Abyss Transfer!

Kang Oh was engulfed in darkness, and traveled as far as Blood did.

Miu!

He heard a scream coming from the right side of the forked road, and then rushed towards the source of the noise.

The blood red bat trapped the minotaur with its giant wings and greedily bit into it.

Shards of light gushed out of the minotaur like a fountain, and Blood drank it all down!

"Haven't you had enough!?" Kang Oh forcefully ran towards it and threw a dagger.

The dagger flew straight towards it.

Clang!

A long tail came out of its butt region and slapped the dagger away.

However, the dagger had been nothing more than a diversion. Kang Oh had closed in.

"Huahp!"

Abyss Aura!

He swung his sword, unleashing a jet-black aura.

Then, Blood unfurled its wings and forcefully flew up.

Swish!

Thus, the jet-black aura struck the minotaur instead.

[You have defeated a Parmarl Minotaur.]

The minotaur died helplessly.

Screech!

Blood hung on the ceiling, and let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed throughout the labyrinth.

Spurt!

At the same time, it fired off a blood red beam at him.

Kang Oh shielded himself with his demon sword.

[Ubist has absorbed Hatred Buster.]

[Satiation has increased by 0.02%.]

The beam, or Hatred Buster, was sucked into his sword.

Kang Oh immediately pointed his sword at Blood. Then, black spheres the size of baseballs formed around it.

Abyss Prison!

It was the same type of skill as Grano's Water Prison. Abyss Prison would, for a fixed period of time, trap a target in deep darkness, preventing them from moving.

This skill, like Abyss Aura, Abyss Shield, and Abyss Transfer, were skills that were available to him during Devil Trigger, but this was the first time he'd used this particular skill.

The black spheres gradually increased in size, and pressed down on Blood.

Flap, flap, flap!

Blood sensed danger, and attempted to resist by violently flapping its wings. But it was already too late.

Little by little, the black spheres engulfed Blood, and eventually completely consumed it.

'Good.'

Like Grano, Kang Oh controlled his Abyss Prison and pulled it towards him.

He planned on pressing his offensive when Abyss Prison was up.

However...!

All of the sudden, the prison began to crack and red light seeped out.

Boom!

Blood had broken out of the prison.

It was humanoid in appearance, just like when he first saw it, but now, bat wings protruded out of its back.

In other words, it had combined its human and bat forms.

It was also holding a weapon.

Though it looked somewhat crude, it was still easily recognizable; it was a red scythe that befitted a grim reaper.

It instantly appeared in front of him and swung its scythe diagonally.

Swish!

Kang Oh quickly threw his body out of the way.

The red scythe unleashed scarlet energy, which had a sticky feel to it, that rushed towards him like a tsunami.

Boom!

Once the energy struck the labyrinth's thick wall, it exploded with a 'boom' and cracked the wall.

'C'mon!'

Kang Oh knew exactly what that attack was. It was definitely a destructive aura.

'Not only did it fuse its human and bat forms, but now it’s wielding a never-before-seen weapon and can even use an aura...'

Kang Oh had a hunch that this was Blood's final form.

'That's what I was waiting for!' Kang Oh forcefully grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands, and swung upwards.

Abyss Aura!

Blood didn't just stand there and take it.

Blood Aura!

Boom!

Black and red energy clashed midair, and both Kang Oh and Blood were forced to take a step back.

Grrr.

Like Kang Oh, Shadow Ubist wasn't able to do much with Blood's tail in the way and was forced back.

Blood completely spread its bat wings, and then blood spears formed around the wings.

There were six of them in total!

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

The blood spears cleaved through the air!

Kang Oh knew where they were aimed at via his Hyper Intuition, and ran in a zigzag to avoid the spears.

Blood swung its scythe.

Whoosh!

The red aura came rushing at him like a tsunami.

Kang Oh dodged to the side, unwilling to face an attack of that magnitude head-on.

Boom!

Blood didn't let up. Its outstretched wings turned into something akin to drills and came flying at him.

Kang Oh retreated a little more to avoid the attack.

After that, Blood relentlessly used all of its destructive attacks like its Blood Aura, its wing attack, blood spears, Hatred Buster, etc.

Its attacks were akin to a tsunami; a tsunami that threatened to sweep through everything in its path!

But if Blood was like a tsunami, then Kang Oh was like a black hole; a black hole that devoured everything and anything!

Kang Oh took on Blood's assault head-on.

Time wasn't on his side after all. If that's the case, then his only choice was forward.

The two beings clashed!

The battle between black and red!

* * *

At the beginning, Kang Oh had definitely been at a disadvantage.

After all, the Great Forest’s Demon possessed the Life Steal ability and its power/abilities were tremendous. Blood's power was no joke.

However, humans were adaptable.

As they fought, Kang Oh collected more and more info, allowing him to gradually adapt to Blood's attacks.

Blood was definitely a powerful being. After all, it held the greatest destructive power of any monster he'd fought in Arth thus far!

However...

'It's powerful, but... It's not very precise.'

Every single one of its attacks were pretty much one hit K.O.'s. They were just that powerful! But in exchange, they required wide movements, which exposed several weak points.

Because of his Hyper Intuition, Kang Oh didn't miss any of these weaknesses.

