Wolf of the Blood Moon: A Blood Magic - Book 3: Chapter 74.1: A Test of Blood And Fire Part I

Scarlet

So this is the evolved demon leading this nest of mummies?

I frown at the large mummified drake in front of me. The creature is about five meters in length and three in width, with a height of about three meters, its wings being entirely dried out with holes in them patched by bandages. Meanwhile various other places on its body are leaking a black liquid through bandages, with other places having the black liquid just coating the large creature’s black scales as it stares at me with its pitch black eyes, the creature’s head being that of a lizard.

|Unnamed – Mummified Drake – Level 421|

“Your Highness, perhaps-” Seraphina begins, only for me to raise a hand and shake my head, feeling slightly frustrated that I can’t talk in my beast form right now. So Tar appears and speaks for me, “She will be fighting it regardless, so it’s best to just let her do what she wants.”

Seraphina opens her mouth seemingly to reject his words, but Tar continues with a frown on his tanuki face, “Scarlet may appear reckless, but she has never made a decision thus far that has led to her death. If she chooses to believe she can fight this creature, then I believe she can do it.”

The bodyguard’s mouth closes, and she appears to look at the other guards for help. I notice all of them appearing unsure about what to do though, so I instead step forwards into the room, making the drake let out a roar in the process.

“Let her handle it,” Tar says from next to them as I slowly move further into the large room filled with various pieces of treasure along with a few clean, rectangular pools of lava in the middle of the sandstone chamber, with obsidian around the lava. “This mummified drake should have blood other than just the cursed blood, so it can be affected by blood magic.”

That has me grinning slightly as I spread my claws out on either side of me.

This might just be my most difficult hunt yet. The thing is one hundred and fifty levels above me on the dot and is a stronger species than the tarachts. Although not as strong as the arachne, this one only being stronger due to its higher level.

But the thing has no minions. It is vulnerable to blood magic according to Tar and has the sluggish speed of a mummified demon. And it is a drake in an enclosed space where it can’t fly.

Everything lines up to my advantage.

Without any hesitation, I have my blood shadow enter the room with me before both myself and my blood shadow use skills at the same time, starting with Blood Boil, followed by Blood Armor, Blood Chains, Life Drain, Blood Manifestation, Blood Plague, and finishing it all up with Blood Sacrifice. Then we both rush straight towards the drake, taking advantage of the dozens of stacks of Blood Thirst I have from the mummies I slaughtered to get into this room in the first place before the timer runs out on the stacks.

In our initial sprint, we both crush the sandstone blocks making up the floor where we were standing before moving across the room in a flash and jumping at the drake, startling it with all that’s happened in mere moments. But it recovers quickly enough to spin around, sending its tail flying towards us both.

I have my blood shadow move in the way of the tail, striking it with its metallicized claws as I continue towards the creature itself, my own claws digging into its shoulder, going a mere three inches deep despite all of the skills I have active. Then I push Blood Sacrifice even further to grab onto its leg with my other arm before using it to fling myself over its body to its other side to avoid the creature as it snaps its sharp fangs at where I was just at. And just that snap alone makes a small shockwave radiate out from where it attacked, making me frown in the process.

Powerful. Fast.

It turns its head towards my blood shadow as it gets sent flying by the tail after the drake’s tail suddenly starts glowing black before the drake builds up a fireball made out of black flames in front of its opened jaws.

I quickly activate Pain Diffusion, perfectly ready for the backlash from my blood shadow being killed as I climb up its side, digging my claws in throughout the process to jump onto its back and then target the open wound it has from my initial attack.

If I can just get rid of one of its arms, the fight will take a turn for my benefit. But for whatever reason, my claws only manage to pierce another inch deeper into the wound. As if the black blood in it is fighting against me.

So I pour massive amounts of the blood in my blood storage into my blood claws before letting the claws drip towards the wound while metallicizing the blood and stabbing my hand back down, my fingers grouped together. And this time my claws and the metallicized blood that’s being thrown down all go a few inches deeper. But at the same time, I feel a spike of pain radiate through my head marking my blood shadow’s death. One much less severe than it would otherwise be thanks to Pain Diffusion.

I quickly glance up to find a patch of blackened sandstone covered in black flames that shouldn’t be able to catch fire on sandstone in the first place. Then I look at the drake’s head again to find it turning towards me as I prepare another attack, sending my claws drilling down to its shoulder again. But right when my claws hit it, going a few more inches deep, the creature’s tail reaches around and smacks me from the back, sending me flying off of the mummified drake’s body with a cry of pain.

I grit my teeth as I fly through the air, only to right myself before I land several meters away, finding the drake already facing me with a black fireball building up in its maw again.

My eyes narrow and I focus on the blood covering its wounds, using Blood Pull to draw it towards me along with a large amount of blood from its wound itself until the skill stops me from pulling more from the same wound. But instead of pulling the blood into my claws or to use for Blood Sacrifice, I make a large orb in front of me.

Let’s see if this can’t numb the blow.