NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121: Blood Emperor's Offer
The Hybrid Dragon Vampire's claw descended, reality itself splitting under the pressure. Ian's Chaos Angel wings flared, but the sheer weight of the Hybrid's presence crushed the air from his lungs.
Oh, come on! I just leveled up!
The Hybrid's golden-slitted eyes gleamed. "You killed my father."
Ian's mind raced. Okay, okay. Ultimate move. Ultimate move. What's the one thing I haven't tried yet?
Then it hit him.
Chaos Warp.
The forbidden technique, the one the system had warned him about: "Warning: Use may result in soul destabilization."
Screw it. Better destabilized than dead.
Ian's wings blazed, his body twisting into a vortex of raw, screaming energy. The Hybrid's claw froze mid-air, his draconic pupils shrinking.
"Wha...?"
SLASH.
A single, reality-rending cut.
The Hybrid Dragon Vampire didn't even scream. His body split clean down the middle, crimson scales turning to ash before they hit the ground. The city held its breath.
Silence.
Then...
[Notification: Biomass Acquired – 10,000,000 Units.]
Ian blinked. Wait, what?
The Hybrid's corpse dissolved, surging into Ian's body like a tidal wave of raw power. His veins burned, muscles swelling with energy. The system's voice echoed in his skull.
Around him, the cultivators lost their damn minds.
"D-did he just… eat the Hybrid?!"
"That's impossible! The Hybrid was immortal!"
"Who is this guy?!"
Eldrin, the Azure Blade, dropped to one knee, his sword clattering to the ground. "Ian… you're not human anymore, are you?"
Xia Lin's face paled. "He's a god."
Ian flexed his fingers, feeling the power thrumming under his skin. Ten million biomass. What the hell, this is too little for killing such a god-level being that is more powerful than Suelo.
Then the whispers started.
"Look at him… the way his aura bends the light…"
"They say he walked away from Sigmund. Now this? He's not just strong, he's fucking untouchable."
A young cultivator in the crowd, barely sixteen, clutched his sword like a holy relic. "S-sir Ian… can you teach me?"
Ian nearly choked. Sir? Since when do I get a 'sir'?
But before he could answer, the ground shook.
A low, guttural roar echoed from the horizon, shaking the city walls.
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.
The system pinged again.
[Alert: Alpha-Level Threat Detected. Origin: Unknown.]
The cultivators' faces drained of blood.
Eldrin whispered, "No… not him."
Xia Lin's grip on her dagger turned white-knuckled. "The Blood Emperor."
Ian sighed.
I just ate a demigod. What's next, the actual devil?
The system, as if reading his mind:
[Query Detected. Answer: Yes.]
Ian groaned.
…I'm so screwed.
Suddenly, the sky shattered.
Not like before, not like when Semeria descended or when the Hybrid Dragon Vampire appeared. This was different. This was wrong.
The clouds curdled into blood-red mist. The air itself thickened, tasting of iron and rot. And then...
He stepped forward.
The Blood Emperor.
The cultivators around Ian didn't just kneel, they collapsed, their bodies betraying them, their blood trembling in their veins as if begging to escape. Even the strongest among them, Eldrin and Xia Lin, dropped like puppets with cut strings.
Ian's Chaos Angel form flickered, his instincts screaming at him to run, hide, pray.
But he couldn't move.
Because the Blood Emperor wasn't just looking at him.
He was smiling.
The whispers came like a tide, hushed, terrified.
"They say he was born from the first murder..."
"They say he drank the blood of a dying god and became something beyond death..."
"He doesn't conquer. He doesn't rule. He consumes."
The Blood Emperor wasn't a king. He wasn't a warlord. He was the end of empires.
Centuries ago, when the Nine Divine Sects stood unchallenged, they made one mistake.
They sealed him away.
And now?
Now he was free.
The Blood Emperor's voice wasn't loud. It wasn't a roar, a growl, a command.
It was casual.
Like he was discussing the weather.
"You're interesting."
Ian's blood froze.
"Most insects die when I glance at them. You? You're still standing."
A chuckle, dark and amused.
"I could use someone like you."
The words hung in the air like a guillotine's blade.
"Become my Blood Knight. Or die in ten years when I finish breaking this seal."
No anger. No threat.
Just fact.
Ian's mind raced.
Blood Knight? What the hell does that even mean? Serve him? Become his enforcer?
But the alternative…
Die in ten years.
The Blood Emperor tilted his head, waiting.
The city was silent.
Even the wind didn't dare breathe.
Then...
"I'll think about it," Ian said.
A beat.
The Blood Emperor laughed.
It wasn't cruel. It wasn't mocking.
It was genuine.
"Good answer."
And then, like smoke, he was gone.
The moment the Blood Emperor's presence vanished, the city exploded into chaos.
"DID HE JUST REFUSE THE BLOOD EMPEROR?!"
"No, no, he said he'd think about it, that's even worse!"
"Ten years… that's all he has?!"
Eldrin grabbed Ian's arm, his face pale. "Ian. You cannot fight him. No one can."
Xia Lin's voice was hollow. "The last time he walked this world, he erased an entire immortal dynasty in a day."
Ian exhaled, his Chaos Angel form finally fading.
Ten years.
That was all he had.
Either become the Blood Emperor's knight…
Or die.
The system pinged in his mind.
[New Quest: Survive the Blood Emperor.]
[Reward: ??? & 1 billion biomass]
Ian smirked. 'Damn, is there already a mission function!?'
Well… at least the stakes are high.
The city was still reeling from the Blood Emperor's appearance when the air shifted again, but this time, it wasn't oppressive. It was refined.
A figure stepped out of the shadows, his presence smooth, controlled, like a blade sheathed in silk.
Tall, draped in robes the color of twilight, his silver hair tied back in a loose ponytail, he moved with the effortless grace of someone who had never needed to rush. His eyes, one gold, one violet, gleamed with quiet, knowing amusement.
The cultivators nearby stiffened.
"That's… Herras."
"Semeria's chosen."
"They say he was born under a dying star, and the Emperor Star Hydra herself plucked him from the ruins of his world."
Ian's instincts tingled.
This guy?
Dangerous.