Chapter 525: Wangnan’s Potential
Osiris had planted the Seed of Despair in all six Royal Heirs of the Minor Kingdoms when they were but 1st-phase seekers, and since he had also personally mended their wounded minds and souls with his demonic energy. The potential of the six had been significantly boosted.
Thus, once they had advanced to the 2nd phase, the Race of all six had evolved into Partial Demons. Though only one amongst them had awakened their Demonic Ability as of yet, that was, of course, Conner Ravenspire, the man with the highest potential of all the Seekers from the Minor Kingdoms.
Six royal heirs all surrounded Lucien from all sides, their collective pressure mixed with the potent, destructive might of the demonic energy brushing against Lucien’s skin. His own golden pressure flickered, holding against the demonic energy’s influence quite well.
Gritting his teeth, Lucien wielded the silver runic sword with his remaining left hand; the sword flared with power. Unlike his usual self, he did not clash head-on against the one he felt strongest, but rather he dashed towards the one who felt weakest amongst them.
Because Lucien very well knew he was in a much more unfavorable position than his enemies due to his current condition, especially since they revealed that they possessed the demon bloodline, his thoughts about this battle changed. It was not about just winning the battle anymore.
Even with the little energy that remained in him. He had to kill them all, if not most of them, with the best of his abilities while being smart about it. Otherwise, he would definitely die.
With the first initiation of attack done by Lucien, the six Royal heirs viciously retaliated against him from all sides, each using their own aspects, with a mix of magical and warrior-based abilities.
Another brutal battle commenced.
A fight that would forever remain in the heart of Golden Prince, a prologue to the event that would, for the first time, thoroughly shatter his Draconic Arrogance.
***
Back inside the Gray Fog Zone -
After Zena had absorbed the amplified Despair attribute from Thorian, the latter dropped unconscious to the floor. His condition worsened. But she didn’t pay him any heed and closed her eyes for a moment.
Examining the changes within herself, the shifts within her were both subtle and significant at the same time.
A satisfied smile donned on her lips. She opened her eyes and finally looked towards the other side of this massive, isolated zone of the battlefield.
Her expression immediately changed. She wasn’t able to pay much attention to that side of the battle till now, but now that she saw the sheer level of destruction that spanned for miles and miles. She could not help but frown.
That scale of destruction had far surpassed the scope of her own battle. This highlighted the difference in strength between her and Wangnan. That Elven bastard. She had disliked that guy from the moment he appeared.
Because Wangnan possessed not one but two bloodline aspects, it was obvious that her talent could not compare to Wangnan’s. At first, when he appeared, he was incredibly pathetic in battle.
He could not even stand against her in a spar for even a few minutes, since Wangnan’s demonic ability, Corruption Magic, was not a direct combat-oriented ability.
By that time, she and her brother had already been training under Gareth for a few months. She had improved greatly under Gareth’s tutelage by then.
Yet, the moment Wangnan appeared, Gareth looked at him differently than the rest; he could easily see the sheer amount of potential contained in the Corrupted Elf. Not to mention, he showed a great deal of gratitude to Osiris, which Zena and Zen lacked.
And Wangnan, under Gareth’s strict guidance, began to improve by leaps and bounds. In just a few weeks, Zena began to feel pressured by Wangnan during sparring and found it harder to defeat him. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was his ascension to the third phase.
From that point onwards, even when Zena and Zen worked together and went all out, Wangnan would still emerge as the undeniable victor.
Though if she fought against him without abilities and solely with weapons, she was still the superior combatant, Zena thought with a silent grimace and shook her head. Dispelling those thoughts.
She created a propulsion force beneath her feet, making Thorian’s injured body float in the air and shoot towards the side where Wangnan was.
Once Seekers advance to the third phase, a qualitative change occurs in the mana or energy they wield; it becomes heavy enough, and the control of the Seekers also becomes strong enough to use it as a propulsion force to make themselves float with ease, without too much effort.
For some seekers, they may even achieve the ability to float as a peak 2nd phase seeker, as their mana control would reach an extremely advanced level due to their great talent. Yet this act of floating wastes too many energy reserves and requires constant focus, which is counterproductive in a life-and-death battle.
Which was why no one below the third phase would bother trying to fly, at least not without an artifact. Zena naturally could fly with ease as a mid-third-phase seeker.
As Zena flew through the cloud of smoke and destruction, she eventually reached the inner area where the battle should be taking place. Her eyes trembled for a brief instance. Even though she had expected the battle to have already been over, this was a sight she did not expect to see.
There was a brutally bloodied figure who was a mix between a human and a wolf. In fact, that person’s condition was far worse than the state she beat Thorian into, and the person was the Transcendent Conjurer, Enrick Samartan.
Every arm and leg of his was twisted into an unnatural angle. Even his head seemed to have been snapped backward. But due to the Ragnarok beast’s tenacious bloodline, Enrick was still alive, if barely. But from the sight of it, even Zena felt a shudder run through her mind.
Gareth had briefed her about the true might of the Ragnarok Beast and the type of power Enrick would possess if he assimilated the attributes of Fenrir.
But for that endless power of healing to no longer be able to heal, what sort of beatdown did the Corrupted Elf put him through?
However, the most shocking part was not that; there was the ginormous, bloody wolf, its body filled with squirming holes, blood flowing endlessly until it formed a small pool. An extremely large parasitic creature was entangling itself through the inside and outside of the Immortal Wolf.
Through the nose and the eyes of Beast, she could still see the Wolf shuddering every second. And on top of that titanic creature sat Wangnan Baek, covered in blood from head to toe. Still looking as handsome as ever with his elven visage.
Oozing with the darkest of killing intent, even after the battle was over. But Wangnan’s own condition was also quite bad. His cold gaze suddenly flicked towards Zena, who was slowly sliding downwards. A wave of murderous aura greater than her own washed over her entire figure.
She sucked in a sharp breath under that killing intent, and she realized that Wangnan had grown stronger again...
That murderous gaze only lasted for a brief instant. As Wangnan recognized her, his cold, ferocious look gave way to a small smile.
He stated, his voice soothing to the ears, unlike his vicious and bloody state, "Miss Zena, I see you have accomplished your task much more... neatly than I did."
Zena’s expression became displeased, "Are you insulting me, Wangnan Baek?"
Wangnan immediately shook his head and sighed, "You know that is not what I mean...."
But the displeased look on Zena’s face only grew stronger; Wangnan could only offer a bitter smile and say no more.
Suddenly, both of their expressions turned solemn, as a tremor ran through the ground. Zena stated in a grave tone, "There is not much time left. It took us longer than we had initially thought. The peak third phase seekers should be making their moves soon. The fog barrier is also about to unfold."
She added after a moment of pause, looking at Wangnan’s brutal state, "You haven’t consumed the Lord’s blood, have you?"
Wangnan hesitated for a moment, but he nodded eventually. Zena’s eyes narrowed in displeasure once more. This elven bastard had beaten two foes alone, both stronger than Thorian, whom she had to face, without even consuming the blood of Osiris.
While she had to consume it to defeat Thorian, this hurt her ego again. But she could only brush down that feeling, and her face returned to cold and detached.
She commented in a frosted tone, "Hurry up and consume it. Why are you wasting time? I know you have very good natural healing. But those injuries caused by the otherworldly energy of Fenrir would still take too long to heal. We have to make sure everything goes perfectly."
