81 The Only Way

It looked like a beam of crimson light, with dark red thunders wide as the trunk of a giant tree creeping on its outer layer. Terrifying explosion occurring each time the red thunders clashed with each other.

However, the thing that attracted the attention of the distant small black snake wasn't the aspect of that strange column of light. It was the feeling that it gave him.

He could sense that all that mountain of red light was made of Bloodline Power. Not like the one that he could feel on some bodies or the mad spirits that roamed that strange place where he was.

No, this Bloodline Power was different.

Firstly, this particular Bloodline Power was very similar to the one that flowed inside Darkscale's veins. If the power he felt inside various entities in his recent journey could be considered like a cousin of his, the energy that was now blazing in the sky was more like a brother.

He felt himself resonation with it, like if he was unconsciously answering a calling.

It was a very strange feeling: he had the absolute certainty that that horrifying mountain of energy would not harm him in the slightest. He could clearly sense the devastating power of the conical vermilion structure that was lighting up the sky, and the violence with which the thunders around it clashed with each other, but he remained sure that the power he was perceiving would not want to harm him.

"It's so... pure" murmured the snake looking enticed towards the crimson sky.

This was another thing he could sense from the Energy that was reversing itself towards the sky: it was pure. Purer than his at least.

Darkscale felt kept an eye on the strange light in the sky, and at the same time continued processing the body of the giant lizard that he had caught in his Pretorian's Breath.

The howls of the giant lizard were now covered by the sound of the thunders and explosion that came from the surface of that colossal mass of crackling red energy in the distance.

A good chunk of his body had been turned into a dark mass of light that was flowing toward the center of the vortex that caged him. It was still fighting again the force of the whirlpool, but its strength had been maimed by the loss of so many energy. This made the vortex able to consume him even at a faster rate.

It didn't take even a couple of minutes for the entire creature to disappear into the vortex, completely transformed into ghost energy.

The whirlpool started to become progressively smaller, as it was absorbed inside the body of the snake, together with the new power of the mad spirit he had just killed.

Darkscale's Devil Core was flooded by a seemingly endless stream of energy, new silver waves of power that united with the already big sea of Ghost Energy trapped inside the Energy Container.

'Almost full...'

The snake gave an internal look to the Devil Core, and realized that he had almost filled the entire shining gem with power. If he kept accumulating energy so quickly he would cause it to shatter again, passing from a Rank 1 to a Rank 2 Devil.

The sole idea made him shiver.

'That wouldn't be wise...'

Becoming stronger was a good thing, but if he became a rank 2 Devil he would also lose more control. He couldn't allow himself to rank up without first determining how his Bloodline Power could help him stay in control of himself.

Waiting for some Ancestral Memory would be nice, but the images and instinctive knowledge couldn't be compared with a solid and thoughtful explanation. He needed to talk of this with Spike when he came back to the Outpost.

'If, I go back...' Laughed internally the snake, preparing to start purifying the Blood Energy that was now inside his body before it began to have an effect on him.

His eyes shined with a purple light and a violet flame started to cover him, burning in the air around him. He gathered the Bloodline Energy that was trying to penetrate everywhere in his flesh, extracted it from each corner of his body and sent it towards a few filaments of blue power that hovered inside him, almost undetectable.

The Blue Link. Cultivators from other Paths, even if they had his same rank wouldn't be even able to sense its presence. The Devil was strong with physical abilities.

When he sent the first batch of Bloodline Power, Carelia immediately screamed with horror and rage.

"I AM GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE!"

She was on the other side of the bridge, still clumped inside Star Leaf's poor body. She could do nothing but try to margin the presence of all that corrupting power, using her energy to stop it from touching her soul and corrupting it forever.

Darkscale felt another powerful trust, coming from the direction where he last saw the traitorous Artificial Intelligence. He almost couldn't contain himself from a smug expression.

The serpent sent another wave of corrupted power, a bigger chunk of it this time. He then opened his mouth, wanting to give another of his remarks when he felt the entire world shook. It wasn't as impressive as the explosion that caused the creation of the mountain of light that was still present in the sky, but it was still incredibly violent detonation.

"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS"

A white flame emerged from the cone of red energy. No explosion seemed able to hinder its passage. The thunders tried to chain it down and keep it inside, but the flame cut through them with brutal violence and kept flying towards the serpent's location.

'She moved!'

A wave of power hit Darkscale, pressuring him to the ground with a force that he barely could contend with. He didn't panic, but realized that he had miscalculated his enemy's strength: she was still capable to cause almost hold him in place with her remaining power.

If she could fight him and this wasn't an all-out final attack, he wouldn't be able to survive the day. Not with that level of power. He could maybe survive a single blow or even a couple of them if he was lucky, but more were completely out of his capacity.

'There is still a chance.'

Preparing to go all out, he gathered all his energy, Ghost and Bloodline Power alike. He didn't move though. He lied still, in wait for the right moment. A miserable expression appeared on his eyes, while his body began to tremble almost as if he couldn't bear the force that was keeping him down.

Those violet eyes of his, usually so proud and calm. Looking over everything like he felt untouchable, were now filling with tears of pain and regret. He even managed to spit some blood, coughing it on the ground near his head.