“It’s not in its full form; a full-form Blood Hunter is a hundred meters long, and even we have trouble dealing with it,”
Within the particle light screen, the living creature puppet’s transformation continued unabated. Utilizing the Blood Light Ring, it began to absorb the power from the blood, drawing from the individuals just killed by the apprentices. Supported by the power of the blood, its recovery ability vastly exceeded that from before.
In a matter of seconds, the vivid blood-striped patterns on the living creature puppet’s body became more animated, transforming into writhing blood-colored tendrils, looking even more hideous than before.
“It has the Blood Light Ring, there are plenty of corpses in the secret realm. I need to go there,” Pense couldn’t sit still any longer and decided to make a personal visit.
“That’s fine.”
“Supported. We’ll send you messages. If it comes to naught, we’ll just give up on this decade’s harvest of water scalding bubble fruit,” the others exchanged glances and agreed to his plan.
They would contact the academy shortly to decide whether Pense truly needed to enter the secret realm, which could not be conclusively determined at the moment.
However, one thing was certain: no one who entered the Flash Vortex Secret Realm could escape, or the Four Great Academies would lose face, and they would be utterly disgraced.
…
In the secret realm.
As the Blood Striped Giant Tiger’s presence surged and a rare halo spell appeared, the apprentices besieging it had an ominous premonition.
The academy apprentices intensified their spell attacks, but they couldn’t overcome the Blood Striped Giant Tiger’s enhanced ability to heal.
“Damn you, you dare to flee?”
“Chase!”
Percy, having completed his plotting, chose to bolt immediately.
This act disgusted many people.
Several spells hit him, but at the crucial moment, Percy held up a shield, a magicalized item, which blocked the incoming attacks. However, those following him were unlucky; his two remaining companions were engulfed in the ferocious energy.
Percy successfully extricated himself from the battle and darted towards the smoke, with three academy apprentices in pursuit.
Elsewhere, Ivan and his companions had just slain the fifth giant tiger when they noticed the last one undergoing a strange change, displaying a halo spell that had only been heard of but never seen.
“What should we do?”
“Let’s observe for now.”
While some urged him to go over, Ivan was not one to rush in recklessly.
Before he could approach, the Blood Striped Giant Tiger transformed into a ‘Blood Tendril Giant Tiger.’ The freshly formed blood-colored tendrils pierced the surrounding carcasses, which began to shrink.
“Quick! Destroy the behemoth carcasses.”
“I’ll head over there.”
Witnessing this, the apprentices promptly realized they couldn’t allow the enemy to continue absorbing power like this; otherwise, if it gained momentum, they would face endless troubles.
The others dispersed to destroy giant beast carcasses in various locations.
Ivan, along with Wolban and two others, approached the Blood Striped Giant Tiger step by step.
“Boom.”
The apprentice’s action of destroying the giant beast carcasses enraged the Blood Striped Giant Tiger, and it spat out a blood-colored energy ball from its mouth.
The blood-colored energy ball contained significant power, but due to its slow condensation process, the nearby apprentice had time to dodge, causing the carcasses behind them to take the hit. The carcasses exploded upon impact with the energy ball.
Bits of flesh and blood flew in all directions.
The Blood Striped Giant Tiger became even angrier. Ignoring everything else, it rushed towards a closer giant beast carcass. The other carcasses, in the midst of being absorbed, were wrapped up by the tendrils and hung from its body, a sight to behold.
Having absorbed some power, its presence was even stronger, and its size grew slightly. Charging forward, it pushed one of the Rapid Flow Twin Towers sideways by seven or eight centimeters, making the current pillar connected to the tower lean even more noticeably.
The Blood Striped Giant Tiger reached another giant beast carcass, its many tendrils plunging into the massive carcass. The carcass started to shrink at an unnatural rate, like water being suctioned through a hose, while the giant tiger was clearly growing larger and stronger. Discover more stories at empire
This scene made those not far away twitch with anxiety; at this rate, they’d be up against something formidable.
“Ivan, got any ideas?” Wolban asked.
“Let’s try.”
Ivan himself was not certain; he knew they couldn’t let the giant tiger absorb any more power.
If the secret realm was damaged, it would undoubtedly affect the production of the water scalding bubble fruit. The opportunity to acquire two bottles of Aqua Alva was at stake, so of course, he wouldn’t settle for just one.
“Cover me. Distract it for a moment. Don’t let it get away,” he said.
“Alright.”
The others also realized the gravity of the situation and chose not to refuse.
The academy alliance had rules: each apprentice could visit the Flash Vortex Secret Realm only once. This was no joke; no matter the reason, one visit meant one visit, and the academy alliance would not break protocol for them.
Everyone began to act.
Ivan removed a small round token from his bracelet and enlarged it into a disc the size of a bronze mirror. The Array Plate was made of magic stone powder mixed with other materials, engraved with a runes bundle array.
He held the Array Plate in his left hand and placed one Demon Crystal Water and three Magic Stone Waters atop it, arranging them orderly.
The next second, the Array Plate activated.
The runes on it glowed brightly, and the mental power potion was drawn from the glass bottle, quickly turning into a dark energy. The dark energy flowed into his left palm. With a forward push of his right hand,
‘Black Magic Hand.’
This was the strongest strike of the Black Magic Hand technique Ivan had developed. The emerging hand spanned more than two meters wide, with distinct contours and patterns.
The immense energy seemed to exceed the limit of an apprentice, drawing side glances from the others.
Facing such an attack, any other creature or apprentice would have taken measures early on. The Blood Striped Giant Tiger reacted a little slower and was precisely hit by the Black Magic Hand. The giant tiger’s body stiffened. Internally and externally, everything came to an immediate halt, leaving its defenses wide open.
