Paragon of Skills

Among the present Champions, Iskara is the one with the greatest knowledge of Blood Magic. Blood Magic, and especially Curse Magic had been developed by Devils. And Infernals, being the descendants of those immortal creatures, are the ones with most leftover knowledge on the subject.

Despite that, however, there's not a widespread use of those techniques. The kind of nasty rituals and sacrifices that higher-level Blood Magic requires makes it unpalatable for most of those who're interested in learning more. It's, without a doubt, a very powerful branch of magic, but it's also a dark one that can alienate everyone around you.

Still, every Infernal, and especially their Royalty, has at the very least a rudimentary understanding of it that any other race would probably lack.

The most interesting thing about Blood Magic is its capacity to store magic away. Very few branches can achieve similar feats, and none of them in the fashion of Blood Magic. That's why Blood Mages are considered veritable Mana batteries.

When Iskara had seen the amount of magic that this Cultist had been able to summon, she had feared for her life. Yet, she now stares at a scene that made absolutely no sense to her.

Jacob is standing in front of every Champion with two large gashes on his arms that are slowly fizzling out of existence as if he had never had any wound there. The enormous vortex above all of their heads has been completely absorbed by the weakest of all the Champions, who's now taken a red hue around his body.

But now, since the Cultist had been using that Blood Magic to channel a curse, Iskara was pretty much convinced that Jacob was about to die a horrible death. It'd be one thing if all those curses descended and split among the Champions, but Jacob had somehow sucked them all inside his own body. How could he even think that was a good idea?

However, despite the fact that absorbing all that cursed Mana should have killed him on the spot, he stands placidly, with his hands now behind his back, and coughs lightly, even burping. He looks like he's almost bloated after a large meal.

"That was quite a bit of power," Jacob says, leaving everyone stunned.

Quite a bit?! every other Champion thinks to themselves. What quite a bit?! You just absorbed enough cursed Blood Magic to kill a Diamond Ranked Boss! How are you still standing and posing like that?!

Yet, everyone is now focused on the brute that has moved in front of the Blood Mage. That man just ripped off his robe and revealed a chiseled body and a very shiny bald head on top. His skin is free of any blemish, but his face is the one of an orcish figure. He has an abnormally thick jaw and cheekbones so sharp and protruding they look like they might be about to take off his face.

Jacob, however, doesn't look fazed at all. Not by the amount of magic he just absorbed nor by the brute.

He cracks his neck sideways a couple of times and then burps again, holding his guts.

"Oof, that was perhaps a bit too much."

"Toran, wait!" the Blood Mage says. "You, Fake Champion, tell me how you just did that before my friend here turns you into a vegetable."

"You're awfully confident for someone whose biggest spell just fizzled out of existence," Jacob says, making even someone like Vyrrak raise their eyebrows. "You two are about to be apprehended and then we'll torture any useful information out of you. You killed a bunch of innocents without regard and for what? Because you side with monsters? I don't fully understand what this Cult of yours is, honestly, but one thing I know: you're about to be punished."

The brute takes out a large warhammer and looks at Jacob with a grin, "and who's going to do the punishing?"

"Kaelric, do you mind stepping forward?" Jacob says, not taking his eyes off the brute. "Boomgar, Sabrina, you too."

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Iskara sees the three Champions obey without questioning Jacob for a second. Even Sabrina Margrave seems to trust the young man leading them without blinking.

"Three brats? Is that all you've got?" the brute laughs out loud. "I'll smash them all."

But Jacob then looks back at the Blood Mage.

"My master knows the kind of Blood Magic that would put your little tricks to shame, Cultist. And he could teach me. The difference between me and you, however, is that I don't care for limitless power at any cost. I've always wanted to be a Knight to protect others, to help people. You, you're just a parasite. That's how I did what I did—I am here to do whatever it takes to put people like you in their place."

Suddenly, the brute moves and Iskara widened her eyes. He moves at a Diamond Rank speed, yet, before he can bridge the distance between the two groups, a terrifying amount of energy erupts forward from Jacob.

Suddenly, Toran, the brute Cultist, is rooted to the ground by a large, blazing red sigil.

"You've helped me unlock the last two Skills," Jacob says. "I won't be able to cast them at this level as soon as I exhaust the Mana created by your friend, but this should be more than enough."

The sigil immobilizes Toran, whose countenance starts going pale as tendrils cover his body and start sucking away at his vitality and Mana.

"Boomgar, blow him up. Sabrina, encase the explosion together with Kaelric in it."

Boomgar and Sabrina turn to Jacob with wide eyes, "that's going to kill him!"

But Kaelric, who's looking at Jacob with narrowed eyes, shakes his head. "It's not. How do you know?"

"Trade secret," Jacob replies.

Then, without another word, Kaelric takes out his katana and flashes toward Toran, slashing at him. Even restrained by the Blood-Magic-empowered new spell Jacob cast, Toran manages to swing at Kaelric. Yet, the swordsman easily dodges it and sends a cut toward the Cultist. Several Champions expect the sword to cut through the Cultist, but the metal bounces off the shiny skin of the man, leaving only a shallow gap. Even Kaelric seems surprised by that.

Only Jacob looks like he's not surprised at all.

"He has a True Diamond Skill that empowers his body. It's a Constitution Skill. Boomgar, the Constitution Skill relies on his Mana and vitality. Throw your best shot at him and Sabrina will contain the explosion for maximum effect."

Boomgar hesitates.

"Lad, you don't want me to go all out," Boomgar says, "but this is more than enough."

A cylindrical object appears in Boomgar's hand and he throws it at Toran.

Sabrina Margrave answers by slamming a dome of thick blackwater over Kaelric and Toran, and the dome closes like a lid.

The cylinder is enclosed by the water. Then, it detonates.

The blast rips outward, and the dome holds it. Energy bounces inside the water like a trapped beast.

The water dome bulges outward, but it still manages to contain the great explosion, despite veins popping on Sabrina's forehead, a telltale sign of how much concentration it's taking her to keep the blast sealed away.

As the explosion ends and Sabrina drops the dome, everyone is expecting Kaelric to be torn to shreds, but when both the Cultist and the swordsman reappear, there's a very unlikely scene presented in front of everyone.

Not only Kaelric doesn't have one speck of dirt on his clothes, but the Cultist's body has been bisected, his limbs severed, and his head cleanly sliced off.

At last, Kaelric coughs out some dust and debris and slowly walks back toward the group. While many are eyeing the swordsman with incredulity, there's even more surprise with Jacob.

"How did you know he'd survive that?" Sabrina Margrave asks, breathing heavily.

"I can tell things apart, I've told you," Jacob turns and smiles at them.

Sabrina is about to ask more when Kaelric, crossing Jacob's gaze, speaks out.

"I couldn't keep him alive. His body contained too much energy. I saw an opening and I had to take it. Do you want me to dismember that guy's limbs?" the swordsman points at Malrik.

Yet, Jacob suddenly frowns.

Kaelric turns to look back and sees that Blood Magic tendrils have appeared on the brute's body, thick and laced with malicious intent.

They slowly reconnect the limbs and the head, which is initially screwed on backward and, ever so creepily and slowly, turns back to face the right direction.

Malrik, from behind the brute, snickers, "impressive display of power, Champions. Yet, if you think that killing this idiot was all you needed to win, you're sorely mistaken. I implanted him with Blood Magic since we started collaborating together. And, unlike the Curses the Fake Champion has absorbed up until now, his powers are all inside its body and blood. Good luck taking that away."

Suddenly, the aura of the puppet that Malrik has created out of his ally's body skyrockets to Advanced Diamond Rank.

"Shit," Jacob says under his breath.