Chapter 199: Blood of the Abyss

Edward's hands swelled, tipped with razor-sharp red nails, while his body rapidly expanded, revealing his vampire form. From the beginning, the increased gravity had suppressed only him; the Devil Cross was not affected in the slightest. Since he himself could withstand only 10 points of Power, he was pinned to the ground, unable to move. But in his vampire form, he could accommodate 20 points of Power.

The enhancement was immediate. Edward rose from the ground. In his vampire form, he stood nearly six meters tall, with an unnaturally tall and slender build. Two enormous bat wings extended from his back, and his skin became a terrifying blend of crimson, ash-white, and black. A thick, shaggy mane grew around his neck and draped over his chest.

He muttered, "Heh, Peter. I don't care what kind of deadly trap you've prepared. You're all going to die!"

Edward had never been the type to knowingly walk straight into danger. The moment he realized how dangerous the situation was, he abandoned his plan and decided to attack Rossia's capital from a distance, lest he encounter another enemy like Ivan.

Had Ivan known that his sacrifice would have the opposite effect, he probably would not have been able to rest in peace. The main reason Ivan had appeared there alone was that his ability did not distinguish between friend and foe. The gravity would have crushed any allies accompanying him as well. He had come prepared to die alongside Edward. Unfortunately, he had severely underestimated Edward's strength.

Edward bent his legs, then kicked off with all his strength. Even with the tremendous gravity suppressing him, he managed to shoot himself into the sky. Then he lowered his gaze toward the distant horizon, toward Rossia's capital.

He raised a hand, gathering both his power and the power of the Devil Cross into his palm. "Blood Spear Art!"

It was the same technique Yu Xian had used to launch a spiraling spear at Edward several days earlier. Both originated from the blood art innate to the vampire bloodline. However, Yu Xian's mastery over his vampire bloodline was far greater than Edward's; Yu Xian could bypass the casting process entirely and freely mold the blood art, reshaping the Blood Spear Art into a spiraling spear.

Edward's control over both his bloodline and his energy was far inferior. He could execute the blood art only according to the conventional method. His sole advantage was that he possessed far more energy than Yu Xian had a few days earlier. Even an ordinary blood art could unleash tremendous power in Edward's hands.

A massive red spear appeared in his hand. It was a Western-style spear composed entirely of energy, radiating brilliant red light—the Blood Spear Art's standard form.

Edward pushed his energy output to the limit, then hurled the spear toward Rossia's capital with all his strength. "All of you, die!"

The mere act of throwing it carved a distinct scar across the sky, while the ground below caved in, tracing the spear's path.

At Rossia's capital, a female officer beside Peter suddenly paled and cried out in terror, "Your Majesty, an energy signature above God rank is rapidly approaching!"

Peter clenched his fist. "It seems Plans One and Two have both failed. In that case, begin Plan Three."

A group of men and women in red robes rushed out from the city walls. They injected themselves with a drug, and their bodies rapidly expanded, transforming into enormous human-shaped trees. One white tree after another rose from the ground before the city walls, forming a powerful defensive barrier.

Ten seconds later, the spear flashed across the distance and struck one of the trees. For an instant, the entire world seemed to fall silent. Then the soldiers atop the walls lit up with joy as the Sacrificial Tree had stopped Edward's attack. Before anyone could celebrate, however, the tree struck by the spear began swelling and deforming as a terrifying surge of crimson energy erupted from within it.

Peter's pupils contracted. Nikolayevich immediately moved in front of him while the crimson light rapidly consumed and destroyed the surrounding area. The city wall vanished instantly, along with the soldiers and countless elite supernatural beings who had been standing atop it, ready for battle.

The explosion relentlessly expanded through the city behind the walls. A massive cathedral disappeared within the light, while the towering mage towers collapsed into ruins. A minute later, the entire city had been leveled, and waves of scorching heat rose from the devastated land.

Peter stood motionless on the ground, wisps of white smoke rising from his body. Everything had happened too quickly, terrifyingly quickly. The people around him had vanished so suddenly that it almost felt as though they had never been more than illusions.

After a full ten minutes, Edward descended from the sky. Looking down at Peter from above, he smiled. "Peter VI. I never thought... we'd actually get to see each other again."

Peter paid Edward no attention whatsoever. He just stood there, as though he had fallen into some strange state.

Edward frowned. Not wanting to risk any further complications, he immediately formed a blood-red sword and hurled it at Peter. The blade struck the man through the head.

Yet, the next moment, Peter's injury healed on its own, while the blood-red sword vanished.

Edward stared at Peter in surprise. "What?"

He raised a hand, condensed an enormous energy sphere, and hurled it at him. The explosion engulfed Peter, and smoke and dust rose. When the surroundings finally cleared, Edward saw a crater more than ten meters wide, yet Peter remained unharmed within it.

Peter began murmuring to himself, "I was wrong. I should never have held on to even the slightest hope. From the very beginning, I should have... done that."

Edward frowned, his vigilance rising.

The tsar raised his head and looked at Edward. "I should have killed you back then. As expected, so-called progenitors should never have been allowed to exist."

Edward sneered. "Isn't it a little too late for regrets now?"

Back then, Edward had been a Forbidden Fruit Hunter, essentially just an ordinary person obsessed with Forbidden Fruits, and would show up wherever they could appear. More than five hundred years ago, rumors spread that a Forbidden Fruit had appeared in Rossia. Hundreds of Forbidden Fruit Hunters poured into the country, and in the end, Edward became the lucky one. He ate the Forbidden Fruit and became the progenitor of the Blood Race.

At the time, Peter had already ruled all of Rossia. When Edward left the country, Peter had been fully capable of killing him.

Peter pulled out two syringes, one in each hand. "But... it's not too late even now."

He plunged them straight into his neck, injecting two completely different liquids into himself.

Alarm bells went off in Edward's mind. "What are those?"

Peter looked at Edward as the veins on the sides of his neck began to swell, one side glowing red, the other radiating green light. "Heh. There's no harm in telling you. These two serums were developed by analyzing the Blood of the Abyss. We lost quite a few warriors just to harvest a single dram."

That one dram had been developed into several different products. The two in Peter's hands were the source formulations, and they were also the most terrifying of them all.

Edward's expression turned grave. "The Blood of the Abyss can be used to make something like this..."

A look of pain crossed Peter's face. He looked at Edward with mocking eyes. "Goodbye, Edward!"

Edward immediately sensed danger. He realized that Peter had only told him all of this to keep him there. Not good! I should never have lingered here. I should have gotten as far away from this place as possible.