There was one reason why s.h.i.+zo Beriache chose Fenrir as the Blood King Candidate—Fenrir had inherited the personality traits ‘struggle’ and ‘domination’ from her. Beriache believed that the ‘struggle’ trait would develop Fenrir and his kin while the desire for dominance would make him unite his kin. She judged that Fenrir’s talents were appropriate for the task of revenge.
The result was disastrous and let down her expectations. An accident occurred as the traits of struggle and domination conflicted.
Fenrir was dissatisfied that there was a ruler called Beriache above him and he burned with fighting spirit against his mother, who wasn’t the object of revenge. He also felt despair at the realization that even if he beat all his siblings and became the Blood King, he would never be able to surpa.s.s his mother and wouldn’t escape her grasp for the rest of his life.
This was the reason. It was a sense of rebellion that led him to turn away from revenge using the excuse of the Curse of Idleness, sleeping in the coffin for the rest of his life. However, it was too much to disparage or condemn him. The fundamental problem was that his character consisted of only two traits.
It was the limit of creation. The direct descendant vampires who could create true blood vampires through the chain of blood undoubtedly believed they were a great creation but in reality, they were no different from true blood vampires. Only two people—the exceptions were the complete Marie Rose, who Beriache gave up her soul to create, and Braham, who had evolved on his own with an inquisitive spirit.
‘...Blood King!’
Every time the black-haired man wielded his sword, the wind pressure seemed to cross his face. There was no time to be caught up in the pain of his hand being cut off. Fenrir had to constantly move his eyes to track the human being who was moving at a speed where Fenrir would miss if he wasn’t vigilant.
There was a sound. Was it the sound of water being sucked into a hole in the ground? Fenrir barely escaped from another one of Grid’s attacks that tore apart the air and once again demonstrated his power of dominance. Then he was convinced.
‘He is the Blood King.’
Fenrir only had two people he couldn’t control with the power of domination. They were Beriache and Marie Rose. Only those with a higher status than him could be free of the power of domination. In other words, the human in front of him transcended his status. Such a being could only be the Blood King. The legends and transcendents that humans proudly supported weren’t able to catch up with him.
‘How did this happen?’
The flood of chaos complicated Fenrir’s mind. The birth of the Blood King was designed to come from victory. Only those who won against all the direct descendants, except for Marie Rose, could become the Blood King. Until then, they were only a candidate.
Fenrir hadn’t been defeated yet. The human in front of him might be a Blood King Candidate but this meant it was physically impossible for him to go beyond Fenrir. Then what the h.e.l.l was with this person...
“Link.”
“...!!”
Fenrir missed Grid’s movement for a moment. Grid, who wielded the sword with a momentum that could cut apart mountains and tsunamis, suddenly changed his sword and it moved delicately and reached the height of its speed.
“Keok!”
Fenrir’s body, which was like a beautiful work of art, instantly became a rag. He received dozens of wounds and blood spilled around him. Meanwhile, the unquenchable flames were still burning. They quickly permeated Fenrir’s wounds and started to burn Fenrir’s internal organs.
‘Wow...’
Grid, who had been concentrating on battle in a full buff state, was briefly distracted. The 100,000 Army Ma.s.sacre Sword used twice, three single sword dances, and nine basic attacks had consumed less than a tenth of Fenrir’s health. Fenrir’s heart and toughness was terrifying and worthy of a super-named boss and a presence related to the ‘Blood King’ hidden piece.
Yet at this moment, Braham’s magic was consuming Fenrir’s health gauge in real time. Just like the name ‘unquenchable flames’, these flames would never go out until Fenrir was burned to ashes.
‘Can’t this magic catch a dragon?’
“Ugh!”
The admiring Grid hurriedly raised his sword. Fenrir’s fists collided straight with the sword.
[You have suffered 11,530 damage.]
It was an attack power that overshadowed defense. Originally, defending an attack using a weapon other than a sword meant not all damage could be observed. Still, this hurt too much. Grid’s body couldn’t withstand the shock and floated slightly. Then Fenrir spun like a spinning top and sprang at him from the left.
It wasn’t an area of martial arts. It was similar to tigers hunting herbivores with their natural physical abilities and instincts. Fenrir just instinctively wielded his powerful body. Fenrir’s left fist struck Grid in the thigh. His instinct was to shatter one of the human’s legs with this blow and then grab at his neck.
Unfortunately, the human’s legs didn’t budge. He was definitely hit by Fenrir, who was powerful enough to crush steel like tofu, yet he didn’t fly back. Fenrir’s face was stunned.
‘Truly the Blood King...! It isn’t only his status that transcends me... it is his flesh as well!’
How could the person who hadn’t beaten him become Blood King? Fenrir barely resisted the rising questions and confusion as he withdrew. Meanwhile, Grid felt like he had lost 10 years.
[The Arrogant Blue Dragon"s Boots have absorbed the damage!]
* When hit in the lower body, there is a low chance of ignoring damage.
There might be conditions attached but it exerted a crazy effect the moment it was activated. If not, it would’ve been dangerous in his present state where his maximum health was reduced by Blackening. Grid clicked his tongue as he watched the retreating Fenrir instead of linking another attack.
“Free Farming Peak Style! Sweet Potato Battering!”
Piaro, who had built a field during the time that Grid bought, created a spectacular surprise. Fenrir was surprised as Piaro clutched a thick stem in both hands and wielded dozens of rock-like sweet potatoes. He tried to dodge but was unable to avoid the energy blades suddenly flying at him from Grid. The sweet potato bombardment fell toward Fenrir’s spine as he was being burned. Fenrir suffered a big blow while blocking Grid’s energy blades and he coughed up blood.
