His death was certain; that much was clear. But the question was...when?

"It just had to be a 2nd stage Verth Wielder! Dammit, I have barely entered the Verth Seeking second stage!"

Growl!

The Crimson Maw wolf growled lightly at Emperal, its intentions clear. The second stage of Verth Wielding, while he had barely entered the second stage of Verth Seeker...the absolute bottom and the starting point of all Verth cultivators, this beast had already climbed one entire realm’s past!

In practical terms, the Crimson Maw wolf’s Verth pool dwarfed his own the way a lake dwarfed a puddle.

Its sheer physical strength was enhanced to a terrifying degree; it was such that even with his sword...he couldn’t even put a dent in those rippling muscles.

"Whatever, I wasn’t meant to live anyway, might as well die scratching the beast."

Saying that, he moved. Holding the sword in his right hand, he dashed towards the wolf.

Although surprised by the sudden movement, the wolf snorted in disdain when it saw how its ’food’ was rushing towards it.

DHAMM!!

Closing the distance, he twisted his body at an angle, blade low, and the weight distributed for drawing his blade.

Slash!

His sword passed through empty air; the wolf was already somewhere else, it had moved before the blade could even touch its fur.

"Tch!"

Sliding on the ground, he raised his head—

Fsshhh!

Sharp claws ripped through the air where his head was present. Emperal hurriedly backed away. His heart was hammering furiously.

"T-That was close, it almost scratched my eyes off!"

This time, he didn’t dare lower his guard. The wolf stepped forward and dashed towards Emperal, its massive body shifting with unnaturally fluid speed, and in less than a second, It once again closed the distance between them. Sidestepping, Emperal dodged the trajectory with all his might. But the follow-through of its muscular shoulder hit him across the chest like a freight train wrapped in pointy fur.

The impact threw him off the ground. Emperal coughed a mouthful of blood. Hitting the ground, he rolled and came up on one knee.

"...Shit, it broke a few of my ribs," he spoke under his breath. It was just the beginning, and he was already injured in a critical spot.

This time, the wolf didn’t attack immediately. It watched him stand with those eerie, calm amber eyes. It hadn’t moved from where the impact had carried it. Instead of aggression, its posture was pretty calm.

This irked Emperal to no end. Ignoring the growing pain in his chest, he once again took a posture.

Walking forward slowly, he attacked again!

"I just have to blind it or cut its paw!"

This time, there was no misdirection; he straight-up targeted its eyes. With pure speed and commitment, he swung his blade at the wolf’s eyes!

The wolf merely tilted its head upwards. The blade once again passed through empty air.

Kekekeke!

An eerie voice echoed from its mouth, making Emperal’s blood run cold. Before he could even comprehend its intentions, a wave of unimaginable pain exploded from his lower abdomen.

BOOOM!!!!

Like a rocket, he was flung violently in the air and blasted straight into the same tree.

BOOM!!!

As old as the tree was, even that shook for a few seconds under the impact. Emperal almost lost his consciousness, his eyelids felt heavy, coupled with the intense pain from down below. Emperal was certain...he would die.

There was a deep gash across his body, stretching from his lower abdomen to all over his shoulders!

Four deep cuts. The depth was 2 inches, making the blood drip endlessly on the ground.

"Ahh, it seems I’m done. Sigh, what a hectic life it was. Hope I get a better one in my next one."

Emperal did the only thing he could do right now, the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile, as his eyelids became increasingly heavy.

Tap Tap Tap

The wolf slowly made its way towards Emperal with the same unhurriedness. Its claws were still slick with fresh blood.

Raising its paw, it stretched out its tongue and licked a few drops of blood. The moment it did...its eyes widened.

Its amber eyes slowly shifted, and a hazy expression spread across. The wolf fumbled slightly as if drunk and intoxicated.

Its nose was twitching constantly, and its saliva dripped on the ground incessantly.

Emperal, although barely conscious, his sharp mind didn’t miss the change. A small chuckle escaped from his mouth alongside violent coughing.

"Hehehe, beast. So you were after my blood, huh? You could have just told me so."

His mind was chaotic; it wasn’t in a state to be cold and calculative. Emperal threw his head back and laughed.

"Hah! If I’m going to die a dog’s death, you might as well accompany me!"

His laughter faded. The wolf was still fumbling, albeit closing the distance between them. Emperal’s smile didn’t leave, but his eyes had changed. They had shifted from dark humour to his usual cold arithmetic underneath it.

The two states that lived in him simultaneously.

He looked at his hands, specifically at the wounds the wolf’s claws had opened, and at the blood dripping from them—and there it was, what he had noticed during the jade reveal and filed away without fully looking into it. His blood wasn’t clear or uniform. It was deep crimson from the Dragon’s side and cool silver through the Elven side; the two colours were still refusing to fully merge.

And it zapped his mind. The multicoloured blood.

It hadn’t disappeared when the jade had shattered. It had gone inside him, stored and waiting.

"This damn art, it needs a key. That jade needed my blood to open. Maybe the art is the same."

It wasn’t a cold or calculative thought; it was the thought of a man with nothing left to lose, making one final bet with the chip he had left.

"This...better work."

He pressed his bleeding palm flat against his own chest. Concentrating, he mentally uttered a word.

Open...

For a moment, nothing happened. Then...it happened.

The multicoloured blood ignited from inside. Not painfully...but something vast. Something that had been coiled unnaturally in his chest since the jade entered his skull and had been waiting for this moment all the time.

The moment the multicoloured blood absorbed Emperal’s Verth, it...detonated!

BOOOM!!