Meanwhile, in the Humming Damned Forest.
Hiss!!
Linthia got pushed back several meters before her back slammed against a tree.
She was trying to course through the forest silently without alerting any mutated animals but one of them—a mutated snake managed to spot her, through her disguise. Knowing that Rex, would need to be notified of what was happening, she was determined to find him.
But she was obstructed by the mutated snake, hissing at her with hostility.
"A little bit more and I would reach the border..." Linthia uttered, clenching her jaw tightly.
She was already extremely close to the border, so she was frustrated.
Swoosh!
In an instant, the mutated snake launched its head forward with lightning speed, mouth wide open, fangs bared, and eyes locked onto Linthia. Even though it was sudden—swift, and also precise, Linthia managed to dodge the attack barely.
Rolling to the side to dodge the strike, she leaped and clenched the staff in her hand.
Just like most equipment in Dargena City, it was made of Red Prudian.
"Dust of Duplicate!"
Bang!
Bang!
Swinging her staff with full force, she hit the mutated snake's side.
As opposed to hitting it one time, it was struck two times.
Under the Dust of Duplicate spell that she casted—there was a golden dust copy of her staff trailing behind, and it followed the trajectory of the staff—hitting the mutated snake. Despite her efforts, the attack barely did anything to the mutated snake's skin.
'I don't have enough strength to hurt it with brunt force!' She exclaimed inside her head.
Recovering, she landed on the ground and cast another spell.
"Fairy spell, Brilliant Dust!"
Swoosh!
Out of nowhere, eight inverted sharp swords made entirely of golden dust manifested above the mutated snake's body. With a downward gesture from Linthia's hand—the sharp swords, drop down and stabbed the mutated snake's body.
Three stabbed through causing the mutated snake to wail, while the other five got deflected.
Seeing this, Linthia's eyes sparkled as she could defeat the mutated snake.
However, as she thought of that—her eyes widened seeing a thick tail whipping towards her.
Pahh!
A resounding thunderous crack echoed through the forest as Linthia got hurled—to the side, vomiting a mouthful of blood, and got slammed to the tree, "I let myself get distracted, when will I learn?"
Even though she tried her hardest, she was always a sucker for good news.
She got excited too soon, the fight hadn't come to its conclusion yet.
Just then, the mutated snake wrenched its fangs free from the tree trunk and turned towards Linthia with its slitted, dangerous eyes. Its reptilian eyes glowed ominously with a bronze hue as an armor of earth began to form around its coiled body.
Compared to before, its aura spiked higher, showing that it had gotten stronger.
Upon seeing this, Linthia forced herself to stand up and flee.
But as she did that, a painful yelp was forced out of her when she suddenly felt a sting.
Knowing what she was planning to do—the mutated snake fired—bronze energy from its venom gland that flew like a bullet, and pierced through Linthia's stomach. It stunned her body as the mutated snake came in for the strike.
In defense, Linthia could only create a barrier to protect herself and crossed her arms.
She could do nothing but take the blow head-on and hope to survive.
However, as she closed her eyes out of fright, she suddenly heard a loud crashing sound.
In preparation for what he was about to do—Flunra transformed, into his Werewolf form—his powerful frame hunched over the ground. He then dipped his two fingers into the blood pool and began to draw on the ground.
His fingers moved with an almost artistic grace, each stroke deliberate and precise.
Complete seriousness was etched on his face.
It made it seem like he was an artist at work on his magnum opus.
Gradually with each stroke of his fingers, he crafted an intricate and detailed formation.
He curved the blood into complex runes after runes, and each completed rune glowed with a faint energy. As he continued—the air around him, seemed to be dyed with crimson hue. Rex could see that the runes drew energy from Flunra and himself directly—sapping both of their strengths with every symbol he finished.
As the formation became clearer, Flunra's breath grew heavier.
Rex could see the exhaustion emerging more evident from Flunra's countenance.
Finishing the long process that took about fifteen minutes to complete—Flunra drew a circle to mark the blood pool at the center—highlighting it as a crimson full moon, the Blood Moon, before he straightened his back.
He reverted back to his Human form and turned to Rex, "You can now place the sacrifices,"
Upon hearing this, Rex nodded and stepped forward.
Earlier Rex already discussed the fact that he needed to gain strands of divine energy for the quest, relating to the Countess' recovery, and surprisingly, Flunra knew two ways, and one of them was faster than the other.
Surely, Rex opted to take the faster method, but there was a catch.
He could do it, but he was going to anger Kaiser, the Lunirich God of the Blood Moon.
Knowing that their relationship, was already a mess anyway—with Rex taking a portion of his power forcefully and gaining a King Mark there's no need to hesitate against Kaiser. Because of that, he went ahead with the faster method.
Flunra said that the faster method is through a sacrificial.
Every Lunirich God had a different method of the sacrifices they were going to accept.
It differs from one to the other, but Kaiser of the Scarlet Garland, the Blood Moon is the most upfront, as he accepts through blood and corpses. Due to that very reason—Rex was storing all of his kills inside the inventory.
Had it not for the sacrificial ritual, he would've let Delta or Gistella devour the corpses.
But he needs them for something.
Opening the inventory tab, Rex took out the mutated boars and other animals that he killed.
He stacked them all within the formation Flunra had just made.
Due to his bad mood on the way back, he killed more mutated animals, and now the total kill that he did was already creating a hill of carcasses. All of them were placed neatly inside the formation before Rex stepped away.
Sensing the sacrifices, the formation began to steam with kingly energy.
It was made through Rex's blood, so this was not a surprising sight.
"Now what?" Rex asked.
Paying close attention to the formation, and only when its entirety glowed that Flunra replied.
"Repeat the incantation after me exactly as I say it to activate the ritual," He instructed.
Upon hearing this, Rex nodded and faced ahead.
Pausing for a moment, Flunra steady his breaths before he begins the incantation.
"Ruler of the rising blood, heed our call... From lunar realms beyond our sight, bless us with thy lunirich might. Blood and corpse we offer to the Blood Moon's decree. Accept our plea. Through sacrifice, we honor the Kaiser of the Scarlet Garland"
"Accept our plea. Grant me the divine might of a Lunirich God!"
As soon as the last words escaped Rex's mouth, the formation exploded with power.
The blood moon kingly energy that steamed out of the formation became intense almost in an instant, infatuated by the overwhelming power of another. Rex could feel the power was increasing in the air as the carcasses slowly dissipated into more kingly energy.
Smiling from ear to ear, he looked up into the sky as if he were staring at the Lunirich God.
It was as if he was staring directly at Kaiser of the Scalet Garland in the eyes.
Give me your power, I'll suck you dry until you're no longer a God, Kaiser!