∼ Day 208 ∼

The massive beastkin growled as he grabbed for me, but I had already disappeared, the previously solid blood weapon liquefying with me, leaving a gaping cavity in his chest.

But despite the critical attack, it hadn't actually even gotten more than halfway in, a testament to the toughness of his body. Still, I had caused severe damage to everything around his solar plexus, lungs, and heart.

It was a gruesome sight as he held his chest with one of his large hands, blood spilling through his meaty fingers. But nonetheless, the brueltar seemed not the slightest panicked or worried. Rather his face was a painting of the embodiment of rage and battle fury.

It appeared that he had activated that enrage skill which those gorilla beastkin seemingly possessed innately, but unlike the weaker grunts of his race, Borsch's clear eyes showed that he was in complete control of this rage and the power granted by it.

As he surveyed his darkened surroundings, I quickly took stock of the still ongoing battlefield. Both my own and the halfling's forces were entirely occupied with the officers and remaining grunts, my units keeping clear of the halflings so no chaos would ensue due to confusion of what sides to fight on.

And even though the halfling leader was still obviously disoriented and confused with everything happening, she seemed to be too preoccupied with fighting off the brueltar captain for her to be worrying about anything else at the moment. But that's exactly what I had been hoping for.

I wasted no more time, gathering my strongest unit to put up an assault on the gravely injured ape. I wanted to end this fast, and if killing the leader would mean that I would end up with fewer lost units at the end of the fight, all the better would the position I would end up in be.

Despite the stealthed surroundings with our shadow magic and the gorilla's impaired sight, he proved his might as a peak 5th-tier Sanctioned Lord when he countered our collective attack that sprung from the nothingness all around him without batting an eye.

Even so, the slowly accumulating wounds that appeared all around his body which seemingly got worse and worse entirely on their own due to my skill and manipulating of blood, Borsch was fighting a losing fight.

But before I could secure a certain victory, the gorilla man proved that he still had a few cards up his leave.

[You have taken 367 damage!]

The instant before one of my attacks landed, the gathering glow of an orange hue underneath the beastkin's skin seemed to reach a fever pitch - like a charge up had spilled over. Unceremoniously, my magics were dispelled by an explosion of force that radiated out from the hulking beastkin, sending both me and my other units flying away like cannonballs.

Skitting across the ground and rolling to a stop, I tried to make heads or tails about what the hell had just happened. Through the haze, a string of words managed to squeeze its way in.

"There you are," A voice said, distinctly deep and rough.

I still felt disoriented, and it became apparent that I was much more so than I should have by just being sent flying like that. There was definitely something odd about whatever that skill or ability he had just used. Trying my best to get to my feet, I finally caught sight of the beastkin, a few moments too late.

He moved with an uncanny speed belying his massive and cumbersome figure, closing the distance with earthshaking charge as I tried my best to make my hazy mind think straight and my frazzled magics work again.

Unfortunately, the skill he had used had done much more than I initially thought than simply dispel my magic and throw my brain for a loop. It had really done a number on me, and I watched as one massive fist descended on me.

An explosion of sound rang out as his meteoric gauntleted fist hammered down onto my body, cratering the ground underneath my body.

If not for my impossibly sturdy body, that strike would've ended me and left nothing more than a stain on the ground right then and there.

I only felt some bones break, organs somewhat damaged, and skin parted from the attack, leaving my body bloody and looking as if it was in much worse shape than it actually was. Before the gorilla brute had even realized I was not yet dead, all injures had already healed and my mind had cleared up just enough for focused thought. Now it was my turn to strike back.

Although my magic had yet to fully return, it wasn't the only thing I had.

Eyes liting up like a torch, a radiance of crimson crashed into the beastkin on not a physical level but a spiritual one. As Petrifying Gaze worked its wonders on tearing down his mental defenses even through his enraged skill, leaving his mind vulnerable and sluggish, I called upon the slight amount of magic focus I had regained.

It was barely just enough, but with the partial manifestation of my [Heirloom of Sanguinity], I managed to stabilize my magic enough to conjure a deadly set of elongated claws onto my hands.

Darting for the stunned beastkin's face, he tried to backpedal and swat me away with the back of his hand, but I deftly dodged it. And when a scream tore from his mouth, I knew I had struck home.

I had barely just managed to swipe across his face, but it was enough to rake out the sight from his eyes. Three long and red gashes ran the length of the gorilla's face, from ear to ear.

After that, the heated fight came to an abrupt and undignifying end as the gruesome wounds accumulated and his gored corpse could no longer hold onto his fleeting life. His vision was completely ruined, agony flooded his body from his innumerable wounds, and his mind was left a chaotic mess devoid of conscious thought.

Borsch Cragmar, the Lord of Impetus died at the hands of me.

