Chapter 187: Lifesteal Upgrade

The boy who used to sit in a wheelchair has now become a cobra.

Such a body slithered along the ground, yet his two arms remained intact, so he may carry a blade with one hand.

Most peculiar was his tail, because the lower part of his body whirled like a tornado, so he can stay upright whenever he want and swoop around the battlefield at unexpecting speeds.

Luke staggered backward, giving him some space.

Drew sees some Moss Crocodiles and Thornfrogs coming, and he advanced.

Drew’s body was very hard to track, so he didn’t struggle to kill some monsters that did not expect a human-snake like him.

An unfortunate crocodile whipped out a spiked tail and snarled when Drew’s scales were near its mouth.

However, Drew was very agile, so he parried away from the crocodile’s mouth and sliced his blade through its mouth, thus giving the croc a red frown.

A handful of these crocodiles and thornfrogs were slain by Drew’s blade until their numbers were overwhelming.

Soon, the crocodiles and their spiked tails hit Drew. And the thorn frogs poisoned him countless times.

But since Drew was transmitting the abilities of a Greater-grade cobra, he had potential to resist these attacks, especially venom—but not for long.

"As long as I activate Lifesteal, I can help him. That way, I can weaken the monsters," Luke thought to himself.

Whoosh—!

A system notification popped up.

〖Warning: You have discovered a monster nest〗

〖Objective: Kill the mother monster and wipe out the nest!〗

"Let’s go!" Troy and Fiona said in unison.

Meanwhile, Rey was the first to charge forward because she didn’t want to exhaust Drew, as Beast Morph skill was one of the most energy-consuming skills for a summoner.

Rey summoned her wolf while also hearing Fiona’s elephantine footsteps and Ray’s jaguar’s swift footsteps.

When she reached Drew, she said, "Brother, you know the drawbacks of prolonged shapeshifting..."

"Sister, don’t worry, I don’t get to control my fights like this every day," Drew replied. "With you three and Luke Kingsley here, I can safely fight while Morphed."

Rey nodded in understanding, patted her brother on the head, and then made his wheelchair disappear.

"Good," she said to him, then to her wolf, which looked like a fox: "Agni, go! Use ’Quadrature Claws!’ Show off your armor every time you get sprayed with poison!"

Meanwhile, Troy and Fiona caught up with their beast companions and joined the fight, but Fiona remained vigilant about Luke, not having seen him again, which forced her to ask where he was.

However, Ray and Drew didn’t know—though they wouldn’t be surprised if a boy as bold as him had entered the eye of the nest.

〖Warning: You have entered the eye of the nest〗

The eye of the nest is a glasshouse—scientifically known as a "greenhouse"—but at that moment, it looked utterly dilapidated, resembling a ruin long abandoned to time.

The windows are shattered, the steel frames are bent and rusted, vines are creeping out from every crack in the roof.

Indeed, the number of monsters here is synonymous with a nightmare made flesh.

However, due to his new upgrade of Lifesteal, Luke can exorcise these monsters without effort.

After using it to help Drew, Luke noticed that he was gaining more energy than ever before, and he felt more vibrant than he had at any time.

Sparking his curiosity. What exactly did the upgraded Lifesteal bring now?

Soon, Luke realised that he was not only draining the life force of the enemies around him but also the life force and energy of everything around him...

〖System: Aspects of Conquest〗

〖Lifesteal: Absorb life force and energy from everything around you〗

So, this means Luke can absorb all kinds of energy, not just the health points of his enemies.

He can even absorb death energy, which means that enemies who have been killed are still useful to him because he can harness the death energy from their corpses.

This is all-encompassing and an unparalleled power because Luke will never run out of Aeon or any energy he currently needs.

Such is the might of the Imperial River Centaur, making him feel that if he had this beast now, it wouldn’t be far from mythic level!

Therefore, while the Lifesteal effect is active, the monsters in the nest have no recourse against Luke other than to snarl—because Luke is not only draining their life force but also draining the energy in the area, leaving them unable to absorb any energy.

In other words, these monsters cannot obtain any Aeon.

This is worse because these are Gamma-class monsters, whereas the Imperial River Centaur is an Ancient-grade beast.

So, Luke cannot only absorb Aeon and other forms of energy faster, but he can also absorb them in greater quantities than Gamma-class monsters.

Therefore, Luke has rendered this nest unable to absorb or utilize any energy at all.

Simultaneously, Luke has prevented the mother monster from continuing to reproduce, no matter where she is.

Because without Aeon, she cannot utilise her talent.

Which means no more monsters will be produced, and the number of monsters in the nest will stagnate.

The Garden Spiders roar at him, a Devil Mantis lunges at him. A Razorwing Dragonfly snaps at him, some Thornfrogs lash out their tongues, and a Glasswinged Bat shrieks overhead.

Luke chuckled because all their efforts were in vain; so he found himself standing amidst so many helpless monsters at the mercy of his Beast Armor.

So, Luke took a step back, calmly inhaled, and slowly, all the energy he had stolen and accumulated rose along his veins, travelling up his spine to the center of his chest, as if a supernova was being born.

The power he created made him groan and exert himself, but this did not stop him.

Thus, Luke unleashed the most ferocious attack he had ever performed, destroying everything that existed in that place.

Consequently, he found himself in a dark space that was the glasshouse seconds ago.