It seemed that the Blood Prince felt something when our attacks clashed. I could see his face change expression.
“Chaa!” I gathered my strength to push the Blood Prince away with my sword. The Blood Prince stumbled backwards with a shocked look on his face. I took that timing to swing my sword at his head.
The Blood Prince saw my attack coming, and quickly regained his footing, stepping back to avoid it.
But my blade was faster.
It wasn’t a perfect attack, but my blade did manage to cut him from his face to chest and left a huge gash. It was time to finish this!
“Warrior’s Brave Spirit!”
——
[Warrior’s Brave Spirit Level 1 has been activated.
Level 1: 8 hour cooldown. For one hour, raise your ATT by 20%, CRIT chance by 1%, CRIT damage by 50%, movement speed by 5%, and ATT speed by 2.5%. For one hour, Slightly Awkward Indomitable Spirit effect is placed (Slight Awkward Indomitable Spirit decreases chance to avoid damage by 10%). Fatigue does not rise while skill is in effect.]
—–
My base AGI was already second to no one. It was also higher than that of any archer or assassin, thanks to my Lightning Boots and its 10% increase to movement speed. Now, with the Warrior’s Brave Spirit, my movement speed had to be the highest in the whole world.
I charged in at the Blood Prince, who just stood there, seemingly unable to cope with the fact that he just got damaged. Sand and dust kicked up at my feet as I dashed in; it looked almost like a rocket’s trail. In a blink of any eye, I appeared before him and raised my heel over his foot.
“Heel Kick!” I activated my skill while the Blood Prince stood there, shocked at my astounding speed.
==[You have activated Heel Kick. Opponent’s movement speed slowed down by 10% for five seconds.]==
I used all two of my skills I could use. Now, all I could do is attack relentlessly. I slashed the Blood Prince who continued to stand there, dumbfounded that I managed to inflict multiple attacks on him in a matter of seconds.
“What… what is this? Erk!” The Blood Prince quickly regained his composure and moved back to try to get away from my flurry of slashes, but I stayed on him, not willing to let him go.
I was much faster than him. Every time the Blood Prince moved to the side or tbackwards, I quickly closed the distance.
“Gah! Shit! What is this damage output?!”
I was the First Unrivaled. I took 50% less damage from all attacks inflicted by deities and inflicted 25% more against them. That was me!
The Blood Prince swore when my blade slashed his thigh, but I ignored it and continued my attack. I was more satisfied that my attacks were working.
My opponent right now was the Blood Prince; the most evil of demons and one of the most infamously dangerous people around. This demon was swearing while trying to escape my onslaught!
“Sticky Blood Fog!”
==[Sticky Blood Fog is covering the surrounding area. Your body will be covered in blood, becoming overloaded. Body weight will increase by 200 grams per second, up to 60 kilograms.]==
I quickly scanned the message alert. 200 grams per second meant 12 kilograms in one minute?
“Kekeke! You’re not thinking you’re almighty just because you’re an Unrivaled, are you?” The Blood Prince smiled even after taking all those hits.
If my body weight increased like that, then my attack and movement speed would start slowing down greatly. But I was still confident in my high STR, AGI, and VIT.
“I guess we’ll just have to find out. Chaa!” Instead of getting out of the Fog, I charged in at the Blood Prince once more and slashed at him in a flurry. The blade of my sword deeply slashed his side. The Blood Prince tried to block my attacks with his sword made of blood, but the occasional attack went through and I could see drops of blood dripping from the blood sword. Soon, the blood sword became very thin.
“Shit!” the Blood Prince swore. I could tell that the attack inflicted significant damage. I continued my attacks with more drive.
After about five more hits, the blood sword broke in half and fell to the ground. At that moment, the blade of my sword sliced through the Blood Prince’s side once more.
“Gak! How the hell…?”
-Damn it…- The satisfaction I felt when my attack went through was replaced with a slight panic as I felt my body grow heavy. However, I kept my face straight.
“Blood…Blood Pool!” The Blood Prince used the same skill he used against the Myth Guild at the entrance of the Khufu Pyramid. The skill required the Blood Prince to remain in the center of the pool. I thought for a second if I should charge in or retreat and decided it was best to make some distance between us.
“Raaahh! You son of a bitch!” the Blood Prince roared at me from the center of the pool. I didn’t say anything, and just stared him down.
Once the Blood Pool finished forming, it began to absorb the Blood Fog.
==[You have been released from the Fog of Blood. The blood that was stuck to your body is disappearing. Your increased weight will now decrease by 200 grams per second until your weight returns to normal.]==
I glanced over the message and quickly closed it. I had better things to worry about.
“You! You! I swear I’ll kill you! How dare an insect like you hurt me? How dare a lowly deva push me this far? Blood Powered Recovery. Savage Heart!”
