Sovereigns are fast. However, Haemagogi was faster. I mean faster than Xed, who was already moving at a speed that left an afterimage in the air where he'd been standing in the eyes of a mortal. Haemagogi crossed the thirty-foot distance between himself and Xed so fast that Xed wasn't able to react in time. 'That's what sovereign speed looks like to me,' Erwin watched from the sidelines. 'And Haemagogi is faster.' Wham! His lower-right arm delivered a strike that Xed blocked with both forearms crossed. Yet, the force of the block sent Xed sliding backward twelve feet across the black stone floor, his heels carving lines in it. Turns out Haemagogi wasn't merely stronger—he was faster as well. "Erwin," Vance said, appearing beside Erwin with that same sovereign quickness. "I'll need your help on this fight." Even battered as he was, he'd moved without Erwin registering the motion. "I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the good news: he is still disoriented because he

The smoke from the combined assault swallowed the center of the chamber completely. No one moved. No one spoke. They stood in their positions at the edge of the explosion radius, every single one of them panting, their eyes fixed on the settling smoke. Blood Explosion's residual heat still scorched the air. The Impact's redirected force had driven cracks across the entire chamber floor in a spiderweb pattern that covered the stone from wall to wall. Erwin's Maximum Density Gravity-Induced spears had punched craters so deep into the ground around the impact zone that the black stone beneath had turned a darker shade from compression. The smoke thinned, then thinned further, and then it was gone. And Haemagogi was standing! Everyone gulped in terror, one thought simultaneously running through their minds: 'How is it still alive?' He had risen from the ground at some point during the smoke, his grey-scaled skin showing more scratch lines than before, a number of shallow marks cr

The smoke from the combined assault swallowed the center of the chamber completely.No one moved, nor were any words exchanged.They stood in their positions at the edge of the explosion radius, every single one of them panting, their eyes fixed on the settling smoke.Blood Explosion's residual heat still scorched the air.The Impact's redirected force had driven cracks across the entire chamber floor in a spiderweb pattern that covered the stone from wall to wall.Erwin's Maximum Density Gravity-Induced spears had punched craters so deep into the ground around the impact zone that the black stone beneath had cratered.The smoke thinned, then thinned further, and then it was gone.And Haemagogi was standing!Everyone gulped in terror, one thought simultaneously running through their minds. 'How is it still alive?!'He had risen from the ground at some point during the smoke, his grey-scaled skin showing more scratch lines than before, a number of shallow marks crossing his chest and a

The Sanguine Noctis did not begin as a weapon.That much is worth understanding before anything else.In the early centuries of the vampire world, when Haemagogi was still sovereign of the first castle and the godhood ascension ritual was still only a myth passed between the castle walls, there existed among the vampire scholars.Those scholars believed the path to transcendence was not destruction, but containment.A sovereign grows strong by taking. By consuming essence, by winning battles, by accumulating strength and will. This was the accepted truth of the vampire world since its creation.But the scholars of the era understood something the sovereigns refused to accept: every act of taking creates a debt. And a being that takes enough, long enough, without ever releasing, becomes a vessel with no room left for more. In short, they cease to grow.Haemagogi had been sovereign for four hundred years and just like Vance and Xed already got to their peak, Haemagogi had stopped growi

Special Trial CompleteThe words echoed with the usual Realm X voice.Erwin was on his knees on the chamber floor with the altar's residual light and strong presence fading away.His hand was bleeding from where the Sanguine Noctis had detonated. His palm was crossed with thin slashes that ran from the base of his fingers to his wrist, and the blood that came out was black.For fleeting moments of silence, he stared at it.They all stared quietly.[HP: 3/150]'I survived... barely.' Erwin sat back on his heels and tried to breathe properly and found that it took more effort than it should have.His ribs had taken Haemagogi's four-arm impact through the gravity barrier. They had not broken, but the damage it had done was impossible to ignore.Turning his gaze from his hands to look at the center of the chamber, Haemagogi was on the floor.All four arms spread, grey-scaled skin crossed with the dark vein-like lines of the drain's completion.His eyes were open and empty and still. The d