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n

nThe clanging of weapons echoed through the Battlefield.

n“Keep going! Don’t give up now!”

n“Our guild battle is far from over!”

n“Keep attacking. Don’t get pushed back! The Myth Guild is beyond fatigued!”

n“Remember the rewards you’ll get if the Blood Federation comes out victorious! Forward!”

n“Kill! Kill them all!”

nThe Myth Guild and the Blood Federation were fighting a fierce battle around the center of the Battlefield. It was much fiercer than the first battle. The Blood Federation fought hard to push the Myth Guild back, and the Myth Guild fought even harder to hold their ground.

n“We’re all at our limits, but we’re still hanging in there!” Edwifu said to Shin as he struck a Federation deva to the ground.

n“It’s small, but I see a sliver of hope!” Naika agreed

n“It would seem so. We’re still here. But… that man really is amazing,” said Shin, glancing at the fight between the Blood Prince and Lee Jiwon.

n“Yes, he’s more than we expected.” Edwifu and Naika knew what she meant, as they couldn’t help but watch the fight as well.

nLee Jiwon was supposed to be fighting with twenty supporters by his side, but he was doing well enough without them.

n“I never expected a deva to be able to go one on one with the Blood Prince. He’s even managing to push him back.” Shin was in absolute awe. The Blood Prince had truly put her and her guild through a hard time.

nShin used to say that the Blood Prince was just another generic deity, but in truth, she wanted his power. She didn’t get how Um-nefer was able to become a deity, and a special one at that. She had cried and swore at the heavens for this unfairness many times.

nShe believed that she would never defeat the Blood Prince on her own. She had come to that conclusion from fighting against the Blood Prince for a year and a half. The Myth Guild could do nothing to keep him at bay.

n—

n“Shit! Get away from me!”

n“No. I just got here. You come back here.”

n“Fucking insect!”

n“That makes you an insect too, dumbass!”

n“Fucking die! Blood Explosion!”

n“Heel Kick!”

n—

nThe fight between Lee Jiwon and the Blood Prince that was taking place in the middle of the Battlefield was the most important. If Lee Jiwon let the Blood Prince get away from him and the Blood Prince was able to join the other deities, the whole battle would be over.

nIt was near impossible for normal devas to get away from the Blood Prince’s attacks. Once the Myth Guild soldiers get caught in the Blood Curse’s web, it would only be a matter of time before they fell, one by one.

n“It definitely is weird seeing the Blood Prince acting all angry… he must really be pissed off.” Shin could hear all of the Blood Prince’s swearing even way over there.

nThe Myth Guild had managed to turn the tables on the Blood Prince a few times before, making him mad and forcing him to make a mistake. But in the end, everything they did turned out to be in vain. The Blood Prince was too strong for them for any of it to make a difference.

nThe insults the Blood Prince and Lee Jiwon threw at each other came off more like playful banter. That was how Shin felt watching two powerful individuals face off. To be honest, she was jealous. She might be the guild master and the strongest of the Myth Guild, but she was still nothing compared to either of them.

nWatching the Blood Prince’s veins bulge in anger began to wash away all of Shin’s past indignities and own feeling of anger.

n“Do you think Lee Jiwon can hold out against Blood Rush?”

n“Hmm…I’m not too sure about that…”

nIt was true that Lee Jiwon was giving the Blood Prince a hard time. He might not be doing enough to win, but that was already enough.

nBut the Blood Prince was truly a monster. Lee Jiwon would be in danger for a whole hour!

n“It’ll be tough.”

n“Blood Rush!”

nShin soon heard the Blood Prince activate his skill. He used it against a single deva! She turned away from the duel and looked around at the other battle. The Myth Guild was winning. Each soldier was putting his or her all into the battle. Every single one of them were fighting literally with their lives on the line, intent on taking as many Federation soldiers with them if they died. That determination gave strength to one another and seeded fear into the hearts of their enemies.