Grid was attempting a four fusion sword dance when Mercedes’s call entered his ears. “Step back!”
“...?”
Grid reflexively stopped the sword dance and Fenrir’s hand inserted into his neck. It was an exquisite threat to Grid who had inadvertently exposed a gap. Even so, Grid didn’t feel the breath of death. Mercedes flew forward on silver wings and swung his sword at the back of Fenrir’s hand, causing Fenrir to tilt forward. Both Grid and Fenrir were drenched with sweat and blood as they stared at each other. The difference between the two of them...
“Grid! Guruk! Great warrior I have acknowledged! I will protect you! Grruk!”
“Jude! Protect!”
“Grid!”
It was the presence of colleagues. Teruchan and Jude were waiting for their turn behind Grid who could barely stand up. It was Teruchan and Jude’s swords that waited for Fenrir, who stood up at almost the same time as Grid.
“Cough!”
Teruchan’s sword boasted more strength than Grid and caused Fenrir’s left shoulder to snap back. Jude, who had barely managed to raise his strength to match Grid, slashed at Fenrir’s waist. Fenrir raised his legs in a counterattack and seemed to hit the faces of the two men exactly. Noll’s blood magic protected the two men.
Grid witnessed the series of processes happening in an instant and was suddenly engulfed in a sense of strangeness. ‘Why doesn’t he use magic?’
Grid had fought many direct descendant vampires. Apart from Elfin Stone, the master of Iyarugt, most of the direct descendants tended to rely on blood magic rather than swordsmans.h.i.+p or physical abilities. In fact, Fenrir used magic to clear a crisis when facing the cooperation between Mercedes, Piaro, and Asmophel. Now that he was in a bigger crisis, he didn’t use magic.
There was obviously something...
It happened the moment Grid was feeling an unknown anxiety.
“Danger...!”
Mercedes evoked the brilliance reminiscent of angel wings and flew in front of him with her s.h.i.+eld. She was protecting Grid, Teruchan, Jude, and Noll by herself. At the same time, a creepy sound was heard from the wounds covering Fenrir’s body. Like a cicada shedding its skin, Fenrir’s body split in half and a new body emerged from within. Fenrir’s new body was as smooth and clean as freshly made and painted porcelain.
“What...”
Grid’s group was fl.u.s.tered by the removal of skin that defied common sense. All of them noticed something that didn’t fit. The light coming from Grid’s sword, which housed the light elemental and Holy Weapon, shone on Fenrir’s new body. Strangely, only the center of Fenrir’s chest was unaffected by the light and was completely covered by darkness. It was like a condensed flame.
Mercedes’ hands pushed at Grid. Her scream echoed, “Everyone, spread out!”
The darkness swirling like a flame exploded. The ident.i.ty of the flames scattering in all directions was the unquenchable flames. It was the magic Braham had used. This was an application of the power of domination. Fenrir reversed the flames that had stuck to his body. It was because of this that he couldn’t afford to use magic. He offered it to use a hidden weapon Braham didn’t know about but it was worth it. The flames spread out like water falling over rocks and would burn any bodies they reached.
“No!”
Grid rushed out. The G.o.d Hands blocked some of the flames. Noe and Randy appeared out of the air and used Become Majestic and Revolve to protect as many knights and Overgeared members as possible.
Clack clack!Clack clack clack!
Jude and Teruchan, who had thrown off Mercedes and chased after Grid, were caught by the ankle by the Overgeared Skeletons who climbed from the ground.
“Tiramet! Let go of me!” Noll struggled against the older brother who showed up and hugged him to stop him from going after Grid.
“Revolve.” Just before Blackening ended, Grid arrived by Ruby and s.e.xy Schoolgirl and started a sword dance to protect them.
“Oppa...”
It was a day when heavy rain was falling. Ruby’s eyes were red as she recalled the old days when her brother would cover her with an umbrella on rainy days. Grid felt the heat of the flames over his head and simply smiled as he stroked his sister’s head.
He wanted to protect her. That was it.
Grid gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in preparation for the pain. However, he didn’t feel any pain. Above his head... no, the veil of magic stretched above the heads of the Overgeared members and knights like a dome. Braham’s annoyed voice was heard.
“You are still weaker than me. Don’t try to carry it on your own.”
“Braham!” Grid’s expression stiffened.
The flames caused explosions. It was difficult to predict the trajectory. It wasn’t just falling from the top. Grid stood until the veil and shouted as he saw the debris of the flames falling at Braham’s feet, but Braham stood still. Protecting him were dozens of crops that had grown from the land that had been turned into agricultural fields. It wasn’t only Braham. The crops also bloomed at the feet of the Overgeared members and blocked the flames. Noe, Randy, the Overgeared Skeletons, and Tiramet, who sacrificed themselves to protect the Overgeared members and knights, were also being embraced and protected by giant sweet potato leaves.
“Piaro...!”
Grid was feeling thrilled when he heard an explosion. Singuled and Asmophel’s swords were wounding Fenrir’s reborn body. Grid realized it the moment he saw the two people overwhelming Fenrir, who was comparable to a great demon. How blessed was he?
“Grid, there is no reason to drag out the fight.”
Braham’s magic was freezing under Grid’s feet. The power from beyond the ice was so strong that it shook the room.
“Go.”
The ground splitting was Braham’s signal. The head of the dragon, carved out of magical ice, soared up with Grid. The sight of Grid performing a sword dance on the roaring dragon caught the eyes of everyone in the room.