Chapter 416: Act 169 – Blood of Darkness
“That won’t be allowed, young girl,” Andisha said with a smile. Before her words had finished, a vine shot out like lightning from behind her. However, she underestimated Xi’s strength; despite being tired and hungry, Xi deftly used one hand to push against the ground, flipping her body sideways and floating down next to Brendel, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The red-haired girl with a ponytail lifted her head, glaring angrily at Andisha. As one of the twelve Patriarchs of the Treemancers, Andisha’s action made her realize she was not a match for her at all.
Andisha was momentarily taken aback, lightly exclaiming, “Isn’t the Thunder Apostle a spellcasting unit?” She mused aloud in surprise, “Mutated bloodline? Hmph, what good fortune.”
However, this arrogant woman did not immediately attack again after retracting her vine whip. Instead, she looked at Xi with her light purple eyes and said, “You’re no match for me, so come with me quietly; I won’t harm you, sister.”
Xi said nothing, resolutely shaking her head.
“Tsk,” Andisha dropped a vine whip. “Humans really are creatures that won’t shed a tear until death is upon them. Listen well, I cannot guarantee you won’t be hurt.”
Xi knew she wasn’t a match for her opponent, yet she silently maintained a stance ready to strike, her hands instinctively forming claw shapes, with golden patterns appearing on her arms once more.
Magical reaction? Andisha raised her elegant brows, lightly humming in acknowledgment, then promptly dismissed such speculation. As a heretic engaged in evil acts amidst chaos, the Treemancers had an innate sensitivity to the flow of magic. The mysterious patterns on Xi’s body appeared to resonate with the magical flow in the air, but there was a subtle difference.
It resembled a wizard’s magical tattoo more closely.
Andisha grew increasingly curious; the peculiarities about this young girl were too many, and she couldn’t wait to study her further. She raised her index finger, and a vine whip lashed out at Xi.
Xi cautiously retreated, but this time the vine whip seemed to have a life of its own, turning mid-air to wrap around her wrist. The girl was startled, and she grabbed the vine with her left hand and yanked it, tearing it apart effortlessly.
What sharp claws.
Andisha was slightly startled. Her vine may have seemed soft, but it actually contained corrosive elements, even regular magical weapons couldn’t easily resist it; yet it was no match for Xi’s seemingly casual swipe.
However, Andisha was still one of the twelve Patriarchs of the Treemancers. Just as Xi tore away one of the vines, more vines emerged from the ground at Andisha’s hidden command, ensnaring the red-haired girl tightly and unexpectedly.
At first, Xi tried to struggle, but Andisha’s vines constrained her hands and feet, rendering her immobile. Once confined, she gritted her teeth and began to channel the magic within her to attack the divine blood crystal located at her heart.
From Andisha’s perspective, arcs of lightning instantly flickered in the air, all directed towards Xi’s heart.
For an Apostle, such an action could only mean one thing—suicide.
Most Apostles would only follow their primal instincts to do such a thing when surrounded and likely to be captured by enemies, in order to prevent organizations outside the Treemancers from acquiring samples of the divine blood.
But at this moment, Xi was consciously channeling magic to attack the divine blood, and although she was unable to move, she still fixed her hate-filled gaze on Andisha, her amber eyes burning with a single intention:
To take everything down together.
Andisha inhaled sharply, “What are you doing?” She glanced around, her thoughts racing as she tried to stop Xi’s actions.
The next moment, Andisha’s gaze fell on Brendel, who was behind Xi.
She immediately reached out, and a vine rapidly wrapped around the nearly unconscious Brendel, the sharp thorns curving towards the young man’s throat.
“Stop immediately, or I will kill him!” Andisha said sternly.
Xi was taken aback, and her self-destructive act came to a halt. She glared at Andisha through clenched teeth and finally spoke the first words after entering combat, “Despicable!”
“Hmph,” Andisha sighed in relief, then smiled again, “It’s for your own good, young girl.”
Xi turned her head away.
Seeing her like this, Andisha understood that if she left this young man, she would likely attempt suicide immediately. She couldn’t help but feel a bit troubled; the divine blood was precious to the Treemancers, let alone the strange phenomena exhibited by Xi intrigued her.
But she looked at Brendel and thought, it wouldn’t do to take this foul man along with her. Just as she glanced at him, she paused—this guy?
“Is your name Brendel, huh? Tsk, tsk, what happened to you?” After her initial surprise, Andisha immediately began to tease, “Let me guess, was it those Crusian people?”
Xi turned her head back, astonished at this woman.
“No need to be surprised; nothing escapes me,” Andisha said with a mysterious smile. Several wounds on Brendel still exuded a pungent odor that disgusted her—there was no doubt that they were wounds caused by the holy spells of the Temple of Fire.
Xi fell silent.
Andisha tilted her head to observe the girl and suddenly had a cunning idea, “Is he your lord?”
Xi remained silent.
“It doesn’t matter; your lord seems like he won’t live much longer,” Andisha said, patting her own face, “The magic is leaking from his body; for someone like us, this is no different from life slipping away.”
