Chapter 791: An unexpected guest

A slender silhouette stepped out slowly, her figure cloaked in flowing crimson as a massive scythe materialized in her hand. Blood Reign lifted her head slightly, her eyes sweeping across the battlefield before settling on the elders.

A faint, almost delighted smile curved on her lips. "My liege..." she said softly. "Your wish is my command."

Before any of the elders could act, ten blood-red hands erupted from the ground, bursting forth with terrifying speed. Each elder was caught instantly, their bodies seized mid-motion before they could even complete a single defensive action or form a proper response.

"Break free!" Old Cao roared, his aura exploding outward as he struggled against the grip tightening around him.

But the moment they resisted, the hands tightened further, their surface rippling as countless smaller tendrils burrowed inward, locking their movements completely.

The elders’ domains flared instinctively, trying to push back, trying to sever the hands, but their power slid off uselessly, unable to even scratch the surface. It did not stop there. Each of the hands suddenly started pulsing wildly.

The elders’ expressions twisted as they felt it. Mana, vitality, dao energy, everything was being drawn out of them through those crimson hands as if their very existence was being drained.

"Stop it!" one of them shouted, his voice trembling as his aura flickered uncontrollably.

"It’s not just energy!" another screamed. "It’s taking everything!"

Old Cao’s eyes widened in horror as he felt it himself. "It’s pulling the foundation of my dao!"

The more they struggled, the faster the process accelerated. As if this were not enough, Blood Reign then stepped into the arena.

"...don’t worry," she said softly, her voice almost gentle. "I’ll make it quick... for some of you."

The first elder screamed. Immediately, vast streams of energy erupted from his body. Mana, vitality, soul force, dao energy, everything poured out into the hand like rivers flowing into the ocean.

His hair rapidly turned white. His skin shriveled. His aura collapsed. Within seconds, the mighty B-rank elder looked older than a dying mortal.

"No! No! Stop!"

Blood Reign smiled. Then she raised her scythe. The enormous weapon hummed softly as countless crimson runes lit up across its surface. The elder’s screams abruptly intensified. This time, nothing was being extracted, but the elder twitched controllably as if he were in unimaginable pain.

His body bent backward at an unnatural angle. Veins bulged across his face. Blood streamed from his eyes as he clawed helplessly at the blood hand restraining him.

"What... what are you doing to him?" one of the elders shouted.

Blood Reign tilted her head. "Oh? This?" she asked innocently.

The elder immediately let out another horrifying scream. His aura exploded outward uncontrollably before collapsing again.

Blood Reign giggled. "I am just tickling his soul a little bit. Don’t worry, I am coming to you next. You have all given a lot to my Lord, constantly sending him one gift package after another. As his beloved servant, shouldn’t I pay you all back to my heart’s content?"

The first elder’s screams had already become hoarse. His throat was shredded. His voice had long since broken. The torture continued regardless. It was as though his soul itself had become a source of endless agony.

Blood Reign then moved to the next elder, who faced a similar predicament. One by one, all of the elders were brought down to their knees in the blink of an eye.

"My liege! Look at these old fools!" Blood Reign giggled happily as she pointed at the elders kneeling in midair. "After you sucked them dry, their souls couldn’t even put up a proper fight! These fools wanted to take you down, my Lord!"

Blood Reign proudly turned to look at Damon when her excitement quickly died down. "What’s wrong, my liege? What happened?"

"He is coming."

"Huh? Who is coming, my liege?" Blood Reign was puzzled. She tried to scan with her mana sense, but she couldn’t feel anything at all.

Damon, on the other hand, continued to stare in a particular direction with his gaze cold. The next moment, a loud laughter resounded.

"You have grown, brat. You have truly grown since we last met." An old man appeared.

The next second, an astonishing aura descended upon the battlefield.

An A rank powerhouse aura!

Boom!

The ground beneath everyone’s feet shattered instantly. The already devastated battlefield sank several meters as countless cracks spread in every direction. Unable to hold on, the eight elders immediately exploded one after the other.

Damon’s eyes widened in shock. The moment he stepped into B rank, he had expected a boss monster to show up from the woodworks, but he did not actually expect the boss monster to be A rank!

He gritted his teeth. He was not so weak as to instantly crumble. He was still able to stand, barely. This in itself made the old man raise a brow. However, Damon had no delusions of actually staying back and fighting against an A rank. He instantly activated his mark to teleport out of the game world.

No matter how powerful the old man might be, he was still an opponent within this cage. As long as he stepped out, there was no way for him to do anything.

The old man opened his mouth to say something when suddenly Damon’s figure started to flicker.

"Heh. Running already, brat? At least you know how to show respect to your elders!" The old man laughed. He lifted his hand, and the next second seals started appearing all around Damon.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The teleportation spell was almost instantaneous, especially if the mark on the hand was used. Even so, the old man seemingly had the power to tamper with it.

On the other side, Damon also did not plan to take it without putting up a fight. He had a fraction of a second to actually go against an A rank. He wanted to see just how powerful such a peak figure could possibly be.