Chapter 16
“Huuu…….”
Even after letting out a long breath, his violently pounding heart refused to calm down.
The greatsword of fire, which he had swung as lightly as a sheet of paper, now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. His legs convulsed nonstop.
Kieeeeeeeeeek!!
On the other hand,
The mantis-like deadly parasitic insect continued to emit fierce roars, completely unconcerned that its right foreleg had been severed.
One foreleg.
That was the result he had earned after fighting until his sword was half-broken and his breath had reached the tip of his throat.
“I won’t let you get anywhere near the <Lava Pond of Evolution> until you trample over my corpse, you bug bastard.”
Yet the blazing fighting spirit in the Chieftain’s eyes had not diminished even slightly since the battle began.
Rather, the more wounds he accumulated, the stronger it burned, like embers struck by a gust of wind.
Because he had a mission.
‘I will not allow even a single leaf to disturb Ruth until he safely completes his ritual inside the Lava Pond. Even if it costs me my life!’
Behind him was the <Lava Pond of Evolution>. No — Ruth was there.
He was the great warrior who had struck a blow against the Poison Demon on behalf of the tribe and recovered his son’s rotting corpse from the swamp.
And now, that man was performing a sacred ritual in the Lava tribe’s holy ground.
He had trusted the Chieftain and willingly thrown himself into danger.
Therefore, the Chieftain’s duty was to repay that trust by blocking this bug with a resolve that did not fear death.
Kieeeeeeeeeek!!
“Come, then…!”
To be honest, he was at his limit.
The Poison Demon must have really hated the idea of anyone entering the Lava Pond, leaving behind such an absurd monster.
Fighting this single mantis was far more difficult than dealing with thousands of ordinary deadly parasitic insects.
Moreover, the neutralizing effect of the antidote was gradually weakening over time.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!
“Kuh, ugh……!”
The Chieftain barely managed to block the foreleg that came crashing down like a hammer.
Black, dead blood flowed from between his clenched teeth.
The partially neutralized poison was steadily accumulating in his body, twisting his internal organs.
The nightmare-like pain he had barely escaped thanks to Ruth began creeping over him once again.
“……!!”
Instead of collapsing like a corpse, the Chieftain chose to fight the enemy before him, veins bulging in his eyes.
Since he had received a new life thanks to Ruth, it was only right to repay that grace with his own life.
Crack……
The greatsword of fire that clashed with the foreleg let out an ominous sound as cracks spread across it.
“Uwoooooooo!”
The Chieftain let out a battle cry that was hard to believe came from an old man’s throat.
And then.
Thud!
It finally collapsed.
“……?”
The mantis did.
The Chieftain made a bewildered face, unable to comprehend what he was seeing even with his own eyes.
“W-what is this…”
The mantis, which had been rampaging with overwhelming ferocity, was now flattened against the ground like an ant stepped on by a foot, twitching weakly.
While the Chieftain was still frozen in confusion,
Shaaaa—.
“Huh, ugh……?!”
Only then did he realize why the perfectly fine mantis had suddenly collapsed.
‘D-death energy so powerful it feels like every single vertebra in my spine is freezing solid!’
An overwhelming pressure, strong enough to make the deadly poison inside his body feel insignificant, was coming from behind him.
Shiver……
The Chieftain, who had not felt fear even in the face of death, trembled as he slowly turned around.
There stood Ruth.
“Ah……”
He had risen from within the Lava Pond, his clothes melted away to leave him half-naked, with golden waves flowing down his body like silk.
Yet,
Although his outward appearance hadn’t changed much, the Chieftain felt as if the Ruth before him was an entirely different being from the man he knew.
“Y-you… Just what happened inside there…?”
“……”
An immense dignity radiated from Ruth as he stared silently.
It was a presence more like a yaksha than a human.
‘…Did something go wrong with the ritual?’
Sensing something ominous, the Chieftain began to slowly step back, preparing to raise his guard, when—
Smirk.
Ruth lifted one corner of his mouth and let out a short laugh.
It didn’t quite match his yaksha-like appearance, but it was undoubtedly the smile of a ‘human.’
“It looks like we’ve both saved each other’s lives now.”
“Ah……”
“Please rest. I’ll finish the rest.”
His voice was as warm as the fire of the Lava tribe. The Chieftain felt relief, but at the same time, a deep shudder ran through him.
The thick death energy that had chilled his spine earlier had indeed come from Ruth.
‘Just what…’
Step. Step.