Andisha noticed Xi shuddering slightly, and her smile deepened, “Are you planning to stay here until this man dies? Don’t worry, sister can accompany you.”
Xi gritted her teeth; she raised her head and looked at Andisha seriously, “I understand, you say all this just to say you can save Lord Brendel. I get it; if you really can do it, I’ll go with you—”
The girl spoke these words almost syllable by syllable.
“Smart.”
“But remember,” Xi coldly stared at Andisha, “If Lord Brendel dies, then there’s no meaning for me to be alive.”
“Threatening me?” Andisha smiled faintly, “Now, that’s quite devoted, isn’t it? But don’t worry, if I say I can do it, then he definitely won’t die.”
After a moment of thought, she figured that since he was at odds with the Temple of Fire, this young man could potentially develop into a member of the Treemancers.
Andisha had seen Brendel from a distance when tracking Faina. His strength shown in dealing with the wolf had left a strong impression on her, and later she learned this young man’s name from Diya.
He was quite an exceptional young man—
She slowly walked over, bent down, and patted Brendel’s cheek, “For the sake of the Thunder Apostle.”
“Can you really save him?” Xi watched Andisha’s actions, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Yet as events unfolded, she started to doubt whether this woman was deceiving her.
“With the speed at which this guy is losing magic, he’ll be completely dead in just an hour or two,” Andisha replied, “But saving him is simple; it only requires a means to replenish what he has lost.”
She inhaled sharply, “Tsk, such severe injuries and he didn’t die on the spot. If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t sense the aura of an Apostle from him, I’d almost think he was non-human.”
“But it’s okay; it will be quick.” Andisha murmured to herself.
“What do you mean!” Xi twisted her head, glaring at her.
“Or did you think, how else would I save him?” Andisha looked at Xi and asked.
“You can’t use the divine blood…” Xi realized what Andisha was planning and could hardly believe this woman could be so heartless, immediately struggling, “Stop!”
Andisha, however, was not in a hurry. She took out a black crystal from her bosom and paused, saying, “Stop? Are you sure? This is the only way to save your lord, otherwise, he will definitely die.”
Xi was taken aback, looking at Andisha in disbelief, “You… you’re lying.”
“Why would I need to lie to you?” Andisha answered, “I’m not like those people from the Temple who can resurrect the dead. I can save him, but this is the only way.”
She held the black crystal up in front of Xi’s eyes, watching as the young girl bit her lip hesitantly, “In any case, if I bring him back to life, you’ll come with me. The divine blood inside this crystal is of a high-grade dark attribute; I wouldn’t part with it if it weren’t for you.”
“You…”
But Andisha was already impatient with talking to Xi. She suddenly became somewhat eager for Brendel to become an Apostle; generally, the more exceptional the original body, the stronger the plasticity after becoming an Apostle. Yet divine blood was challenging to suppress against the will of a master who had passed through the elemental wall. Within the Golden Realm, Brendel could be considered the most exceptional sample she had ever seen.
Ignoring Xi’s struggling, she directly plunged the conical crystal into Brendel’s heart.
Brendel let out a slight sound and furrowed his brows in his unconscious state.
“Don’t!” Xi screamed, her eyes wide open.
Andisha turned around, clapping her hands, “You don’t need to be so nervous; there are other cases besides you who can suppress divine blood with willpower. I think your lord might succeed, so, little one, do take care not to commit suicide in haste—you might accidentally miss the chance to be separated from your lord for eternity!”
Though Andisha spoke these words, deep in her heart, she did not believe it at all. The dark divine blood she held was different from the Thunder God’s blood; it was the blood of the highest deity. Suppressing such divine blood, even an elemental master wouldn’t dare claim a hundred percent success.
Yet Xi glared fiercely at the woman, her words uncontrollably igniting a flicker of hope within her heart. She turned and looked at Brendel, as the divine blood in the black crystal began to spread throughout the young lord’s body. Biting her lip, she could only pray for a miracle to occur.
At that moment, Andisha suddenly turned back because she felt the black crystal in her hand vibrating. A thread of golden light was seeping from Brendel’s body back into the crystal, followed by a second thread, a third thread, and increasingly more golden lines merged into the crystal, making it gleam brilliantly.
“What is happening…” Andisha watched, dumbfounded. She had witnessed the birth of countless Apostles but had never seen such a scene before.
This woman immediately sensed that something was wrong; she instinctively wanted to pull the crystal out, but as her hand just brushed against it, she couldn’t help but scream in pain.
Andisha felt her hand nearly catch fire; she quickly withdrew it to see—after such a light touch, she found her hand was completely burned.
What in the world is happening?
Andisha looked on in disbelief as the crystal on Brendel’s chest trembled, emitting brilliant golden light in all directions. This golden light grew more intense, almost illuminating half the valley.
At that moment, Brendel, in his dazed state, heard a cold voice ringing in his consciousness:
“System Notification: Source blood matching.”
“Repair process started—”
…(To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the official version!)
