Chapter 49: Sacrifice
Gangrel completely relaxed. He didn’t know how Priam had recovered his life force, but seeing him desperately retreat before the lightning confirmed his theory: Priam was merely using the last of his strength. That terrifying power that defeated the puppet was nothing more than a memory now.
With a faint metallic sound, Priam’s back touched the transparent barrier surrounding the martial stage. He had nowhere left to run.
The emerald-green lightning crackled less than two meters from his face.
"This stage is far too small," Gangrel mocked. "This game of cat and mouse barely started, and it’s already ending. How boring... What’s even more disappointing is that you haven’t let out a single scream. Brat, you’re not cooperating!"
Amid the sea of electricity, the dozens of Gangrel mirages flickered in unison. It was impossible to tell where the real voice was coming from.
"Since you refuse to scream, let me give you a helping hand..."
*Storm Suppression Slash!*
The lightning twisted violently. As the black saber cut through the air in Gangrel’s hand, a colossal wave of electricity surged forward, ready to devour the cornered opponent.
Gangrel smiled openly. He could already picture the scene: Priam’s porcelain-like face being "treated" by the destructive energy, leaving him unrecognizable and broken.
Everything was perfect. Priam had truly burned through all his cards.
If there was one flaw in the plan, it was the fact that from beginning to end, there wasn’t a trace of fear in Priam’s eyes. Even with his back against the barrier, his expression remained irritatingly calm. That took some of the pleasure out of the "achievement."
But when the lightning was about to swallow him, Priam’s expression finally changed.
It wasn’t the shock or despair Gangrel expected, but rather... a faint mocking smile.
"This really is a game of cat and mouse," Priam’s voice sounded like heavenly thunder in Gangrel’s ears. "However, it seems you’ve mistaken which one of us is the mouse."
At that exact moment, Priam stepped forward. His fists moved in a fierce and direct strike.
A wave of scarlet power erupted like a volcano.
The instant Priam collided with the storm, his eyes flashed with a cold light.
Then...
[Absorb?] [Yes / No]
’Yes.’
The audience swallowed hard.
The emerald-green lightning didn’t explode, nor did it rebound.
It was simply dragged into Priam’s body, dominated and stored by the Nexus Seed.
The air churned frantically for a second.
And then...
Silence.
That overwhelming storm power dissipated like a shattered illusion. No one in the arena could comprehend what they had just witnessed.
Priam, who had been retreating step by step moments ago, now wore an icy smile as he slowly advanced. Wherever he passed, the lightning vanished, disintegrating without offering the slightest resistance.
"What... What... WHAT?!"
The audience finally regained their voices in a chorus of disbelief.
The Elders who had been trying to boost Gangrel’s morale earlier rose from their seats. Their faces were pale, their eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
"That... that’s impossible!"
Gangrel’s arrogance evaporated instantly. In its place appeared a mask of pure horror.
His greatest trump card, the emerald lightning he was so proud of, was extinguished like a candle before a hurricane. Priam walked forward calmly, and with every step, not only did Gangrel’s power disappear, but so did his pride, his dignity, and his confidence.
"NO! This has to be because my lightning is still at the elemental stage! Since I’m not a Disciple, I don’t have powerful enough energy to properly support it. That’s the only explanation!"
Gangrel desperately tried to convince himself. His face twisted into a forced, almost manic smile.
"Priam, you think you’ve beaten me just because you destroyed that lightning? Hahahaha! If you’re so brave... then try surviving the ultimate power of my Quints Storm Domain!"
Gangrel bit down hard on his own tongue. He spat drops of blood onto the black saber.
The Elders narrowed their eyes when they noticed that the blood wasn’t ordinary; it contained the purest Bloodline, along with a portion of all three vital energies.
That was a sacrificial move!
The lightning reappeared, but this time, it was different. It roared with ten times the intensity. Gangrel raised the saber with both hands, his face red from the extreme effort.
*Celestial Python!*
A massive pillar of lightning erupted from his body, taking the shape of a titanic serpent ready to devour the heavens.
