Dawn Walker

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The battle continued. Sofia appeared directly in front of Stephen and drove her fist toward him. Stephen raised his palm and caught the attack, but the impact sent a heavy wave through the courtyard. This time, Stephen moved. His feet slid backward across the broken stone for two full steps. It was not much, but those were two steps he had not been forced to take during most of the previous exchanges.

Natasha appeared behind him almost at the same moment. Her claws slashed toward his back. Stephen turned quickly, but he was too late to avoid the entire attack. Four crimson lines opened across his shoulder, and divine blood flew into the air.

Sofia immediately used Blood Control. Stephen’s spilled blood stopped before it could reach the ground and twisted in the air, forming sharp red needles that shot back toward him. Stephen raised one hand, and the strange force surrounding him appeared again. The blood needles stopped in front of him as though they had struck an invisible wall.

However, Natasha was already moving.

She appeared beside Stephen and kicked toward his ribs. Stephen blocked the strike with one arm, but the force still pushed him sideways. Elena saw the opening and attacked immediately. Her fist struck Stephen directly in the chest, and for the first time in several minutes, the three women forced him backward together.

Sekhmet watched closely.

Blood Corruption had changed the situation. Sofia and Natasha were no longer fighting as Half-Gods. The power of Blood God Will had temporarily pushed both of them into the Low-Rank God level, allowing them to survive exchanges that would have thrown them across the courtyard only moments earlier.

However, it was still not enough to guarantee victory.

Stephen was a mid-rank God. His strange power remained stronger, and he had far more experience using strength at the God level. Even with Sofia and Natasha temporarily elevated, he could still pressure them when he became serious.

The biggest difference was that Stephen could no longer ignore them.

He had to treat both women as real threats now, and that gave Elena the breathing room she desperately needed.

Sekhmet looked toward his biggest supporter. There was still one Blood Corruption slot remaining.

Elena.

That was where the real risk began.

Sofia and Natasha were vampires already closely connected to his bloodline. His blood entered their bodies easily, and their vampire blood accepted his Blood God authority almost eagerly. Even then, Sekhmet had needed to use Blood God Will to push them from Half-God to Low-Rank God.

Elena was different.

She was already a God.

She was not a vampire, and her body did not naturally belong to Sekhmet’s bloodline. More importantly, she was stronger than Sekhmet by an enormous amount. Blood Corruption could enter her body, but forcing it deep enough to affect her God-level foundation would require Blood God Will once again.

The System had already warned him about the price.

Bloodlust.

Sekhmet looked back toward the battle. Stephen blocked Sofia’s kick, avoided Natasha’s claws, and then released his strange power outward. A heavy invisible force struck both women and pushed them backward. Elena attacked through the opening, but Stephen caught her fist before it reached his body.

Their powers collided.

The ground beneath their feet cracked.

Elena’s face tightened as Stephen slowly began forcing her arm backward. Even after Sofia and Natasha had become Low-Rank Gods, Elena herself was still losing badly whenever she faced Stephen directly.

Sekhmet spoke through the blood connection to Sofia and Natasha.

"Get Elena back to me. Give me some alone time with her."

Sofia reacted immediately. She attacked Stephen’s face while Natasha struck his arm from the opposite side. Stephen was forced to release Elena and defend himself.

Elena moved backward, but confusion appeared on her face when Sofia stepped between her and Stephen.

"Go to Sekhmet."

Elena frowned.

"I am still fighting."

Natasha appeared beside her while keeping her eyes on Stephen.

"He has something for you."

Elena looked toward Sekhmet. She saw the blood covering his open palm and then looked toward the strange crimson aura surrounding Sofia and Natasha. Both women felt completely different from before. Their power had risen beyond the Half-God level, and their blood carried something that had not existed inside them earlier.

Understanding slowly appeared in Elena’s eyes.

Then Stephen attacked again.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Sofia and Natasha met him together, and the collision shook the entire Iron House estate. Cracks spread farther across the courtyard while damaged pieces of the mansion fell from the walls.

