Chapter 477: The Seed Disappeared XVI

Sekhmet clenched his jaw and forced his eyes back toward Elena.

"Focus on Stephen."

The System responded immediately.

[Primary Bloodlust Target maintained: Stephen.

Secondary hostile targets identified.

System is suppressing unnecessary target switching.

Warning: Bloodlust suppression efficiency will continue decreasing as Bloodlust rises.]

Stephen... Sekhmet looked toward him. The moment his eyes found the old butler, the hunger changed.

Everything concentrated.

Stephen’s divine blood. That was what he wanted. His blood smelled stronger than everyone else’s because it carried the power of a mid-rank God.

Sekhmet’s fingers tightened around Elena’s shoulder.

Across the courtyard, Stephen noticed the look in Sekhmet’s eyes. He had been watching Sofia and Natasha. Now he looked back at Sekhmet.

For a brief moment, his expression changed.

It was not fear but caution. There was something wrong with the way Sekhmet was looking at him.

It was not the look of a weaker cultivator staring at an enemy he hoped to defeat.

It was the look of a predator staring at food.

Stephen turned toward Elena.

The crimson lines beneath her skin were growing brighter. Her divine aura was changing.

He understood Mihos’s concern. He moved.

Sofia intercepted him.

Their fists collided.

This time the shockwave broke another section of the courtyard instead of throwing Sofia away.

Natasha came from the side and struck Stephen’s ribs.

He blocked her with one arm and pushed her backward, but Sofia attacked again before he could chase her.

The two newly elevated Low-Rank Gods worked together in perfect harmony and combination.

Stephen remained stronger for now. But he could no longer pass through them easily.

"Move," Stephen said.

Sofia smiled through the blood at the corner of her mouth.

"No."

Stephen’s strange power spread around him.

The air changed.

Sofia’s body slowed.

Natasha attacked from behind, but her movement slowed too.

Stephen turned toward her. His palm struck Natasha’s chest.

She was thrown across the courtyard and crashed through another broken stone wall.

Sofia attacked immediately.

Stephen caught her wrist.

He twisted.

The bone cracked.

Sofia did not scream. Her other hand struck his face.

Stephen moved backward half a step.

That half step was enough to stop him from reaching Elena.

The System rang again.

[Blood Corruption progress: 86%.

Host Bloodlust: 76%.

Blood God Will output increasing.

Warning: Host Bloodlust continues to rise.]

Sekhmet’s breathing became heavier.

Elena could feel it.

Even while the corruption tore through her blood and pushed her body toward a higher state, she looked at Sekhmet.

His eyes were almost completely crimson now.

"Sekhmet."

He looked at her.

She said, "Your face..."

"I know."

Elena could feel his fingers trembling slightly against her shoulder. It was not from weakness. But from restraint.

She asked, "What is happening to you?"

Sekhmet answered, "Bloodlust."

Although she didn’t know much about it. Yet, she asked again, "How bad is it?"

Sekhmet did not answer immediately.

Another System notification appeared.

[Host Bloodlust: 78%.

System control assistance active.

Warning: Aggression increasing rapidly.

Warning: Blood hunger is increasing.]

Sekhmet answered Elena.

"Bad enough."

Elena frowned. She said, "Then stop."

"No."

"You already made the other two stronger."

"They are still weaker than Stephen."

Elena looked toward the battle.

Sekhmet was right.

Sofia and Natasha could stop Stephen now, but they could not defeat him. Every exchange still favored the mid-rank God. They were buying time.

Nothing more.

Elena looked back at Sekhmet.

"If this reaches a point where you lose control—"

"I will deal with it."

"That sounds exactly like something your father would say before doing something stupid."

Sekhmet’s mouth moved slightly.

"Then it runs in the family."

Elena almost laughed. But there was no time. The crimson light beneath her skin suddenly became much brighter. Her body stiffened.

The Blood God Will reached her divine foundation.

Sekhmet felt it happen.

Elena’s blood stopped resisting completely. Instead, it answered him. The connection between them formed. It was not the same as the vampire connection he held with Sofia and Natasha.

It was something different. Something temporary. But powerful.

The System completed the process.

[Blood Corruption successful.

Target: Elena Dawn.

Original Rank: Low-Rank God.

Blood God Will enhancement successful.

Temporary Rank: Mid-Rank God.

Blood Corruption Slot Usage: 3/3.

Target regeneration greatly increased.

Target physical output greatly increased.

Target chaos energy output greatly increased.

Blood Authority Bond established.

Blood Exhaustion will begin after Blood Corruption ends.

Host Bloodlust: 80%.

Warning: Bloodlust continues to rise.

Note: System control assistance at increased load.]

Sekhmet’s eyes widened slightly.

Eighty percent. And it had not stopped.

Elena screamed. It was not from pain alone.

Power exploded from her body.

BOOM!

Everyone inside the courtyard felt it.

The stone beneath Elena disappeared under the first release of chaos energy. A crater formed around her and continued widening until Sekhmet was forced several steps backward.

The blood covering Elena’s clothes lifted from the fabric and began circling her body.

Her broken arm straightened. The bone was repaired. The wound through her stomach closed. The swelling around one eye vanished.

Every injury Stephen had given her began disappearing at a speed far beyond her previous regeneration.

Her divine energy rose. It was going higher and higher. Then it changed completely.

Stephen stopped fighting.

Sofia and Natasha moved backward.

They looked toward Elena.

Stephen felt it before anyone needed to explain.

The difference between them had disappeared.

Elena opened her eyes. Her pressure spread across Iron House.

She was a Mid-Rank God.

The same rank as Stephen.

Mihos’s expression changed. He had been watching the battle from behind his people with confidence because Stephen’s victory had always seemed inevitable.

That confidence was gone now.

Stephen looked toward Sekhmet.

Then toward Sofia.

Natasha.

Finally Elena.

Three women had been changed by one Chaos Rank Three cultivator.

Two Half-Gods had become Low-Rank Gods.

One Low-Rank God had become a Mid-Rank God.

Stephen’s face became completely serious.

Elena took one step forward.

The ground beneath her foot became perfectly still despite the divine pressure surrounding her.

She looked at Stephen.

"Now we are the same rank."

Stephen did not answer.

Around them, the larger battle continued.

A battle maid cut down one of Mihos’s fighters.

Two lesser vampires tackled another man to the ground.

Mira’s snakes struck toward a mage trying to cast from behind the frontline.

Lily crashed into another group and broke their formation.

Vera and Vela moved together through the chaos, keeping enemies away from Sekhmet.

The entire Iron House estate had become filled with weapons, screaming, blood, and chaos energy.

Sekhmet stood in the middle of it. He heard all of it. But more than anything else, he heard the blood.

[Host Bloodlust: 81%.

Bloodlust continues to rise.

System control assistance active.

Primary hostile focus maintained: Stephen.

Warning: Host restraint continues to decrease.]

Sekhmet stared at Stephen.

The divine blood from his earlier wounds was still scattered across the courtyard.

Sekhmet could feel every drop. His tongue moved across one fang that had begun pressing harder against the inside of his mouth.

The System was still helping him. Still directing him. Still keeping the hunger pointed toward the correct enemy.

But at eighty-one percent and rising, Sekhmet could already feel the line becoming thinner.

Elena moved toward Stephen.

Sofia stepped to her left.

Natasha moved to her right.

Three corrupted women faced the mid-rank God together.