Chapter 251. Ataraxia, the Pureblood Empress (1)
Is this what it feels like to be crushed?
Kukukuku!
It’s heavy.
So heavy that it’s hard to even raise one’s head.
[The unique ability ‘Blood Lord’ has been activated!]
The spreading red wave seemed to signal both the beginning and the end.
Moments later, a blood barrier was erected to prevent the surrounding facilities from being destroyed by the overload of magical power.
This would allow her to rampage without causing damage to the empire.
“To think the Traitor’s Bracelet had such an effect…”
Amulam muttered incredulously.
He prided himself on knowing more about the tower than anyone else, having presided over it for countless years.
Of course, that made sense.
The experience accumulated through the ages and positions held true power and knowledge.
Players who had been in the tower for just over a year couldn’t possibly comprehend the depth of his understanding.
But now.
‘He knows something I don’t?’
How could that be?
Being outplayed in the game of information?
Despite his denial, he couldn’t ignore the Ataraxia blood kin that had appeared before him.
This damned reality.
“You… who exactly are you to know such things?”
“How did I come to know? Well, that’s a question.”
“Stop answering questions with questions and just answer me!”
“I understand your curiosity, but shouldn’t you be more concerned about the immediate fire under your feet?”
Jinhyuk glanced behind him.
There stood the queen, emitting a menacing aura.
The pent-up grudges of the past were too numerous to articulate.
Kukukuku!
Red spikes began to emerge one by one over Alice’s shoulders.
Harpoon-like deadly weapons were poised to launch at the Decasus’s hounds at any moment.
“Do you seriously intend to fight me? Even you can’t hope to reverse this disparity in power.”
Though the Ataraxia blood kin had joined the fray, their long confinement in the corridors had left them underpowered.
At best, only Velus could match one of the Black Wings.
Moreover, Alice’s power was limited due to the constraints of a player contract, preventing her from unleashing her full might.
“Your tongue has grown sharp, Amulam. Have you forgotten already? Even when all five heads turned their blades against me, I did not yield.”
Neither numerical disadvantage nor constraints mattered.
To the head of Ataraxia, such things were mere excuses.
“If it weren’t for such penalties, would you even dare to bare your fangs against me?”
“Do not think that I am the same as I was. Time has passed, and I have grown stronger. I am not who I was in the past.”
“To have grown stronger… It’s amusing how lightly you utter those words.”
With that, the conversation ended.
Gwagwagwagwa!
With the wave of blood as the starting signal…
“There is no need to fear those who have already lost once. Kill all those mongrels who dare to challenge the Lord!”
“We will make the Decasus taste the hell we endured. Completely isolate them from Alice’s battle and crush them one by one!”
Shadows crisscrossed in every direction.
The battle escalated dramatically.
What had previously been a fight to secure the Traitor’s Bracelet now morphed into a full-blown war for the survival of the clans.
Puff! Crack! Boooom!
Limbs and bodies were severed, flying through the air amidst deafening noises.
Given that the participants were elite warriors from each clan, the level and ferocity of the fight far exceeded any normal bounds.
Various magics and incantations made of blood filled the air, overlayed with screams and cries of agony.
At that moment.
“Are you the human who has made this such a headache!”
A vampire emerged in front of Jinhyuk.
It was an ambush, exploiting his not yet healed wounds.
However.
The vampire’s body abruptly froze as it swung its claw.
“Krrrrgh…?”
“How dare you attempt to touch my contractor with that filthy hand?”
Alice’s eyes glowed coldly.
It was the most enraged voice they had heard so far.
In an instant.
Crunch!
The vampire’s arm was completely shattered.
“Kyaaaah!”
Crunch! Crack!
Its body was crushed beyond recognition.
“Preyriad was taken down in one hit?”
“To see a kin of the Black Wing die so vainly…”
The remaining vampires hesitated, stepping back.
She didn’t even chant, and yet to think this was her power.
She was clearly in a different league.
Even hundreds, no, thousands of ordinary kin attacking together could only be likened to throwing eggs at a rock.
‘I better treat her well in the future.’
Jinhyuk swallowed dryly.
Alice’s lips moved slightly.
“…Thank you.”
“…Thank you?”
Alice repeated her words again.
For liberating her kin.
For giving them a chance to reclaim their lost honor and pride.
She was truly grateful.
Alice expressed this, though conveying her emotions was still a struggle despite the removal of her constraints.
“Save your thanks for later. It’s not over yet.”
Alice was known to be exceptionally strong among the heads, but Amulam was no easy foe either.
Being a clan head wasn’t a title one could earn without merit.
As if to prove this point.
Amulam’s Blood Explosion enveloped the area around Alice.
Gwagwagwagwa!
