BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power Chapter 83 – The Accumulation Battle

"It looks very small... but," Soman whispered, "those daggers are extrely effective... could they be an ancient weapon?"

Soman had absolutely no idea. He quickly canceled the summoning of his turtle.

At the sa ti, the wolf was facing other problems from the knives that were rushing toward it in massive numbers.

The Third-Rank Master turned toward Soman and smiled.

"Let’s end this," the Master said.

Then he took out an old vial from his hand.

"The Faint Blood Vessel," he whispered.

Soman narrowed his eyes. A powerful aura surrounded that object.

At first glance, it didn’t look like a weapon at all.

Rather, it resembled a fragnt of so forgotten relic...

A heavy glass vial, filled with a dark red liquid that looked like ancient blood, imprisoned within a tangled structure of petrified black roots.

The roots wrapped around the glass as if they had grown over it through centuries, intertwining in sharp protrusions that resembled thorns. So of them had even pierced the glass itself without shattering it...

At the top was a cracked wooden stopper, old and worn.

"Weapons are divided into six types," the Master muttered.

"A normal weapon...

A specialized weapon...

An ancient weapon...

A master weapon...

A refined weapon...

A gate weapon..."

"It is said," the Master whispered, "that this vial was originally a master weapon. But because of its destructive properties... it was neutralized into an ancient weapon."

"This ancient relic is known as:

The Faint Blood Vessel.

A weapon that does not kill with a strike...

But with exhaustion.

The blood inside it is not ordinary blood.

Nor is it a conventional curse.

Every drop released from the vessel turns into a toxic wave that spreads through the air—or inside the enemy’s body if it reaches them.

But these toxins do not work like others.

They do not try to kill the body directly...

Nor disable the organs...

Nor burn the blood.

Instead, they do sothing far crueler.

They cut away accumulation."

Soman listened to the Master’s explanation.

A weapon with such properties was truly a terrible option for him.

"You didn’t tell all of this?" Soman asked quickly. He wasn’t foolish enough not to notice that the Master had deliberately explained everything.

The Master laughed.

"Perhaps... goodwill," he whispered.

In the distance, the daggers were all chasing the Catastrophe Wolf.

Soman turned to look at it. He wanted to summon it back to help him.

But it seed impossible.

The Thunder Daggers weren’t causing heavy damage to the wolf... but they were completely neutralizing it from the battlefield.

"Let’s begin here," the Master said as he noticed Soman glancing at his wolf.

The Third-Rank Master raised his hand high.

In his other hand was the small dark vial, filled with blood-red liquid and sealed with a worn wooden cap that looked as if it had survived countless years.

Slowly...

The cap moved.

Click.

It opened.

Inside the vial—

A single drop of blood.

It began to rise.

It lifted from the bottom of the vial and slowly ascended within it,

as if so invisible force was pulling it upward.

Then it erged from the mouth of the glass.

It rose into the air.

One ter...

Then two...

Then—

It exploded.

But...

There was no sound.

No shockwave.

Only—

It turned into a red cloud.

A dense bloody mist, like smoke twisting through the air.

And in the next mont—

It surged forward.

Heading straight toward Soman.

Soman’s eyes widened slightly.

Then—

He retreated quickly.

He jumped to the side.

The red cloud imdiately chased him.

But it couldn’t catch him.

His movents were fast... and precise.

He swerved.

Jumped.

Slid between the rocks.

And the mist pursued him relentlessly.

At that mont—

Soman extended his hand.

Red blood flowed from it.

It fell to the ground.

Then it began to move...

As if it were alive.

The blood gathered.

Rose.

Then began to take shape.

Lines.

Limbs.

A body.

And within monts—

A new creature ford.

A small being.

Short in stature.

It had a smooth, round white face resembling a blank mask.

Two wide black openings ford its eyes.

A calm gaze...

And empty at the sa ti.

On its head was a wide straw hat.

On its back was a wooden basket tied with leather straps.

And in its hand—

A long fishing rod.

Then—

Suddenly—

It vanished.

As if it had never existed.

The Master’s eyes moved quickly.

He looked right.

Then left.

Then upward.

But—

No trace.

It had disappeared completely.

The Master tried to sense the surroundings.

He extended his combat perception through the air.

But—

Nothing.

He returned to the vial.

Another drop of blood erged.

It exploded.

Turned into a second red cloud.

And rushed toward Soman.

Soman moved instantly.

A sideways leap.

Then a slide behind a rock.

The two clouds chased him together.

But—

They still couldn’t catch him.

"If he hadn’t explained the weapon’s ability..."

Soman whispered while evading.

He jumped over a rock and dashed forward.

"Perhaps one of them would have already hit ."

He kept moving.

Suddenly—

Two more clouds appeared.

They rushed toward him.

He evaded them easily.

But his eyes narrowed slightly.

"But... why did he tell ?"

he murmured to himself.

Within monts—

Ten red clouds surrounded him.

Moving like silent swarms.

Soman’s speed increased.

His steps grew lighter.

His movents sharper.

And he managed to slip past them.

He stopped briefly at a distance.

His eyes narrowed.

"Is there a trick?"

he wondered internally.

Then a possibility crossed his mind.

"Perhaps..."

He stepped forward slowly.

"...he wants to avoid the clouds?"

The clouds rushed toward him.

His mind sank into thought.

Was the Master telling the truth?

Or was it a trap?

He evaded them again.

And again.

But—

Each ti...

Their numbers increased.

Soman’s unease began to grow.

Then—

He suddenly stopped.

He stood still.