[LVL: 72 - Brueltar "Borsch Cragmar" has been slain!]

[You have been awarded 6.2m points of EXP]

[Congratulations! You've reached level 48]

[You've been rewarded with 1 skill point for reaching level 48]

[Skill - Codex has leveled up from 5 ⇒ 6]

[Skill - Dominion Mastery has leveled up from 4 ⇒ 5]

[Skill - Blood Plague has leveled up from 7 ⇒ 8]

[Skill - Blood Lord has leveled up from 3 ⇒ 4]

[Skill - Blitz has leveled up from 9 ⇒ 11]

[Skill - Flesh Rupture has leveled up from 1 ⇒ 2]

[Skill - Ambrosial Senses has leveled up from 12 ⇒ 14]

[Skill - Greater Mana Mending has leveled up from 3 ⇒ 6]

[Skill - Onyx Incarnate has leveled up from 1 ⇒ 2]

[Skill - Mana Mastery has leveled up from 1 ⇒ 2]

[Skill - Stealth has leveled up from 13 ⇒ 14]

[Skill - Formation Constructs has leveled up from 3 ⇒ 4]

[Skill - Blood Born has leveled up from 13 ⇒ 14]

[Skill - Lesser Eldritch Vitality has leveled up from 13 ⇒ 14]

[Skill - Shadow Lord has leveled up from 1 ⇒ 2]

[Skill - Mana Condensation has leveled up from 2 ⇒ 5]

[Skill - Greater Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 3 ⇒ 7]

[Skill - Petrifying Gaze has leveled up from 1 ⇒ 2]

Kneeling, half-slumped, on the Brueltar's broad chest, I let the magic dissipate that shaped my temporary weapons, lifting my face to the sky to let out a shuddering breath.

"Urgh - goddammit that hurt," I groaned as I felt my bones still shift as Lesser Eldritch Vitality did its best to recover from the damage.

I hadn't expected an easy fight going into this, but it was truly hard imagining just how powerful a lord of a certain aspect like 'force' could possibly be. And he had lived up to his name alright.

I had spent nearly half of my entire mana pool, sacrificing the mana of multiple blood puppet units to simply reimburse the cost of negating the few attacks he managed to strike me with. Without my mana infusing things like Onyx Incarnate and Blood Born, those few hits would've managed to leave me but a dead and bloody pulp on the battlefield, even with my already inane amount of physical resistance.

Happy that the experience of killing this particularly powerful individual didn't go to waste by wandering off into aether like it did when killing everything else in this simulation world, I absent-mindedly conjured the blood of my fallen foe to revitalize my battered body and add the cherry on top of my already considerable gains.

[Siphon]

[You've consumed the blood of an LVL: 72 - Brueltar!]

[4.9m points of EXP have been acquired and stats have been added]

[Congratulations! You've reached level 49]

[You've been rewarded with 1 skill point for reaching level 49]

-Status!-

Status

Information Attributes

Traits, Titles, and Skills -Name- "Xavier Tal'chor" STR 49 ⇒ 55 Skills 20 -Race- Strigoi (Blood Fiend) VIT 191 ⇒ 215 Traits 9 -Sex- Male AGI 126 ⇒ 132 Titles 4 -Rank- D+ DEX 48 ⇒ 52 Skill Points 32 ⇒ 39 -Level- 42/50 ⇒ 49/50 INT 47 ⇒ 55 Resistances

Health 1399/1758 CHR 40 ⇒ 42 Physical Resistance 52 ⇒ 55 Stamina 276/434 WILL 64 ⇒ 70 Magical Resistance 48 ⇒ 56 Mana 62/466 MAG 158 ⇒ 182 Mental Resistance 40 ⇒ 52

I briefly scanned the changes, noting everything and absentmindedly dismissing it. It was a marvel what Siphon did to my attributes when taken from a physically powerful individual like the gorilla, but then again there was more this victory awarded me.

Eyeing the gauntleted hands of the Lord of Impetus, I could feel the power of the now ownerless twin heirloom call to me.

Reaching out, I only touched the cold surface lightly, and the gauntlets immediately began turning into liquid molten silver. But instead of fusing with my heirloom as I had expected, the molten silver of the transforming heirloom reverted to their rectangular and rounded ingot-like shapes.

Being simultaneously liquid and solid at the same time - as if the surface was but glass and the molten silver inside could be seen roiling around.

I picked the heirloom up which greeted me with a prompt.

[Heirloom of Momentum]

-Do you wish to claim ownership and convert the heirloom?-

[Yes/No]

I just accepted the prompt, watching as the heirloom abruptly vanished from my hand, disappearing as it had never been there.

[Heirloom of Momentum - Stored]

[Relics collected - 1/3]

"Huh..."