Blood Nemesis

9 hours later.

The western horizon welcomed the scarlet sun.

Oliver clenched his jaws and flew up, his body shining brighter.

Even after slaying almost five million blood beetles, he didn't get a chance to breathe easy. The swarm was still at large, surrounding him with their bloody mandibles, buzzing loudly.

If he stops even for a second, they would surround him and dig their claws and mandibles into his body.

Oliver clenched his jaw tighter as he unleashed a sweeping attack outward. His tentacles flew out in an arc, hitting the beetles close to him.

At the same time, the Skylances flying around him chopped down more beetles.

Nearby, Oliver also noticed superhumans flying up to kill the swarm.

'They don't have my endurance…but they are working hard,' Oliver silently commented while using his golden tentacles and wings to kill even more beetles.

The beetles were weak and easily defeated.

Taking his eyes off the superhumans, he moved to the next cluster of beetles.

As the sun sank beyond the horizon, the visibility around him decreased. Fortunately, the beetles, attracted by the golden light emitted by him, were continuing to swarm towards him, making his life a little easier.

'Burn more blood…'

'Consume more…' he thought while looking inside himself.

Oliver had filled his blood sac more than a dozen times during the entire battle. And each time, after filling it, he would let the golden coin in his body consume it, turning it into pure mana.

This time, too, he was in the process of doing it.

'Consume…'

He said in his mind as he channelled the blood to flow into the coin.

Immediately, the golden mana surged around him and glowed brighter. He felt power return to his body.

However, Oliver is not in a condition to enjoy it. While the mana was docile due to the presence of the armour, his mind had long reached the breaking point.

Saying he was tired might be an understatement right now.

Luckily, his body was quick to heal him whenever he wore out his ligaments or tore his muscles. So, he could still perform as if he were in his peak condition.

Clutching the alloy knife in his hand, he tore away a beetle that slipped past the tentacles.

'That's it…come…more.'

His thoughts were blurry, sluggish and scattered. And yet, he knew what he had to do.

'Become my nourishment.' He said in his mind.

Each time Oliver replenished his mana, it was interacting with his body, tempering him slowly and awakening his body's inherent ability to use mana.

Though he was exhausted beyond understanding, Oliver still felt it was worth the struggle.

'A few days ago, I was planning to spend a large amount of money to buy an Olympic swimming pool worth of blood.'

'Now, I don't need to.'

'I have all the blood I need, just here.'

The thought made Oliver's lips curl up.

Even through his exhaustion, his weary eyes lit up thinking about saving money.

'I should kill more.'

With a twinkle in his eyes, he danced in the sky, continuing to kill beetles left and right.

—

Below, on the ground, three people sat in a corner of the room, holding their phones.

Because of the blood beetle swarm, they were not allowed to leave after finishing the exam.

"Is he crazy?" Luna asked, clutching the phone tightly.

"Is he human?" Her brother, Leon, asked the following question, staring incredulously at Oliver's madness.

Both of them looked at their phones, wondering what the crazy nonhuman person was doing.

"He is indeed crazy. And I believe he is human." Root replied.

Due to his ability, he could view more than one video stream directly in his mind. As a result, he gained a better understanding of what Oliver was doing.

"You believe…What do you mean by that? Are you not sure?" Luna asked.

"Sure is a strong word." He said evenly, without showing even a bit of emotion, making others doubt whether Oliver was human.

"Anyways, I thought his talent was D grade. So, why can he do that?" Leon inquired.

His eyes were fixed on the majestic golden figure, fearlessly battling the blood beetles. Despite thinking that this person was crazy, a hint of admiration could be detected in his voice.

"Don't even try to use common sense to understand him. He is beyond that. It is better to accept the oddities you see from now on. Nothing about him makes sense."

Root had previously tried to dig up more information on Oliver. But even after hacking all his devices and going through the data, he couldn't understand Oliver.

What motivated him?

Why does he hate demons so much?

Why is he the way he is?

What made him change from the once weak and bullied kid to that?

Root wanted the answer to a thousand more questions than the brother and sister duo couldn't even think of.

However, after realising that Oliver was an onion with innumerable layers that even he can't fully peel off, he decided to accept the fact.

Unless Oliver says so himself, there were things he would never understand.

"Let me give you a piece of advice as your senior in Blood Nemesis. It is better not to know certain things about our boss." Root stated with enough conviction to make the brother sister duo reel back in their chairs.

They eyed the scrawny young man who sat before and paused.

Root was in deep thought as he was immersed in the visual playing in his mind. He didn't sense their gaze running all over him.

Meanwhile, nearby, Woojin stood by the window, gazing out at the evening sky. Above them, the cloud of blood beetles was still there.

Hundreds of them were falling from the sky every second.

On his hand, similar to Luna, Leon and Root, the live video of a person flying into the sky was shown.

He gulped and swallowed hard.

This was the exact person he had tried to kill.

He was the same person who maimed him.

Fortunately, his family was well off and could pay the medical fee to heal him.

*Gulp*

Woojin realised how stupid he was to fight against that monster called Oliver.

—

At the same time, as the security became lax, the Black clothed men who infiltrated the city infected someone of the examinees with demon seed.

The same thing happened, all across the world, turning hundreds of people into demons.

Under the guise of monster and beast attacks, a storm was brewing. One large enough to wipe out a generation of heroes.