Chapter 396: Maria (2)
She actually laughed—at Daemon’s reasoning.
With blood-soaked strikes launched at terrifying speed, she overwhelmed him with ruthless precision.
"I was born and orphaned in the war against the Empire seventeen years ago. Demon’s blood was injected into my body at age six. And by ten, I had already become a contracted Highblood."
The humans of the Ultras Continent were nothing more than test subjects to the demons.
Every single one of them had been forcibly injected with demonic blood—no exceptions.
Most of those who underwent the procedure turned into mindless beasts, living like animals. They were known as the Lesser Blood.
But those who survived the injection and adapted to the demonic blood...
They were the Greater Blood ... humans who lived their lives like anyone else.
The contract and the blood bound them eternally, making any act of rebellion against their demon master nearly impossible.
"What choice are you even talking about?"
BOOM!
Maria unleashed an even more explosive surge of power .. Her blade faster, sharper, deadlier.
"From the very beginning, it took the Empire only minutes to declare us guilty.
Tainted.
Doomed to die.
They cast us aside and branded us monsters.
Not even human anymore—just the same as the demons."
Between humans born in the Empire and others born among the Ultras ...
The difference wasn’t in species, but in blood...
And that made all the difference.
"I told you to stop spouting that nonsense!!"
Daemon roared, pressing forward with full force, Ignoring the cracks spreading across his golden armor ..
Trying to breach Maria’s unrelenting defense.
"You had your chances! And you threw them all away!
The gates were sealed years ago! No demons can reach this place anymore ..
So why do you keep raising your swords against us?
You’re nothing but lying degenerates!"
And in the face of that outburst...
Maria laughed.
For the second time.
"The gates were sealed...?
Is that what you really believe, Empire warrior?"
BOOOM!!
Her aura exploded like never before as she stabbed her own elbow ..
Unleashing a greater torrent of blood than ever before.
Her power surged.
"You fool.
If you think for even a moment that a flimsy human seal could keep demons away forever...
Then you’ve truly been living in a dream."
The world was vast .. far beyond what Daemon could imagine.
And Maria made that clear.
"Wake up.
There’s no such thing as safety."
She declared it outright ..
The gates were already open.
Daemon’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.
But Maria didn’t care.
"Don’t misunderstand, Empire warrior.
We don’t need your pity.
We don’t want your help.
We chose to fight this war on our own terms a long time ago."
Her attacks accelerated—again—
Strike after strike crashing into the Golden Dragon Armor, piling up visible damage.
"But don’t think for a second that you and your kind have any right to judge us.
Our fate is our own.
We lived in blood—and we’ll continue to live that way."
With those words, Maria unleashed a crimson cocoon that completely surrounded Daemon.
Though he managed to block it using his explosive lightning aura,
Her strikes were too fast—too precise.
She had him cornered.
Daemon fought back for as long as he could ... But eventually, he reached his limit.
He realized it the moment a sharp pain ripped through him ..
His right leg.
With a blood-soaked slash, Maria severed Daemon’s leg .. Her relentless strikes having focused with cunning precision on one single point.
The loss threw him off balance.
He crashed to the ground—
And before he could react, Maria stood over him, her blade against his throat.
"This is the end."
She said it plainly.
Daemon stared up at the sword looming above him, Its edge growing before his eyes.
In that moment, for the first time ..
He understood he might actually die.
"I WON’T LOSE!!"
With a monstrous scream, Daemon’s lightning aura burst violently outward, flinging Maria away.
He rose—on one leg—and with a desperate swing, unleashed a devastating punch.
"Dragon Gate: Lightning Phantom!"
A blazing beam of destruction shot forth from his fist, Crashing into Maria and launching her through a wall, While his lightning roared behind, trying to incinerate her completely.
Maria endured the suicidal attack with difficulty.
When the dust settled, she stood again, staring at the blood-drenched man before her .. Still upright, still defiant, still bleeding from his severed leg.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
With another thunderous scream,
Daemon funneled every ounce of strength into his armor—responding to his will.
The armor pulsed.
Then ...
