BXBX NOVEL Chapter 250: The Archduke of Blood · Source of Energy
To their immense surprise, it was not a demon, but a heart.
It looked extremely weak and withered. The surface was covered with lava-like patterns and chunks of black stone, with bright red veins crisscrossing it.
Just by looking at that heart, a single phrase involuntarily surfaced in everyone\'s minds—
The Archduke of Blood · Source of Energy.
Instantly, many players present understood.
A divine-level demon!
Only a being of such divine caliber could evoke its name just by being gazed upon.
They finally realized how that Supreme Ice Lord had met his demise; he must have been directly crushed by the heart of this divine demon.
In the face of a god, demigods stood no chance at all.
At that moment, several players activated their detection skills and were able to see the attributes of the heart.
[The Archduke of Blood · Source of Energy]
[Level: 500]
[Status: Partial Life Tissue]
[Attributes:
Constitution: 100
Spirit: 100
Strength: 0
Agility: 0]
[Abilities:
Bloody Divine Power: Can manipulate the blood of all living things to create extremely bizarre attacks.
Attack Method 1: Bloodquake - Explodes all the blood within the opponent\'s body, dealing massive damage that ignores defenses against units below divine level. Depending on the amount of Divine Power invested, it can potentially slay up to 500% of the target\'s life force.
Attack Method 2: Bloodstorm - Draws all liquids in the world to transform them into blood...]
...
The panel was very detailed, but it shattered the players\' mental state completely.
All their last glimmers of hope vanished.
The attributes of this demonic heart were low enough for players to detect, but even with those low stats, it was still a part of a divine demon. It wielded godly power, and anyone daring to resist would be instantly turned to blood mist.
The Blood Cult\'s plan had already succeeded!
"Master! We offer everything to you!"
"Let the bloodline of the House of Radiance be bestowed upon you!"
"You shall ascend to the pinnacle of Hell, becoming the lord of all demons!"
At that moment, all members of the Blood Cult knelt on the ground, not even bothering to glance at the other players.
As for the players...
They slowly huddled together, trembling in fear.
They knew that nothing they did now would matter because the final stage of the grand ritual had already been triggered.
"We..."
"Sigh..."
Some wanted to say more, but ultimately, they could only let out a resigned sigh.
Who would have thought that a task they initially thought would earn them plenty of Valor Contribution Points would end up becoming a death knell for everyone?
"We can say we\'ve witnessed history; at least there\'s no record in the Hall of Valor of any existence from Hell or the [Transcendence] main world successfully exploiting a bug to gain another power system."
"Perhaps the annals will have to note us as the unfortunate souls who almost prevented this divine demon from emerging."
At first, the players spoke with some strength, but their voices grew weaker and weaker. They soon realized that the visibility around them had dropped to the point where they couldn\'t see their own hands in front of them; a sea of blood enveloped everything.
It felt as if...
They were drowning in a flood of blood!
The only thing they could see amidst the crimson haze was the resounding heartbeat of the divine demon\'s heart, which was dazzling. This dazzle wasn\'t a visual sensation; it was simply its existence that was so potent that even if they blinded themselves, they could still "see" it clearly.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The formation had completed its final activation, and gradually, all sounds in the Principality of Florence faded away, leaving only the echoing heartbeat.
This scene resembled the birth of some terrifying entity!
At this moment, the heart of the divine demon, nourished by countless streams of blood energy, transformed from its initial shriveled state to a plump one, with iridescent power swirling around it.
Thud!
One heartbeat.
The world shifted in color!
The light within the formation fused into one.
Thud!
A second heartbeat!
Players fell to their knees, their bodies utterly weakened, while the countless residents of the city were in a similar state, incredibly frail, like lambs awaiting slaughter.
The refining progress of this formation treated everyone equally; no matter how strong they were, if they were below divine level, it was all meaningless.
Thud!
A third heartbeat!
Countless blood-red threads slowly rose into the air.
Thud!
A fourth heartbeat.
The players no longer had the strength to even open their eyes, but from the corners of their vision, they caught sight of a strange scene. The members of the Blood Cult, who had been in a state of ecstatic joy, now displayed expressions of shock, fear, and confusion.
While exhibiting such emotions, they remained fixated on the air above them.
Despite the poor visibility in the blood mist, legendary players still retained some sensory ability. Upon witnessing such a bizarre scene, even in their weakened state, they instinctively looked upwards, and they realized that something was changing.
The heart of the divine demon was preparing to channel the power of the formation, but behind it arose an incredibly terrifying aura!
