Aeon found himself in a battle against 7 corpses surrounding him from all directions.
Despite holding his ground against them, injuries began to appear on his body due to 3 corpses that were using that strange spell from a distance while the other 4 restrained him. His robe had become heavily torn. Although these wounds were not fatal and would not pose a threat to him, the curse accompanying these attacks was continuously draining his spiritual energy to prevent it from worsening and forcefully taking control of his blood. If this continued, it would impose a burden on him until he reached the point of no return.
He tried several times to cut the corpses, and while he could penetrate their flesh relatively easily, the bones of these corpses were as hard as metal. He even noticed some formations drawn on those bones. Aeon concluded that they were formations that made the bones more solid, just as weapon smiths do with their weapons to make them durable, sharp, agile, fast, or even heavy.
Aeon took a deep breath. In this situation, he found no choice but to use his trump card; otherwise, the moment a flaw appeared in his defense, his opponent would exploit it and push him into a desperate corner.
Two corpses attacked Aeon from the front. Aeon blocked with his sword, but he did not put much strength into it on purpose. He used the force of the two corpses to send himself flying away from the battlefield to find time to activate his technique.
"Blood Burn Technique—Ignition," Aeon said in a slightly low voice.
His aura flickered once, then began to retract into his body until not a single drop remained outside. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly like a tiger entering combat mode. His tied hair became disheveled and rose upward without any wind moving it. His skin began to redden slightly, and the veins under his eyes and on his neck became more prominent due to the violent flow of blood… to the point that, faintly, the sound of his heartbeat could be heard.
Aeon suddenly disappeared and swung his sword toward one of the corpses. It tried to block with its arm, but it was sent flying hundreds of meters backward until it crashed into a massive rock that stopped its momentum.
Nick was shocked by this sudden transformation. Aeon's power had risen several times over. Suddenly, he felt a bad premonition when he saw Aeon appear in front of one of the corpses responsible for the ranged attacks. He quickly cut his spiritual connection with that corpse.
When...
Cut
That corpse was split with a diagonal slash from shoulder to chest… the upper half of the corpse slowly slid down until it fell to the ground…
But Aeon was not interested in looking at that sight, because the moment he cut that corpse, he was already in front of another one, his sword ready for another strike, when he suddenly sensed danger behind him. He quickly stomped the ground and shifted his trajectory to the right. A corpse had transformed its hand into a sharp bone and attacked Aeon to protect the other corpse.
Aeon turned his gaze to Nick, who had a dark look filled with killing intent as he stared at the corpse that Aeon had split.
"I didn't expect you to sense the danger so quickly. I was 90% sure you would order the corpse to dodge, but it seems you realized dodging wouldn't help and that the corpse would be destroyed no matter what… so you cut your spiritual connection with it, otherwise that would have put you in a very embarrassing position," he said mockingly, his sword planted in the ground as he leaned on it lazily.
"I didn't expect this. It seems I truly underestimated you. Congratulations—you managed to provoke me by destroying my work of art," Nick said. His voice was strangely calm, but the killing intent hidden within it could make anyone else tremble in fear.
"No need to praise me. I know you have a trump card—hurry up and use it, or I'll beat you before the Empire's knights arrive," Aeon said mockingly as he dusted off his torn clothes.
"I like your arrogance. I'll be happy to make you crawl on the ground begging for your life. I'll show you the meaning of true power, and that your cheap tricks mean nothing before me." Nick's eyes gleamed with a crimson red light filled with bloodlust as the corpses gathered around him. He slightly raised his hand, and a blood-colored spell appeared above his palm. Tendrils extended from it, connecting to the six corpses—even the one Aeon had split.
The corpses suddenly began to grow thinner and thinner, while Nick started gaining weight, his muscles bulging, and even his face began to fill out.
Aeon stood at a distance, watching calmly without any intention of stopping him—not out of arrogance, but because the corpses surrounded Nick from all directions. Even if he used some of his strength now, the corpses would stop him. Nick was not stupid enough to transform in front of him without a shield to buy time, so Aeon did not waste any strength trying to stop him. The second reason was his arrogance and his excitement to fight someone strong from his own generation—someone who could push his limits under the threat of death. He watched as Nick's aura grew stronger and stronger, and the pressure he emitted slowly pressed down on Aeon.
Only now did he understand why he had felt such intense danger from Nick.
Nick stood with a tall, muscular body, completely different from his previous thin state. He had become very handsome, while the corpses around him had grown thinner like tree branches—just like Nick before.
Nick suddenly said, staring at Aeon with eyes now filled with life as if they wanted to devour the entire world:
"Perhaps I should thank you for angering me. My bloodline requires me to let the corpses absorb my power as a burden for my energy and blood, while my body remains in a constant state of hunger to dig out my potential. I was supposed to remain in that weakened state until the Kingdom of the Six Thousand Islands opened as a trump card against my peers, but thanks to you, I can immerse myself in this feeling once again after several years. As a token of gratitude, I'll leave you a complete corpse."
Aeon wanted to say that he talks too much when Nick suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of the shocked Aeon. Nick's speed in this state was so fast that Aeon could not even see how he moved.
He hurriedly raised his sword in front of his chest to block Nick's punch aimed at his chest.
Aeon coughed blood from his mouth as he was sent flying at tremendous speed like a projectile toward the city gates. His body slammed into the gate and pierced through it. He felt several bones in his body had already broken, and his momentum carried him for several thousand meters before he finally stopped. Several buildings were destroyed as Aeon crashed through them… if not for strengthening his body with the Blood Burn Technique, that punch would have been enough to leave him paralyzed for several days.