[Blood Mana: 38,089/40,832<<<<36,943/40,832]
One battle ended; another was still in motion.
Enoris, the former Legendary Ethisian turned Blood Warrior, ensued in battle with her Master’s sister, Cherry, the Blood Knight. What were once quick exchanges between a heavy axe and dagger slashes turned into a full-fledged fight, pushing Cherry to her near limits while Enoris rose in strength, durability, and speed.
At one point during the fight, the Blood Knight came too close to losing her arm had it not been for Enoris holding back severely. However, the Blood Warrior was still a formidable opponent, and as such, the Blood Knight had no choice but to transform.
"You got too close to cleaving my arm off," the two stood still; backs hunched, chests and muscles throbbing, and breaths inconsistent, "I wonder how I would have fared against you in a real battle."
"What are you trying to imply?" Enoris stood up straight, her strength already replenished thanks to her Master’s Blood Mana. "Are you saying that my fighting is not satisfactory? Have I failed to reach your standards?"
"Not at all," Cherry stood up straight as well, although her muscles still ached. "You’re fighting because my brother told you not to kill me. It would be different if he told you to do as you wished, wouldn’t it?"
"You make a compelling point...." Enoris vanished from Cherry’s sight, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind. Just as she was about to leap out of the way, Cherry’s side was crushed under the weight of the side of Enoris’ axe, which trapped her between it and the ground.
Pinned down, wounded, and in pain, the Blood Knight glared at the Blood Warrior with an exhausted sigh of defeat. In as much as she lost, she had still managed to inflict damage on the Blood Warrior. In fact, if it weren’t for Blood Mana, Enoris’ condition would have been worse than Cherry’s own.
"You fought well, Blood Knight," Enoris congratulated and stepped away. "Blood Commander is lucky to have a strong Blood Knight by his side. Maybe when you get as strong as he is, we could fight again..."
"Maybe?" Cherry winced while stumbling on her feet. "It’s not a maybe, it’s when. WHEN I get as strong as he is."
"Why not aim to get stronger?" Cherry stuttered a little and then opted not to respond. She and Enoris looked at Ace who stood on top of his slain Emberwyrm, his body soaked in blood with a malevolent red aura coursing around him. Just looking alone was enough to send slight fear into the two. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵
"While I want to grow strong," Cherry answered, "I don’t want to grow to that point. If growing stronger will eventually turn me into that, I’d rather stay the way I am."
"My failure to relate to your turmoil is frustrating." Enoris looked on while Cherry reverted to normal. Looking at Ace made her feel more in sync with his Blood Mana and Blood Aura, drawing her closer to a malevolent presence. If there was one thing she wanted to do at the moment, it was understanding this feeling. It felt so near yet untouchable but at the same time within her. This dark aura was her very essence. The manifestation of Blood Aura and Blood Mana flowing through her was what she and her Master shared. The binding force that made her indebted to the Blood Bishop. But why? Why? Why of all things was it so...
"Sickening and...morbid!!"
’Blood Points...for killing my own Emberwyrm...’
Ace was still confused and, quite frankly, a little bit upset. His system gave him no explanation as to why his conjured beast had gone AWOL on him. After killing it not too long ago, he conjured the beast and kept it hidden for a while and forgot about it until a few minutes ago, but it made no sense as to why he was attacked. To make matters worse, his system refrained from giving him a clear explanation but rather reminded him of...
[You have ZERO subjects under your rule.]
[You have ZERO subjects under your rule.]
[You have ZERO subjects under your rule.]
"System, explain why my Blood Beast attacked me?"
"Alright then," since the system was unwilling to give a response, Ace turned to the creature’s body and shouted the words, "Blood essence, manifest."
"Blood essence, manifest."
[You cannot conjure a dead conjured being. All of its mana has already been absorbed.]
It was no use arguing with the system, nor was it useful for Ace to try and fight it. If it felt like it, he’d go on and kill another Emberwyrm and conjure it again. However, despite him having lost the conjured beast, he was worried if the same phenomenon would occur to the other conjured beings like the Ethisians or separate beasts. What if someone found a way to kill his Blood Warriors? What if they killed his entire army? What would become of him?
’That’ll be something I’ll have to figure out myself,’ he mumbled, ’I know the system won’t be of much help, so there’s only one person I can turn to.’
[Lord Grania’s Throne Room.]
As the Humans trained and the Granians readied themselves for battle, the higher-ups, Lord Grania, Council Members, and Elders were gathered in the throne room with a small crowd gathering. A panel, of sorts, was prepared with papers, scrolls, screens, and other mediums of communication set up almost as though a great presentation was going to be given.
At the center was Lord Grania. On his left was a female Granian, supposedly his mate by the way she and he were eyeing each other. On her left were Huntress and the female Elders and Council Members. On Lord Grania’s right was Grand Master. On his right was Grim, One Horn, and the rest of the male Elders and Council Members, all seated on a raised platform.
Below them were other Council Members, but these weren’t from around here. Despite them all being of Granian descent, their physiques, builds, and designs differed from those of Lord Grania and the others. For example, Lord Grim was no longer the only "black-scaled Granian"; now there were about fifty of them present, all looking almost as strong as him, if not stronger. Among those present were Granians who had scalier flesh and a few others with wings, completing the ’dragon-look.’
The Granians that abducted Earth were gray with green highlights on the tips of their horns, toenails, finger nails, tails, and in-between their scales. The ones present looked the same but with different colors, some ranging from shades of white and black, to pink, red, and blue.
"My People," Lord Grania stood from his throne with a mighty roar in his voice. All who were present looked at him, some with happiness written on their faces while others having anger hugging them, "I stand before you, welcoming you all for the Great Gathering. Our enemy grows strong and arrogant. They have forgotten their place. They mock us. They kill our men, take our women, and turn our children into their experiments but we...We the Granians shall not stand for their pride. We shall defy all. We shall destroy them. We shall conquer. THE GRANIANS WILL CONQUER!!" Altogether, every Granian present, whether great or small, tall or short, male or female, stood from where they sat and shouted in unison, saying, ""OUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL!!""