A golden prosthetic leg formed over his missing limb, shaped entirely from the Fume Knight armor.
Daemon stood tall again—on two legs.
"I don’t care about your damned logic.
Or your hollow words."
Panting heavily, He forced the lightning from his body again.
"All I know is this—
I will kill you here, no matter the cost."
His resolve was terrifying.
Even half-dead, Daemon Valerion stood ready to fight again.
But Maria wasn’t moved.
Because she too had something unshakable within her.
"The same goes for me.
I told you from the beginning—
I have to kill you.
And that’s exactly what I’ll do."
Raising her right palm,
She aimed it straight at Daemon—ready for the next round.
The moment Daemon was about to strike ..
He suddenly froze.
Or rather...
He couldn’t move anymore.
"What the—?!"
He screamed in shock as his body seized up. His legs gave in. His arms stopped responding.
Then, slowly...
His entire body began to float—suspended in the air, completely paralyzed.
At the same time, Maria raised her hand toward Dawn ..
And he, too, was ensnared by the same mysterious force.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Daemon struggled violently, but it was no use.
"It’s useless," Maria said coldly. "I’ve already seen your blood."
With her crimson eyes glowing like rubies,
Maria advanced—blood still pouring freely from her wounds.
Blood Bind ...
A terrifying ability that allowed her to control the blood of her enemies,
once she had laid eyes on it.
The technique had strict conditions.
But in Daemon’s case—he had already lost too much blood.
He no longer had the strength to resist her.
"This is the end."
Using their own blood against them, Maria immobilized both Daemon and Dawn,
Intending to finish them off swiftly.
Daemon cursed furiously, trying to summon more power ..
But nothing worked.
He could do nothing but watch as the woman who had defeated both him and Dawn prepared to deliver the final blow.
But just as she was about to sever their necks ..
She froze.
A new voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Well, well... what do we have here?"
A young man appeared above the ruined arena, Looking down at them with his usual lazy grin.
"You seem to be struggling, cousin."
"Aegon!"
Daemon shouted.
Maria frowned, narrowing her eyes at the approaching duo ..
Aegon Valerion and Selena Hemsworth.
Right on time, the unexpected reinforcements arrived.
Selena fired her magic without hesitation, forcing Maria to retreat.
Her spell shattered the Blood Bind, freeing both Daemon and Dawn.
" Empyrean Maria, is it?
I’ve heard plenty about you."
Drawing his sword, Aegon stepped forward.
"Let’s see what you’re really made of."
The battle flipped in an instant.
From a one-sided slaughter ..
To four against one.
By sheer "coincidence," Selena’s witch mark had led them straight here.
Maria blinked slowly, taking in her surroundings.
"Is this just bad luck... Or something else entirely?"
It started with Daemon arriving the moment she’d defeated Dawn ...
Then Aegon right after she beat Daemon.
Everyone was being pulled to this exact spot.
Only this one.
Other elite students had witch marks too—
They could have gone anywhere.
But they all came to her.
That’s when Maria glanced at Dawn, lying behind them.
A bitter smile crept onto her lips.
"So that’s it..."
Who would’ve thought.
She’d end up against a boy with unnatural luck, Luck that defied the laws of life itself.
The Last Survivor.
No matter what happens—he always survives.
Even if others needed help more...
Everything had been drawn to him.
Now, surrounded by enemies—
Especially Aegon, whose presence she couldn’t even read ..
Maria realized her odds were nonexistent.
Clutching her sword ..
She drove the blade straight into her own chest, Right in front of everyone’s horrified eyes.
"It was a good fight."
She yanked the blade out, blood gleaming ominously on the edge.
Then raised it skyward...
As a crimson glow exploded from her entire body.
"RUN!!"
Aegon shouted the order just in time.
Everyone turned and bolted ..
His voice slicing through the chaos like lightning.
And the moment he screamed ..
It happened.
A bloody explosion erupted from within Maria, Unleashing a tidal wave of gore in all directions.
A cataclysmic surge that devoured everything in its path.
The battle had ended in a way no one could have predicted ..
With a crimson explosion that painted the field in blood.