Watching Ruth walk toward the still-twitching mantis, the Chieftain swallowed dryly.
‘Just what on earth did he obtain inside the <Lava Pond of Evolution> to gain such terrifying power!’
Crunch……!!
The moment Ruth extended his right arm to the side, crimson blood ki swirled and condensed into a vortex.
What took shape was a spear created with <Blood Weapon>.
However, it was on a completely different level from any <Blood Weapon> he had used before. The sharpness of the blade was far keener, and the amount of blood ki it emitted was incomparable to before.
……Crunch!!
Ruth drove the spearhead down into the mantis’s head, which was staring at him with eyes full of despair.
That was the end.
It was an absurdly hollow death for a creature that had refused to budge no matter how hard the Chieftain had fought.
At the same time, as if the mantis’s death had acted as a trigger,
Chwaaaak!!
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!!
Innumerable insect eggs embedded like tumors in the crater walls burst open all at once, pouring out swarms of deadly parasitic insects.
The number was so great it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it an ‘all-out assault.’
There were so many that from this side, they looked less like a swarm of bugs and more like a black cloud.
“Damn it! I’m sick of these disgusting things!”
The Chieftain, shuddering in revulsion, raised his greatsword again with his exhausted body.
He had thought they could finally leave this place, but reality cruelly gave them no time to even catch their breath.
With the mindset of someone standing at the edge of a cliff, the Chieftain faced the relentlessly charging swarm.
[Visionary Blood Sorcery]
[Devouring Spirit Summon]
Graaaaaaaaah—!!
Before the Chieftain could act, the blood-red Devouring Spirits unleashed from Ruth’s hand swept away the entire swarm of insects.
Dudududududu……!!
The endlessly rotating red hexagram poured out Devouring Spirits like a waterfall.
The expression on Ruth’s face as he held up one hand to summon the hexagram was utterly indifferent.
As if such bugs weren’t even worth the slightest concern.
“……”
With a single gesture, he erased a seemingly endless number of deadly parasitic insects.
The Chieftain didn’t know whether he should be more amazed by the miracle of the Lava Pond or by Ruth’s ability.
He had already seen <Devouring Spirit Summon> once through the crystal orb, but
The <Devouring Spirit Summon> Ruth was using now was on a completely different dimension from what he had seen before.
‘Not only are there far more of those skull-like things, but above all…….’
Ruth’s complexion was far too calm.
When he had seen it through the crystal orb, Ruth had looked quite exhausted after using the skill once.
Yet now, he appeared extremely relaxed, as if this terrifying wide-area technique barely burdened him at all.
But in reality,
‘This is almost…….’
Ruth was not as relaxed as his expression suggested.
His heart was pounding so violently he could barely control it.
‘This is practically a Blood Mage remake level?’
With a satisfied smile, Ruth recalled the sight he had witnessed inside the <Lava Pond of Evolution>.
***
Back when he was still undergoing the ritual inside the <Lava Pond of Evolution>.
[‘Lava Pond of Evolution’ has freed you from the fate of craving the blood of your kin.]
System messages scrolled before his eyes as he felt the warmth of the Lava Pond.
‘They could have just said the blood ki supply penalty has disappeared. Why make it sound so grandiose?’
Even as he grumbled inwardly, a smile naturally formed on his lips. The thought that he had finally escaped that loathsome blood ki curse filled him with joy.
From now on, he no longer needed to writhe like a madman whenever his blood ki ran low.
He would never again be bound by the penalty that had turned a first-tier performer like the Blood Mage into one of the worst trash characters.
He felt like tears would overflow from the sheer relief, <Iron-Blood Heart> or not.
But then—
[‘Blood Ki’ system has been renewed!]
[From now on, your blood ki shall possess a supreme Authority!]
[You have awakened ‘Authority of Blood’!]
“……What?”
Additional messages continued to appear even after he thought it was over.
Messages containing content far beyond his expectations.
……Crazy. What the hell is this?
Renewal? Authority?
‘Good god.’
His eyes widened involuntarily.
In 《Soden》, there was only one kind of being on the entire continent that could possess the concept of ‘Authority.’
Constellations.
Only those who had transcended the limits of their species and ascended to godhood could possess power worthy of being called an ‘Authority.’
Yet such power — no different from a miracle — had now resided in his blood ki.
With the extravagant modifier ‘supreme’ attached to it, no less.
To Ruth, those words could only mean one thing.
‘……All the blood flowing through my body has completely turned into sacred blood.’
Constellation blood. Sacred blood.
