All the generals and soldiers' eyes lit up. They could naturally see that His Majesty the Emperor's power had skyrocketed!
They believed he could easily crush this formidable opponent sent by the enemy nation.
At this moment, Octavius couldn't resist showcasing his dominant stature once more. He spoke, "I'll give you one last chance. Do you surrender..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Sterl, growing impatient, unleashed another blade formed by the Flowing Water Law.
This time, with his enhanced attributes, Octavius moved swiftly. Between his hands, a blood-red wave of energy condensed into a shield, attempting to block the blade.
Originally, the emperor's expression was filled with confidence. He believed that with his newfound power, the blade that had previously wounded him was now nothing to fear!
He used his maxed-out legendary gold skill, [Blood Aura]. This versatile skill could be used for remote control, as seen when capturing the princes, or for close protection. It was an upgraded version of the Black Armor Army's dark aura!
As a secret gold-quality skill of the Divine Mountain Empire, [Blood Aura] could be upgraded to 20 legend points by sacrificing blood relatives.
As an emperor, Octavius was never short of legend points and had already maxed out this skill.
With his attributes significantly boosted and the strength of [Blood Aura] increased due to the elevation of his authority heart, Octavius confidently used the shield to block the Flowing Water Law blade.
"Heh..."
"Such petty tricks, daring to show off here."
He even had the leisure to utter some trash talk.
The next second, however—
A subtle piercing sound!
With a faint sound of penetration, the shield formed by [Blood Aura] was pierced through, leaving a conspicuous hole!
Octavius reacted swiftly, his body flickering as he tried to dodge.
But this time, he was unprepared, convinced that he would surely block Nathan's attack. As a result, he was half a beat too slow and barely avoided a fatal blow.
The blade grazed his shoulder, slicing toward his neck, and a torrent of blood gushed out!
In an instant, Octavius had already sustained a severe injury!
The surrounding Divine Mountain Empire NPCs, witnessing this scene, were stunned!
"His Majesty... invincible... cough, cough..."
Their planned praises got stuck in their throats!
The NPCs had already prepared their lines.
Things like...
Anyone who dares to challenge the empire must die!
His Majesty is invincible, and no one can stop him!
...
The emotions had been brewing for so long, just waiting to shout out loud.
But Octavius had issues. Within a single round, his skill was shattered! He himself was severely injured.
This script was not right!
Wasn't he supposed to crush the enemy nation's formidable warrior after his power surge?
Why did it seem like he was still being overpowered, even after his power surged?
In fact, the damage Octavius sustained this time was even more severe than before his power increase!
What's going on??
Did His Majesty really become stronger?
The NPCs were bewildered, and the players watching this scene were equally shocked, as if they had seen a ghost.
What kind of power does that enemy player possess? How can he be this fierce??
Scarlet blood energy rose from the ground, transforming into an extremely terrifying storm.
Sterl found himself directly engulfed by it, and he noticed his skill bar turn gray, indicating he was in a controlled state, making teleportation impossible.
In just a few milliseconds, Sterl was severely injured!
His entire body felt as if it were being sliced by thousands of blades, plunging him into a near-flaying state! The blood-energy-formed storm made Sterl feel as though he had been thrown into a meat grinder!
"Damn! That really hurts!"
Sterl's face darkened. Relying on his speed advantage, he had rarely been struck by an enemy's skill, but this time he couldn't dodge it!
Fortunately, Sterl remained calm.
Legendary ability [Inspire]!
Instantly, a clear chirping sound rang in Sterl's ears, and he regained his ability to move freely, even within the blood-colored storm.
But his life force was already like a flickering candle in the wind!
Yet, Sterl's expression remained stern, refraining from using the Star Radiance Dragon's Protection Power.
He swiftly harnessed the power of the stars to condense several blades of Flowing Water Law and hurled them out. At the same time, he used his small world to teleport two bottles of Essence of the Moon into his mouth, biting them open and swallowing the contents.
As the Flowing Water blades were thrown, Sterl activated the silence and interrupt effect of the [Flowing Water Law]!
A double attack!
Octavius was indeed heavily hit.
Seeing the blades formed by the Flowing Water Law, he knew he couldn't take the hit head-on and attempted to dodge. But because his attention was entirely focused on this, he fell victim to a sneak attack.
The various blood tissues within his body suddenly transformed into blades, piercing Octavius's vital organs.
Instantly, the emperor's mental power guiding the blood energy dispersed, and the storm triggered by his grand move began to dissipate.
Even so, Octavius managed to dodge.
He got hit by the Flowing Water blades but managed to protect his vital points.
Octavius grunted, spitting blood, and his body was drenched in it.
However, the blood energy in the air was reabsorbed into his body, rapidly healing his wounds!
On Sterl's side, thanks to the cumulative effects of various buffs, he completed a life force roller coaster ride through lifesteal!
He survived!
He even fully restored his life force through the lifesteal effect.
However, all of Sterl's clothes had turned to shreds. Since he hadn't fully equipped himself, many parts of his body were exposed...
After the exchange, both sides ended up evenly matched!
Of course, this "evenly matched" was only clear to Sterl and Octavius.
To the surrounding NPCs and players, it looked completely different.
Just the terrifying effect of the blood energy storm alone was enough to make people feel that the situation had entirely favored Octavius. Not to mention, Sterl looked ragged and disheveled at the moment.
In contrast, the emperor, clad in heavy armor, stood tall and imposing.
From a purely visual standpoint, Octavius had already won.
...
This led the nearby players to smile involuntarily.
"Indeed, Octavius is showcasing his true combat power this time!"
"He's completely suppressing the foreign strongman!"
"Looks like our decision to surrender wasn't wrong."
...
The players felt a lot better.