Chapter 132: Bloody Spear

The sound of the daggers clashing with the sword echoed along the entire path. Zaid stumbled back several meters, feeling his arms go numb.

"You can’t even handle that little blow..." Garrick laughed mockingly and didn’t give him time to regain his balance.

He lunged at him again.

"Die!"

His sword came down with brutal force.

Zaid crossed both daggers in front of his body.

CLANG!

The impact made his arms tremble.

’He’s strong.’

Quite a bit stronger than the C-Rank fighters in that theocratic city.

’Can I help you?’ Valia asked.

’No. Just hide for now.’

Garrick was a C-Rank, but his strength was at least 40 or 50 percent greater than that of the strongest C-Ranks in that city. He was also much faster and, above all, more precise.

’And these stats are overwhelmingly superior to mine... So what I discovered is real,’ he grumbled. He knew he had to avoid direct attacks.

Garrick swung his sword and attacked again.

Zaid nodded.

The blade swept past his face and left a small cut on his cheek.

"Your reflexes are slow, but your senses are quite interesting. Not bad," Garrick said with a smile. "I can see why you’ve managed to survive this long."

Zaid didn’t respond. He turned his own body and threw a kick.

Garrick blocked it with his arm... It felt like a surprisingly weak attack.

Zaid didn’t do it to cause harm. He used the moment to step back. All around him, the battle had already begun.

Erick was fighting several of the church’s enemies. Fortunately, E-Rank

John was standing a little further back, trying to prevent two E-Rank enemies from getting close to his partner.

He put his high stats to good use, but he still had a very hard time winning. He genuinely understood that his stats were slightly higher than theirs, but why was it so difficult to beat them?

There were things he still didn’t understand.

Zaid glanced briefly at Selene. She remained calm; she hadn’t intervened. She simply watched.

They weren’t even waiting for them to run out of steam... she didn’t need to. If she intervened, they’d fall in a second.

’She’s toying with us,’ Zaid gritted his teeth. ’If I can’t beat you with stats, then I’ll do it with my skills.’

Zaid felt the pressure on his body again.

Garrick appeared in front of him and swung his sword horizontally.

Zaid ducked.

The blade swept over his head.

"Stop dodging—I’m getting bored!" Garrick launched a second attack.

Zaid blocked it, and his body rolled several meters backward.

Immediately afterward, he had to dodge the third attack and block the fourth.

Each blow made his arms hurt more. His bones shook and cracked. Still, he held on.

"Zaid!" Erick shouted.

Zaid turned around.

One of the church’s D-rank hunters had gotten out of control and was closing in on Zaid.

Zaid acted on impulse, throwing one of his daggers. At the same time, Valia emerged from within him and brutally attacked Garrick to drive him away.

The combined attack paid off. It drove Garrick away, and the dagger embedded itself in the man’s shoulder.

Zaid smiled then. ’This is my chance,’

Immediately, something astonishing happened.

A Bloody Spear appeared in his hand, in full view of everyone. It was extraordinarily beautiful and astonishingly strong. With golden inscriptions, it was forged from pure blood.

Zaid closed the distance and attacked the wounded man with his dagger. The spear sank deeper into the man’s shoulder and chest, eventually piercing his neck with terrifying ease.

Immediately, the man’s blood became fuel for the bloody spear.

"Blood Spear?" someone murmured from the crowd.

"Hey..." Selene frowned.

The two men behind her grew agitated.

"How can that be...?"

"It’s the Young Master’s Blood Spear..."

Before they could react, a blood-soaked creature took shape from the blood and flesh of the man who had just died from its effects.

[You have created a Low-Rank Blood Soldier.]

[Lifespan: 1 week.]

[Fighting Style: Rudimentary fist fighting.]

Zaid’s eyes sparkled.

’Beautiful,’ he smiled and sent it charging at Garrick.

Garrick blocked the attack and stared, perplexed, at the blood-soaked beast bearing down on him. "What the hell? Young Master Kael’s ability?"

Zaid ignored the stunned stares and ran toward where Erick was fighting.

Another man fell beneath his spear, and he, too, was transformed.

’If I can kill five...’ Zaid tried to move nimbly, but he felt a pressure closing in on his shoulders.

Selene moved, crossing the entire battlefield in no time until she struck Zaid.

Zaid managed to block the attack, spinning in midair.

BOOM!

His body was sent flying. But it went in a strange direction.