At such a critical moment, body stiffness was undoubtedly fatal.
The other apprentices rushed forward and killed the Blood Striped Giant Tiger on the spot, smashing its head.
“Wait, it’s not dead yet.”
“That black heart, it must be that black heart causing mischief.”
Just as they were catching their breath, they were surprised to find that the flesh of the Blood Striped Giant Tiger was still writhing and it looked like a new head could grow out soon.
Without waiting for the others to act, Ivan stepped forward and slashed. The Combat Energy Slash unexpectedly pierced through the tiger’s flesh as if it had never appeared, and then it hit the deeply hidden black heart.
The massive body of the Blood Striped Giant Tiger fell heavily to the ground.
The several of them were somewhat astonished – they could have taken down such a desperately struggling wild beast, but they couldn’t have done it so cleanly.
“I’ve been wanting to ask, that’s Great Knight Combat Energy, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“That giant palm, its power exceeded 15 graduated degrees, didn’t it? Was it 17 graduated degrees?”
“About that, around sixteen or seventeen graduated degrees. I haven’t tested it.”
Whether it was Great Knight Combat Energy or spells that surpassed the limit of an apprentice, these were things of interest to the 3rd Class apprentices. As Ivan began to dissect the Blood Striped Giant Tiger, they couldn’t help but ask.
Meanwhile, Wolban felt somewhat wistful in his heart, becoming more convinced that he had not misjudged the person; this guy was indeed talented.
After Ivan finished the dissection, he found the bisected black heart, which was still beating. Anyway, the tiger was thoroughly dead, with no possibility of recovery.
“Get to know each other, Rapid Flow Twin Towers, Kaynen.”
“Songster Sanctuary, Cadesi.”
Including Ivan and Wolban, only four people remained in the end. They all shared a bond of comradeship, introducing themselves simply to acknowledge their acquaintance.
“Let’s go over there; we can’t let others take advantage of the situation,” said Kaynen, looking toward the area shrouded in smoke. The smoke was dissipating quickly, and some had already snuck into that area to clear out the intruders.
“You go first; I’ve expended a lot and need to rest for a while,” Ivan gestured for them to go ahead.
The power of that last strike was indeed significant, and the corresponding price was high. The runes bundle array inscribed on the Array Plate, akin to a one-time-use item, had drained about eight graduated degrees of his mental power, which was more than he had expected. He needed to resupply and recover.
After Wolban and the others had left, he thought for a moment and, without any disdain for dirtiness, wrapped up the two halves of the black heart to study later when he had time.
Once he had recovered and went to the area covered in smoke, the smoke had already cleared, and there was no need for him to take action.
Percy died at Wayne’s hand, his eyes bulging roundly, filled with unwillingness.
Hank fell to Jefferson’s surprise spell attack.
The methods of other intruders were equally unsatisfactory compared to the academy-trained apprentices, and they were all executed without exception.
All who participated in the clean-up had their share of spoils.
Ivan could do nothing about this.
On this day, due to the intruders’ interference, Ivan did not harvest any water scalding bubble fruit.
…
Inside the steeple.
Pense received the message and rushed back from the sea, glad for the wasted trip, which meant he didn’t have to forfeit the ten years’ yield of the Flash Vortex Secret Realm.
“Rewards, we must reward that apprentice named ‘Ivan’ generously. I suggest we give him an extra vial of Aqua Alva; that would be equivalent to the merit of his slaying the Blood Hunter,” proposed Pense.
If Ivan had not acted promptly, allowing the Blood Hunter to grow, the secret realm would have been damaged, and his achievement on this front was significant, really standing out.
Seeing his enthusiastic demeanor, the others could not help but smile wryly.
But such matters were not for those present to decide. With four academies involved, there were too many complexities, and it would be difficult to offer additional rewards unless the other party assumed a different surname.
“How about we replace it with an upper-class vial of Aqua Alva instead? The second for contribution intermediate, the third for lower class?”
“Agreed.”
Bernardson offered a compromise that the other four sorcerers endorsed.
The secret realm was in such disarray; even Sorcerer Fuller, who had been guarding above, had come down. Sorcerer Fuller was from the Lierre Songster Sanctuary.
“You guys are no fun.”
Seeing that they were unwilling to make more effort, Pense had to drop the subject.
After discussing the rewards, attention turned to the investigation of the internal betrayer. Although the intruders had been executed, it was not yet clear whether they had other objectives, or if their plan was merely to steal the water scalding bubble fruit.
“The Blood Hunter was even involved; knowing so much about the Flash Vortex Secret Realm and taking the trouble to arrange for an inside agent, I do not believe that their plot was just for the water scalding bubble fruit. Therefore, we must investigate thoroughly,” Pense said with a solemn expression.
“That’s only proper,” Fuller was the first to express his agreement.
The two were the sorcerers in rotation to guard the steeple. With the incidents in the secret realm, they could not detach themselves from possible implications; they absolutely could not leave any other hidden dangers.
The other sorcerers had no objections; the inside agents had to be rooted out and any hidden dangers had to be investigated, or it would be a complete farce if issues arose in the future.
“All right then, you’ll exchange to search for traces of apprentices from the other academies,” Pense continued.
“I’ll look into Mongna Ant Land Cottage; Sorcerer Bernardson wouldn’t mind, would he?” Hubick from Black Reef Sanctuary volunteered.
“Of course.”
“Fuller and I will review everything again. It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s our duty, and I suppose you wouldn’t mind,” Pense and Fuller exchanged glances and emphatically stated.
This was standard procedure, and no one opposed.
However, no one noticed a sinister shadow flash briefly in the depths of Hubick’s eyes.