Free Web NovelChapter 24: Blood. Feed Me.
Lucien slumped against the trunk, his body screaming in agony. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead, blurring his vision. His ribs ached with every shallow breath. His grip on the Abyss Carver was weak, his fingers trembling.
He could barely stand.
The Alpha Wolf appeared before him, its form wreathed in shadow. Its breath came in ragged, heavy gasps, steam curling from its jaws. Its body was trembling, the bloodline burning taking its toll.
But its eyes still burned with killing intent.
Lucien forced himself to his feet, using the Abyss Carver as a crutch.
His body screamed in protest, his vision blurred. Was he going to die?
No. Hell no. He wasn’t going to die after tasting death once.
He bit his tongue severely, the pain multiplying, causing his vision to clear. The sharp metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth, but it was enough, enough to cut through the haze, enough to pull him back from the edge of unconsciousness.
The bruises that covered his body began to heal due to his high HP and the Primordial Anchor Body. He could feel the flesh knitting itself back together, the wounds slowly closing, but it was too slow. He needed more time. He needed an opening.
He glanced at the Alpha Wolf, calculating how he could take it down. His eyes traced the beast’s form, the trembling limbs, the flickering dark energy, the way its breath came in ragged gasps.
He was still unaware that the Alpha Wolf was burning itself out.
The Alpha Wolf didn’t give Lucien any chance. It moved, attacking him with a speed that defied its weakened state.
Lucien forced himself to grip the Abyss Carver, but he could only watch as the Alpha Wolf disappeared, jumping out from his shadow with another attack.
Lucien sensed the danger, but his body was slow to respond. His muscles refused to move with the speed he needed. He was only able to put the Abyss Carver before him and watched himself as he was sent flying.
He crashed into another tree, the impact jarring his already battered body. Pain exploded through his back, his vision flickering as he struggled to stay conscious.
But he didn’t fall.
He caught himself, his fingers digging into the bark, his feet finding purchase on the uneven ground. His breath came in ragged, desperate gasps.
There’s no way I can continue like this. What can I do?
Lucien racked his brain and thought of a plan.
He grinned. This might be his chance of turning the battle around for his favour.
The Alpha Wolf charged again. Lucien’s figure darted into the forest, leading the beast to an open ground with fewer trees.
The Alpha Wolf burst out from his shadow, but Lucien smirked.
Flicker Step.
He moved two meters from where he was, but the Alpha Wolf followed through his shadows.
Shadow Stride.
Lucien used this skill, but something surprising happened — he burst out from the shadow of the Alpha Wolf.
Seeing his plan was successful, he poured his Originat into the Abyss Carver, feeding it with more than sixty percent of his Originat. The blade blazed to life, flames roaring along its edge, the heat so intense that the air around it shimmered and warped.
Fire God Slash.
Even though his cultivation was weak, with the quantity and quality of his Originat, it spiked the destructiveness of the technique to a high level.
Lucien swung his attack with all of his strength, planning to cut off the head of the Alpha Wolf.
The Alpha Wolf, who had burst out of Lucien’s shadow only to see him disappear, suddenly felt the smell of death.
And sensing the source was above it.
It tried to move, to disappear into the shadows, but it was too late.
Lucien’s blade descended like a falling star, wreathed in a torrent of blazing fire so intense that the very air around it ignited. The golden flames twisted with streaks of abyssal black, the darkness within the Abyss Carver bleeding into the inferno, creating a vortex of destruction that seemed to devour the light itself.
The technique, fueled by over sixty percent of his Originat, had transcended its normal limits. The sheer quantity and purity of the energy poured into it had elevated the attack to a level far beyond Lucien’s current cultivation.
The blade connected.
It didn’t just cut. It obliterated.
The Abyss Carver carved through the Alpha Wolf’s neck like a hot knife through butter, but the force behind the strike didn’t stop there. The shockwave erupted outward, sending a massive wave of fire and shadow cascading across the open ground. Trees were uprooted, the earth scorched black, and the air itself seemed to split apart.
Lucien was breathing heavily, his face pale as death itself. His body trembled violently, each muscle screaming in protest, every fiber of his being pushed to its breaking point. Even though he was forcing himself to stand with the Abyss Carver, his legs threatened to give out beneath him.
He had pushed himself beyond his limits. Such a high amount of Originat wasn’t what his physical strength could contain. His meridians and veins were threatening to tear, the intense pain making him grimace, a cold sweat beading on his forehead.
But it was worth it. He survived.
He looked at the corpse of the Alpha Wolf, ready to take his gaze off it and inspect the severity of his injuries.
The corpse suddenly dissolved into shadow particles, the dark mist rising like smoke from dying embers. This alerted Lucien, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.
And before his very eyes, he watched as the Alpha Wolf appeared before him, reforming from the shadows as if death had never touched it.
His eyes were full of shock, his jaw dropping, dread filling his heart like ice water.
What was happening?
But this time, the Alpha Wolf had two heads. One of the heads slowly dissolved into shadow particles, fading like a nightmare retreating into the dark.
Seeing this phenomenon, it was as if thunder had struck his soul. His expression turned pale like a vampire, his blood running cold as the realization dawned on him.
He remembered something. The Alpha Wolf seemed to be a Double-headed Shadow Wolf, an ancient Volkoid species.
They were famed for their powerful strength and also high shadow origin element power. And one terrifying thing was that they could trade death with their head.
Which meant they had two lives.
Lucien didn’t think, planning to run. In his state, there was no way he could survive its attack. His body was broken, his Originat depleted, his will hanging by a thread.
But he couldn’t move his body. It felt like he was a statue, frozen in place by an invisible force.
When he looked, he realized a large shadow circular rune that emitted darkness had surrounded him, and he was in the center. The rune pulsed with malevolent energy, its edges writhing like living shadows.
Shadow tendrils came from it that held him down, coiling around his limbs like serpents. They held his legs, slowly raising him to the sky as he was swung around.
He was propelled by it, sent flying through the air like a ragdoll.
Lucien was smashed into a tree, the impact cracking the bark and sending splinters flying. He spat out a mouthful of blood, the crimson liquid painting the forest floor. He immediately tried to stand up and run, his body screaming with every movement.
He didn’t want to die. Who would want to die?
He used the Abyss Carver to stand as he knelt, his body unable to completely stand up. His arms shook, his vision swam, his breath came in ragged, shallow gasps.
He spat out another mouthful of blood that stained the Abyss Carver, the crimson liquid dripping down its dark edge.
Lucien laughed out loud, a broken, hollow sound that echoed through the forest. Just the first creature he met were Volkoids with powerful bloodlines. The Alpha was with an Ancient Volkoid Bloodline.
How did the system expect him to live when he faced such Volkoids?
What kind of hell had he been thrown into?
It was now that the words of the system clicked to him. It didn’t say he should kill, just survive.
It was too late for regrets. If he had known, he should have tried hiding.
So this is how he would die. Lucien had a mocking smile as he thought of this.
Just when he was planning to change his life. Seraphina was the reason he was in this, limiting his movement from completing his mission.
Just like in his past life, her actions had brought him death. He let out a dead sigh, the sound heavy with resignation.
Blood. Feed me.
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