Chapter 72 — Blood Lotus
"WOOOOOOOAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The whole space trembled as the spectators shouted with all their might. So were standing, their hands raised high in the sky, yelling as if their lives depended on it, others were more demure, just giving light encouragent, and then there were the troublemakers who couldn’t help but pick fights with each other.
It was a very lively scene—and all of this just because two young masters from two illustrious families, one from Fokay and the other from Darklore, wanted to fight?
Maybe for so, it was just that. But for most of them...
"Man, I swear young master Kenan better win. I bet all the money I just got from my mother to pay for combat class."
"Sa, dude. I scamd a woman for this. Kenan has to win."
"Nah, did you not know the Warborns? They’re devils in battle, man. I bet all my savings on the little Warborn," one of them said.
And the banter, the skirmishes, the excited trash-talk continued. All of them fired up—because if their guy won, they were about to get rich.
"Did you really need to do all this?" Kaden asked as he looked around the small arena they were in.
This was a private arena situated inside the Tycoon’s rchants building. A place the rchants sotis used to organize fights between challengers, with artifacts as prizes—just to entertain themselves and relax a little.
It was a small, golden-colored arena with a rather luxurious vibe. The fighting ring was placed right in the center, surrounded by stadium-style seats for the spectators watching. There were also VIP rooms for nobles and other high-status individuals to observe without being disturbed. And right now, ris was in one of those VIP rooms—and not only her. Old Smith had co too, curious to see the fighting power of her newly acquired disciple.
Kaden truly didn’t understand the need for all this spectacle.
"Why? Are you scared you’ll lose in front of all these people?" Kenan said with a mocking tone.
But Kaden just shook his head. "I’m just a little sad. Because I realized... I should’ve asked for way more than a thousand gold coins," he said, his voice so genuinely sorrowful that the arena went silent for a mont.
Kenan’s brow furrowed. "I see you’re confident. Good," he said before raising his head toward the sky—where a strange being hovered.
Well, calling it a being wasn’t exactly right, as it wasn’t alive. It was a golem. A small, tallic golem.
The impartial judge of this duel.
"I want to start the duel," Kenan said.
The golem nodded and turned its head toward Kaden.
Kaden nodded too, accepting the start without hesitation.
And imdiately—
"BEGIN!" a deep, loud, robotic voice echoed, signifying the start of the duel.
"Woahhh!! Kenan! Kenan! Kenan!"
"Warborn! Warborn! Warborn!"
People scread the nas of the fighters they supported, the tension was high, and every single spectator was on edge, locked in and watching.
The mont the fight began, balls of orange fire appeared around Kenan, orbiting him in a threatening spiral.
Kaden watched all this and rembered the content of his quest.
He was supposed to win in an overwhelming manner—in a way that left no doubt about his strength, no room for disbelief, no whisper of hesitation. In a way that made it clear to all of Fokay...
A Warborn had co again.
Abd also was the perfect ti to introduce himself here, in this new city.
It was ti for them to know him not just by na—but by title.
As the Child of Blood.
At that thought, Kaden smiled.
It was a bloody smile. A bloodthirsty smile.
One that promised endless slaughter.
Suddenly, the arena fell into silence. Every single soul present, every spectator watching this fight, when they saw that smile...
They couldn’t help but shiver.
There was sothing behind it—sothing naless, sothing monstrous—that made their blood run cold.
And that feeling only deepened when a blood-red katana appeared in Kaden’s hand.
For a mont, they all felt like their blood was no longer under their own control.
Even Kenan felt it. Stronger than the rest, since he was facing Kaden directly. He unconsciously took a step back.
"You wanted a crowd to watch," Kaden said, his voice low, composed, and cutting. "When I only wanted the two of us."
"I hope you won’t regret it."
And as he spoke, blood surged around him, coiling like serpents—no, like arms—a mother’s arms, wrapping a child in an embrace.
A loving, protective embrace.
The blood twisted, swirled, fused until it ford a single, perfect lotus.
A lotus so red the world around it seed to bleed alongside it. The scent of blood was thick in the air—so strong it beca physical.
It was overwhelming.
But Kenan wasn’t one to freeze. He was a Fireborn heir, after all. A family born of fla and forged by war. Just like the Warborns, they were no strangers to battle.
So he attacked first.
The balls of fire lunged toward Kaden at great speed, cutting the air with blazing heat. And just as they reached an inch from Kaden, they fused together into one massive surge of fla.
And Kenan wasn’t done.
Beneath Kaden’s feet, the ground began to sizzle—fire erupting in bursts to trap him from below.
An attack from above and below.
But Kaden didn’t even blink.
Pain was sothing he was used to. His Will stat was high enough to walk through fire and worse.
And besides that...
’Kind of weak...’ Kaden thought inwardly, watching the attacks unfold.
He had been fighting beings far above his current rank for so long that this... this was underwhelming.
Deciding to end it quickly, he stomped the ground—blood surged beneath his feet and swallowed the flas instantly.
He raised his head and saw the ball of fire just inches from his face.
Without flinching, without even reacting, he turned his gaze elsewhere.
Reditha moved.
She flickered in front of him like a shadow, and when the tip of her blood-colored blade touched the fla, it swallowed it whole—encasing it in a swirling blood barrier.
BOOM!
The fire exploded inside.
But the blood didn’t even ripple.
That was how far their control had co.
That was how strong their blood manipulation had beco after their rampage in the forest.
Kenan’s eyes widened—but before he could react again, Kaden was already in front of him like a mirage, a phantom.
In his hand, he held the blood lotus.
It looked delicate. Fragile, almost.
But the power it radiated made Kenan tremble.
Kaden smiled.
"Please... don’t die on ."
The lotus vanished from his palm—and reappeared on Kenan’s forehead.
Kenan’s eyes widened in terror.
Kaden grinned.
"This is a new trick of mine. Hope you enjoy it."
The mont those words left his lips, Kenan collapsed. His body started to shake. His skin lost all color, all life. His figure began to shrivel.
He was transforming—right in front of them all.
Into a mummy.
A being without a drop of blood inside.
Yes—
The red lotus was draining every last ounce of blood from Kenan Fireborn’s body.
—End of Chapter 72—
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