Even the last remnants of electricity in the surroundings were forcefully drawn in, concentrating within Gangrel’s body. The volume of elemental power stopped increasing, but the pressure changed drastically. His aura had become something much darker and more oppressive.
"He really went all the way..." The Elders who recognized the technique became serious. "He’s burning his entire Bloodline and his own life essence to activate the final move."
"It was an inevitable choice," another Elder commented in a grave voice. "I never imagined Priam was hiding so much power. But now that this strike has been unleashed, his defeat is certain. At best, it’ll be an accidental death. Even if he survives, Priam will be crippled."
Gangrel knew the price. If Priam died, he would be disqualified and Flaris, the third-place contestant, would be declared the winner. He would lose everything. But at that moment, hatred spoke louder than reason.
"Damn it."
The Grand Elder abruptly stood up, sending a mental message to his trusted subordinates.
’Prepare to intervene! We cannot allow Priam to die for nothing!’
Everything happened within seconds.
While the arena descended into panic, Priam merely stopped and observed the curious move.
Internally, he was ecstatic. The idiot had now burned every possible escape route; all Priam had to do was neutralize this attack, and Gangrel wouldn’t have enough strength left to even stand. That would guarantee a complete victory.
"Priam... DIE!!"
Gangrel’s roar was ferocious.
With a violent motion, the lightning around his body molded itself into a colossal serpent. An emerald-green Celestial Python, thirty centimeters thick and dozens of meters long, burst forth from the black saber.
It lunged forward, bringing with it a shockwave that made the martial stage tremble.
Priam narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t afraid of the energy itself, but the physical impact force behind that thunderous mass was dangerous. He couldn’t afford to be careless.
Stepping back to build momentum, Priam concentrated all of his strength into his fists and struck.
**KBOOOM!!**
Priam’s storm of power and the Python collided in midair.
For a brief instant, the serpent seemed to stop, repelled by the impact. But immediately afterward, it "roared" again and surged forward with an even more imposing aura.
Priam managed to absorb a large portion of its power into the Nexus Seed, but the speed and destructive force were absurd. Before he could plan his next move, the emerald fangs were already in front of his chest.
The audience held its breath. To anyone watching, seeing Priam dissipate half the power of such an attack with a single punch was already a miracle. Now, with no time to react to the remaining force, he seemed doomed.
The Grand Elder was already about to leap into the barrier when the impossible happened.
Priam’s hands moved like lightning.
They didn’t block.
They didn’t punch.
They grabbed the "neck" of the Celestial Python.
Shione and Lumiere turned pale. After all, they knew the technique.
"LET GO! YOU CAN’T TOUCH THAT!" Shione shouted, genuinely worried.
Touching that manifestation of pure Bloodline and lightning was the same as asking to be disintegrated. Raw physical strength shouldn’t have worked against such a thing.
But...
Priam simply tightened his grip.
"..."
There was no explosion.
There was no sound of breaking bones or burning flesh.
The world seemed to pause. The scene froze in place. The terrifying Celestial Python was locked in place, trapped within Priam’s iron grip.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
’Perfect. With the Nexus Seed, I can remove only the life energies controlling this technique. That’s the weakness of this monstrosity. Without life, the lightning has no master.’
Basically, it was the life energies that controlled this power. Priam had previously tried absorbing the lightning power itself, and it hadn’t worked. But now he had absorbed the correct thing.
It was like a blade suddenly becoming completely dull.
Moments later, the Python began twisting in agony. It looked like a real serpent being strangled. It thrashed frantically, but Priam’s hands were like divine shackles.
The lightning power began to wither.
What had been a giant Python shrank into an ordinary snake, then into a tiny worm...
...until it completely disappeared between Priam’s fingers without leaving a trace.
All of that energy was now silently sealed within the Nexus Seed.
Priam felt like a divine beast that had just finished a lavish feast.
His face was covered in sweat, but his expression was one of absolute calm. He slowly opened his palm.
There wasn’t a single burn on it.
Not even a scratch.
Without anyone realizing it, everyone in the arena was already standing.
The silence was absolute, as though the sound of the universe itself had been absorbed together with Gangrel’s lightning.