Zaid set his sights on a man standing right in front of him, fighting John.

"No!" Garrick shouted, swinging his sword at the cursed cat attacking him. "Die, you bastard!"

His sword danced fiercely. And Valia was knocked aside.

Garrick ignored the bloodied creature trying to kill him and leaped at full speed toward Zaid.

Zaid didn’t notice his desperation. He didn’t even notice that he was close. He simply smiled.

Standing in front of him was a Rank D who had decided to attack John. With his back to him.

Zaid took advantage of his favorable position to summon another small, blood-soaked creature.

’It’ll drain a lot of my energy, but with you, I’ll be able to buy some time,’ he thought.

The blood-soaked spear flew past John’s eyes and plunged firmly into the Rank D’s neck.

’Damn blood-soaked spear that considers humans to be beasts... do your job,’ Zaid thought.

The young man of Rank D—clearly a talented individual with some Rank D or C abilities—died instantly without even realizing it. His blood was absorbed by the bloody spear, and a creature identical to him, but made of blood, formed from his corpse.

The entire process took less than 15 seconds.

[You have created a Mid-Rank Bloody Soldier.]

[Lifespan: 1 month.]

[The Blood Soldier inherits an ability: Sword of Light.]

[Fighting Style: Swordsman.]

’An inherited ability?’ Zaid was thrilled. He wanted to see his creature in action, even though he’d barely had time to analyze it.

He looked behind him when he sensed someone approaching with an intense thirst for blood.

Garrick’s darkened face and blood-red eyes loomed before him. A horizontal swing of his sword severed Garrick’s head.

Zaid didn’t move.

The Mid-Rank Blood Soldier leaped forward. His sword flashed with two beams of light that struck Garrick’s unprotected shoulder directly.

Garrick stood completely still as he was pushed.

He looked at the walking corpse that had just struck him with a puzzled expression... he watched the blood being absorbed by that bloodstained spear. He watched the skill...

That face...

"Little brother..." he murmured.

Garrick began to tremble.

"You..." The sword in his hand vibrated. "You killed my brother."

Zaid frowned. ’So he was his brother...’

He didn’t care.

Zaid wanted to ignore him and try to create another one, but Garrick roared, "You killed my brother!"

His aura exploded. The pressure emanating from his body caused several nearby fighters to stagger backward.

Zaid narrowed his eyes and took several steps back.

Garrick was furious, and the hatred in his heart grew to staggering levels. But raising his sword against his brother was difficult.

The second attack struck him. Garrick clenched his teeth so hard they began to bleed.

"You damn bastard, I’m going to kill you!" For the first time, he raised his sword against his brother and struck.

It was a single, extremely fast attack that Zaid was able to see, but there were five strikes: to the hands, the neck, and the legs. The bloodied soldier was struck in the hands, the neck, and the legs.

It was such a brutal attack that the soldier fell helplessly to the ground, hoping the blood would heal him.

’Did he sever his tendons? What a lethal skill...’ Zaid thought. His eyes gleamed with a desire to master it.

Garrick didn’t stay to look at the agonizing, impassive face of the man who, just seconds ago, had been his brother. He lunged at Zaid with all the hatred in his heart, screaming at him to kill him in the cruelest way possible.

Zaid frowned and thought, surprised, ’So much hatred...’

[Garrick’s hatred for you has reached an irreversible threshold.] the system announced.

Zaid smiled. ’Naturally.’

[The target possesses a Rank C Soul Talent and a Rank C Spirit Talent.]

[Talents available at 50% of their original price.]

Zaid immediately opened the Spirit Talent; he suspected it was the one related to the ability he had just seen—the one that had incapacitated his Blood Soldier.

[]

| Spirit Talent – Rank C – "Tendon Breaker."

| "Tendon Breaker": This is Garrick the Executioner’s talent.

| Concept: It can be upgraded and obtained at Level 100.

| "Tendon-Shattering" Effect: You can create an attack that improves with training and dedication, capable of shattering your opponent’s tendons and momentarily incapacitating them.

| Cost: 5,000 ME.

[]

He pressed the purchase button immediately after confirming it. His ME dropped by 5,000 in one fell swoop, and his arsenal grew.

However, at that very moment, he felt fear.

Standing before him, attacking him with a look of hatred, Garrick held his sword, ready to strike.

In the heat of the moment, he had completely forgotten that this guy was standing right in front of him.