Chapter 87: The End of Julio

The crowd was somewhat surprised. Throughout the siege, Julio’s every strike, if landed, would be a certain kill. However, the Empire’s strong soon felt a surge of spirit; this indicated that Julio was nearly at his end.

Qian Ye’s gaze towards Julio, however, was different. Only he knew that the blood ray had an extremely strong penetration, but its actual power was unusually low, and it even contained a drop of blood.

Julio’s blood aura was almost powerless against the dark golden blood aura, being devoured in an instant. After Qian Ye absorbed it, his blood aura, which had been greatly depleted by countering the demonic aura of the noble, surprisingly recovered. Could it have been a drop of source blood?

Qian Ye was now extremely perplexed. Theoretically, the source blood of the blood clan was as toxic to humans as black titanium, but this kind of corrosion wasn’t irreversible. A blood clan could only condense a limited number of drops of source blood in their lifetime, which was their source of power and lineage. Though it was said to be worth thousands of times more than black titanium, it had never been heard of as an attack method.

In fact, this drop of blood seemed more like a test. If Qian Ye had no blood aura or if his blood aura was of a lower grade than Julio’s, it would have been much more troublesome.

Qian Ye couldn’t understand why Julio, the famous blood clan marquis whom he had never met, would suddenly test him with his blood aura.

After Zhao Jundu’s shot severely wounded Julio, the Empire’s strong took turns to attack, but most were unsuccessful. Only Li Kuanglan’s swift sword managed to strike a hit.

Suddenly, a wild surge of blood aura exploded around Julio, instantly shattering Zhao Jundu’s eight-sided seal, and continued to expand outward, forcing the Empire’s strong to retreat. They only managed to halt the blood aura’s erosion when they were dozens of meters away.

Qian Ye raised his sword, about to unleash the Great Sea Vortex domain to counter, but Zhao Jundu, who was blocking in front of him, deeply frowned and grabbed him, pulling him back. The momentum Qian Ye had yet to form instantly dissipated. He turned to see Zhao Jundu’s pale face, drained of another hint of color after his domain was broken.

At this moment, a fierce, unparalleled killing intent descended from the sky, instantly enveloping the entire field!

Julio’s body jolted, slowly lowering his head to look at his chest. A large hole had appeared out of nowhere, piercing through his chest, and the blood core that had been there was now gone.

Outside the ruins, a white-robed woman slowly descended from the sky, her expression solemn and deadly.

Bai Valve, Bai AoTu.

Her overwhelmingly powerful punch, delivered from a distance, pierced through Julio’s chest and annihilated his blood core.

Facing his inevitable death, Julio’s face showed no sorrow. His gaze did not linger on the one who killed him; instead, he looked up to the sky, spreading his arms, as if trying to embrace something. In this moment, Julio’s gaze seemed to pierce through this world, falling into the void, where perhaps there lay another unknown world.

Julio’s eyes gradually dimmed, and his body slowly fell. Just as he was about to touch the dust, a violent burst of blood-colored flames erupted from within him. This flame, fueled by all the remaining blood aura, was incomparably fierce, reducing Julio to ashes in an instant, leaving no trace.

This once-renowned marquis, whose fame spread across both camps and even overshadowed some old dukes, finally drew the curtain on his life here.

Yet, at this moment, the many Empire strong who had long besieged and suffered heavy casualties did not feel joy, but rather a profound, inexplicable emptiness.

Having fought fiercely for so long, Julio had already proven his former reputation with his own strength. Despite Zhao Jundu’s sealing, Li Kuanglan’s stormy swordsmanship, Qian Ye’s relentless attacks with the Heavy Sword, and the various means of the Empire’s strong, Julio still held on until the last, until his blood aura was completely drained. Throughout, he made no mistake, not even the smallest.

In this battle, Julio used his life to illustrate what perfect combat technique was. It could be said that he once again earned respect, even from his enemies.

But such a person died under such a blow. Bai AoTu’s punch shattered Julio’s last defense and crushed this mighty marquis with overwhelming force.

This made Julio’s death seem less dignified, at least not worthy of his status and final battle performance.

Qian Ye, looking at the center of the ruins where even the last ash was swept away by the night wind, felt a deep sense of loss.

Many strong figures looked at Bai AoTu with hostility. They had just come through a hard-fought battle, and their killing intent was at its peak. Even Bai AoTu, known for her ferocity, no longer seemed as fearsome.

A general immediately shouted, “Bai AoTu, what do you mean by this? Are you stealing credit?”

These words made many people’s faces even darker. They had fought to the death, losing many comrades, and Bai AoTu, appearing at the last moment to take Julio’s life, was certainly seen as stealing credit.

