Path of BlooDld

Blood covered the ground…

Flesh was torn…

And the air still trembled from the presence of the beast devouring everything.

At the bottom of the crater, amidst rubble and ash,

Raizen… was barely breathing.

His ribs were shattered,

One eye was sealed shut by blood,

His left arm… severed.

But his remaining eye… still burned.

Slowly, he raised his right hand toward his ring.

From it…

He pulled out a strange paper.

Dark red in color, with burned, frayed edges.

Covered in pulsing blood runes… as if alive.

He whispered a word: "Sacrifice."

Suddenly—

A terrifying aura exploded around him.

The paper ignited,

Transforming into a ghostly blood wraith,

Then unleashed a blast of pulverized blood straight at the berserk Ashen.

Fssshhh!

Like a heavenly hammer had struck Ashen.

His body was launched through the air,

Crashing into a barren land dozens of meters away.

Trees shattered, rocks cracked beneath his weight.

Raizen, seizing the moment,

Pulled out a vial.

A small bottle… containing a dark red liquid.

Not blood…

Something deeper, heavier, more suffocating.

Just a single drop.

Calmly…

He swallowed it.

The air trembled.

The ground quaked.

The sky above the dead forest turned black.

One heartbeat… was enough.

Raizen's blood paused—

Then…

Surged violently through his body like a raging river.

His wounds closed.

His torn flesh mended.

His severed limbs returned.

His shattered bones hardened.

Then—

His aura erupted.

Raizen was no longer the same being he had been seconds ago.

His eyes ignited. His spear trembled in his grip.

A crushing pressure now seeped from every cell in his body.

"Come, Ashen… let's finish what we started."

"It's time I show you my final technique. I must admit… you're the only opponent who pushed me to the edge of death."

The beast rose again… but something had changed.

This time, there was something even stronger on the battlefield.

Raizen took a step.

The sand beneath his foot scattered.

His spear rested in his hand… as if it had become an extension of him.

Then… he did nothing. Just looked.

In an instant—

A hole appeared in the beast's shoulder.

Boom!

A perfect hole. Clean. Blood gushing.

The beast roared,

Charging at Raizen like lightning.

But Raizen turned effortlessly,

And pointed the tip of his spear… at the air.

Fssshhh!

Another hole…

In the thigh.

Then the other shoulder.

Then the neck.

The attacks were invisible.

No sound, no warning, no light.

Only holes slicing flesh… as if the world itself obeyed the will of the spear.

Despite its injuries, the beast kept moving.

But now… it was slower.

It was still regenerating, but the holes weren't vanishing fast enough.

Raizen wasn't just using his spear…

But also:

—The Rune of the Blood Crocodile to reinforce his defense.

—The Rune of the Sky Leopard for stealth and speed.

—The Fist of the Demon's Eye for side attacks.

—And the Will of the Spear for silent killing strikes.

The battle grew more intense.

Dozens of attacks every second.

But one thing was clear:

The balance had shifted.

The sky was erupting.

The ground had become craters and tunnels.

The dead forest… no longer existed.

Everything had been erased by the battle.

Raizen had entered a perfect state of unity with his spear.

Every motion of his body generated phantom spears that pierced the beast.

The beast still fought savagely:

Striking, roaring, tearing, ripping.

But its wounds were piling up.

Raizen jumped,

Spun in mid-air,

Then thrust his spear in an empty direction.

Tchhhk!

An invisible spear pierced the beast's stomach from behind.

Then three holes appeared in its leg.

One in its skull.

The beast staggered, and staggered again…

Then let out a scream.

A final scream that tore the sky.

The land fell silent.

The air grew heavy.

The sky turned red.

Ashen's body collapsed to the ground,

Blood exploding from everywhere,

His wounds no longer healing…

And the rage in his eyes… dimmed.

Raizen knelt beside the spear planted in the ground,

Breathing like a man who had returned from death.

His body was covered in blood,

But his gaze remained steady.

"Heh… finally, this battle is over. It wa

s thrilling to the very end, Ashen."

Ashen regained consciousness…

Looked at Raizen…

Said nothing.

But deep inside, he knew:

He had never come this close to death before.