Chapter 187: You Will Not Bleed

The roots came from everywhere, from the soil, from the trees themselves, and he suspected that some of the roots even came from the shadows between.

It was almost as if these roots were not parts of these trees, but were parasitic creatures who used the trees to hide their true nature.

They wrapped around wolf legs, wolf bodies, and wolf throats.

Squeals of surprise emerged from the pack as they tried to scatter, but it was too late. Half were already dragged underground, their howls cut short.

The Alpha survived. It was faster than the others and smarter. It dodged the first wave of roots, then the second, then the third, its eyes never leaving Elias.

It cornered Elias against the edge of the still lake, its eyes burning with hatred and hunger, as its runes blazed.

Elias’s analytical nature noted that while the mist of the Flesh Mauler he had fought detonated in the air, the Rune Beast had these strange runes that were burning, meaning they had an innate control over their Lumina that an average Siphon would not.

Without a legacy, a Siphon would not be able to effectively control their Lumina, only using it crudely like a club, but these beasts did not need legacies; it seemed to be imprinted into their bodies.

Elias felt it the moment the Alpha’s attention fixed on him. It was like a weight, the same suffocating presence he had felt from the Flesh Mauler in the oasis, but sharper, more focused. This beast was not just powerful; it was also aware.

The Alpha suddenly grinned, and Elias’s eyes widened, and then it attacked.

This unexpected sign of cunning placed Elias on his back foot as his instincts screamed at him to move. Elias bent himself on all fours and threw himself to the side as claws that glowed with crimson light passed through the space where his head had been.

The air itself seemed to tear where they passed, leaving a faint trail of distortion.

He rolled, came up facing it, and felt something cold run down his cheek. Blood. He hadn’t even felt the hit; the claws were so sharp that they had opened his skin before the nerves could register pain.

Vitality: 4502 / 4517 [Bleed Drain detected.]

Elias’s eyes glanced to the blazing runes above the Alpha wolf, and he understood that this creature’s abilities were related to sharpness and blood.

He did not think it was possible for him to bleed from a scratch, but he had lost more blood on a single scratch than he had when he lost a limb.

But Elias’s regeneration was not normal. Infant Regen had become Unyielding Flesh, and not adding the fact that Crimson Vein Dominion was passively resisting the bleed effect of the Rune Beast, and beneath all of that, were the Ascendant Swarm surging to meet the threat.

Purple motes swarmed the cut on his cheek, sealing it before a single drop of blood could fall from his face, and the blood that had already covered his face acted as if they had a life of their own and crawled back into the cut on his face, and in a moment, the cut stitched shut.

The Alpha’s eyes narrowed. It had felt its talent fail, and saw the wound on Elias’s face heal, and beyond astonishment was hunger; if it could devour Elias’s flesh and Lumina, there was a chance it could absorb some of these traits, also it could sense the Divine Fragment inside Elias, and there was nothing it wanted more than this.

An average Siphon would not be able to use Divine Fragment until they reached the Void Sentinel level, but for Rune Beast, they could absorb Divine Fragments, unlocking and growing the power of their Runes, and in this manner, the Alpha could reach higher stages far more quickly than any Siphon ever could.

It growled with annoyance and attacked again, however, this time, Elias was ready. He drew his claws and his Ascendant Swarm Symbiosis, answering instantly, coating and transforming his fingers into purple blades.

Elias would have preferred a spear, but this was close-quarter combat, and the beast was moving too fast, his claws would be the only way he could keep up.

He peered at his bladed fingers, noting that even without his input, they now had serrated edges gleaming with golden flecks. His swarm had grown, and he met the Alpha’s charge head-on.

Claws met claws in a shower of sparks and crimson light. The impact drove Elias back a step, his boots digging furrows in the soft earth. The Alpha was stronger than him, not by much, but enough to matter.

Its Mist Phantom stage had granted it physical enhancements that matched or exceeded his own.

He may be wrong in his calculations, but he suspected that the strength of the beast reached 170 at the least.

The Alpha pressed its advantage, the next clash pushed through Elias’s defenses, and its claws raked across his armored chest. The Profound Iron held, barely.

Deep gouges appeared in the metal, and Elias felt the shock of impact through the plate. His Stone Skin was inactive, and the Profound Iron was nothing to a Rune Beast.

Cold waves flowed down his chest, and Elias did not have to check to know that he was bleeding; a brief glance at his Status Screen showed his present state.

Vitality: 4478 / 4517

Elias growled in anger, and he countered, driving his own claws toward the Alpha’s throat.

The beast twisted, taking the blow on its shoulder instead. That was a mistake, as Elias’s purple blades sank deep into its flesh, and immediately, Sanguine Resonance activated. A trickle of vitality flowed into Elias, barely noticeable but present.

The Alpha howled in rage. From its luscious white fur, Elias did not think it was used to being hurt. With its power and its pack, it should not be used to prey that fought back.

They circled each other in the clearing, the carnivorous trees forgotten, the roots still now as if they too were watching, or they were scared to come close to the still lake.

The Alpha’s runes blazed brighter, and Elias felt the pressure increase. It had a rather unique Mist Phantom’s aura, and this pressed down on him, trying to slow his movements, in order to force him into making mistakes.

Pulling from instincts that gave him the edge when he used the Echo Stones, Elias used his Sovereign Will and pushed back against the aura, and he felt the pressure become merely uncomfortable instead of crippling.

He did not know that this would work, and he smiled in his heart.

The Alpha attacked again, and this time it did not stop, and Elias’ eyes shone with prismatic light as he fully focused, throwing away every bit of distraction in his mind.

A flurry of blows, each one fast enough to kill a normal Fury Forge a dozen times over. Elias dodged, blocked, countered, felt claws find gaps in his armor, felt blood flow, and then stop flowing as his healing abilities and his swarm sealed wounds almost as fast as they opened, even though the wounds still remained under his sealed skin.

The Alpha was faster, stronger, its talent making each strike more dangerous than the last, but Elias would not bleed… he would not weaken… he would not die.

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