldly. "I've had enough of all of you. B? That person, that madman who led all of you to become unreasonable, wild dogs, only knew how to bark rabidly, and wouldn't listen to reason?!"
The two of them fell silent for a moment, but Thales felt that this was more akin to the calm before a storm.
As expected, after a moment, a frightening, blood-red light shone in Giza's eyes. "B taught us to accept ourselves and be free from our shackles. And you-you domestic dog from the Magic Tower, Taurus''yes man', you feel uncomfortable without a collar around your neck, hmm?"
Asda did not back down. "I just knew that the witches from the Third Ring wouldn't be able to bring up any good students."
And then, he let out a cold harrumph. "You 'b*tch'."
Giza did not speak. The beautiful maiden remained silent for three seconds.
However, three seconds later, the words she said caused Asda's face to change color from the agitation.
The Blood Mystic slowly said, "What exactly is air? Is it an entity that moves, fills, and exists in everything? Or is it something that remains in the same shape, lingers around, and is as light as emptiness itself?"
Giza continued, unbothered, "What does air symbolize? What would disappearing air bring? Is air pure or is it mixed with all matter of life? Is air eternal or will it change constantly?
"Are you air itself, or is air a part of you?"
For the first time in his life, Thales noticed to his horror that Asda Sakern's face had begun to distort.
'What is air?'
A thought appeared in Thales' mind, and then he recalled the words Asda told him before while Thales himself was stunned.
'The first declaration among Mystics: They would not delve deep into each other's origins.'
He stared at Giza in disbelief.
'No way. She's…'
The blue light in the Air Mystic's eyes grew stronger.
The Blood Mystic's words caused Thales' skin to crawl. "What now? Could it be that you remember the three great declarations Taurus gave all of you more than you remember your own name, little puppy Asda?"
The next moment, before Asda could react, Giza opened her mouth as if she was a beast about to roar and slowly lifted her head. During that instant, Thales felt something surge out of her body. Within his field of vision, the red light from Giza became even brighter.
A brilliant, thin red thread rose on Giza's neck and gradually filled her entire face. The blood-red line swiftly divided itself into several branches before they slowly thickened, until they covered Giza's face like blood vessels with blood flowing in them.
And those blood vessels looked as if they possessed life. They began changing slowly, moving and shivering on Giza's face.
As if… they were breathing.
Asda's expression changed. He moved to Thales' side and cast the Prince of Constellation a glance with a frown.
"What—" Thales said, feeling awkward, but right when he said that word, he was interrupted.
"Don't speak," Asda said coldly, "Later, when I tell you to run, run. Don't turn your head back, don't stop."
Thales stared at Asda in shock and could only nod his head helplessly.
'Judging by his tone of voice, even Asda… does not have the confidence to protect himself?'
Little Rascal pressed herself firmly into Thales' bosom while she quivered.
With blood vessels all over her face, Giza sucked in a deep breath. As if she had just woken up from a beautiful dream, she grinned, and there was madness contained in her eyes. Her originally gentle and charming smile turned into the most gorgeous, terrifying and enraged smile.
"Oh my." The Blood Mystic looked as if she had opened the gate controlling her emotions and tilted her head to laugh loudly without inhibition. "The feeling of reunion after having spent so much time apart is really good!"
Asda stared at her grimly. "You're taking a risk by increasing your power in this place and at this time!"
"What now? Lack the courage to boost your power?" The Blood Mystic gave them another gorgeous smile. "Of course you do. After all, you're a coward.
"Little puppy Asda, why don't we play a game?"
Asda frowned deeper.
The Blood Mystic pointed at Thales, then raised her arms before she laughed maniacally and shouted, "I will raise my power with every minute I don't manage to kill him!
"And there will be no limits to its increase!"
Chapter 170: The Desperate Dash |
When Giza raised her arms, Thales felt a tremor from belowground.
*Rumble!*
In the next second, the Blood Mystic rose from the ground!
No, it should be gigantic blood tentacles that were as tall as two people broke through the ground, rose from it and forcibly lifted Giza up. She was then raised a good seven to eight stories high.
*Splat!*
Immediately following that was the sound of flesh rupturing as the gigantic tentacles exploded into numerous smaller ones. They spread across a terrifyingly large area and in every direction.