Elena had no more time to argue.

She moved toward Sekhmet and landed directly in front of him.

"What did you do?"

Sekhmet answered simply.

"I made them stronger."

Elena looked toward the two ancient vampires again. Their movements were faster, their regeneration was stronger, and their blood abilities had become far more aggressive. More importantly, the pressure coming from their bodies now clearly belonged to Low-Rank Gods.

Elena looked back at Sekhmet.

"And you can do the same to me?"

"Yes."

"What is the cost?"

Sekhmet respected the fact that everyone kept asking that question instead of blindly accepting power.

"Your true rank may drop temporarily after the effect ends."

Elena’s expression changed.

"For how long?"

"Months."

That was serious.

For a God, losing part of her true cultivation for several months could create enormous problems. She could become vulnerable to enemies who normally would never dare approach Dawn House while she remained at full strength.

Elena looked toward Stephen.

Sofia received a palm strike against her shoulder. The bone broke under the force, but the damage repaired itself almost immediately under Blood Corruption. Natasha wrapped a blood chain around Stephen’s ankle, but he broke it and forced both women backward with another wave of his strange power.

Even after becoming Low-Rank Gods, their advantage was already becoming unstable.

Elena looked back at Sekhmet.

"Anything else?"

Sekhmet hesitated for half a second.

"Yes."

Elena waited.

"My blood has to enter your body."

She looked at his open palm.

"That is not the part you hesitated about."

Sekhmet knew her too well to lie badly.

"It will create a Blood Authority bond while the corruption is active. It will remain inside you forever."

Elena’s eyes narrowed.

"You mean loyalty?"

"Yes."

"To you?"

"Yes."

Elena looked at him for only two seconds before holding out her hand.

"Do it."

Sekhmet stared at her.

"You did not even think about it."

"I did."

"That was two seconds."

"I only needed one. I raised you from childhood. If I don’t have loyalty then why would I do it?"

Elena looked toward Stephen again.

"If that old man reaches you because I was afraid of becoming temporarily weak after the battle. Not gonna happen. I came here knowing I might die today."

Despite everything happening around them, Sekhmet almost smiled.

Elena looked back at him.

"Do it."

Sekhmet raised his bleeding palm. A new stream of blood rose from the wound and gathered above his hand. The amount was larger than what he had used normally because Elena’s God-level body would require far more authority to affect.

The System immediately warned him.

[Target: Elena.

Race: Divine Human.

Status: Low-Rank God.

Target exceeds Host’s natural Blood Corruption authority.

Blood God Will be required.

Warning: Bloodlust escalation will begin immediately upon activation.]

Sekhmet did not hesitate.

"Use Blood God Will."

The moment he gave the command inside his mind, something deep within him moved.

It was not his chaos energy. It was not ordinary Blood Control either. It was something far older, something he had only felt in fragments before.

For one heartbeat, the sounds of the courtyard disappeared.

Sekhmet heard blood everywhere.

Hundreds of hearts beat around him. Thousands of vessels carried blood through living bodies. He could feel the wounded servants hiding inside Iron House, Raka and the lesser vampires surrounding the estate, the battle maids, Mira, Lily, Vera, Vela, Mihos, Stephen, Sofia, Natasha, and Elena standing directly in front of him.

Every heartbeat inside Iron House became clear.

Sekhmet’s pupils turned completely red.

The blood floating above his palm darkened. It did not become black. Instead, it became a crimson so deep that it almost looked as though no light could escape from inside it.

Elena felt the pressure coming from the blood and became serious.

"What is that?"

Sekhmet’s voice sounded slightly lower when he answered.

"My blood."

The System corrected him inside his mind.

[Blood God Will has entered Host blood.

Blood Corruption of God-level targets is now possible.

Warning: Bloodlust rising rapidly.]

Sekhmet felt it immediately. The smell of blood across the entire courtyard suddenly became unbearable.