Imperial Throne

Chapter 115: Sense of Unease

In just the briefest moment of offense-to-defense transition, Yam realized he had been pushed to a near-desperate situation.

One of the five Bloodline Knights who had not acted until now, upon seeing Yam in danger, immediately activated his bloodline ability. A fireball the size of a human head floated into the air and then was hurled toward the three enemies trying to besiege Yam.

The leader among the enemies, upon seeing the fireball descend, leaped up without a word and slashed at the fireball with the saber in his hand.

Everyone saw a sharp blade light burst forth in the air.

That fireball was actually cleaved clean in two by a single strike, exploding mid-air into a sweeping blaze that engulfed the surroundings.

The explosion was like a bugle sounding the charge for the enemies. The other four charged at Yam all at once, as if some irreconcilable grudge existed between them and Yam, determined to tear him limb from limb.

Yam's gaze remained calm, unfazed by the encirclement.

He swept his longsword out with his right hand.

“Eagle Strike Swordsmanship – Spreading Wings”!

The longsword precisely intercepted the two enemies on his right.

Amid the clash of metal, Yam felt his right arm almost go numb—the fierce assault from the two enemies came with a strength noticeably more intense than before.

He did not know whether these enemies had activated their bloodline powers, nor did he understand how they possessed such formidable physical strength. But what he could be certain of was that if he didn’t bring out the Demonic Sword now, he would likely die here today.

So, after parrying the two enemies on the right and then retreating backward to evade the attacks from the two on the left—

Yam first released the longsword in his hand, then activated the bloodline power within his body. Using the bloodline of the “Flame Demon Hound,” he surged and dispersed the numbness in his right hand, then quickly grasped the hilt of the Demonic Sword strapped behind him and drew it from its back strap.

He then slashed it down directly at the nearest enemy’s forehead.

The opponent instinctively raised his saber to block.

The next moment.

There was no sound of weapons clashing.

As the white cloth strips tore and fluttered away, the Demonic Sword was revealed, effortlessly cleaving the enemy who had tried to block it into two halves on the spot—Yam, holding the sword, didn’t even feel the resistance of bone. It was just like slicing through butter with a dinner knife.

The remaining three enemies and their leader, seeing their companion reduced to a corpse in the blink of an eye—no, not even a whole corpse—immediately shouted in rage.

Yam didn’t understand what these people were yelling.

But glancing at the enemy who had just been slain by the Demonic Sword, he noticed there wasn’t much blood spilled. A flash of bloodlight flickered and vanished across the Demonic Sword, leaving him slightly surprised: the blood energy within this enemy’s body was nearly equal to that of a Second-Tier Bloodline User!

That thought flashed through his mind.

But Yam’s attack didn’t stop.

Since the opponent had shown intent to fight to the death from the very beginning, he would show no mercy.

After killing one enemy with the Demonic Sword, he immediately thrust it through another’s throat. With a flick of the blade, he carved a massive gash across the neck—but the imagined scene of blood spurting forth didn’t occur. Only a few droplets of blood splattered out.

At this moment, Yam couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved. These enemies didn’t seem to possess bloodline power in their bodies. Otherwise, the situation would’ve been difficult to explain: if only a small amount of blood sprayed due to the burn-evaporation effect of his own bloodline power, it could be rationalized; but a living corpse drying up into a husk in the blink of an eye? That would be hard to justify.

If not for the consideration that the enemies might include a Second-Tier Bloodline User, Yam definitely wouldn’t have brought the Demonic Sword with him.

But now, he felt a bit glad for his caution.

These enemies, confirmed through the Demonic Sword to not be bloodline users, still possessed physical strength comparable to bloodline users. That deeply puzzled Yam—where had this group of enemies come from? And why did they appear in White Mountain Territory, trying to distract them?

...

Yam couldn’t understand what these green-haired enemies were screaming, but Robin within the sword was shocked to find he could understand them.

This language was a bit archaic.

Not something commonly spoken in this era—only now did Robin suddenly realize that, from the start, he had been able to understand everyone’s speech and even read their written language in this world.

After pondering for a moment, Robin remembered where he had heard such language before.

The exact time was forgotten, but he vaguely recalled it being in some half-dream, half-awake state. Even when some of his memories had faintly returned before, he had heard these people speaking.

Great Sin!

Back when Ion first concocted a Bloodline Potion, among the many voices he heard, the one most hostile and fearful toward him—was this one.

Or rather—

They weren’t afraid of him, but of... the ability he possessed to harmonize and strengthen bloodlines.