I knew that the Blood Prince was infamous in the past, but I never really took an interest in him. As a result knew nothing about his fighting style, or any of his skills. But I could obviously tell what Blood Powered Recovery did. All of his wounds began to close.
-Shit!- I grew pissed as I saw him restore his HP in the middle of the pool. It felt like I just missed a really important time to really hurt him.
I decided to trust in my Unrivaled skill and jumped over the pool of blood and brought my sword crashing down onto the Blood Prince. The Blood Prince formed another sword out of blood and raised it to block my attack.
My attack was successful. The blade of my sword cracked the blood sword in half and continued towards the Blood Prince’s head.
“Blood Chains!” The Blood Prince quickly called forth his Blood Chains while I was still in the air, wrapping them around my ankle. The chains pulled me back with great force and dragged me into the Blood Pool. In an effort to not go quietly, I swung my sword at the Blood Prince three more times in an instant.
The Blood Prince blocked all three of my attacks, forming a new blood sword each time one broke. By that time, I was already waist deep in the pool and could do nothing to free myself.
I thought for a second if I should use Blink to get out but I decided against it. I swung at the Blood Prince’s legs even as my head was submerged. The blade managed to cut his thigh.
“Tsk! Tenacious bastard!”
I couldn’t do anything more. It felt like the Blood Pool itself was dragging me deeper and deeper.
==[You are submerged in a Blood Pool. Your movements have become extremely restricted.
The Blood Prince absorbs 1000 of your HP per second.]==
“Gahaha! How do you like that?! It’s over once you’re in there! Gahahaha!”
I could hear him laughing at me. –Shit! It’s hard to move.- It felt like my limbs were attached to a one ton weight.
-Chaa!- I wasn’t going to just keel over like this. I gathered as much strength as I could and began to walk, one step at a time.
“What…on Earth?”
The pool wasn’t very deep or very large. The whole diameter had to be about only ten meters. If the Blood Prince was in the very center, then I just had to make it to five meters.
“Blood Chains!” The Blood Prince summoned his chains once more to hold me by the ankles. He must really not want me getting out.
I gathered my strength once more and pulled at the chains. –Did you think I’ll just sit here and take it? Raaahh!-
I could hear the chains stretching and groaning under the pressure. My body trembled as my muscles tensed like never before until I heard a few chain links give way.
“What…the Hell…is this guy? Is he really a deva?”
I could hear him stammer in confusion, but I didn’t care. I had to get out of this thing first. Just like the way he did with the Myth Guild, the Blood Prince had to stay in the middle of the Blood Pool and his only way to attack was to use his Blood Chains. The fact that he didn’t use any other attacks while I was still in this state solidified that theory.
-Graah!- My head finally broke the surface. It took everything I had, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Each step was only about ten centimeters apart, but I didn’t give up.
-Should I use Blink?- I thought to myself but at that instant, a message screen appeared before me.
[Xia Manko’s Stats have begun to react to their user’s will. Xia Manko’s 66 Stat points that have been added to your STR will increase a hundredfold.]
The chains that held me by the ankles completely broke off and with one step, I jumped forward three meters. I saw what the message just said, but I didn’t have time to figure out why it happened. I quickly took up a fighting stance and stood on the surface of the Blood Pool.
The blood dripping from my face was pretty annoying, but I ignored it and stared the Blood Prince down.
“How… how did an insect like you free yourself from my Blood Chains? How!?”
“How does it feel to be beaten by an insect?”
“Grr! No one’s beaten yet! Blood Chains!” Two more chains shot out from the Blood Pool and headed straight for me, but there was no way I was going to fall for the same thing again.
“Chaa!” I stabbed down at the chains with my greatsword in quick succession. The chains turned into puddles of blood at the impact.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“Eeerk!” The Blood Prince ground his teeth and his face grew red in anger, but he didn’t make another move.
We stood there, five meters apart, in a standoff, with the Blood Prince unwilling to leave his Blood Pool and me with no ranged skills to use. I would have used my Blink if I had the ability to take him out in one attack, but that wasn’t the case. We stood still, watching each other, for about thirty seconds.
“What’s the matter? You don’t want to fight? Come out of your Blood Pool already.”
“You come in here.”
“Hah! What, are you scared to come out to squash a puny bug like me?” I called out to him from a good distance away from the pool. I only got out from the pool in the first place thanks to that unexpected effect from Xia Manko’s skill. I wasn’t about to put myself in a disadvantageous situation again.
“Why would I be afraid of someone like you?! If only the Myth Guild weren’t…” Someone appeared next to him before the Blood Prince could finish talking, someone I had never seen before.
“It seems like you were put in your place,” the newcomer said to the Blood Prince. He must know the Blood Prince quite well to speak to him like that.
“Shut up, Ang-te!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You can yell at me later,” the Ang-te guy just nonchalantly replied to the Blood Prince’s yelling.
