The outermost edge of Purity Forest, a battlefield that had been all but razed to the ground.
The original landscape here had been completely reshaped. Amidst the relentless downpour, the battle raged on without a mont’s pause.
From the very beginning, it had been a white-hot, furious battle. Across this vast woodland, Westheid and Mivana fought to their limits, threatening to obliterate Purity Forest itself!
Westheid could no longer rember how many tis he had swung his blade, nor how many rounds he had exchanged with Mivana.
Not that he would bother counting. In a battle of such extre fervor, all thought had to be cast aside. There was no ti for planning, no leisure for reflection—only the madness of fighting on pure instinct.
Slash! Block! Parry! Dodge! Thrust!
The montum of their blades grew ever fiercer with each strike.
A dizzying flurry of movents flashed between the two, where any single mistake would result in a terrifying wound.
A torn abdon, a pierced arm, shattered ribs, a crushed shoulder...
Although the restorative properties of his Withered Glory Sun were suppressed by her Cursed Source Blood, his current state of being enhanced by Divinity had largely negated that suppression. Otherwise, Westheid wouldn’t have dared to trade blows with Mivana head-on.
Whether it was the regenerative power of the Withered Glory Sun or the lifesteal property of the Cursed Source Blood, both allowed them to ignore minor wounds, healing completely in a matter of breaths.
"At this rate, this will never end," Westheid said with a smile, his hot breath visible in the rainy night as he t Mivana’s rciless, golden-red eyes.
’Truth be told, I can’t keep this up for long.’ His current outrageous power, enough to match the berserk Mivana, was bought by draining the Divinity from the Mask of Fallen Heaven, and the cracks on the mask were growing more and more nurous.
’It’s hard to say who will give out first.’
’If this faint Divinity runs out while Mivana still has strength to spare, I’ll be screwed.’
Therefore, even though Westheid was reluctant to let go of this evenly matched clash, he had no choice but to force the battle to its next stage.
CLANG—
Clashing with the Silver Sword one more ti, Westheid leaped back nimbly, creating sufficient distance between them.
He then drew another portion of the already faint Divinity from the Mask of Fallen Heaven, holding his blade horizontally as he began to gather power.
CRACKLE... FWOOSH—
In that instant.
Roaring Dragon Thunder swept across the woodland. It did not rge with Shadow-Born, instead bursting forth in a verdant halo that enveloped everything. All the raindrops falling in the area evaporated in an instant.
Amidst the arcing electricity, dust and gravel escaped the bonds of gravity, while larger rocks and tree roots were held suspended within the thunderous Domain.
anwhile, crimson embers erupted from Westheid himself, roaring like a blazing furnace fanned by bellows.
Mivana paid no mind to Westheid charging his attack. Completely dominated by her killing instinct, the only thing the Wolf-eared Maiden would do was kill any living creature before her. She charged straight forward, her Silver Sword letting out a piercing shriek as it cut through the air, the pure silver blade even leaving a crimson afterimage.
The instant the Silver Sword was about to touch Westheid’s throat, the charged Shadow-Born ca crashing down.
BOOM—
The clap of thunder was deafening. Ti and space seed to freeze.
For a split second, the rainy night in the forest was as bright as day. Even Mivana could not block the strike, which had been charged to its absolute limit. She imdiately raised her Silver Sword to defend, but the Dragon Thunder had already surged through. Empowered by Divinity, its might was terrifying, sending Mivana flying like a rag doll.
For the first ti, the Wolf-eared Maiden lost her grip on the Great Knight’s Silver Sword, letting it fly through the air until Westheid caught it.
The Silver Sword, bearing a Celestial Blessing, had an "unbreakable" property, so even though its luster had dimd, its edge remained unchipped.
Westheid glanced at Mivana, who had been sent flying and now lay in a muddy crater, before placing both the Silver Sword and Shadow-Born on the ground.
’Fighting with these two deadly weapons is too dangerous.’ Either one of them could easily kill the other, and Westheid’s goal was rely to snap Mivana out of her frenzy, not to kill her or be killed by her.
’Disarming her is necessary. Only then can I really let loose and have a proper brawl with Mivana!’
Despite suffering a Severe Injury from that one blow, accompanied by heavy breaths, crimson lotus-like markings began to spread across Mivana’s body. The Wolf-eared Maiden shakily got back to her feet. Her damp, violet-black hair hung low, and the bloodlust in her golden-red eyes was even stronger than before.
