Above the shattered ruins of Bloodbane Palace, a murky crimson haze churned like thick, half-congealed blood. The mouthful of blood essence Dincelius spat drenched the ancient command token in his grip.
Carved across its weather-worn surface were grotesque demonic visages, and the instant the blood seeped into each out those faces lit up. Scarlet radiance oozed from every groove, the lines twisting and pulsating as though the metal itself had come alive.
From the fissures splitting the earth there rose first a deep, muffled pounding-ten thousand war drums beating beneath the ground, then, without warning, countless arms sheathed in dark-violet scales punched through the rock.
Talons scraped stone with an ear-shattering shriek.
“Bloodbane Guards… Form up!” Dincelius’ voice rasped.
Frothy blood bubbled from the ragged stumps where his arms had been severed, yet the last sparks of defiance still blazed in his eyes.
Thousands of colossal figures erupted from the crevices, every Bloodbane Guard towering close to ten meters.
Blacksteel armor veined with flowing blood-red markings encased each of them. Beneath their helms there were no faces, only two clusters of flickering ghostfire.
Toxic mist coiled around the points of the halberds they wielded.
The moment they emerged they looked into an intricate formation, every halberd aimed skyward at Radmus, unleashing killing intent fierce enough to rend the clouds apart.
As the formation whirled, the blood-colored fog blanketing the ground was forcibly siphoned, condensing into a glowing scarlet ring that circled the Bloodbane Guards. Inside that ring drifted myriad tortured faces, the fallen spirits of Bloodbane Palace members across the ages.
High above, Radmus floated at the top of the crimson mist.
Possessed by the blood corpses, his pupils held no emotion whatsoever, only absolute contempt for life. He could not even be bothered to glance downward.
Lifting his right hand, swathed in blood corpse energy, allowed the blood at his fingertips to burst apart, scattering into tens of thousands of scarlet needles, every one stinking of all-corroding decay.
Hum!
The needles crashed down like a monsoon. The front ranks of the Bloodbane Guards formation erupted with a blinding violet glare the instant the barrage struck.
The scarlet ring at the formation’s heart ballooned outward, holding the needle storm a full ten meters away, yet the needles clung like maggots, gnawing layer upon layer at the radiant barrier.
A cracking sound echoed out. In unison, the foremost Bloodbane Guards dropped to one knee, the ghostfire beneath their helms flickering madly, the needles were violently draining the energy within their bodies!
“Your struggle is foolish…” Radmus’ voice was a mix of male and female tones, icy and shrill. “Did you truly believe a mortal formation could resist the power of the blood corpses?”
With a casual twist of his wrist, the needle swarm accelerated, no longer assaulting the barrier but piercing with surgical precision into the seams of every Bloodbane Guards’ armor.
The ghostfire of the first guard winked out; the Blacksteel plates cracked apart, revealing the desiccated corpse inside.
Then the second, the thirtieth…
Within mere heartbeats, the entire phalanx toppled like dominoes, each Bloodbane Guard crumbling into drifting ash.
Only the halberds, clanging to the ground one after another, broke the hush, metallic thuds that rang painfully loud across the dead battlefield.
Watching the force on which his life depended slaughtered like ants, Dincelius tasted iron as blood welled up his throat.
He remembered how Bloodbane Palace had spent a millennium forging these Bloodbane Guards, each one harboring the soul remnant of a once-great cultivator, now reduced to nothing under the enemy’s hand.
“No!” His scream was the howl of a cornered beast.
What remained of his body shuddered uncontrollably, the blood essence in his elixir field boiling over once more.
At that instant, two inky streaks tore through the crimson fog, the very same warriors who had slipped from Jared’s command earlier!
The aura of death coiled thickly around them. Pitch-black battle-axes carved warped trajectories through the air, ancient runes flaring along their blades, they were the ancient war souls Jared had once subdued.
No longer bound by Jared’s will, they were now drawn by some hidden power deep within Bloodbane Palace, streaking straight for Radmus!
“Hmm?” For the first time, Radmus reacted. He tilted his head toward the pair, a flicker of puzzlement scarring his blood corpse-eroded features.
“So the two of you still cling to existence. But to subdue us now? Impossible…”
