Chapter 557: Julio’s Fate [V6C87 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

Everyone felt surprised because, up until this point, Julio’s attacks had always killed in one hit. The imperial experts felt spirited because this signified that the marquis was almost exhausted.

Qianye’s gaze, however, was completely different. Only he knew that this bloody brilliance was extremely weak in damage despite its great penetrative powers. It even seemed to contain a drop of fresh blood within.

Julio’s blood energy was helpless before the dark golden blood energy and was devoured in the blink of an eye. Most of the blood energy Qianye had spent on contending against the demonkin count’s demonic qi was quickly restored. Was that a drop of origin blood?

Qianye was rather puzzled at this point. Theoretically, origin blood was just as toxic to humans as black titanium, but the erosion wasn’t completely irreversible. On the other hand, vampires could only condense so many drops of origin blood in their lifetime—that was the source of their power and bloodline inheritance. In terms of value, it was thousands of times greater than black titanium. No one had heard of vampires using origin blood to launch attacks.

In truth, this drop of blood looked more like a probe. If Qianye didn’t have blood energy or if his blood energy was inferior to Julio’s, he would be in much greater trouble.

Qianye couldn’t understand. This was the first time he had run into this illustrious vampire marquis, so why would Julio sound him out with blood energy?

The imperial experts launched successive attacks after Julio was wounded by Zhao Jundu’s shot, but most of them returned empty-handed. Only Li Kuanglan’s sword barely struck the man.

Blood energy rushed out violently around Julio. It poured out of Zhao Jundu’s Omniscient Seal and continued expanding outward, causing all the experts to step back. Everyone had to fall back ten meters before barely managing to block the erosion.

Qianye stepped forth with his sword raised and was just about to use his Oceanic Vortex to resist when a frowning Zhao Jundu pulled him backward. He glanced back after having his unformed momentum dispersed and saw that Zhao Jundu’s face had lost even more color compared to when his domain was broken.

It was at this time that a beam of peerless killing intent descended from above and enveloped the entire battlefield.

Julio’s body trembled as he looked down at his chest where a large cavity had appeared out of nowhere. The defect penetrated all the way to the back, and the blood core that should’ve been there had vanished.

Outside of the ruins, a white-robed lady with an austere expression descended slowly from the sky.

Bai clan, Bai Aotu.

Her incomparably tyrannical punch had shot through Julio’s chest from afar and destroyed his blood core.

Julio didn’t seem sad at all in the face of sure death. His eyes weren’t on his killer, either. Instead, he looked up at the sky with open arms as though he wanted to embrace something. At this moment, it seemed as though Julio’s gaze had penetrated this world and reached the end of the void—a world perhaps no one knew about.

Julio’s eyes gradually dimmed as his body collapsed slowly. His body spat out a fierce sanguineous flame at the moment of its demise. The ignition of all the remaining blood energy produced a raging blaze which rendered the body to ashes. There wasn’t a trace to be found.

This famous marquis, who could even overwhelm some veteran dukes, had finally met his end here.

However, most of the imperial experts surrounding Julio weren’t happy at all. They were filled with a type of inexplicable emptiness.

Julio had explained his fame with his action during this arduous battle. He had held out until the very end under Zhao Jundu’s Omniscient Seal, Li Kuanglan’s sword strikes, and Qianye’s heavy blows, in addition to the siege of imperial experts. He hadn’t made a single mistake up until the very end where his blood energy was completely exhausted.

Julio had proved, with his life, what perfection meant in combat. It could be said that he had once again won the respect of his enemies.

But such a person had actually died to such an attack. Bai Aotu’s fist smashed Julio’s final defenses and crushed this mighty marquis.

This sullied the dignity of Julio’s death—not a fitting end to his final battle.

Qianye felt disappointed and frustrated as he watched the last of the ashes being blown away.

Many experts turned to Bai Aotu in anger. They had just experienced a fierce battle, so their killing intent was at the peak—even someone as notorious as Bai Aotu didn’t seem as terrifying right now.

One of the generals shouted, “Bai Aotu, what’s the meaning of this. Are you trying to steal merits?”

Many people turned livid at this point. They had struggled on the verge of life and death, losing many comrades in the process. Bai Aotu, however, had appeared at the last moment and took Julio’s life in one blow. No one could believe she wasn’t trying to rob them of merit.

A mocking expression appeared on Bai Aotu’s face. “Do I need this meager contribution? Go and share it among yourselves. I only lent a hand because you people can’t seem to finish it.”

These words offended everyone at the scene. Li Kuanglan had never suffered such treatment before. Her expression turned frosty as she said, “We can deal with this even if you don’t appear. It makes no difference, so stop meddling next time!”

Bai Aotu shot Li Kuanglan a glance filled with undisguised killing intent, but the latter had no fear of her. “What? You want to kill me? I bet you don’t have the guts for that. It’s not the Bai clan’s turn to overpower the empire.”

