Chapter 289: An Intense Battle Against An A-Rank Hunter (And His Super Robot!)

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"TSK! GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU DAMN USELESS TRASH! AM I PAYING YOU TO DIE OR SOMETHING?!" Elias roared and swung the mech’s remaining arm sideways. The heavy limb smashed through the wall of a cafeteria where several off-duty workers and low-ranking soldiers were still eating. Tables, chairs, and bodies went flying in every direction as the building partially collapsed.

"Well, they can still work for something! Hahahaha!"

With a crazed laugh he raised the mechanical arm high. Thick streams of blood lifted from every fresh corpse and from the men still dying on the ground. Their bodies shriveled and dried out like mummies in seconds as the Blood Core drank everything and fed the machine with fresh fuel.

"Now... Blood Engines: Full Power!"

The moment the words left Elias’s mouth the machine around him roared to life. Red veins of concentrated blood energy lit up across its frame and the air itself seemed to compress under the sudden surge of power. The pressure shattered outward in a visible wave. In less than a second the distance between him and Riven disappeared.

Riven had just reached the Mana Reactor when Elias’s katana flashed. The blade moved so fast it looked like a dozen blades striking at once. Each cut carried the same draining force that ate through mana and flesh alike.

"Take this! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEEEEE!!!"

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

Riven could not dodge. He could not even form a replacement clone. Every strike landed and each one negated the mana he tried to gather. His arms were sliced open, his torso was carved in deep lines, and half of his head was nearly blown apart. Blood sprayed across the ground as he staggered.

"Uuugghh?!"

Even while his body was being torn apart, something inside him refused to stop. His cells pulsed hard, reacting to the damage with a power that felt completely alien. All of his transformation abilities stacked at the same time. His frame expanded rapidly until he stood ten meters tall. Scales covered thick biological armor.

Tentacled wings tipped with black feathers spread from his back. A glowing crystal formed in the center of his stomach, holding mana, spirit energy, psionic force, and draconic power all at once. He had become a giant that looked half alien, half dragon, and half titan.

"W-What the...?!"

Elias froze for a split second. He had seen vampires change shape before, but nothing like this. No vampire transformation came close to the sheer size and layered power standing in front of him. What shocked him even more was that Riven’s half-destroyed face and brain were already knitting themselves back together. The Immortal Alien Body Second Wind ability had activated fully, restoring every wound and multiplying all of Riven’s stats by five times in the process.

From the amount of energy pouring off Elias, he was clearly an A Rank Hunter. Yet he still leaned heavily on the machine to fight. His close-combat instincts were not as sharp as the power of the Blood Engine. Now that Riven had finally matched that level, he gave Elias no time to adjust.

"RAAAAHHHH!"

Riven’s roar shook the ground. He brought one massive foot down and kicked the machine hard enough to send it sliding backward. His claws followed immediately, tearing straight through the cockpit where Elias sat.

The metal ripped open and the entire frame was thrown down. At the same time Riven released a combined wave of purgatory fire and water of Yomi that swallowed both the machine and its pilot.

"W-WAIT! WAAAAAIT!"

Elias’s scream was almost lost inside the swirling tornado of death water and hellish flames. The machine’s outer plating cracked and exploded in pieces one after another. Forced out of the wreckage, Elias had only two choices left: run or stand and fight.

And he chose to run.

"Shit, shit, shit!!!"

Elias turned and bolted without hesitation. The tables had completely turned against him. He was A Rank, but he had reached that level by drinking blood and eating blood crystals. His father had raised him with too much care, to the point that he had almost no real battle experience despite being a vampire descendant. Every step he took was clumsy, driven by pure panic as he tried to put distance between himself and the man who had just torn through his subordinates.

"Where do you think you’re going?!" roared Riven.

He drove his foot into the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath him, launching forward. In two strides he closed the gap, his hand already enlarged into a massive clawed grip. He seized Elias by the torso and slammed him face-first into the floor.

CRAAASH!

"Gaahaaaaa?!"

Elias screamed and vomited a mouthful of blood at the same time as Riven raised his divine sword and brought it down.

"W-WAIT! I’LL GIVE YOU MONEY! ANYTHING YOU WANT BUT PLEASE DON’T!!!"

Riven did not listen. The moment he had seen this bastard kill and eat his own men, he had decided there would be no mercy. Someone who treated his own people as food did not deserve a second chance.

He activated an Abyssal Assault Art Technique, Guillotine Cascade, and flooded it with dragon flames of purgatory. Explosions of shadow and fire erupted around Elias’s body, the heat searing his pale skin black in patches.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

"Gyyaaaaaaeeeerrggghhhhhhhhh!"

Elias screamed in raw agony as the cuts landed across his shoulders, chest, and legs while Riven kept him pinned. Yet he was damn tough. Riven could not tear him apart easily; every strike that connected felt like hitting solid concrete. The vampire’s flesh resisted, regenerating almost as fast as it was cut.

"Haaahh! Haaaha! F-FUCKER!! YOU’LL SEE!"

Still on the floor and bleeding heavily, Elias roared and fumbled a syringe from his pocket. The glass tube was packed full of a strange, swirling liquid. He jammed the needle into his own neck and pushed the plunger all the way down.

The liquid entered his bloodstream and pulsed with immediate power. His skinny, undersized frame suddenly expanded. Muscles ballooned across his arms, chest, and legs until he nearly matched Riven’s height, reaching a full seven meters. Shadows and blood energy wrapped around the new bulk. His veins stood out thick and dark. His hair lengthened and caught fire with crimson flames. A third eye opened in the center of his chest, and small bony spikes pushed out across his shoulders, arms, and the tips of his fingers.

"What the hell did you inject yourself with?!" Riven demanded, stepping back half a pace as the transformed vampire rose to his feet with a manic grin.

"It’s a new recipe! A syringe that can make anybody strong! My daddy gave it to me for my birthday last week! It has some annoying side effects, but who cares as long as I CAN BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU?!"

RUMBLE!

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