Robin stared at the drop of blood in front of him, which was entirely different from the other extracted blood energy.

It was a drop as bright and translucent as a ruby, fundamentally distinct from others—even those drawn from Bloodline Users: the blood drops condensed from ordinary people’s blood energy were dark red, full of visible impurities; whereas those from Bloodline Users were bright crimson, noticeably purer, but still with some traces of impurity.

Robin had only speculated before.

But now, seeing this gem-like, pure and brilliant drop, he was certain—when a Bloodline User’s bloodline matured, the impurities within it would gradually be purified. In other words, the stronger the Bloodline User, the purer the blood drop formed from their blood energy—until it reached the level seen in the blood energy extracted from these enemies: flawless and crystalline.

As Yam quickly killed the second, third, and fourth enemies, the blood energy absorbed by the Demonic Sword rapidly condensed into four drops of floating blood within the sword’s inner world.

Each drop was clear and luminous, completely free of impurities, and the energy within them was strikingly uniform, as though carefully measured in a beaker.

If that were all, Robin would’ve merely felt curiosity, not true concern.

What truly captured Robin’s attention was the trace of Bloodline Imprint power he discovered within the blood drops.

Despite having no detectable bloodline aura—so pure it was unbelievable—these drops still faintly emitted the Bloodline Imprint due to their extreme purity. Robin was briefly puzzled upon sensing this familiar aura, but after seeing Burton’s drop of True Blood, he understood—it was the aura of the Bloodline Imprint!

But unlike the Bloodline Imprint on Burton’s True Blood, which clearly bore the imprint of bloodline advancement paths—

The True Blood extracted from these green-haired people had a Bloodline Imprint that was a complete blank!

It was like a blank sheet of paper.

And when the last enemy fell, an even greater surge of blood energy than the previous four instantly poured into the sword, forming an even more magnificent ruby drop.

If the previous four drops of True Blood merely approached the power of a Second-Tier Bloodline User—

Then this final drop undoubtedly possessed the full power of a true Second-Tier Bloodline User.

And with the arrival of this True Blood, a term both familiar and alien to Robin suddenly surfaced in his memory.

Vestigial Bloodline of the Old Days.

...

“Lord Yam, are you alright?”

Several Bloodline Knights quickly surrounded him. But as they looked toward the final fallen enemy, fear was plainly visible in every one of their eyes.

Although the enemy had no bloodline power, his terrifying physical strength was enough to instill fear—as proven in the final battle. The five of them knew clearly that, even working together, they could barely handle two such enemies; if there had been three, they would’ve surely lost. And if it had been an enemy with the strength of that leader—none of them would’ve escaped.

“I’m fine,” Yam waved his hand.

There was also a hint of shock in his eyes, but now that he constantly reminded himself of his status, he naturally didn’t show any fear in front of these Bloodline Knights.

Those first four enemies, once he drew the Demonic Sword, were no longer a threat to him—and he had no intention of holding back. So he swiftly disposed of them.

But when he faced the final enemy, things truly became tricky.

That opponent was clearly aware of the Demonic Sword’s danger, so he prioritized dodging and evasion, only striking when the opportunity was ideal. With strength equal to a Second-Tier Bloodline User, Yam had nearly been destroyed by a single punch early on—after that, he had to proceed with caution.

Had that opponent possessed bloodline abilities, Yam feared even activating Nirvana wouldn’t have been enough to win.

Because that enemy’s combat ability had been honed into pure instinct—natural like eating and breathing—making him exceptionally difficult to handle.

Yam ultimately won by taking advantage of the opponent’s unfamiliarity with his bloodline powers. Using a combined assault of Eagle Strike Swordsmanship and Flame Stream Strike, he launched a surprise fire sword attack from ten meters away, catching the enemy off guard. Then, seizing the moment, he delivered the killing blow—at the cost of breaking two bones himself.

“The Lord of Eastern Mountain Territory couldn’t have been behind these people.”

Yam drew a deep breath, suppressing the pain of his fractures, and said solemnly, “Hod, take two men and pursue the direction of the Eaglehead Mountains. Find those who tried to lure us into investigating that way and bring them all back.”

“You, go to Ster Castle immediately. Have Sien bring reinforcements and strengthen the patrols across the northern border.”

“These five corpses are clearly unnatural. Burn them immediately.”

Though gripping the Demonic Sword, this time Yam did not feel the peace he usually did.

Until the identities and purposes of these five people were clarified, Yam felt he would never truly be at ease.