Bai AoTu’s face twisted in mockery. “Do I need this military credit? You keep it. I just came to help because you were taking too long.”

This statement offended everyone present. Li Kuanglan, never one to tolerate such insults, his face changing, coldly sneered, “We could have finished the fight without you. Your presence made no difference. Next time, don’t meddle!”

Bai AoTu stared at Li Kuanglan, her eyes full of murderous intent. Li Kuanglan, unafraid, replied, “What, want to kill me? I doubt you have the guts. The Empire isn’t ruled by your Bai Valve alone.”

Bai AoTu gazed at Li Kuanglan, calmly saying, “Titles and positions mean nothing to me. Neither does the restriction of the noble families. If you weren’t a worthy opponent, I would have killed you right now. Since you disagree, let’s fight when we reach Divine General. Bullying you now is pointless.”

Li Kuanglan, taken aback, narrowed his eyes. “Very well, we’ll fight then! You really think you’re the only genius in the Empire?”

“Then it’s settled,” Bai AoTu said indifferently.

Li Kuanglan turned to Zhao Jundu, asking, “What about you, Zhao Jundu? What do you say?”

Zhao Jundu, still holding Qian Ye, replied indifferently, “No interest.”

“No interest? Why?” Li Kuanglan clearly didn’t expect this answer.

Zhao Jundu, firmly gripping Qian Ye, said impassively, “Once I become a Divine General, none of you will be my match. Do I need to state that? In my eyes, the Empire has only two geniuses. One is me.”

Despite his irritation, Li Kuanglan couldn’t help but ask, “And the other? Don’t tell me it’s me. Ha, ha, how embarrassing! I didn’t know the ice block could be so cute…”

“Sorry, the other genius is also in my Zhao Valve.”

Li Kuanglan’s laughter stopped abruptly, cursing, “Damn it! Another one in your Zhao Valve? Wait, you don’t mean this kid, do you?”

Seeing Li Kuanglan look at him, Qian Ye quickly said, “Not me!”

Li Kuanglan snapped, “Damn it, if not you, then who!”

In an instant, everyone’s gaze focused on Qian Ye, making him want to curse as well.

Just then, a massive surge of blood aura rose in the distance, even more powerful and fierce than Julio’s.

“Julio!!” With a wailing cry, the blood aura rapidly approached. The Empire’s army parted like water, unable to stop it.

After the cry, the newcomer seemed to sense something, and the small figure in the blood aura shook, followed by a soft, mournful singing. As the song passed, the Empire’s army fell in swathes, leaving a large empty area around her.

An officer nearly hysterical shouted, “It’s Nana! Retreat, get back! Long-range sniping, long-range!”

This was the correct deployment. Against Nana, numbers were meaningless; her song was the deadliest weapon. However, long-range sniping was useless against a blood clan known for speed and agility, unless someone had the accuracy of Zhao Jundu.

Nana’s reputation for killing exceeded Julio’s. The Empire had no news of her joining the battle, and her sudden appearance added a new twist to the conflict.

Bai AoTu’s expression changed, her ordinary face radiating an intense, awe-inspiring light, “This is the merit I need.”

With that, she floated away, heading towards Nana. No one followed Bai AoTu, not entirely due to her earlier offenses. Given her character, anyone who interfered would become her enemy.

In a flash, Nana and Bai AoTu faced each other. Nana’s eyes swirled with blood aura, like bleeding rubies, and she demanded, “Where is Julio?!”

Bai AoTu replied coolly, “I just shattered his blood core with a punch. He burned himself to death. If you had arrived ten minutes earlier, you would have seen it.”

Nana’s eyes turned deep purple, her voice sharp, “Then you die too!!”

Nana rushed forward, her speed blurring her figure. Bai AoTu also moved, not dodging, meeting her head-on.

At the moment of impact, there seemed to be a pause, then they brushed past each other. Most of the Empire’s strong, except for a few, could not see how they clashed.

Nana turned, gliding like in the clouds, moving impossibly fast. Even Li Kuanglan’s face changed slightly; Nana’s speed was clearly superior, and in a fight, she might completely suppress his speed advantage.

Zhao Jundu set down the Azure Sky, shaking his head. Although the battlefield was within his range, the start and end were too quick for him to shoot.

Several extremely powerful dawn force auras rose on the distant horizon, swiftly approaching. These were the Divine Generals of the Empire, just finishing their battles.

“I’ll give you a lesson first. I, Mammon’s Nana, will make you pay! You will regret what you did today!” Nana’s voice echoed over the Eternal Night camp, her figure vanishing into the night.

In the direction Nana left, a trail of blood lay, and thousands of Empire soldiers fell, not having retreated to safety in time.