Each tentacle had a life of its own as they weaved forward. A few seconds later, the Blood Tentacles trembled collectively. Their presence was overwhelmingly pervasive as they snaked rapidly in Thales' direction.
There was more than a hundred of them. Tentacles covered almost his entire view, even the moon was hidden away.
Thales' face paled as he watched the scene unfold before him. In a daze, Little Rascal just clung to him as she had been scared silly a long time ago.
Asda opened his mouth wide and yelled furiously,
"Run!"
With a quiver, Thales pulled Little Rascal up, turned around and started running.
He gritted his teeth, then charged ahead without a care for anything else, without turning his head, and without changing his direction—just like Asda had told him to.
Giza's delighted, maniacal laughter echoed from behind him. Thales had just covered a short distance when he heard a loud boom come from behind him.
An airstream surged towards him wildly and uncontrollably.
Then another loud bang.
*Boom!*
Another airstream swept up endless dirt, stones, and snow in another direction and carried them all away.
Thales' heart jumped.
'This is bad. This is… The air wall is getting smashed!'
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The thunderous bangs behind him sounded one after another. The airflow raged more urgently and grew more chaotic. Apparently, Asda's air wall was being penetrated again and again.
As it happened, Thales felt a heavy weight in his hand—Little Rascal had slipped and fell onto the ground.
Thales felt a chill in his heart. Before he could react to the situation, the slightly slower duo felt darkness come charging towards them.
Countless tentacles struck from behind. Like a giant dome, the tentacles covered their heads…
... and blocked their way forward.
Within the darkness, Thales sucked in a breath of cold air. Right after he pulled Little Rascal up, he heard the sound of flesh scraping against each other rise from all around him.
In his line of vision, the tentacles shining with a red light came charging towards him from all angles, leaving no space forgotten.
Little Rascal hugged him tightly as she cried out in fear.
'No… Is there no chance...?'
Thales desperately felt around his waist and touched JC's dagger.
Right then, the tentacles surrounding Thales shuddered all at once. Blue glowing spots suddenly shot out from the red light that filled his entire vision.
The approaching tentacles paused.
*Boom! Bang! Splat!*
Strange explosions rang successively in his ear.
Within the next second, a ray of moonlight appeared within the darkness. It grew bigger and brighter, until it chased away the shadows cast by the tentacles.
*Boom! Pow! Smash! Bang! Splat!*
Thales watched in shock as hundreds of the Blood Tentacles around him imploded one after another. When they burst, a vast layer of blood fog and broken limbs flew out of them like shrapnel.
Another moment passed as hundreds of the smaller tentacles exploded directly at their roots.
The giant tentacle beneath the Blood Mystic also wobbled internally. A big hole ruptured on its surface and blood seeped through it as innumerable droplets.
"Such fast reactions, wizard's apprentice!" Giza laughed out loud and lightly caressed the tentacle beneath her.
Then, the scattered tentacles, due to the explosion, struggled swiftly on the ground and started transforming.
Some of the larger broken limbs had countless appendages and calves grow from it, making them resemble spiders and scorpions. The smaller broken limbs would stretch out to resemble tadpoles or snakes. Some of them even shrank into a ball and started rolling like the wheels from his previous world.
Their similarity was that once they transformed, they would run, crawl, roll, or use other methods to charge at Thales and Little Rascal.
As he watched the hundreds of oddly-shaped 'little creatures' and their convoluted figures chase after them, Thales felt his scalp tingle. He immediately turned around and ran with all his might.
'Seriously, man, I have trypophobia!'
Little Rascal seemed to have realized the severity of the situation. She clenched her jaw as she relentlessly caught up with Thales' pace. However, they simply could not outrun the creatures.
Suddenly, a six-legged, one-eyed monster with a pair of claws leaped to their side.
As Thales caught a glimpse of this thing out of the corner of his eyes, his body erupted immediately with goosebumps. In the next second, the monster suddenly trembled and exploded like the tentacles. The countless others behind it also exploded into blood droplets that rained down from the sky. Blood completely drenched Thales and Little Rascal's face.
Before Thales could rejoice, he suddenly felt that the blood on his head started jerking around as if it had life. Like millions of little tadpoles, it started to move and tremble on his skin simultaneously.
