Chapter 326: Barbarian Hold
Dorian crushed the Grey Orc’s neck like it was nothing.
Its veins and carotid arteries burst first, followed by the hyoid bone and the cartilage cracking with a bony snap, and then finally the spine. He watched the Grey Orc die in his grip as it tried to break free.
And once it was dead, Dorian pulled, ripping its throat and splashing blood onto his face.
"Blood..." He licked the blood that splattered onto his lips and smiled. "Yummy."
All Grey Orcs are males.
Naturally, as a Supernal of Empusa, the grotesque scent and taste of their blood were more like butter and honey. Even having the blood touch his tongue was already enough for him to feel invigorated.
Being an Aspirant Supernal enhanced the Patron God’s characteristics.
Now, Dorian could recover and even empower himself slightly through drinking blood.
It wasn’t only to help him satiate his hunger anymore.
Crash—!
Dorian looked to the side at the sound of a loud crash.
He saw the barrack wall to his left explode outward; chunks of timber and bone-spikes flew through the air like shrapnel. A figure emerged from the dust and debris—sliding across the sand and carving two trenches with her feet.
It was Bree.
Following right after her was a tide of Grey Orcs that poured through the broken wall, mouths open in roars and their weapons dragged behind them. Bree sneered and lifted the staff in her hand horizontally before her.
A Grade-1 Enchanted Weapon with wind origin, belonging to the Lower Harpies of Dicta.
It amplified the mana channeling speed of its wielder.
Bree twisted the staff and pulled—the head of the staff, shaped like a screaming woman’s face, separated from the shaft, revealing a thin, gleaming blade. A staff that was mainly used for entirely neutralizing enemies became a weapon to rend flesh and kill.
Her eyes glowed with mana.
Soon, the first Grey Orc swung its axe.
Bree parried, letting the blade slide past her body and slam into the ground, and quickly drove a roundhouse kick into its head. It dropped. Two more came—she maneuvered between them, her body flowed like water, and she slit the tendons behind their knees.
Both hulking monsters fell to their knees, and with another swing, she slitted their throats.
Three down.
A fourth managed to get behind her, raising a two-handed hammer to crush her spine.
Bree looked at the incoming hammer without a change in her expression. A thick membrane materialized in the nick of time, stopping the attack dead. The Grey Orc was taken aback, but she gave no way for it to recover.
She spun and thrust upward with a leap, aiming directly at the Grey Orc’s chin.
It pierced through flesh, brain, and skull bone before it emerged from the top of its head.
Thud—!
Just like the others, the last one dropped dead.
Bree fixed her hair and then closed her eyes, subtly healing the scratches on her.
"That’s so unfair." Dorian shook his head. "She’s simply a cheat."
Any Supernal with a Patron God known for supportive capabilities shouldn’t be able to fight like Supernals with a combat Patron God. Shouldn’t be able to fight as she did. But Bree was special.
She could provide support, protect herself, and fight at the same time.
Not to mention, her movements were flawless, and her agility was terrifyingly good.
Even after fighting dozens of Grey Orcs, she came out with mild grazes.
Just then, the ground shook.
Dorian snapped out of his daze and looked forward.
About thirty Grey Orcs emerged from beyond the haze of the sandstorm, charging in a bad stampede with their battle weapons raised and swirling above their heads, and growls rumbled in their throats.
Such a group of hulking monsters was enough to shake the ground.
’Shit, that number is a problem. I need time to use my new Legacy Imprint.’ Dorian thought.
Like hearing what he had in mind, Abigail came from behind.
"I’ll stall them, and you do your thing." She said as she walked past Dorian.
Abigail stopped a few steps away from Dorian and lifted her staff, another Grade-1 Enchanted Weapon infused with a water affinity with an origin from the Young Siren of Inra. It boosts the wielder’s mana capacity, which was perfect for her.
She channeled her Legacy Imprint, Ocean Hold, and then swiped.
A sticky blue liquid splattered across the sand in front of the charging horde.
Once the first Grey Orcs stepped on it, water tentacles erupted from the ground, latching onto their legs, their arms, and their necks. All of them were stopped in their tracks, roaring in fury as they tried to rip the water tentacles to free themselves.
"Quickly!" Abigail shouted. "I can’t hold them for long!"
Dorian quickly started his preparations.
He looked down at the Grey Orc corpse beneath him; the one he had tackled, the one whose neck he had gripped with thirsty eyes. Its throat was torn open—dark blood oozed from the wound and pooled in the sand.
And without ceremony, he shoved his face into the torn neck.
His mouth latched onto the wound.
Anyone who was watching might think that he was drinking the blood.
But he wasn’t.
He was marking the corpse, and he needed to bite the target first.