'Plus, it's really wary of Tempest Tiger.'

They say that some converse with their fists. After battling with Blood, Kang Oh realized that Blood was looking out for Tempest Tiger.

'It probably remembers taking a ton of damage from the first hit...'

Thus, Kang Oh made it anxious by acting as though he'd use it, and then use that opportunity to attack.

Moreover...!

Blood possessed a critical weakness.

The more HP it absorbed, the stronger it became. Conversely, the more HP it lost, the weaker it became.

Kang Oh steadily landed hit after hit, giving him more of an advantage as time went on.

But time wasn't on his side!

He had to finish this before Gluttony wore off.

'I have 3 minutes left on Gluttony. I have to finish this before then.'

He knew how to seize victory, and moved to finish this as fast as possible.

Abyss Transfer!

Kang Oh reappeared behind Blood and swung downwards.

Whoosh.

Blood turned around and swung its scythe.

However, Kang Oh's attack stopped midair; it had been a feint.

Whoosh.

Blood unleashed a Blood Aura from its scythe. Kang Oh protected himself with Abyss Shield and moved his foot.

He took a little damage, but it was worth it. Now he was in prime position to do a ton of damage.

"Die!" Kang Oh quickly swung his sword, cleaving through its body.

It was so fast that Blood couldn't even hope to react in time.

Swish!

Black shards exploded from its body.

Fang Bearing Blade!

Once he landed an attack, which ignored all defenses, he saw wrinkles at the corner of Blood's eyes. It must've hurt!

Blood spread its wings right after.

'Another wing attack? No, that's not it. This is...'

Kang Oh realized what it was trying to do. It was definitely trying to run away.

"That's not going to happen!" He forcefully swung his sword.

Abyss Aura came flying at Blood.

Then, Blood covered its body with its wing like a shield.

Bam.

Shards of light burst from its wings, but it hadn't taken much damage.

Blood lifted its wings and then shot a red beam from its mouth.

Hatred Buster!

'Annoying little...!'

He knew exactly what it was doing. It was going to use Hatred Buster as a distraction and then run away.

'Sorry, that ain't going to happen.'

He could just absorb the spell with his demon sword, but Kang Oh decided against it. Instead...

Tempest Tiger!

Boom!

A golden tiger clashed against the red beam head-on.

The resulting shock wave spread throughout the labyrinth, causing a dust cloud to form.

Blood attempted to use that opportunity to escape. If it got away, then it could find some prey and quickly replenish the HP that it'd lost.

However, Kang Oh was one step ahead of it.

Kang Oh pierced through the dust cloud and swung his sword.

Slash!

He left behind a wound that appeared as though a snake had crawled onto its bloody body. Red shards of light burst forth, spreading everywhere.

Blood violently shook its head in agony. At the same time, sharp spikes popped out of its body.

'I knew that's what you'd do,' Kang Oh swung his sword.

He cleaved through the spikes and struck its body once more.

'2 minutes left.'

After checking how much time he had left, Kang Oh attacked even more ferociously. He had to finish this before the time limit no matter what!

The time limit, the chance of victory that he'd worked so hard to attain, the excitement from fighting against such a strong opponent, etc. raised his concentration to its maximum.

Swish, slash, swish.

Kang Oh's bladework was beautiful; it was like the very night sky.

He found and attacked every single weak point he could find.

To Blood, Kang Oh was akin to a calamity, and had no ability to resist him. After all, it couldn't block any of his attacks.

Whack, whack, bam, bam, bam!

His jet-black blade relentlessly bashed on Blood's body.

Shards of light and blood fell from its body.

It gradually became weaker and weaker.

As a last act of desperation, Blood unleashed a Hatred Buster, but Kang Oh used his demon sword's magic absorption ability. With it, he didn't need to worry about the attack and could cleave through its wings.

It violently writhed in agony.

Blood fell to the floor and Kang Oh stomped on its chest. He continued to swing his sword again and again.

He hadn't gotten a message stating that he'd completed the trial, so he had no choice but to keep attacking until then!

However...

At some point, Kang Oh halted his assault.

'This is...'

Lumps of blood sloughed off of Blood's face, revealing brown skin underneath.

At most, they looked no more than ten years old. That face contained various complex emotions like anger, sadness, fear, resignation, etc.

Kang Oh recalled Grande Loxia's final message.

Some called it a monster, and others called it a demon. But to me, it was just a tortured soul.

To you, whose name I don't know, please be merciful.

'A tortured soul...'

This child was the one who made the inhabitants of the Great Forest quiver in fear? This is what Blood originally looked like?

If not, then was this a pitiful person who Blood had used as a host?

Kang Oh could no longer attack Blood, no, the young girl before him.

Grande Loxia's final message, 'please me merciful', had been bothering him until now.

"Kill me! If you don't, then you'll regret it. I'll kill you someday!" the young girl shouted with a venomous expression.

This girl must be Blood's main body.

'They did say that Blood was a mixed-blood, born from a human and a demon,' Kang Oh thought back to what he knew regarding Blood.

"Kill me! Kill me! I'm telling you to kill me!" the girl kept yelling.

Her voice was filled with hatred.

At that moment, however...

He received a system message.

[The Trial of the Demon Sword is over.]

[You must decide between two choices.]