Dozens of blood droplets exploded in a much more powerful blast than any used before.
Amulam had attacked with full force from the start, knowing his opponent was Alice.
However.
She was unscathed.
Emerging from the explosion, Alice held a slender, three-meter-long spear that twirled like a drill in her hand.
“My turn, it seems.”
[Alice activates ‘Blood Spear’!]
The spear, infused with seven rotations, flashed through the air, its piercing power maximized.
Puff! Puff!
Amulam’s body bent into a ‘ㄱ’ shape.
Just as he thought he was hit, his body dispersed into dozens of bats.
…A trick!
Both Jinhyuk and Alice’s gazes shot upward.
Amulam, who had soared high enough to reach the ceiling, had just completed a massive magical circle.
‘Aestrexica’.
An ancient magic utilizing air and blood as mediums.
Just as Alice was about to quickly blink away,
Crack!
Six snakes firmly sealed around her ankles.
He had perfectly calculated even her escape route.
“Running isn’t an option.”
Blood-charged lightning struck down upon Alice.
Patz! Patz! Patz…
Gwagwagwagwa!
Multiple layers of shields tried to protect her, but they were insufficient.
The lightning scorched her body multiple times, enough to vaporize rock and marble into sheer terror that ate away at the air.
Sssk.
Amulam smirked triumphantly.
He was certain of his timing and power.
Yet, the satisfaction was short-lived.
Alice brushed off the embers from her body and walked out.
…No impact.
She was merely singed.
“Damn sturdy body. To think a creature that could instantly kill a large monster residing in the upper levels didn’t even knock you out.”
“That’s because it had no effect.”
“What do you mean it had no effect?”
“To compare me to a large species from the upper levels. Your premise itself is flawed.”
Alice waved her hand lightly.
At that moment,
From the ground, red thorny vines burst forth.
These weren’t ordinary vines.
They were spirit wood capable of binding a deity.
If caught, one could never escape.
“A ghost tree, huh? You don’t think I’d be caught by such slow vines, do you?”
“We’ll see about that.”
Dozens of vines darted towards Amulam at lightning speed.
Tap! Tap!
Amulam stepped on the airborne blood, moving swiftly.
So fast it was hard to see with the naked eye.
All the while, he carefully kept his distance from Alice.
He wasn’t just dodging or biding time.
Knowing that minor attacks wouldn’t be lethal, he was gathering magic for a strike that could end it all in one blow.
Kukukuku!
Even if others didn’t notice, Jinhyuk could feel it.
All the magical particles around were converging towards Alice and Amulam.
With each carefully measured step—first, second, and third—their distances aligned perfectly.
“This time, I will end it!”
[Amulam activates the unique holy chant, Dimensional Compression ‘Red Blood Coffin’!]
Amulam’s holy chant was unleashed.
A red coffin appeared around Alice.
Red Blood Coffin.
An ability that compresses the dimension itself, crushing anything within.
While difficult to activate due to the precise coordinates and magical control required, its effectiveness was guaranteed once initiated.
Kukukuku!
Incredible magical power compressed further and further, shrinking the coffin in size.
Red sparks flew in all directions.
What was once the size of a three-story building soon reduced to the size of a room and then to a refrigerator.
In a few seconds, anything inside would turn into an unrecognizable mass of flesh.
“Hahaha! Isn’t it overwhelming? This is my unique holy chant!”
Amulam burst into laughter, overwhelmed by the certainty of his victory.
“It’s too late for regrets now. Begging for your life won’t change anything. Even I can’t stop this power now.”
Neither blink nor teleport could escape this deathly coffin.
The only option inside was to be crushed like a bug.
“Drowning in past delusions while overlooking the present. That’s why you will die.”
Just as the final compression was about to proceed,
A unique holy chant from within the blood-drenched coffin was activated by Alice.
“No, it can’t be!”
Amulam’s mouth dropped open as he felt the shift in the air.
The sparks that had wildly erupted around were now mysteriously vanishing.
Just then, a sound of something breaking echoed.
Crack!
Parts of the Red Blood Coffin crumbled, revealing Alice, unharmed.
[Alice activates her unique holy chant, ‘Apocalypse Revelation’.]
“Seems you forgot, you are not the only one with a unique holy chant.”
A pair of wings, covered in black feathers, unfurled behind her. They bore an eerie mix of demonic and angelic traits, sending chills down the spine by their mere presence.
Whoosh!
A ring of fire, crafted from flames, appeared behind Alice. Ancient runes began to burn along its edges.
It was seductive, decadent, yet beautifully ominous.
This was Alice fully armed.
And when this unique holy chant had manifested in the tower before…
…the five great heads and their kin had lost half their forces.