It was also the shadow of a divine-level power! This shadow was equally dazzling, allowing one to "see" it clearly even in the poor visibility of the blood mist.
However...
This shadow was extremely vague, making it hard to sense accurately, and one couldn\'t immediately recognize its true name.
Without further elaboration, this was naturally Sterl\'s true form.
At the moment the heart of the Archduke of Blood descended, he quickly hid himself in the Shadow Realm.
Fortunately, the divine demon was too indifferent to care about such an insignificant creature like him, allowing Sterl to avoid being forced to ascend to godhood prematurely.
While other players were being drained by the formation, Sterl, as the true master of the array, remained unaffected.
He had been waiting until the heart of the Archduke of Blood was about to channel the countless threads of the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array\'s refining process, at its weakest and most defenseless moment, when the refining nourishment had officially begun and could not be retracted—
Sterl would then boldly ascend to godhood!
Simultaneously, Sterl unleashed As a Creator\'s Act, creating a small space that severed others\' detection of him.
After all, the divine authority of humanity had already manifested once; a second appearance could lead to someone making a connection between the entity seizing the bug from the Archduke of Blood and the previous Constantine.
Sterl could never accept that. What if someone traced it back to him?
Thus, As a Creator\'s Act directly solved this problem for him. This special skill came from a level of Divine Power greater than the ordinary, allowing Sterl to shield himself from other deities!
The players and followers present certainly couldn\'t see through this, and the Archduke of Blood, let alone just being a heart, wouldn\'t be able to gather information even if its true form were present.
At that moment, this led to an incredibly terrifying scene for the members of the Blood Cult!
But the more devastating event was yet to unfold.
With a slight thought, Sterl made countless blood-colored refining threads dissipate instantly. The Archduke of Blood was too greedy; he aimed to refine all living beings in the entire city. In addition to the Blood Cult members, he wanted to keep those demons brought into the main world for himself, intending to devour them all.
This led to Sterl being able to control the array simply by releasing the players and residents from the refining process.
But that was not all!
"Move!"
Sterl harnessed his Divine Power and suddenly manipulated the countless refining threads that had just dissipated, driving them all into the heart of the Archduke of Blood!
He crazily began to melt it down!!
Although Sterl\'s ascent to godhood could only be maintained for a very short time, he was in his prime state. In the face of a divine demon\'s heart that had endured the heavenly punishments of two worlds, he found himself in a position of overwhelming strength!
With the amplified power of the god-level formation, the Source of Energy of the Archduke of Blood had no means of resistance. It was being wildly dissolved into an extraordinarily brilliant crimson energy that dazzled the eyes of all who beheld it!
At that moment, Sterl\'s ascent to godhood was coming to an end; his Divine Power was fully expended, and he began to plummet from the heights above toward the ground...
His face remained expressionless; although he felt a surge of excitement, he could not afford to smile.
He had no intention of refining the legendary players present, as the Blood Sacrifice Array could only extract one type of ability at a time. Any additional refining energy, if it were from the Archduke of Blood, could be transformed into bloody Divine Power.
However, until Sterl truly became a god, this energy could only be temporarily sealed. It could only be stored in the main world of [Transcendence], as the area of the small world Sterl possessed was insufficient.
Moreover...
The ratio of ordinary energy converted into Divine Power was far too low. Even with an extra batch of legendary players or the life force of all the residents of the Principality of Florence, there wouldn\'t be much to gain.
Sterl, not inclined to harm others for minimal personal gain, was not willing to undertake such a task.
Because he didn\'t plan to eliminate witnesses, he refrained from saying a word or even laughing, so as not to expose his identity.
With that, Sterl slowly closed his eyes as countless blood-colored threads surged toward him, wrapping around him like a cocoon, one thread at a time.
Meanwhile, the members of the Blood Cult and the many players below reacted in various ways.
From their perspective, they saw the heart representing the Archduke of Blood suddenly transform into blood-red energy, while the shadow that had previously appeared behind the heart fell from the sky, and countless threads surged into that figure.
The players were utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
"Is the Archduke of Blood really this cautious? Is that shadow behind him his true form???"
"It\'s over; let it be destroyed."
"In the end, there was no turning point, and we still have to die..."
"If only I hadn\'t taken this quest in the first place."
...
They were completely unaware that the Archduke of Blood had been outmaneuvered; the nature of god-level power was beyond the understanding of this group of legends.
Only a few individuals cast suspicious glances at the members of the Blood Cult.