Born in Blood



The vortex was the first to detonate, and it did so on the Monolith Lion's tongue.

Contrary to expectation, it didn't kill the beast.

Of course it didn't.

A Rank 5 upper-tier beast was not so easily killable.

Instead, it was discombobulated and taken aback by the sudden strike, its tongue mangled and corroded instantly.

A savage glimmer appeared in the lion's eyes. A reverberating growl grew in its throat, but Wild Fang stopped it before it turned into a roar.

Despite his desire to win, he still had his Elders and disciples in mind. 

Right after, the vertical slash – sharpened significantly by the condensed cloud – came.

Within the seemingly spacious Isolation Barrier, the world appeared to split into two parallel sides, sliding apart from each other as though reality itself had been cut in half.

The Monolith Lion's muzzle had taken the brunt of such a cruel swing, ripping through its sturdy snout and carving a gory path towards its face.

The cloud-enhanced slash didn't manage to get past any more, though, and Unforgiven Shadow had to dodge the clamping jaw that threatened to clip him in half.

At the same time, another hundred or so shadow-blades emerged from the Unforgiven's two hands, spreading in a wild pattern that focused on different parts of the lion's body.

The lion's tufts of lustrous yellow fur hardened into a solid brown, reducing the sharpness of the shadow-blades into shallow nicks. 

They still had a corrosive effect, though, slowly but steadily wearing down the lion's defenses. 

At the same time, similar swarms of black blades shot towards Wild Fang, forcing him to defend.

Even though the Monolith Lion's speed was fast, it wasn't as fast as a Rank 5 human cultivator. The differences between their bodily sizes were just too much. 

The island rumbled violently. The very foundations of it were being split asunder.

This was the power of Rank 5 cultivators.

They had made an entire landscape their battlefield. And there were just two of them.

Who knew what kind of shenanigans they could pull off as a collective?

Chunks from all over the island were being raised high into the air by the lion's command, then flung towards Usan's small figure one after the other. 

Usan was forced to retreat backwards, and the blade returned to his grasp. 

Only… if one took a deeper look at the weapon's surface, they would see nicks and subtle cracks. Barely visible, but alarming.

Finally, the Unforgiven proved that he wasn't invincible. 

A mass of rock managed to hit him directly from the side, making him lose balance and grunt in pain. 

First strike goes to Wild Fang!

After that, more and more attacks seemed to slip through Unforgiven Shadows' defenses, giving him little time to balance himself. 

One after the other, he had to dodge the lion's chomps, swipes and constant barrage of boulders. 

He pulled backwards towards the further edges of the island, indirectly giving safety to those watching.

Wild Fang was relieved as the battle raged on, a wide grin spreading across his lips.

The cloud was officially gone. 

He could now push forward with his mighty beast and use all his spells full force, creating an all-out attack that determined which of them would live to—

More than twelve vortexes appeared out of thin air, swirling in a wide circular motion as it absorbed the barrage of attacks… and growing bigger in the process.

Wild Fang's eyes widened in shock. 

He'd never seen such a spell in his entire life. Something so well versed in both impregnable defense and devastating destruction.

And so many of them, to boot! 

Each one of those vortexes were made out of a peculiar mix of darkness and shadows, creating its own suction force. 

It absorbed each earthly attack with little to no difficulty.

Unforgiven Shadow was truly a prodigy—

"Haahhaahehah…"

Usan's face wasn't visible through the shadowy demon mask, but strange, stifled laughter exited through it.

—with more than a few hinges loose in his brain.

Wild Fang growled, angry at himself.

This was no time to admire his enemy!

By now, most of his disciples had retreated to safety. 

They were beneath the nightly ocean, reluctantly sharing the same water as the acolytes, but there was a mutual treaty of peace between them for the time being.

Their Elders didn't attack either. 

Everything depended on the outcome of this battle.

If the Unforgiven won, the entire Leash sect would undoubtedly be executed.

If Wild Fang won, the Temple would finally be eradicated.

'You're not the only one with tricks, fool!'

Wild Fang no longer held back. 

The Monolith Lion charged in – adorned with two bull-like horns protruding from its head – and leaped upwards to stop the black vortexes from growing any bigger.

Simultaneously, Wild Fang stripped off his robe, revealing his chiseled body that was covered with strange tattoos that came from various beasts.

A moment later, his body began to bulge with newfound muscles, doubling him in size and presumably strength. 

His red eyes seemed to gain a bestial quality, his hair turning wilder, and four lion-like fangs growing out of his mouth.

…However, Wild Fang suddenly felt drained of his strength.

It felt as though he had picked up an extremely heavy object and was siphoned of all his stamina.

"Urk!"

Right after, unimaginable pain seared through him.

In a hidden panic, Wild Fang inspected his body.

There was a faint cut towards the bottom of his robe.

A small, insignificant cut that he didn't pay any attention to. 

It was already healed… but the damage wasn't on the outside.

Like a silent poison, the wound festered and rooted further into his nervous system, eventually activating.

Wild Fang looked back towards Unforgiven Shadow with anger in his eyes.

'You scum!'

Wild Fang kicked the air.

BANG!

Together with his beast, he charged at the Unforgiven, madness in his eyes.

This was it!

Two Rank 5's charging just one!

This would decide everything!

The vortexes that had been silently growing abruptly chained together and converged in front of Usan.

Light bent around it, but strangely, it didn't have any gravitational pull.

One after the other, their size and strength grew, then spread outwardly like a blanket to meet the Monolith Lion's charge.

As it used its horns to attack the mass of blackness, the lion…

Disappeared.