As he knew, this was the third time he had taken sacred blood into his body since possessing this world.
Once on the first day of possession, from that nameless, insignificant Constellation.
Once from Demian.
But this time was different.
It wasn’t at the level of simply receiving sacred blood……
It meant every drop of blood in his body had been entirely transformed into sacred blood.
‘Then… have I become a Constellation? …No, that can’t be. If I had, I’d probably be dead by now.’
The wording was a bit strange, but it meant that a mortal living in this world couldn’t become a Constellation.
Since his heart was still beating normally, he hadn’t suddenly turned into a Constellation-level being. It seemed only the blood flowing through his body had become special.
[You will no longer die from blood ki depletion.]
[From now on, you can replenish blood ki using the blood of other races.]
[All Blood Sorcery-type skills will have their power increased by 50%, and blood ki consumption will be reduced by 30%.]
[From now on, your blood ki shall possess the dignity to dominate space and mind.]
The true worth of the ‘Authority of Blood’ unfolded before his eyes.
Every single message was a priceless gift with no room for complaint.
Especially the last line — that his blood ki could dominate space and mind — sent a thrill down his spine.
‘Controlling space and souls with energy…’
That was a realm only achievable by transcendental powers such as a Sword Master’s aura, the mana of a grand archmage, or divine power.
And now, his blood ki had gained that very realm. How could he not be thrilled?
‘…So this is the change that came from transcending my limits.’
He may have underestimated the <Lava Pond of Evolution> too much.
***
And now, here he was.
‘…I used <Devouring Spirit Summon> yet my body feels full of vitality. I could probably activate it once more without issue.’
Thanks to the ‘Authority of Blood’ reducing blood ki consumption by 30%, using a wide-area skill no longer made him dizzy.
Although it was only 30% on paper, the actual difference he felt was far greater.
Since emerging from the Lava Pond, all he had done was test his space domination ability and activate <Devouring Spirit Summon>.
Yet those two things alone had convinced him.
‘The trash character has become an overpowered character.’
Once the shackles were removed, it went completely wild.
So that’s why the developers had desperately balanced it with such an absurd penalty?
……Good god. He never thought the day would come when he would sympathize with those bastards.
‘Anyway, all the suffering to get here was worth it.’
Ruth expanded his senses widely and checked if any more insects remained.
Perhaps because his Rank had increased significantly, the range of his perception had expanded to an absurd degree.
The vast crater almost felt like it was within his grasp.
After finishing his search of the crater with his sixth sense, Ruth looked at the speechless Chieftain beside him and said,
“There are no more bugs left. That group just now seems to have been the last of them.”
“……”
“Are you listening?”
“Huh? Ah, yes… Sorry.”
“You’ve achieved what you wanted, and we’ve exterminated all the deadly parasitic insects. Let’s head back quickly and share this joy with the rest of the tribe.”
“No. There is one last thing you must do, Chieftain.”
The Chieftain’s face, which had been filled with emotion, hardened instantly.
“One last thing I must do… What do you mean?”
“It really is the final task. I know you’re exhausted, but please lend me a little more strength.”
Splash.
Ruth stepped forward through the swamp and continued,
“This is not for me, but for the Lava tribe.”
***
After walking for quite some time, they arrived at the spot where Ruth had fought the Poison Demon’s avatar.
Or more precisely…
“Lebernin.”
It was the place where he had recovered Lebernin’s body from the swamp.
The Chieftain knelt before the corpse, calling his son’s name in a cracked voice.
Since Ruth was standing behind him, he couldn’t see the Chieftain’s face.
“It was all because I was lacking… In the end, I only caused you pain…”
Just from the tearful voice and trembling shoulders, it was easy to imagine his expression.
Even though time was of the essence, Ruth did not interrupt the long-overdue reunion between father and son.
A moment later,
Having gathered himself, the Chieftain spoke.
“…Thank you. I have received a grace from you that I could never repay even if I spent my entire life trying. The word ‘thank you’ feels far too small and insignificant to express my true feelings…”
“……”
“I have met my son again and helped him find peace. Now I can die without any regrets. This is all thanks to you, Ruth. I never dreamed that the day would come when I would feel respect for a human.”
Swish. Swish.
The Chieftain wiped his reddened eyes, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“…Sorry for showing such an unsightly display. So, what is this final task I must do? Just tell me.”
Facing the Chieftain’s resolute gaze that said he would do anything Ruth asked, Ruth spoke.
“Cut open your son’s chest and take out his heart.”