n“Ebonene.”

n“Yes ma’am!”

n“What do you think about our current situation?”

n“Our battle is going well, yes… but everything rests on Lee Jiwon’s battle.”

n“Yes, I thought as much. The Blood Prince is a big enough problem without Blood Rush… If Lee Jiwon can’t hold him off now, we’re done for.”

n“Yes. The fate of the battle and the Myth Guild rests in his hands.” Ebonene nodded in agreement. Then, he remembered what Lee Jiwon had whispered to him before the second battle.

n-Once you see the Blood Prince get struck with a bolt of red lightning, focus all of your attacks on him. You have three seconds. Don’t forget.-

nIt was unexpected, but Ebonene knew he had to heed the advice, especially since it came from someone who managed to last more than fifteen minutes against the Blood Prince.

n“Did you tell everyone?”

n“Yes, ma’am. All soldiers, including the officers, know.” Ebonene had gone around, telling all of the guild’s soldiers while taking care that the Federation didn’t find out about it.

n“Good. Slowly start gathering everyone towards the middle. If something happens to Lee Jiwon…” Shin hesitated for a second before gathering herself together. “We must protect Lee Jiwon, even if means you or any of our soldiers have to lose their lives. I know that we won’t be able to rely on Benenti if Lee Jiwon falls here,” Shin said to Ebonene, looking at him dead in the eyes.

nEbonenen chuckled. “Of course, ma’am. We all know about the sacrifices we have to make here today. If we weren’t willing, then there would be no chance at all for us to come out victorious.” After giving Shin a reassuring smile, Ebonene jumped back into the fray.

nEbonene began gathering soldiers while fighting against the Federation’s deities. He needed healers and, to put it bluntly, meat shields who would take on the Blood Prince’s attacks if the need arose.

nTheir original plan might be in shambles, but all it took was a little improvisation. They just needed to deal with everyone else first. The rat was still caught in the mousetrap. All they needed was Lee Jiwon to do his job.

n-But I wonder what he meant by red lightning? I’m getting curious. We’ll find out today if his luck rubs off on us.-

nEbonene strongly believed that greatness required equal parts skill and equal parts luck.

nNot a single Myth Guild soldier rejected Ebonene’s orders. They all knew what was at stake.

n—

nMy spear clashed against the Blood Prince’s blood sword, and the force of the attacks pushed us a meter away from each other.

nThe Blood Prince began to laugh. His attacks were no doubt stronger and faster now.

n“Go on, make fun of me again. I dare you.”

n“Well, that’s just too easy. I don’t think you got that much stronger.”

nThe Blood Prince ground his teeth anger. “I’ll make you eat those words. Blood Explosion!”

nThe blood bombs had doubled in size. It was probably because of the effects of the Blood Rush. If that was the case, then all of his blood skills were going to be twice as effective.

n“Warrior’s Brave Spirit!”

nWarrior’s Brave Spirit Level 1 has been activated.

nGetting hit by all those blood bombs was painful, but I ignored them and activated my skill. I quickly took out a Shining Health Potion the Myth Guild gave me and quaffed it. I couldn’t use another one for five minutes and took one while I had the chance.

nI had used all of my skills now. Now, I had to stay on him and attack. I looked around at the fight around me to get a grasp of our current situation and noticed that the Myth Guild was still doing well. The fifty officers were managing against the other deities and the exhausted soldiers were still fighting with everything they had. There was still a chance.

n“You’re not actually thinking you can keep me away from everyone else, are you?”

n“I am.”

nThe Blood Prince cackled. “How amusing. Very well! Let’s see how well you fare. Blood Wave!” This time, the tidal wave was more than three meters tall. It came crashing right on top of me.

nI jumped high into the air to avoid it. I needed to start taking care of my HP now. As soon as I was clear of the wave, I pointed my spear at the Blood Prince and dropped right on top of him.

