Each of the characters drew out the rewards they had earned from slaying the Boss. The [Mage] was the first to act.
From within his robes, he revealed a red flame outlined in black, its aura radiating a deadly chill that made the air itself feel heavier. He held it reverently for a moment before producing the rest, nine in total.
The first crimson flame he tossed into the cauldron. The instant it touched, it erupted into a blood flame, roaring upward with a life of its own. The remaining Nine Crimson Souls he positioned carefully beneath the fallen bodies of the bosses. As soon as they were placed, it was as though an intricate circuit had been ignited—the blood flames flared, and the runic patterns carved into the cauldron pulsed with violent light.
When the array had stabilized and the condensed sphere of blood within the cauldron throbbed with suffocating power, the [Knight] stepped forward. His prize was unlike any other, the Sanguine Heart of the Asura.
One heart was already sealed within the condensed blood sphere, and now he set the remaining nine into place, embedding each one at the core of a Crimson Soul and within the corpses of the slain Asuras.
The Grand Array reached completion. Rune patterns blazed to life, crisscrossing with otherworldly precision until the entire cauldron trembled.
The hearts lifted from the Knight's palms, floating into the air, pulsing with a steady rhythm. Slowly at first, then stronger, the nine hearts began to beat. The great blood sphere responded, pulsing in perfect sync.
Then the hearts began to twist and writhe. From each grew thick tendrils, veined and pulsing, as if sprouting arteries. These grotesque growths stretched toward the blood sphere, piercing into its surface until they connected. For a brief moment, silence hung heavy in the chamber.
Then came the sound.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A thunderous heartbeat that shook the ground itself. The entire construct beat as one, violent and unrelenting.
[The Reverse Blood Transfer Array]
From the mother node, the great blood sphere, fresh aortic growths pushed downward. They extended like writhing roots until they plunged into the cauldron and pierced into the body of the [Barbarian].
SPLASH!
Vikram's body jerked under the impact. This was his plan all along, to tether an endless river of Blood Essence into his cursed trait, to feed the insatiable black hole gnawing within him.
Akk, who had been standing aside, trembled visibly. His eyes widened with dawning horror, as if he had glimpsed an impossible truth. Vikram caught the reaction from the corner of his eye and felt a ripple of unease. But he didn't allow his focus to waver. Not now.
The moment the arteries pierced his flesh, the breakthrough began. The black hole within him roared to life, greedily devouring every drop of essence that poured through.
Normally, it would have consumed him whole, but the array Akk had prepared held firm. The flow of bloodline essence wasn't ordinary. it was pure, refined, unyielding.
And Vikram…
Vikram was in pain.
Not pain that could be endured with clenched teeth and grit, but something deeper—an agony that gnawed at the very roots of his being. It was as though every fiber of his existence was being dismantled and reforged into something alien, something unrecognizable… and terrifyingly powerful.
The blood essence of the Asura coursed through him like wildfire, but before he could even begin to integrate it, a surge of resistance erupted within. His Black Hole flared, thrashing like a spoiled child, refusing to devour this overwhelming power.
No, not now… not like this.
With nowhere for the torrent of energy to go, it lashed out instead. The unrestrained essence raged through his veins, destroying and remaking as it pleased, until his body could no longer contain it.
BOOM!
A violent detonation shook the chamber. A wave of red blood essence exploded outward, splattering across the cauldron and hurling Akk and the other two characters off their feet. The array shattered with a deafening crack, its runes collapsing into silence.
The three scrambled upright, pale and shaken, before rushing toward the respawn point inside the Sanctuary.
There, in a shimmer of bloodlight, the [Barbarian] reappeared.
They watched with rapt attention as Vikram's massive frame reformed. He staggered forward, drew in a heavy breath, and then shouted, voice ringing with unrestrained defiance:
"Hell yeah!!"
The Sanctuary erupted in cheers. Relief, triumph, and disbelief crashed together, drowning the tension that had weighed on them moments ago.
Yet Vikram knew better. The ritual had failed. His body was still chained to its cursed hunger. But now… now there was only one final step left between him and the threshold of true supernatural cultivation.
[Breath of the Crimson Pulse]
The words resonated in his mind like the tolling of a blood-soaked bell. Vikram's eyes gleamed with a faint scarlet light. Convenient, he thought, lips curling. Just happened to be in the start of my journey, huh.
He looked at the others briefly, then turned his focus inward, summoning the Crimson Pulse Technique. His body coiled with restless energy as he prepared for another breakthrough attempt.
But nothing came easy. To fuel the process, he had to once again hunt the Boss, nine times, with each character.
And so he did. Over and over. With the relentless pace of a deranged writer possessed by obsession, Vikram cut his way through the same trial, again and again. Each time, his body strained, his black hole rebelled, and the blood essence threatened to tear him apart.
At the last moment, inside the Blood Water, he opened his eyes and felt a hint of trepedation and dread, but gritted his teeth and went with it. So this is it. I really have gone mad.
Instead of resisting, he shifted. He let the Breath of the Crimson Pulse flow through him, its rhythm steady and unnatural, probing deeper than before. His awareness brushed against something vast and ancient, something bound to the Asura's bloodline.
He probed the Ancestor of the Asura he had slain.
And the ancestor…