Chapter 302 Unleased
It had been less than a minute since the clash began, and now Claude, the towering werewolf, could be seen retreating, his condition dire. His left arm was severed just above the elbow, and a long diagonal cut was visible on his chest, leaving behind gruesome wounds frozen in ice.
The once-wide grin on his fearsome visage had vanished, replaced by an expression of fear and disbelief that mirrored the agony he was experiencing.
In stark contrast, Larsam remained steadfast in the distance. His domain was a nightmarish spectacle, teeming with grotesque bone monstrosities cloaked in a swirling storm of malevolent dark energy.
The dark shroud that had concealed him had dissipated, and his appearance was anything but pleasant to the eyes.
Larsam had the look of an ancient and withered man, far from a normal elderly human, his features marked by the passage of countless years.
He seemed like an evil creature hidden beneath a human façade, with his eyes resembling two deep, hollow abysses devoid of emotion or humanity, their depths seeming to swallow all light.
The body parts not covered by his dark robe, like his hands, face, skull, and neck, were covered in intricate, dark runes that pulsed with foreboding energy, giving off an air of sinister power and ancient malevolence.
"Larsam, I can't heal. The bastard is messing with my blood," Claude roared, his voice carrying evident panic.
Larsam lifted his staff, and immediately, a swirling vortex of dark energy enveloped Claude, providing him some relief from his torment.
Larsam lowered his staff and held it with both of his bony hands, his attention shifting to the enigmatic figure who stood in the distance, seemingly lost in thought as he peered toward his right.
The bony staff radiated with pulsating energy as Larsam whispered in a hushed tone, "Death Chains." In response to his command, thousands of dark, ethereal chains materialized out of thin air around Elder Darrien. They moved with incredible speed, ensnaring his body and rendering him immobile.
The chains released a dense, malevolent energy that began to wither away Elder Darrien's skin, but the damage inflicted by the decay energy was healed before it could even do any damage to the skin.
Larsam continued to chant in some unknown language, his words echoing in a haunting symphony of agony and whispers, and as the chant continued, his face underwent a visible change as if he were under tremendous pressure.
The runes covering his body shimmered with intense darkness, and a change began to occur in the space that separated Claude and Elder Darrien.
A dark entity started to materialize into existence. It took on the form of a grim reaper, an ethereal entity and not a material one, shrouded in tattered, shadowy robes that billowed like a malevolent cloak.
Its skeletal hands gripped a dark bone scythe, its blade emitting a chilling, eerie glow disrupting the very space around it.
'He must be planning something serious for him to send six Elemental Rulers to their death,' Elder Darrien thought as he shifted his gaze to the colossal grim reaper looming before him.
'Let's get rid of this, Lich first, as his presence would only prolonge the battle,' Elder Darrien thought before he closed his eyes, and a moment later, his body started to get adorned in a multitude of runes that shimmered with crimson radiance.
Elder Darrien's strength, which stood firm at the middle stage of the Eighth Rank, started to slowly rise, and with it, so did his aura, and the two figures who already held wary expressions felt a chill run down their spine, feeling the rapid changes in their opponent strength.
"Ancestral Blood Awakening"
Seeing the change, Claude instinctively lowered his posture like a threatened beast, his eyes showing fear, and without wasting a moment, he roared out his words, echoing through the domain as his body started to transform dramatically.
His sliced hand regrew at a visible pace, and the deep gash on his chest faded into a scar that diminished with each passing moment.
Markings, like ancient runes etched in purest silver, began manifesting on his fur-covered body. These mystical symbols glowed with a haunting luminescence, pulsating with the ancient power.
A profound shift started to occur in his physique as his muscles swelled and bulged beneath his fur, and his cold, cold, icy-blue eyes, which had once exuded a frigid chill, transformed into pools of purest white.
Simultaneously, Claude's elemental domain expanded to tens of kilometers with astonishing speed.
The vast ocean of blood and gore that had once dominated the battlefield froze in response to his power, turning into an expanse of pristine white ice.
"Soul Harvest," Larsam also didn't wait as his deep voice echoed, and in response to his command, the fully materialized soul reaper raised his scythe.
Its body oozed with malevolent energy, and its hollow eyes transformed into swirling vortexes of pitch darkness, ready to claim a life with a single strike.
'It's been a while since I felt this alive,' Elder Darrien said as a rare smile appeared on his face.
Elder Darrien firmly gripped his battle axe with both hands, the blade edge cloaked in an ethereally red hue, and after a moment of tension, the reaper's arms blurred as his massive scythe moved.
'Blood Dominance,' Elder Darrien murmured as his axe met the colossal ethereal scythe, halting its advance.
"You stand in my path," Elder Darrien declared as his axe pushed against the scythe, releasing a crimson energy wave that passed through the reaper's body.
Larsam watched in disbelief how his strongest attack, the embodiment of death, withered away into nothingness, but his axe sweeping in a swift, decisive arc. It sliced through multiple barriers and decapitated Larsam in an instant before he or his momentary shock blinded him to the danger he was facing.
"Larsam, Watch out," Claude roared as he sprinted on all four, zipping through the space as he moved to save his companion.
Elder Darrien appeared amidst the army of bone monstrosities, his axe sweeping in a swift, decisive arc. It sliced through multiple barriers and decapitated Larsam in an instant before he or his guards could react to the attack.
"Sanguine Annihilation," Elder Darrien said as a field of crimson mist rapidly expanded to his surroundings that erased anything it came in contact with while he stared at the fear-filled eyes of Larsam, who was trying to heal, but his body was being erased in mere moments.
Claude stopped in his tracks, not daring to approach the malevolent cloud of crimson mist after seeing his companion easily get decapitated. n)-0velBIn
After seeing Larsam's body turn to dust and his domain crumble and get devoured into the ocean of blood and gore, he uttered two words.
"Domain Collapse," Elder Darrien uttered the words with an air of command, and instantly, the vast, sprawling domain that had extended as far as the eye could see began to crumble and disintegrate.
Even Claude's frozen glacial tundra expanse couldn't withstand this collapse's overwhelming force. In an instant, Elder Darrien and Claude found themselves transported to the outside world, standing under the clear blue sky near the vast, expanding, dark portal.
The abrupt change in scenery was disorienting for Claude, even in his transformed form, but he had little time to adjust before Elder Darrien initiated his next move.
"Gore Domain," Elder Darrien declared, his voice resonating with authority. In response, a vast ocean of blood and gore materialized around him, rapidly expanding and engulfing the surrounding area.
Tens of kilometers were covered in an instant, and millions of onlookers close to the area watched in awe and horror as the once-blue sky turned crimson.
A wave of overwhelming killing intent and bloodlust washed over them, causing millions to lose consciousness and even making seasoned veterans tremble as if they had stared into the abyss of death.
The phenomenon was as sudden as it was terrifying, but just as swiftly as it had come, it dissipated, leaving the affected individuals shaken but alive.
The ocean of blood coalesced into a giant sphere of swirling crimson liquid with a diameter of hundreds of meters, much larger than what the undead lich Larsam could create.
It remained suspended in the sky, resembling a blood-red moon radiating with a sinister crimson hue, while thousands stared at it with bated breaths knowing what it represented.