“Grr…”
“We can’t waste time any longer. The Myth Guild is swarming this place as we speak.”
“You’re telling me I have to retreat after all this?”
“Yes. Invading the Myth Guild is more important that your pride. Don’t you think so as well, captain?”
The Blood Prince didn’t say anything in reply and only ground his teeth in anger. Ang-te didn’t seem to care about an answer and turned to me instead.
“I can tell you’re an Unrivaled deva. Hmm… but I don’t think I’ve seen your face in our files.” Ang-te looked me up and down as he spoke to me.
“Well, putting that aside, you actually got out of the Blood Pool by sheer strength alone? And while chained up as well? Geez… to think we’ve been looking down on devas when there were some like you…”
“That’s only because I wasn’t taking this fight seriously! If I had, that insect would never stand a chance!”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure the captain could have done so. But I’m sure he could easily kill the rest of us.” It sounded like he was making fun of the Blood Prince. I could tell from the way he brushed off the Blood Prince’s shouting that they had history.
“Anyway, why has someone we haven’t seen before getting in our way?” Ang-te asked me. That question just drained all the fight out of me.
“Hah… you’re making it sound like I started this. That guy started all of this, not me. I told him I didn’t want to fight him, but he still came at me.”
“Ah… it seems I’ve asked quite a stupid question. Of course he did,” Ang-te said, shaking his head.
“Alright, then. I’ll apologize on his behalf. We do need to get going now.”
“…” I tried to think of what to say back. If I said I wanted to finish this fight, I would have to fight Ang-te as well. I didn’t have any reason whatsoever to put my life on the line right now. Besides, somehow I doubted that I could get some sort of compensation out of them if I asked.
“I’ll take your silence that you accept our apology. It’s time we left, captain.”
“Damn it! Fine.”
Ang-te took hold of the Blood Prince’s shoulder and they began to fade from view. Once they were gone, the Blood Pool soon disappeared, as if it was absorbed by the sand.
As they left, the Blood Prince glared at me in disgust, and I glared back at him. I was pissed off and felt wronged in a sense. I was truly annoyed at the fact that the asshole that started the fight got to just leave like that. Still, I was damn happy that I could go toe to toe with someone as strong as the Blood Prince!
It was much different than when I fought against Shin Hyuk. Shin Hyuk was much weaker than the Blood Prince.
-Well, I should give him some credit. He and his guild did get to join forces with the Nayuta Guild.-
Soon, devas that had watched my fight against the Blood Prince while running away began to crowd around me.
“Whoops… I guess it’s time for me to go, too.” I saw a large hole in the middle of the Giza Pyramid. I jumped all the way up to it and entered the pyramid. When I got inside, I saw a sign that said the chamber I was in contained the ships buried with Pharaoh Khufu.
-I should save my Blink for real emergencies only. I’m sure no one will expect me to have it.-
It felt like a waste to use it, and then attract unwanted attention towards myself.
——
A man was half buried on top of a sand dune not far from Lee Jiwon’s and the Blood Prince’s fight, his mouth hanging wide open. Edwifu had followed the Blood Prince from Old Cairo to scout his movements. Edwifu had watched the entire fight, amazed there was a fellow deva that could more or less match the strength of the Blood Prince. He could still clearly recall the whole fight in his mind.
“A deva… can be that strong, too!” Tears even welled up in his eyes as he watched. It was normal after all the Blood Prince and Ang-te put him and his comrades through.
The whole existence of deities was a con. They gained ten more stat points per level than normal devas, basically twice as much as normal devas. Devas did have the option to learn the Unrivaled skill to try to catch up, but that option only presented itself at level 500 and was extremely expensive to learn.
Edwifu had never seen another deva that could go toe to toe with the Blood Prince himself!
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before… he looked Oriental… what am I doing? I need to report this right away!” Edwifu slapped himself in the face to wake himself from his stupor and began drawing something in the sand with his finger.
About a minute later, a face with Lee Jiwon’s likeness was drawn in the sand. It was clearly drawn, as if it was drawn on a piece of paper and not on a sand dune.
“Upload!” The drawing flashed in a ray of light and disappeared. It was sent to all of the scouts in Cairo’s vicinity.
Edwifu took out a radio. “Did you all get the picture? Find him. We have to find him no matter what. Last known location is around the Khufu dungeon.” He put away his radio without bothering to listen for a reply.
“We don’t have much longer until the invasion of the Myth Guild begins. I wonder… if that deva’s appearance is fated to save our guild from utter destruction.”
The Blood Prince was a prime example that there was not always strength in numbers. The more people that went up against the Blood Prince at once, the more people died. Nothing they could do could hurt him. Only someone as strong could take him on, and the Myth Guild was currently looking for such a person.
Edwifu buried himself deeper in the sand. He had to get back to his guild and report to his guild master, Shin, as soon as possible!
