Chapter 373: Destroying the Bloodfiend Citadel

John's words echoed throughout the half-destroyed Bloodfiend Citadel. His anger towards the heavens was becoming stronger and stronger as the tribulation went on, as being targeted like this was beyond infuriating. While it was helping him out immensely at this time, it was still the case that the heavens wanted him dead.

"You want to kill me? Fine. But I'll be taking this power of yours for my own use in that case," John shouted out once more.

His words seemed to anger the heavens, as another powerful beam of tribulation lightning struck down on him.

Sky Sundering Axe!

John unleashed another Sky Sundering Axe in an attempt to fight back against the lightning. Lightning and battle art collided, and a thunderous explosion radiated outwards half-way down the Bloodfiend Citadel.

Boom!

The explosion rocked the Citadel, tearing it apart once and for all. The half-destroyed structure finally began to fully collapse as the lightning strike continued onwards towards John.

The tribulation lightning exploded onto his body once more, and John instantly revolved his Celestial Lightning Script. 

"Gah!"

John cried out in pain once more as the lightning rampaged throughout his body, seeking to destroy it from within. Although he had learned to slightly absorb tribulation lightning, this strike was even more powerful than the previous, thus negating his resistance to it. 

John grit his teeth as he struggled against the tribulation lightning. After a short while, he finally managed to absorb some of it, while he successfully purged the rest. His breathing was ragged as he stared at the smouldering ruins of the Bloodfiend Citadel around him.

'I can't keep this up. While absorbing tribulation lightning is helping me right now, it's also causing incredible damage to my body at the same time. I think I can absorb another strike or two before I reach my limit, at which point I will need to focus on absolute defense instead.'

John instincts flared, and he suddenly felt a cold stare press upon him. He turned his head and looked high into the sky at the source of the bloodlusted glare, and spotted a familiar figure staring at him with hate-filled eyes.

"That bastard. I will flay him alive when this is done," Allfiend raged out as he stared down at John below. His glorious Citadel was completely destroyed, leaving only a charred pile of rubble behind.

John glanced at Allfiend for a moment before he averted his gaze.

'He's too fast for me to catch up with, so the best thing I can do is continue to destroy the sect. Where should I go next?'

John jumped into the sky and began to look around in all directions. Fire raged throughout the sect as far as the eye could see, while smouldering ruins of once grand buildings littered the sect grounds.

The once glorious Bloodfiend Sect was now no more than a pile of charred remains. After a moment of contemplation, John's eyes lit up.

'Time to ruin yet another one of Allfiend's plans.'

His body suddenly sped off in a certain direction, towards a less populated portion of the sect. Allfiend, as well as the Elder's, watched John fly off, hate contained within each of their eyes.

"Where is that bastard going off to now?" an Elder asked, barely containing his voice of trembling rage.

"Who cares. As long as he stays away from the heart of the sect, that's for the better," another Elder replied. "While most of the buildings have been destroyed, their foundations are still intact. It will take a lot of money and resources to rebuild, but there is still hope."

"True. After this tribulation ends, I cant wait to capture this boy and flay him alive," another Elder replied. He was just about to continue speaking, when his, as well as the faces of all the others, lit up in surprise, and then panic.

"He's….He's heading towards the Summoning Chamber!" an Elder exclaimed as they finally noticed the direction John was heading.

"How does he know of its location? Did Elder Praxx tell him everything?" another Elder exclaimed.

"We need to stop him!" another Elder cried out, but his words were met with a deafening silence. 

How were any of them supposed to accomplish such a thing, when interfering meant dying a quick death.

Allfiend remained silent as he saw this, but his rage continued to rise to incredible levels.

"If the tribulation lightning is more than the cauldron and formations can handle, then I will activate the summoning early," Allfiend suddenly spoke out.

"Activate it early? Will it be powerful enough to handle Thunderzen if you activate it early? It will at most have eighty percent of the power we are hoping to summon," a worried Elder asked.

"What other choice do I have?" Allfiend barked out in rage as his hand moved quickly.

Bang!

His hand slapped powerfully across the face of the Elder, shattering half of his face as the Elder's body rocketed down to the ground below. The Elder slammed against the earth, and burrowed deep into it.

The other Elder's looked to Allfiend with trepidation, and knew he was not in the mood to be questioned.

Allfiend scowled, and his body suddenly sped forward. The Elder's all looked at each other with mixed expressions, before they all followed after him.

…

"Finally here," John exclaimed as he arrived in front of the cliffside where the secret entrance was located. He dashed towards where the entrance was, and placed his hand on the seemingly normal surface.

"All blood belongs to the Bloodfiend!" 

After a moment's hesitation, a formation lit up on the cliffside as the entrance began to part. John smiled as the formation was still intact, and raced into the entrance as soon as it was wide enough to enter.

He reached the base of the stairwell in no time, and the two Meridian Forging Elder's guarding the entrance quickly noticed his appearance.

"Halt, what are you-"

Che!

John's battle axe cleaved out before either Elder could react, bisecting them in two with a single swing of his axe. If the Elder's had been expecting a fight, they would have been tougher to kill, but neither expected an intruder in their top secret lair.

Looks of surprised horror appeared on the Edler's faces, while John sped past the two of them without looking back. He quickly arrived in the main chamber, which glowed with fiery heat as it did previously.

The cries of anguish John had expected to hear once more did not ring out. He quickly scanned the chamber, and found no alive mortals, much to his surprise.

'I guess this summoning is almost complete if they are done with the sacrifices. It seems as though I arrived just in time. Time to get to work!'