Bai Aotu stared at Li Kuanglan with an indifferent expression. “I have no use for empty statuses, and nobility isn’t reason enough to bind me. If only you weren’t an opponent worth looking forward to, what does it matter if I kill you now? If you’re not satisfied, we can fight once we’re both at the divine champion realm. It’s meaningless to bully you now.”

Li Kuanglan was startled for a moment, but she replied immediately with narrowed eyes, “Fine, we shall fight it out when the day comes! You think you’re the only genius in the empire?”

“Then that’s settled,” Bai Aotu replied.

Li Kuanglan turned toward Zhao Jundu. “What say you?”

The latter replied indifferently, “Not interested.”

“Not interested? Why?” Li Kuanglan clearly found the answer surprising.

Zhao’s hand remained firmly on Qianye as he said apathetically, “None of you are my match after I become a divine champion, so it makes no difference whether or not we fight. In my eyes, there are only two geniuses in the empire at present, and one of them is me.”

Li Kuanglan was already finding his words annoying, but she couldn’t resist the urge to ask, “Who’s the other one? It can’t be me, can it? This... ahahaha… this is a bit embarrassing! Who would’ve thought an icy demon like you can be cute too, sometimes.”

“Sorry, but the other genius is also from my Zhao clan.”

Li Kuanglan’s smile was immediately frozen, and she couldn’t help but spew out a series of profanities. “Damn your grandpa! The second one is also in your Zhao clan? Wait a minute, don't tell me it’s this little fellow?”

Seeing Li Kuanglan glance over at him, Qianye immediately called out, “It’s not me!”

Li Kuanglan said furiously, “Damn you, who else is there but you!”

All eyes fell upon Qianye in a flash, filling him with the urge to curse too.

It was at this time that a rush of blood energy appeared in the distance. Its intensity and sharpness were far above that of Julio.

“Julio!!!” The blood energy arrived rapidly accompanied by a sharp cry, parting the imperial army wherever it passed. No one could block its path.

The visitor seemed to have sensed something after the shout. The small figure within the blood energy trembled and soon began to chant in a deep, mellow voice. Large swathes of imperial soldiers fell as the mournful tune ended, and a large empty space appeared around her.

One of the military officers shouted at the top of his lungs, “It’s Nana! Full retreat! Full Retreat! Do not approach her! Snipe her from afar, afar!”

This was the most appropriate response to deal with Nana. Numbers were meaningless against her because her song was the most terrifying killer weapon. However, long-range sniping wasn’t quite effective against this agile vampire, either—unless it was an ability like Zhao Jundu’s True Shot.

Nana’s notoriety was far above Julio’s, but the empire had received no news about her participation in this battle. Her sudden appearance was destined to change the battle once more.

Bai Aotu’s expression changed rapidly. Her ordinary demeanor erupted with a brilliance one could hardly look straight at. “Now this is the kind of contribution I need.”

With that, she left to meet Nana in battle with her robes fluttering in the wind. None of the imperial experts followed along when Bai Aotu charged out. It wasn’t merely because she had offended everyone, but because she had announced that she was going to fight Nana. Anyone who interfered would become her enemy.

Nana and Bai Aotu were soon standing off against one another. The former’s eyes were filled with rolling blood energy as though they were made of sanguineous rubies. “Where’s Julio?!”

Bai Aotu replied calmly, “He’s dead, I smashed his blood core just now. If you had come ten minutes earlier, you would’ve seen how he had died.”

The blood energy in Nana’s eyes turned a deep violet as she let out a shrill cry, “Then you will die!!!”

Nana rushed out in the blink of an eye. One could hardly make out her figure—it was as though she had become briefly invisible. Bai Aotu also moved at the same time, meeting the enemy head-on without any evasive movements.

Time seemed to have paused the moment the combatants came into contact, then resumed a moment later as they flitted past one another. Apart from a handful of people, none of the spectators saw their exchange clearly.

Nana turned around like a cloud in the wind and left at inconceivable speeds. Li Kuanglan’s expression changed upon seeing that Nana’s speed was actually above her own. The former’s speed advantage would surely be suppressed if the two were to engage in battle.

Zhao Jundu shook his head as he put down his Blue Firmament. Although the battlefield was within firing range, the battle had ended too quickly for him to fire.

Several powerful daybreak origin auras were zooming over from the distant horizon. Those were the imperial divine champions who had just finished their battles.

“This is just a small lesson. I, Nana, of the Mammon clan will make you pay! You will all regret your actions this day!” Nana’s voice reverberated throughout the battlefield as her figure vanished into the vast night sky.

She paved a path of blood as she left, killing thousands more imperial soldiers who hadn’t yet made it to a safe distance in time.