"Hahahaha... You can still stand after that? Good! Very good!"
"Now things are getting interesting!"
Westheid laughed loudly at the sight, took a step forward, and concentrated all his strength into his fist, unleashing a devastating punch.
’Eat this fucking punch!’
BAM—
A blast of air powerful enough to distort space slamd into Mivana’s body, sending the Wolf-eared Maiden flying backward once again.
ROAR—
But after crashing through dozens of large trees, the Beast-eared Maiden let out a low growl from her throat, dug her claws into the ground mid-slide, and forced herself to a stop.
She then launched herself forward, rushing toward Westheid with even greater speed than before.
Caught off guard, Westheid was tackled to the ground by the Wolf-eared Maiden.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Mivana swung her fists, relentlessly pumling Westheid. Blood splattered everywhere, reducing his flesh to a bloody pulp.
Then, with incredible brute force, the Beast-eared Maiden pinned the man down and began to greedily drink blood from his wounds.
As the maiden gulped down his blood, her injuries healed at a visible rate, nearly rendering Westheid’s previous onslaught completely useless.
’You’re actually feeding on !’
’I’ve had a great ti using derived traits myself, but when such a disgusting chanic is used against ...’ Westheid felt absolutely awful.
’I worked my ass off to get you to critical health, and you just suck it all back in one go? Are these your real stats, Mivana?!’
’She’s a Tier 0 character. How is the ga even playable without a nerf?’
Just as a panicked Westheid was about to struggle free from Mivana’s pin, he suddenly noticed that the bloodlust in her eyes had diminished sowhat.
’Wait a minute... I rember that the Holy Spirit Bloodline can weaken the effects of the Cursed Source Blood, right?’
A flash of inspiration struck Westheid. He didn’t imdiately push Mivana off him, but instead waited for her to drink her fill before initiating the next round of their fight.
’I was just worrying about how to counter the Cursed Source Blood’s almost unstoppable lifesteal. If a direct "blood transfusion" can restore even a little of Mivana’s sanity, then it’s absolutely worth doing,’ Westheid thought.
"Co, Mivana! My Apprentice, my teacher, my friend! Feast on my flesh and blood, and I, in turn, shall drink deep of your frenzied blood!"
Westheid punched the Beast-eared Maiden’s pretty face, then tore open her carotid artery and began to furiously gulp down the fountain of Cursed Blood.
[You have ingested an excessive amount of "Cursed Source Blood"]
[You have entered the "Blood Fury" state]
[You have entered the "Bloodthirst" state]
[You have entered the "Blood Frenzy" state]
...
A series of derived traits began to take effect before Westheid was interrupted by a shoulder throw from Mivana.
But it didn’t matter. He had acquired the traits he needed. Now, it was ti for a pure, brutal brawl.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
No dodging, no evading, just fist eting flesh. If the battle before had been a spectacular duel, what unfolded now was the most primitive form of hand-to-hand combat.
They used their fists, their knees, their teeth, even smashing their hard skulls against one another! Every part of their bodies beca a deadly weapon.
’There’s not a shred of technique here, just pure, unadulterated stats!’
To transfer enough of his Holy Spirit Bloodline to Mivana, the healing from his Withered Glory Sun alone would not have been enough to sustain him. But if he could obtain the derived traits of the Cursed Source Blood, then it was a completely different story.
Now, Westheid could also heal his own injuries by damaging Mivana. Combined with his Withered Glory Sun, he could just barely withstand her feeding on his blood multiple tis.
Whenever Westheid beat the Wolf-eared Maiden to the point of Severe Injury, he would let her drink her fill of his blood, and he, in turn, would take the opportunity to refresh his own derived traits.
The spectacle of them feeding on each other was truly a sight to behold.
’What’s that? You say that as they fight, not a single drop of blood in their bodies is their own? That they’ve started farming damage out of thin air?’
’Westheid must declare: This is the Extraordinary! This is the taphysical power born from Chaos Undivided!’
’It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! In the end, it’s all part of the system!’
"Heh... ahahahahaha!! I’m a goddamn genius!"
Westheid laughed wildly. From the corrosion of the Cursed Source Blood, it felt as though his very blood was on fire. Every strike from the Wolf-eared Maiden sent violent shockwaves through his body, rupturing his organs, blood vessels, and bones.
But despite such agony, Westheid felt no discomfort. On the contrary, lost in a battle frenzy and obsessed with this imnse power, Westheid felt better than he ever had before!
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