The Killer-Move! A Change?

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Lightning bolts struck one after the other. Surprisingly, despite their increasing strength, Blade maintained a smirk on his face, slashing down whatever came his way.

One, two, four, six... he made it through the tribulation...!

The power each bolt radiated, even Andra wasn't sure if she could counter it yet, Blade remained standing in the massive crater beneath him, his gaze fixed on his sword, the bluish blade forming cracks as it slowly broke apart.

Sigh!

"The power was stronger than this blade could handle..." Blade opened his palms, feeling the strength coursing through him, mumbling in confusion. "What does this mean...? I thought it was going to kill me, but it only strengthened me throughout the whole tribulation... no, it wasn't a tribulation, more like a roundabout way of giving me a power-up."

"Soo, don't you see it now...?" Astral said into Blade's ears.

Blade smirked as he closed his eyes, seemingly realizing something as he prepared to analyze the mysterious Laws he could faintly manipulate before entering the Martial Lord realm.

He sat in a meditative posture, his consciousness descending into his dantian, but...

Argh!

He let out a painful groan.

Cough!

In front of Blade, a mouthful of blood splattered on the ground. His eyes widened and shot open, revealing bloodshot pupils. As piercing pain emanated from his dantian, Blade's white blood leaked from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

"B-Blade?!" Andra's concerned voice reached his ears. His vision blurred and the world appeared to turn upside down, the sun began to fade, and the last thing he saw was Andra rushing toward him with a worried expression on her face as realization dawned on him.

'No wonder I seem to be gaining strength with each bolt of lightning. So the Lightning only penetrated my pores and was absorbed by my dantian, allowing it to do this... Huh? I'm suddenly convinced that the so-called 'Rules' are more evil and cunning than I am...'

...

...

Inside a mysterious space, levitating in an expanse with endless white mist, was an ancient-looking cube. Close by, countless drops of white blood floated ever so peacefully.

"It seems that the 'Rules' really viewed him as an anomaly. He'll die at this rate. And if he dies, I'm gone. And if I'm erased, the vengeance, everything I've worked for, will all be lost."

Though the system appeared to be emotionless, it was a sentient entity. Even if they appear to be devoid of such emotions, this does not imply that they are.

Their emotions were simply suppressed to a fraction of what the average human possessed, but they were still present, and they would still experience unwillingness in the face of death.

"To die or not to die Of course, I would prefer the latter. However, the only way to avoid the current unavoidable outcome... There is no way. In this situation, the master of the host is useless, the host is unconscious, unable to control the chaotic lightning energy, and I am powerless to do anything other than 'that'..."

"We'll die anyway if I don't do 'that' so I may as well... Though with my current level I'm unsure how powerful this will be, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to cause a massive change, and even if I do, I'm not sure if what changes would be enough of a change to reverse the situation... but this is the only way."

Suddenly, an incredible suction force seemed to suck in all the energy in the cube's surroundings and outside Blade's body as the cube began to glow with powerful and glimmering gold light.

"Even though I will be reverted to a state many times much worse than when I had just escaped the grasp of those bastards... it's necessary for the overall goal..!"

BOOM!!...

Within the mysterious realm, an apocalyptic explosion occurred.

The mist then dispersed, revealing a blue silhouette of Blade with a golden marking on his glabella floating with his eyes closed.

Numerous drops of white liquid glowed nearby, surrounded by mysterious barriers with mysterious patterns on them...

Many cracks had formed on these barriers, with some completely shattered, allowing white blood to escape and rush toward the nearby silhouette as if rushing home!

...

...

'Is this it, then?' This is correct... He was the driving force from the start. Their tragic past, and then the heavens do this to Blade, it appears that this is when Dolion will transform into a true villain, becoming the ultimate boss.'

Astral's mind was painted with the image of Andra kneeling next to Blade's immobile body, tears streaming down her face. In terms of Blade's safety, his death had little impact on him; after all, Blade was merely a competent side character who died through a lightning tribulation.

"Y-You! Why are you standing there? Do something!..." Andra yelled angrily. Her emotions shifted as she was triggered by Astral's relaxed demeanor as if what was going on had nothing to do with him.

What kind of master was he?!

'Oh, this could be a problem. With his emotions out of control, his brain would distort everything, and in a few months, the memories of Blade's death would make me seem like a villain even though I had nothing to do with it... This happens all the time.'

Sigh!

Cold light shone in Astral's eyes. If he couldn't save Blade, he was certain Dolion would become his adversary. Knowing he couldn't save Blade, wasn't it better to save his future self by erasing all traces of Andra?

But, before he could even approach Andra with such malice, his eyes twitched as he noticed something. Blade's heart had long stopped beating, and both figures were aware of this, hence their solemn demeanor.

But right now, in front of Astral's eyes, Blade's body was greedily sucking in the surrounding Life energy with no intention of stopping...

Rumble!

The ground shook violently as if an earthquake had begun. Astral's eyes widened with surprise.

BOOM!

An apocalyptic explosion emanating from Blade's body reached the duo's ears despite being suppressed. Blade's body began to shake violently at the same time.

Blood was oozing from his pores, and this time it was red blood. As his size began to shrink, more and more red blood was pumped out of his body.

His skin had turned pale, and his muscles were twitching uncontrollably. Andra's face darkened as she saw the unsettling sight. When she saw Blade suffer like this, she became enraged at those who had caused it.

Turning her gaze toward the man who claimed to be their master, she stared him down with anger practically spewing out of her eyes as this master refused to help. If gazes could kill, Astral would have been killed thousands of times by Andra's gaze. Even as she glared at Astral, her true attention was still on Blade, who lay on the ground.

Before she knew it, his body had shrunk and the blood had stopped oozing out. His arms moved in front of her stunned gaze.

Blade pushed himself off the ground and stood to his feet, his hair now reaching his ankles. Andra was still kneeling on the ground, covered in Blade's blood, staring up at Blade's face.

'I belittled him. So he wasn't a catalyst in the end instead, he was the true protagonist.' Astral evaluated the situation. 'I would assume he has some secret inside his body that was awakened by the killer move from the Tribulation.'

His hands were stained in red blood, as was the rest of his body, but it couldn't hide the changes that had occurred. There were not only internal changes but also external changes. His nails were much sharper and longer, almost claw-like.

His hair was now dark purple, and he had two bangs that reached his chin. One was a pitch-black blacker than night, while the other was a pristine white stained with red blood.

Finally, his eyes, more precisely his two pupils... One remained as black as night, while the other had turned a deep purple. Both emitted a faintly visible light glow in the shape of a star.

A mysterious ancient aura surrounded Blade's body. He seemed like an Immortal God who lead legions to destroy demons!...

"Blade?"

Andra's voice reached his ears, drawing his attention away from the numerous changes in his body and toward the blushing face of what he considered his property.

Her expression was perplexed. 'Blade...' she thought, even though she couldn't put her finger on it. 'He is unmistakably different from before.'

'I just got him to open up, if he changes, won't all my hard work be for naught? If he no longer likes me...!' Thinking this, Andra's face turned pale as she called out to him.

Hehehe...

A wide grin developed on Blade's face, displaying his sharp and long canines. Grabbing her arms, he pulled her up. Shockingly, even though Andra was shorter than Blade, after the transformation, it was not by as much as before.

"What exactly are you concerned about? I'm very protective of my property... You should be much more concerned about your inability to escape my grasp, no matter how hard you try." Blade sealed her lips with a bloody kiss after saying this.