“Hmph, you call that blood magic. Don’t even kid me, I’ll show you the true power of blood magic.”

Kurulu’s voice was filled with anger as the lizardman king was about to bite into me. His sharp teeth bites into my body but I didn’t feel any pain. Blood had gathered around my waist and was preventing his teeth from penetrating.

“Blood Armor.”

The blood rapidly covers my entire body and transforms into armor. It was thin like a veil and semi-transparent, but the defense was strong enough to withstand the lizardman king’s teeth. Without my control, my arms grab ahold two of the lizardman king’s fangs and tear them out. He screams in pain and in that instant my body escapes. I was safe but it was an uncomfortable feeling having my body being taken over.

“Stop it. Give me back my body.”

“Don’t resist and I’ll think about playing nice.”

I could still hear the rage in her voice. Was it such a bad thing that I had rejected her offer? I didn’t think she would be this angry. 

The lizardman king doesn’t give up his attack and tries to grab me with his hands, but the blood turns into a blade that slices his fingers off. We begin to fall down but this time Kurulu was on the attack. The blood armor and sword begin spinning in place and transforms into 3 disc-shaped objects.

They fly towards the falling lizardman king and slices him up. The lizardman king was unable to defend himself from the discs and his body was filled with large gashes. Those discs were so sharp that it made his scales seem like they were nonexistent. Kurulu was easily overpowering him.

The lizardman king lands on the ground and without hesitation runs out of the pillar. Blood was pouring out of his body and his ferocious appearance wasn’t there anymore. Kurulu by herself had overturned the entire situation and this isn’t ever her full power. I have been observing her blood magic and she has only been using the same amount of blood I had used when I created that orb of blood.

Her techniques and efficiency are incredible. A minimal amount of mana is used to control the blood and the blood was supplied only from my injuries. The wounds had been closed up and only the residue blood on my body was being utilized. She made sure to keep my body safe from losing any more blood while fighting the lizardman king. 

With the spear in hand, Kurulu descends and chases after the lizardman king. Turning the blood into wings, she was able to change her trajectory and head towards the lizardman king. I was worried about the green gas but Kurulu didn’t hesitate to jump into it. A small film of blood was wrapped around my body and kept us safe. But it wasn’t going to last since the green gas was corroding the blood.

“Let’s go back, at this rate we’re going to get trapped in the green gas.”

She doesn’t listen to me and continues to chase the lizardman king. I try to warn her and try to take back control of my body, but it was futile. Her blood magic was controlling my body and my understanding of blood magic was too low to break free.

The cursed spear was about to stab the lizardman king but he turns around with a smile on his face. He punches with his remaining hand but Kurulu easily dodges. From the corner of my eye, I could see two axes flying from the sky. Before I could even tell Kurulu, she takes action. The ground cracks as she stomps the ground which causes the lizardman king to lose his balance. Her spear swiftly stabs into his stomach and she throws him towards the axes. Unable to regain his bearing the axes cut deep into his large body.

His body limply falls to the ground but as soon as Kurulu got close, he begins to scream. Veins appear all over his body and his muscles begin to bulge uncontrollably. His eyes were completely red. In a matter of seconds, his body had grown to 15 feet tall and his plump body turned muscular.

“Hmph, if I can’t control his blood, why do you think you can.”

With her hand raised in the air, the lizardman king’s body rapidly shrunk. His body convulses and contorts like his body was being wrangled by an invisible tornado. The lizardman king screams from the pain but he couldn’t stop his body from becoming an empty husk. It was obviously Kurulu’s magic but I didn’t know when she activated it. I’ve been observing her the entire time but I couldn’t even sense the mana that was used in the magic. It was incredibly strong and horrifying.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Blood Empress, Kurulu. This is true Blood Magic, don’t you dare call what you did blood magic.”

There was still lingering anger in her voice. From her actions, I can guess that she was angry that I had compared my blood magic to hers. The difference between what I did and her blood magic was like the distance between the ground and the sky. I didn’t know the reason behind her anger but I still apologize.

“I’m sorry.”

“Let me ask you. Why did you reject my offer?”

I don’t know if she has any ulterior motives for asking me but I answer her honestly. I had a feeling she would be able to tell if I’m lying or not, and I didn’t like lying,

“To be truthful, I don’t trust you. You’re a voice inside of a cursed spear and you call yourself a Bood Empress. If you were in my position, would you willingly give your blood to someone who calls themself a Blood Empress? I can only think that you’re going to drain me of my blood like you did the lizardman king.”

“Hahaha, you’re smarter than you look. You’re right, I was thinking of draining your blood. Once I had enough blood to regain my powers, I was going to eat you and release myself from this spear.”

I become worried as she was still in control of my body. She could do anything with my body right now and no one would be able to do anything. Fifi and the others were still in the pillar while I was out here with Kurulu. I’m in danger but I have to stay calm. It didn’t seem like she was going to kill me immediately.

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Let me tell you something about myself. I absolutely hate traitors, but I like honest people like you.”

