"Deci...mation? Lord Trajan...has been decimated?" Gurdenhozer, Hadrian, Arminius...and even Shapur in the shadows...it didn't matter! All Fylkirs were at a loss, failing to wrap their heads around this absurd turn of events.
It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, Trajan was imposing his will on Akamana's blood, the next, Mithras' fangs were ripping through his neck, not merely draining his blood, but consuming his soul as well!
How you may ask? The Decimation Skill is the answer! An ability shared by all Blood Nobles, yet forbidden by Odoacer and the Weaver in time immemorial—the punishment for this Transgression being...complete annihilation!
To this day, the Decimation Skill remains one of the few topics on which Odoacer still agreed with the Weaver—so much so that over the millennia, the Fylkir used his authority over the blood to personally hunt down and slaughter each Blood Noble found guilty of using the Decimation Skill.
Why go to such extremes? Because so long as Odoacer breathed, the first generation was unkillable. But this immortality didn't extend to the Decimation Skill, which could eradicate most entities in creation. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Decimation Skill enabled a Blood Noble...to increase their Blood Potency, skills and abilities by cannibalizing other Blood Nobles!
They could even lower their generation rank by decimating their elders—instantly unlocking powers reserved for their predecessors!
Blood Potency should only increase with age, the dilution and weakening of junior Blood Nobles was the natural order. The Decimation Skill made a joke of the Blood Aristocracy's hierarchy, its very existence a constant threat to the Empire's stability. Left unchecked, how could that skill not destroy the world?
It didn't help that the skill was highly corruptive, backfiring more often than not. But Mithras didn't care, and for two simple reasons:
One, without Decimation, he couldn't kill the Fylkirs, and the Fylkirs had to die. Two...with Uncle Trajan's blood now flowing through his veins...Mithras...had no consequences to worry about.
Not now...or ever again. For on this day, with the King of Majesty as the sacrifice...Mithras would achieve...True Perfection!
With a calm and peaceful look, Mithras passed his thumb over his lips, erasing Trajan's blood as he raised his eyes at the sky. The moment next, berserk and tyrannical squalls of sanguine flames erupted from Mithras' heart, spreading to his organs and setting his body on fire!
The pyretic red pillar soared towards the sky, dispelling the darkness and imposing its solar rays on the entirety...of the Spiritual World!
Purple Dawn, Sanctuary or Holy Balmaria, it didn't matter. Though they couldn't tell the origin, all across the Spiritual World saw the same Scarlet Sun—shining with rays that transcended the divine!
Even the night couldn't suppress this light, cowering and retreating as the Sun regained its glory!
"GRRRR!" An ear-splitting dragon roar rumbled across the heavens and earth, shaking the very fabrics of the Spiritual World. Humans and Blood Nobles fell to their knees, joining their hands in prayer signs for reasons they couldn't comprehend.
Odoacer too found himself on his knees, praying the creature forming above the Red Sun! A gargantuan dark-red dragon with an array of protruding horns and celestial bodies that orbited its planet-sized frame.
The beast's roar rumbled once more, making all male monsters of the Spiritual World convulse in violent seizures! The Holy Emperor and Dragon King...were no exception! The females on the other end had never been more thrilled, for a second convinced that they had to bear that creature's children as soon as possible.
In Springtime City, the Beast returned to human form, his purple eyes flashing with blinding rays as his slit pupils took a golden shade. In the background, as she witnessed her brother's ascension, Ishtar's eyes turned moist...tears dropping unbeknown to herself.
"Finally...finally. My beloved brother...you are...complete. Lord...thank you! Thank you and please...please forgive me," Ishtar whispered, looking at a white-haired figure that stood behind Mithras, invisible to all except for Ishtar.
The dragoness' barely audible words caught Nagini's attention, making her eyes narrow in confusion.
Not that it mattered. A long and thick pair of dark-red horns sprouted from Mithras' forehead, curving upward as a miniature Red Sun formed between them.
[Ding! Ding! Ding!]
[Trajan has been decimated by the Host!]
[Major Plot Deviation...detected!]
Farewell, Uncle Trajan. I hope you've enjoyed the taste of your nephew's mettle as much as he will enjoy using your blood and powers to obliterate his old man," Mithras said, and as Trajan's Abomination appeared in his soul, Mithras blew at his uncle's ashes—scattering them into the void!
The King of Majesty...Odoacer's Co-Emperor...had fallen!
"Show yourself," Mithras ordered, and the moment next, Shapur emerged from the shadows, forced out of hiding by Mithras' Majesty!
The King of Hunters couldn't believe his eyes...reeling back in confusion.
"Decimation can only absorb 10 to 33 percent of the victim's soul...the rest scatters into the void. So how...how did he manage to absorb the whole thing? And this is only with 3,000 years of Blood Potency? When he refines the whole thing and digests Trajan's soul...what will his Majesty be like?
You are not the work of Odoacer! Who...what are you?" Shapur stammered, shaking his head as he refused to believe that Mithras could be his lord's son.
"The King of Monsters...only has one name," Mithras said, summoning the Great-Smelting Hammer, and swinging at Shapur! The air pressure was enough, blasting through Shapur, and tearing his insides into shreds!
Bones and organs all sliced and shredded like minced meat!
[Hemophilic Stasis]
The King of Hunters dropped dead, trapped in blood chains as Mithras rested his hammer on his shoulder.
"Mithras," Ishtar gave the correct answer. For indeed, the King of Monsters...only has that name. A name that always filled the Weaver's heart...with infinite dread and hatred!
"Lord Trajan...is dead? No...nonono, how could that be? Lord Trajan is perfect...unkillable—invincible! The noblest, the greatest of the great! AAAAAAAAAAARGH! Mithras...GIVE ME BACK MY LORD!" Hadrian went insane, his Blood Flame erupting as he desperately threw himself at Mithras.
All across the Blood Aristocracy knew that the one who loved Trajan the most was neither Sucuria nor Odoacer, but Hadrian—once an orphaned youth taken out of poverty by none other than Trajan.
Trajan didn't just save his life. He gave him an education, taught him all he knew, treating him like a son, a brother, and a friend. Trajan was Hadrian's world—to the point he didn't hesitate to give up the love of his life to be reborn as a Fylkir alongside Trajan!
So how could Trajan be dead? Hadrian couldn't accept it, and with murderous rage, lunged at Mithras!
But as a blood storm able to crush Blood Authority monsters barreled into him, Mithras extended his right hand, aiming at Hadrian with a compassionate look.
"Drul...ak'nul!" Mithras spoke the old tongue, the words carrying a silent beat that rippled through Hadrian...making him burst into a feast of gore. Hadrian's corpse reformed in Mithras' arms, and his draconic fangs opened, ripping through the Fylkir...and decimating him as well!
Another Fylkir...had fallen just like that!
Arminius was petrified, Gurdenhozer went insane, he too throwing himself at Mithras in a fit of murderous rage! Without hesitation, Mithras threw his hammer at Arminius, crushing the Fylkir from head to toe while he blitzed Gurdenhozer with a lariat!
Beheaded upon impact, Gurdenhozer burst into pieces, his corpse reforming under Mithras' fangs...and decimated the moment next!
Three down! Three more to go!
Here, Arminius was scared out of his wits, desperately trying to reform his body and escape the scene. Alas...by the time he'd rebuilt his torso, Mithras was hoisting him by the neck, giving the King of Barbarians a compassionate look...before reducing him into ashes!
But as Arminius suffered a brutal end, Hakim reappeared from nowhere, biting into Shapur's neck...and decimating him as well!
Odoacer's brothers...the five kings under the King of Kings...had all fallen!