And allowed one of the clouds to strike him.

Fsssssh.

The red mist entered his nose and mouth.

He choked for a mont.

Coughed.

Then jumped away.

"Damn..."

And in that mont—

He felt it.

Inside his body.

The red mist...

Had entered him.

And began cutting away at his internal accumulation.

The Master laughed from afar.

"Did you think I was lying?"

Then he released several more clouds.

Soman continued running.

But—

Their number kept increasing.

Until he was surrounded by dozens of small red clouds.

And inside him—

His accumulation was gradually decreasing.

He evaded several clouds.

But—

One struck him.

For the second ti.

The red mist entered his body.

And imdiately he felt the accumulation draining faster.

At that mont—

Soman understood everything.

His speed suddenly increased.

But—

In the next mont—

Swoosh!

"Ah...!"

A faint cry escaped the Third-Rank Master’s lips.

He imdiately turned.

In the air—

A fishing hook was embedded in his shoulder.

It had appeared out of nowhere.

And in the distance—

That small creature stood.

With its straw hat.

Holding the fishing rod.

Then—

It vanished again.

The Master stared in shock.

"What... is this?"

he whispered.

He sank his awareness into his body.

Examined his accumulation.

His energy.

His attributes.

But—

Nothing.

No effect.

Even the wound...

Was extrely small.

And yet—

A strange heaviness filled his heart.

He was no ordinary Master.

He was a Third-Rank Master who had fought countless battles and dangerous missions.

And he knew very well—

Sothing abnormal was happening.

But the problem...

Was that he didn’t know what it was.

Nor did he have any way to stop it.

So—

He turned his gaze back toward Soman.

Then whispered coldly:

"Once your accumulation runs out..."

His eyes narrowed.

"...no trick will save you."

The battle continued.

The sky above the battlefield filled with red clouds.

One... then ten... then dozens.

Until Soman was surrounded by hundreds of blood-mist clouds circling him like living predators waiting for a chance to strike.

Soman jumped to the left.

Then spun and slid behind a rock.

But—

One cloud caught him.

Fsssssh.

The red mist entered his nose.

He imdiately felt pressure inside his body.

His accumulation...

Was decreasing.

More than before.

He clenched his teeth and kept moving.

But in the sky—

The Third-Rank Master suddenly scread.

"Ahhh... again!"

His body trembled slightly.

In his shoulder—

The fishing hook had appeared again.

The fourth hit.

He turned violently.

His eyes burned with rage.

He raised his hand quickly.

In an instant—

Hundreds of knives appeared in the air around him.

He didn’t try to aim precisely.

Instead, he launched them toward many empty directions.

The knives shot out everywhere.

Shhhhhhh!

But—

There was nothing.

They struck the ground.

The rocks.

Scattered uselessly.

The Master growled.

"That creature..."

His sharp gaze swept the surroundings.

"It disappears completely."

He clenched his fist.

"Even its energy... disappears."

Then he muttered harshly:

"What kind of beast is that?"

He paused.

Felt his internal accumulation.

It was still large.

But—

Sothing was wrong.

"Even though my accumulation is great..."

His eyes narrowed.

"...sothing is strange."

He raised his hand again.

This ti—

He released a thousand knives at once.

But they weren’t aid at the creature.

They were aid at the Catastrophe Wolf fighting in the distance.

The knives surged like a tallic storm.

Shkhhhhh!

The impacts were dense.

The wolf’s body filled with wounds.

It could no longer release its lightning attacks.

But—

It kept running.

Bleeding as it dashed between the rocks.

And suddenly—

Swoosh.

The hook appeared again.

The fifth hit.

It pierced the Master’s side.

In the next mont—

His body froze.

A sudden wave of nausea struck him.

He staggered slightly in the air.

Then roared in fury:

"Damn you!"

Suddenly—

He felt it.

His accumulation had dropped.

Clearly.

Ten percent.

He snorted with furious rage.

"That cursed beast..."

His fist trembled.

"It cuts accumulation!"

He raised his hand imdiately.

Released dozens of new red clouds.

They rushed toward Soman.

On the other side—

Soman was barely moving between the dense clouds.

He jumped.

Twisted.

Spun.

But suddenly—

Another wave arrived.

He barely escaped it.

But—

One cloud struck him.

The mist entered his body.

His accumulation...

Dropped.

Then—

Another cloud hit him.

It dropped further.

And in that mont—

Swoosh.

The hook appeared again.

Another hit on the Master.

The Master imdiately launched a barrage of knives toward the place where it appeared.

But—

The creature vanished.

It disappeared before the knives even traveled a few ters.

After long minutes of continuous fighting—

The hook appeared again.

The tenth strike.

And at the sa mont—

The Master’s accumulation dropped again.

Another ten percent.

The battle continued like this.

Red clouds chasing.

A hook appearing and disappearing.

Accumulation draining from both sides.

Until—

The battle reached its peak.

In the distance—

The massive Catastrophe Wolf finally staggered.

Its body, riddled with knives, could no longer run.

It collapsed to the ground.

With a thunderous impact.

At that mont—

The Master raised his hand.

All the knives vanished.

He canceled them.

On the other side—

Soman was still evading the clouds.

But suddenly—

The wolf disappeared.

Soman canceled it as well.

He didn’t summon a new creature.

He couldn’t.

His accumulation...

No longer allowed it.

He barely had enough left just to keep evading.

And the Third-Rank Master—

Understood that.

So—

He canceled the knives as well.

To preserve what remained of his accumulation.

Now...

Nothing remained between them except the final phase of the battle.