His new Legacy Imprint that he had finally gotten after a while required a sacrifice—and that sacrifice target would need to be marked first by his fangs. Once it was done, he pulled back, savouring the taste before his eyes flashed crimson.
Slowly, the blood within the corpse and the pool beneath it began to rise.
It lifted from the sand in thick, viscous streams, spiralling upward to form a blood sphere.
Dorian watched as the blood sphere grew, swelling as more and more blood siphoned into it.
A full ten seconds passed.
And then, the sphere pulsed—a sign that it had already harvested all the blood.
Only then did Dorian open his mouth and eat it in one bite.
He could feel the blood travel down his throat like liquid fire, and almost instantly, his hair flickered like flames being fed with oil. Power rampaged through his insides, and steam began to rise from his shoulders.
Dorian contained it, gritted his teeth, and shouted at Abigail.
"Get away!"
Abigail moved without question, cancelling her Legacy Imprint as she did.
All of the water tentacles dissolved, freeing the Grey Orcs. They stumbled forward, roaring— ready to charge again, but they weren’t fast enough to do that. Across, Dorian already opened his mouth.
"Legacy Imprint: Blood-fire!"
Swoosh—!
A stream of blood-red flame erupted from his throat.
It struck the Grey Orcs from the left, sweeping across their ranks like a scythe of pure flaming destruction. The fire engulfed them, clung to their grey skin, and burned through muscle and bone like they were nothing.
Painful squeals echoed across the battlefield.
All of them thrashed uselessly, and then dropped dead as the blood-fire still burned them.
Due to the extreme heat, some of the sand particles nearest to the flame turned into glass. Then the flame stopped. Dorian closed his mouth and dropped to one knee. "It’s a really demanding Legacy Imprint."
He clicked his tongue, feeling that a big portion of his mana was drained from using it.
But Abigail was already there.
Her hands pressed against his back, channelling mana into his body to replenish his mana and mend his wounds. It took only a moment for Dorian to feel fine again. "Alright, that’s more than enough." He said, shrugging her hands away and then closed his nose. "Get away from me now."
"Why are you closing your nose? I showered today." Abigail smacked her lips.
Even so, she still tried smelling her armpit to see if she really stank.
"You’re fucking wounded somewhere," Dorian cursed. "Your blood reeked."
"Hm? I’m not wounded at all."
"My nose is never wrong. Check again, and do it far away from me."
"You don’t have to be so mean about it."
Abigail pouted and walked away to check whether she was really wounded.
On the other hand—Dorian glanced to the side and saw Bryan was looking away, head down, and both hands resting on his hips. Dorian rose and crossed to him. "Yo." He clapped a hand against Bryan’s back. "You good? You really that fragile that you’re experiencing a mid-life crisis after a little slam?"
Bryan laughed dryly. "I’m fine. Just needed to catch my breath."
On the surface, he looked completely fine.
But Dorian could see through him rather easily after being friends for months already.
He wasn’t fine; the weak smile and his dry laugh made it obvious.
"Don’t kid me, bro." Dorian shook his head and crossed his arms. "I know what is bothering your mind. And believe me—there was still time until whatever time limit Kai was operating under. Even if you still haven’t reached Aspirant Supernal until then, he’ll most certainly push it back.
"If not, then I’ll give him a hamburger fist right into his mouth. Don’t worry."
Bree and Matilda reached the Aspirant Supernal very quickly. Dorian took some time to reach the threshold, but it wasn’t that long. But it was already nearing two months now for Bryan. He was worried that he might not be able to reach the Aspirant Supernal rank in time.
Even Abigail was already showing signs of becoming an Aspirant Supernal.
Her hair had grown even more blue, and her fingers were already becoming pointier.
Bryan, on the other hand, hadn’t shown any changes at all.
For the last few months, he had been working hard non-stop to increase his strength, earn the favour of his Patron God, and also increase his rank. But none seemed to be working. He was falling behind.
"Thanks," Bryan flashed a smile, returning to normal again. "I’m not planning to give up."
"That’s the spirit." Dorian laughed. "A big body must have a big heart. Just keep going."
Just then, Bree approached them after dealing with a few more Grey Orcs.
"Our area is cleared." She said, oblivious to what the two were talking about. "I can’t believe we were able to take out so many Grey Orcs in a day, and—we’re not even struggling. At this point, we might be able to catch up to the seniors’ groups."
"Sticking out like that... Won’t the seniors hate us?" Bryan asked.
"Would Kai even care about that?" Dorian chuckled at the notion. "If I had to guess—he must be secretly hoping for the seniors to do something. That’ll give a reason for us to clash, which would then make the Barbarian Hold entirely ours."
"Self-reflection. It sounded like you’re the one who was hoping for that to happen more." Bree raised her upper lip in a sneer. "Regardless, where’s Kai? I thought he was clearing the other end, but it has been silent."