Her words sounded genuine but that made me even more confused. If she hated traitors then she had already contradicted herself when she was thinking about betraying me.

“I know that I sound disingenuous but I’ll do whatever I can to find that man! If I can find him and tear out his throat, I’ll even betray my own morals! But I can’t do that in my current state, I need your help. Just help me find him and I’ll teach you how to use a spear and even true Blood Magic. I won’t even ask for your blood, I just need to absorb the blood of your enemies.”

Her tone and attitude took 180 degrees from how she was acting earlier. In the brief time I spent with her she always acted like she was above me but now she was speaking her true feelings.

“Ok, I agree to your conditions.”

“Thank you.”

Maybe I’m being naive but her words didn’t seem like they were fake. Her grudge seemed to be rooted deep inside of her soul and the anguish in her voice made me realize that she held onto many regrets. It might be a sense of pity or because it’s relatable, but I want to help her resolve her regrets. Even if this isn’t the correct choice of action, it’ll still bring me benefits. I’ll be taught how to use a spear and I’ll even learn a new type of magic.

The blood from the lizardman king’s body is absorbed inside of the cursed spear but there were some that join the blood covering my body. I can tell that the blood was my blood. After absorbing the blood, Kurulu cuts open the lizardman king’s chest and takes out a mana crystal the size of a golfball. This was the largest mana crystal I’ve seen so far. I’m not sure about Gul’sa Quan’s mana crystal but all the other monsters only had mana crystals the size of small pebbles. 

“You can keep this one.”

“Ok. Can you give me my body back?”

“Not yet, we’re not safe yet?”

“What do you mean?”

I haven’t seen any other lizardmen or giant rats, but my question was quickly answered. A brownish-orange figure charges out of the gas and Kurulu barely had any time to dodge. Strings of blood surround us like a web but the figure’s tail goes through the maze-like web effortlessly. Pain flows through my arms as Kurulu blocks the tail with the spear and we’re sent flying away. The 20 feet tall rat stood in front of us as its tail grabbed the lizardman king’s mana crystal out of the air. 

“Jude, give me complete control of your blood.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can control your blood but it’s only at 30% control. I need 100% control if we want to escape this Rat King.”

I hesitate at Kurulu’s words but the Rat King didn’t wait for me to make a decision. It charges at us and Kurulu attacks him with the blood discs. After absorbing the lizardman king’s blood there were now 10 discs attacking the Rat King but unlike the lizardman king, the Rat King wasn’t even injured. I thought the lizardman king’s tail was fast and strong, but the Rat King’s tail was even faster and stronger.

Like a whip, it would hit each disc and they would instantly explode. Kurulu would try to use the blood on the tail to injure him but before she could do that, he would fling the blood away. It wasn’t only his tail that was fast, his entire body was fast. While his tail would keep Kurulu occupied in the front, he would try to attack with his fangs and claws from behind.

Even Kurulu’s Blood Armor couldn’t protect me from accumulating injuries on my body. She continues to urge me to give her complete control but I continue to hesitate. If she has complete control would she even give it back once this battle ends? What if she uses my body to attack Fifi and the others?

“Hurry, I can’t hold on any longer!”

The armor disappears and my body slams into the ground because of the Rat King’s attack. The situation was terrible and there was no more time to hesitate. As soon as I was about to give control to Kurulu the Rat King pulls back his tail from piercing my body. My body was burning in pain but I could see that a rat half the size of the Rat King was talking to him.

“Stop!!!”

Kurulu got up and was going to attack the Rat King while he was distracted but I suddenly got control of my body again. She must have run out of mana because I couldn’t feel her trying to take over my body again. Kurulu complains about me not taking action but I stay still. The Rat King and the other rat continues to talk.

“If you’re not going to fight then run. I can’t let you die here now that I have a chance of finding that bastard.”

“Just be quiet.”

Sweat drips down my back as the other rat walks towards me. It was 10 feet tall and there is only one rat that I’ve seen of this size. As it walks closer, my hopes are confirmed as I see signs of intelligence in its eyes, it was the rat I had saved in the lizardman king’s breeding house. Even if it was that rat there was no guarantee that it would help me for saving her.

Her tail rises into the air and touches my forehead. I was ready to fight or flee at any moment but a warm feeling washes over my body. It was the signs of healing magic and looking at my body, all my injuries had been healed.

“Thank you.”

Like she understood my words, a smile appears on the female rat’s face. After healing my injuries she goes over and picks up one of the axes laying on the ground and gives it to me. The ax was as tall as me and weighed just as much or heavier. The two rats leave and took the lizardman king’s body along with the other ax and mana crystal.

I let out a sigh of relief as my knees feel like they are going to buckle underneath me. The Rat King had been pressuring with his aura the entire time but now that they were gone, the heavy weight disappeared. I drag the ax along the ground since it was heavy. A few steps towards the pillar and I see Fifi and the others running towards me.

“Jude, are you ok!?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s hurry and regroup with the others.”