'What the f*ck!'
Disgust and fear simultaneously flashed through Thales' mind.
Fortunately, an unprecedented gust of wind then came and swept Thales and Little Rascal into the air.
*Whoosh!*
This wind seemed to have its own awareness; it entered from every spot imaginable and swept off Giza's blood from their skin. Thales and Little Rascal slipped onto the floor again, disheveled and exhausted.
That strong gust of wind grew stronger still. With a rumble, it blew several houses apart as it curled towards Giza's direction. It broke her newborn tentacles, scattered them and caused them to explode in mid-air.
Without hesitation, Thales got up as he pulled Little Rascal with him. With the momentum of the wind, they ran forward desperately.
'Run.'
He gasped for breath. The fluctuations had been activated for a long time in his body and it was for this reason that Thales held Little Rascal's hand from time to time, in case she was unable to keep up.
'Run.'
He clenched his jaw, knowing that everything related to blood and living things behind him could become a weapon to bring about his death.
'Just run. This is a desperate dash for survival!'
Finally, the two of them ran out onto the street, and saw living people again.
The Northlanders on the other street seemed to have heard the massive noise and vibrations. Many of them came out to see the commotion, and those who saw Thales sprinting engaged in fervent discussion.
Thales wanted to yell for them to escape. But running with Little Rascal already left him winded; he had no strength to even open his mouth, he could only keep running subconsciously.
Back at the street Thales fled from, a violent gust of wind billowed through and a figure stood in the air.
The Air Mystic's eyes glowed blue. The blue light flowed onto his entire face, making it seem as if his face was cracking. He was silently confronting the Blood Mystic on the tentacle.
But at that moment, the density, brightness and frequency of the blue light's current on Asda's face was stronger than when he fought against Black Sword.
"Hahahaha!" the Blood Mystic seemed to be ecstatic. She laughed as she said to Asda, "See, evolving wasn't that hard, was it?"
"You were right, evolving has increased the precision of my control." The Air Mystic's words were emotionless, neither was there any intonation in them, like he did not want to respond to Giza. "Air is indeed omnipresent in… Let's say, all life forms?"
As his voice fell, the giant tentacle beneath Giza exploded yet again into numerous holes from the inside out. It shriveled as it shrank.
"You don't have much more blood to spare," the Air Mystic said coldly, "Give up, how about that?"
The Blood Mystic smiled as she landed on the ground.
"No blood." Giza's words became more casual, her accented laughter turned strange. "No blood?"
When she said that, her eyes lit up and the blood vessels on her face became more prominent than before. They began to tremble with increasing frequency as they branched into millions of tinier branches.
"Continue evolving." As Asda flickered in the blue light, the blue rays in his eyes grew brighter, yet his tone remained surprisingly flat. "You've indeed turned insane."
In the next moment, Giza laughed impudently. The ground beneath her feet cracked suddenly as constant tremors were heard.
*Crack...*
The cracks in the ground stretched nearly a hundred meters wide, and the terrain began to bulge upwards.
*Crash!*
Amid the loud crashing, a giant monster tens of meters tall burst out of the ground with Giza as the centerpoint. Debris and snow crumbled away from its body.
The gigantic monster completely covered everything within the surrounding hundred-meter radius.
With the sound of Giza's chuckle, the monster divided into dozens of limbs comparable to the tentacles from earlier and slammed violently into the ground.
It was just like a rooted old tree. It also resembled an incomparably enormous Blood Octopus.
If Thales turned around, he would have recognized it as the terrifying 'hydra' in the birch tree forest. The only problem was that it was a dozen times larger than before.
The hydra's tentacles continued to penetrate deeper into the ground. Its limbs twitched violently, the tremors spreaded slowly without pause.
*Boom!*
Very quickly, in the streets and city districts hundreds of meters away, numerous terrifying giant tentacles erupted from the ground. One of them appeared on the street Thales had just run into.
Thales stared blankly as the giant tentacle seemingly sprouted from the ground.
The surrounding citizens burst out in cries of surprise and scattered in all directions. But their luck was clearly horrendous.
In the next second, the tentacle immediately split into countless smaller tentacles. Like a predator, mercilessly and swiftly attacking all living beings around it.
