The vines shattered, exploding under the chaotic energy unleashed by the bell. Klaus, now being covered by the bell, felt his mind clear of all emotions, returning him to his true self—the way he was before the Blood Moon Transformation.
'I need to finish this battle fast before I lose control,' he thought, now fully aware of how deep he'd fallen into his emotions. He had been consumed by fear, sadness, greed, jealousy, and intense anger. The only emotion he hadn't felt yet was lust, but he knew it was coming.
He looked ahead and saw four of the five Zombie Kings, now transformed into Blood Princes, hovering in the air. Then on the ground, one stood gripping a jagged spiked mace. With his mind clear, Klaus could finally sense the real danger.
"Can I really kill them?" he wondered. Even though his power had increased sixfold, the Blood Princes—and especially the Blood Queen, who was a Tier 8 zombie, a Sovereign by human standards—were no easy opponents.
"Demon Piercing Vines!" Just as Klaus was thinking about his next move, the Blood Queen attacked. Vines shot up from the ground, their sharp, piercing tips radiating with intense demonic energy.
In response, Klaus struck the side of the bell with his spear, making it ring out even louder this time. The vines shattered, but they kept coming.
However, the shockwave, containing both sonic and soul energy, crashed into the Blood Princes, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"My turn," Klaus muttered, shooting forward with his spear aimed at the Blood Queen. His movements were sharp and fast, but not fast enough. Before he could strike, a spiked mace came swinging toward his face.
Klaus blocked with his spear, clashing against the mace, but before he could twist out of the way, a powerful kick slammed into his side, sending him flying.
"Ice Beam!" Klaus shouted, summoning his Nine Stars Ice Lotus Bloom. The first star on the first petal glowed, and a wave of ice shot out, striking a Blood Prince that was charging at him from behind.
Using the shockwave from the impact, Klaus landed on the ground, swinging his spear at another Blood Prince. But before his attack could hit, another Blood Prince lunged forward.
"Shit!" Klaus cursed as he felt vines wrapping around his leg. He didn't have time to destroy them, so he slashed with his spear, cutting the vines in half.
"Come out!" Klaus roared, and the air around him turned scorching hot. In the sky above, a majestic, blood-red dragon appeared, looking fierce and deadly.
"I need to finish this now," he thought, but reality isn't always as one wants it. He must first cut through four abominations and an oddly seductive queen.
"Absolute Ice Domain," Klaus muttered as the entire space around him turned bitterly cold. The temperature plummeted, frost creeping over the ground.
He glanced up and saw his fire dragon locked in a fierce battle with one of the winged Blood Princes. The other two of the three Blood Princes stared down at him, their eyes wild and crazed.
The ice domain worked in his favor, boosting his speed and power, but he couldn't fly—unlike two of the Blood Princes, who hovered in the air with sharp claws ready to tear him apart. The third one, on the ground, wielded a jagged weapon gazing at him from the ground.
Monsters and Zombies don't evolve like humans. They don't automatically gain the ability to fly when they become saints—unless, of course, they have wings. For non-winged zombies or monsters to fly, they must evolve into Tyrant Monsters or Emperor Zombies.
But there are exceptions. Mutated monsters or zombies that grow wings can fly, and these Blood Princes were exactly that—mutants with wings. Klaus knew that if the battle went into the air, he'd be at a severe disadvantage. He couldn't fight effectively up there, so he was doing everything he could to keep the fight on the ground, where he had the advantage.
"Let's take it up a notch, shall we? While your 'Madam' is trapped for now," Klaus taunted, smirking as he glanced at the bell still containing the Zombie Queen. His Star Qi was draining rapidly, but he wasn't about to complain. Trapping the Queen, even if just for a while, was worth it.
"Demon Killing Circle," Klaus muttered as he swung his spear in a wide arc. Instantly, the ground within his icy domain erupted, and a swirling circle of ice about a kilometer wide appeared. The Zombies in the air felt themselves being pulled down, trapped by the crushing force of the circle.
"Now, we dance," Klaus whispered, his voice low but filled with fury. His brain buzzed with anger, but a wicked smile played on his lips as he clashed with a Zombie wielding a spiked mace.
Thanks to his past as Fruity, learning countless skills and techniques from the Soul Temple, Klaus had a vast arsenal to draw from. Hundreds of abilities are at his disposal. But he realized that using even one drained a significant amount of Star Qi. So, he chose the only skill that could tip the scales in his favor.
The Demon Killing Circle. It allowed him to control a defined space where he reigned supreme. Klaus could have used this skill anywhere, but activating it within the Ice Domain—where his affinity with the ice element was strongest—gave him every possible advantage. And with only four minutes of total control, he had no intention of wasting a single second.
"Moon Slash!" he shouted, imbuing his spear with ice as he swung it forward. A sharp, crescent-shaped arc of ice shot out, slamming hard into the spiked mace Zombie, cleaving through it like brittle wood.
"Die, you dumb creatures!" Klaus snarled, his anger surging. His mouth twisted into a bitter smirk as he started cursing the Zombies for obvious reasons.