n“Tsk!” He really was much stronger now. My spear couldn’t break through his blood swords now. The force of my attack didn’t push him back like it did before. All he did was take a single step back.

nBut at that size, it was still enough. It meant that my ATT was still high enough.

nI didn’t let myself lose heart and began to attack him in a flurry of swings and slashes. The Blood Prince met every single of my attacks with his blood swords, swatting my spear away.

nEvery time I managed to cut him, he returned with a slash of his own. We kept trading blows like that for a little longer.

n“I really don’t get what you are.” The Blood Prince seemed surprised that I could still keep up. “I know for a fact that you’re a deva. How is it that you got this strong?”

n“Maybe all of the devas you’ve met so far were just weak.” I just needed to buy time. I answered with the first thing that came to my head.

nThe Blood Prince laughed out loud. “You’re right. That has to be the answer! I guess that means I actually get to kill a strong deva for the first time. Blood Rain!”

nThe rain this time was a torrent. It reminded me of the typhoon we had a few years back. The Area of Effect was larger as well.

nI quickly jumped back to get out of the rain.

n“Blood Rain! Blood Rain!” He must have not liked me retreating and activated the skill a couple times in a row. Thankfully, my high movement speed was faster now, thanks to Warrior’s Spirit, and I managed to get out.

n“If you keep running like that, I’ll give up on you and attack the Myth Guild. I know you’re trying to keep me away from them.”

n“…” I got about ten meters away from him and the rain. If I screwed up and the Blood Prince turned his attention to the Myth Guild now, I would be failing my mission.

nIt wasn’t like I could use my Blink right now, either. I felt it wasn’t going to work until the time came to kill him off.

n“You’re sharp, I’ll give you that.”

nThe Blood Prince laughed. “I’m just giving you options. You should be thankful, don’t you think?”

nSoon, the rain caught up and large drops of blood poured all around me. In less than a minute, the ground became slick with blood.

nI took a quick inventory of what I had. My Unrivaled skill decreased all incoming damage from deities by 50%, Warrior’s Brave Spirit decreased general damage by 10% and my Link Totem decreased another 5%. In total, my damage resistance was increased by 65%.

n-How much longer can I last? Thirty minutes? Forty?-

nI still had to face him inside this goddamned rain.

n-Ah!-

nI took out the Link Totem.

n==Damage Link Totem (Rank 7)

nOne of the Link Totems. As long as the Totem is the user’s possession, a portion of damage the user receives is transferred to the Totem. The Totem can absorb a maximum of 15% of damage received. Golden rings can be paid to raise the Totem’s damage absorption threshold. Only one type of Totem can be in possession.

nCurrent damage absorption threshold: 5%

nGolden rings required to increase threshold by 1%: 100,000 golden rings (this amount rises with each level the threshold increases.)

nShould the Totem be sold to other devas or sold at a Store’s auction house, the threshold is reset back to 5%.==

nI wasn’t able to spend any golden rings on it, as I had to buy skills first. I also didn’t really feel the need to back then. But now, I needed the extra damage resistance.

nRight now, I had a total of 10,060,000 golden rings.

n-I was going to spend them on three more skills, but this battle definitely takes priority.-

nI quickly upgraded the Link Totem. It cost 100,000 golden rings to increase the threshold from 5% to 6%. The cost increased by threefold after that. I spent a total of 4,000,000 golden rings to get it up to 9%.

n-That was a lot of golden rings, but what choice do I have?-

nI put my Link Totem back into my inventory.

n“Are you just going to keep standing there?”

nI sighed. “I was just gathering my thoughts.” I really wanted to Blink behind him and shut him up. I wanted to stick my spear in his back, but… it wasn’t going to end the battle.

n-I didn’t use it a month ago, and I’m not using it now. If this keeps up, I might end up not using it at all.-

nI brushed the thought off and charged back in at the still smiling Blood Prince.

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