"Booommmm!"
A huge explosion suddenly occurred in the middle of the Holy Polaris Region, very close to the Regional Temple, startling many. Chaos soon followed, and this wasn't the end of it, not by a long shot.
Similar explosions occurred at different important points of the Holy Polaris Region, especially close to the prayer temples where the Sirens usually pray to their goddess!
The authorities of the Holy Polaris Region suddenly went hectic because of this sudden attack, and the Priest Lord, the Polaris High Priest, was in the middle of this mess as he had to report this to the main temple as well as to calm the public down quickly and found the terrorist who dares to attack the Siren Hymn Temple.
However, the Sirens were used to peace, and their higher-ups were filled with corruption thanks to the efforts of some cunning outsiders. Now, their organization was thrown into a maelstrom because the terrorists attacked not just the temples but the secret wealth of these corrupted priests as well.
Now, they could either report this to the higher-ups, and once the investigation starts, they will be hanged for their treachery, or they could keep this under wraps as long as possible before clearing their traces as quickly as possible.
So, most of them naturally chose the latter option, which hurt them even more. The entire Holy Polaris Region fell into chaos. Upheaval was everything. The sirens tried to flee, but it was easier said than done because there was a protective barrier around the core of each large region.
That made them sitting ducks. The explosions continued for an entire hour and left behind an absolute mess and ruins; the water was dyed in blood as pieces of flash floated around it.
However, as the saying goes, someone's misfortune is someone's fortune, and that's exactly what this chaos spells for Jacob. He left the secret tunnel location before he triggered the mass destruction of the Holy Polaris Region, just according to the Star Hackers' plan.
Dewey especially placed a runic bomb around the secret passage, which would be buried under the ruins once he escaped through it. He was even planning on blowing the tunnel once he used it.
But alas, he met with his dead person named Jacob, and now, all this little revenge act was benefiting Jacob.
Looking at the chaotic scene, as the sirens desperately tried to flee, some were lifting rubble to help the trapped sirens escape. As someone who caused all this, he felt…nothing.
Jacob could tell that his mind was becoming extremely dismissive towards other deaths. He didn't feel anything about killing thousands of people just for his own selfishness, especially since he had started to carve the longevity schema.
It was like with his outer appearance; his emotions were also stripping off. He didn't know if this was good or bad, but despite these strange changes in his mentality, the resolve he had back then, the longing for immortality remained the same; it intensified even.
Maybe his mind was twisting in ways Jacob couldn't even fathom, but as long as he continued towards his goal, he didn't mind becoming a monster—or maybe he had already become one…
'Let's try these new insights I got after absorbing so much blood. If this works, then very little blood would go to waste. Even if this draws attention, the Polaris High Priestess is only an intermediate stage beyond unique rank expert, and I don't think she would be arriving too soon since, according to Autarch, she would be busing wiping her own ass. I must admit; these star hackers really know how to trap others by using their own greed against them.'
"Guard me; if others approach, kill them all without mercy." Jacob issued Autarch an order since Autarch was still using Dewey's body.
Jacob let him keep it until he got his hands on Anonymous Star NO.1, who agreed to meet with Dewey after he heard about Dewey finding a very important secret of the Star Oracle. He didn't suspect anything, especially after spending two decades in this place together. They had developed a little trust among themselves, and this was the case for all nine anonymous stars.
Autarch nodded and guarded a few meters away from Jacob while he released his puppet poison to create magic puppets. This was the easiest way to guard Jacob and not leave any witnesses behind.
Jacob let Autarch do as he pleased since he was the one who taught Autarch this method and sat cross-legged.
Suddenly, the runic lines on his arms and feet started to glow crimson, and the cursed path glory gem in his pendant started to glow as if resonating with the runic lines of longevity schema.
The next moment, an invisible suction force started to ooze from Jacob's body. However, this invisible suction force didn't stir the water or anything else.
However, something strange happened as this suction force slowly expanded under Jacob's powerful control of blood manipulation and his newfound understanding of it.
Slowly, the water around Jacob started to become red, and the color continued to deepen until it stuck out like a light tower in the middle of darkness. Not only that, but the blood in the water outside started to vanish.
This was not only happening to this small area; in fact, as the blood was growing larger around Jacob, it was attracting even more blood from far away, and this range continued to grow as the blood around Jacob increased.
Those sirens, still pretty rattled about the attack, noticed that the surrounding blood seemed to have come alive and flowed in a peculiar direction as if something was attracting it.
Blood, even from under the rubble, started to seep out, and for those who were still alive yet only unconscious, their blood also started to flow out of their veins!
The Sirens panicked again. They had no idea who was performing this strange sorcery and thought the attack was not over yet.
Jacob, on the other hand, was completely focused. He could perceive the blood around him even in the far distance. He could sense blood thousands of miles away and attract it towards himself as long as it was ownerless or the owner had no control over it.
This was all thanks to the runic lines of longevity schema. His control over blood was growing, and unknowingly, he started comprehending another level of Blood Manipulation, also known as Blood Magic!