Rising god
Chapter 38: Divine power works

Chapter 38: Divine power works

The death of the Darkan commander should have been a moment of grief—a rallying cry for vengeance. But there was no time to mourn. The battlefield allowed no such luxury.

Their enemy—the Blood Deplorable—had turned the tide.

Every weapon the commanders had deflected moments earlier came back at them, as if guided by a will of its own. The ones they dodged didn’t simply fall—no, they embedded themselves into the ground and waited, lying in ambush like vipers in tall grass. The blood weaponry was alive in all but name, weaving itself into traps and horrors.

Panic grew among the ranks.

This had been a carefully planned operation. The enemy they faced was supposed to be weakened. When the battle began, he appeared sickly, exhausted even. There was a collective sense of relief when his rank was observed to have dropped from the dreaded 7th star to a peak 6th.

But now?

Now their most elite warriors were struggling.

And one of them—one of the six—had already fallen.

The soldiers of the allied force—Church and Darkan—watched with helpless eyes. They were paralyzed not by fear but by futility. If their leaders, their paragons of strength, couldn’t handle this foe, what could they possibly do?

Hopelessness and despair spread like a disease, except for one person.

’What are you doing?!’ Tasha’s gaze was locked on a single figure standing apart from the chaos. He was calm, far too calm.

He had already been treated for his injuries. His wounds were closed, and his breathing was steady. Still, he did not move.

She had thought by now he would have thought of a solution, but he didn’t look like he was moving.

Then—

—Attack with the Dragon Knights on my signal.

Tasha’s eyes widened.

That direct way of speaking, despite being her subordinate, and that voice that sounded like a full plan in place.

Who else would it be, if not Baines?

There was no doubt.

He didn’t explain himself, as usual. But there was steel in his tone, and that was enough.

The situation was dire, but she trusted him. She relayed the order.

Meanwhile, Baines continued observing the enemy.

Honestly, this didn’t change much for him.

The decrease in the rank only made it better for him. The aspect of releasing gathered blood to fight was shocking, but it was just that, shocking.

It didn’t change the fact, the weakness of blood was still fire, and it also didn’t change the fact that he was still a mage, meaning he had a weak body.

—We’re ready.

Tasha’s voice returned. He gave a short nod.

Then, to the remaining commanders, he gave a curt countdown.

—Commanders, retreat in 5... 4...

His bladeless sword silently slid from his scabbard.

—3... 2...

"Torrential Bind: Cleave," he muttered.

On the final count, the commanders immediately disengaged.

The attack was devastating.

The sword extended into a writhing torrent of energy, slashing with wild abandon. Blood weapons were torn apart in the strike’s path. The momentum built like a storm, and then—

Crack.

A blood shield formed before the Deplorable cracked under the force of the blow.

His face twisted into a snarl.

"You... You’re troublesome," he said, eyes locking onto Baines. This time, he wouldn’t hesitate.

"..." Baines wiped the blood from his mouth and retreated as planned, ignoring the taunts.

The blood-deplorable was about to question his action when it began.

ROOOAAAR!

The sky darkened.

Dragons—hundreds of them—descended with thunderous wingbeats, their forms casting colossal shadows. The sun vanished behind their scale-covered bodies, and their roars shook the earth.

At the center of their formation, Tasha gave a single order.

"Fire!"

SHAAAA!

A thousand streams of fire poured downward in perfect synchrony, creating a column of blistering heat that smothered the battlefield.

The Blood Deplorable sneered, raising a towering shield of blood.

But then he frowned.

The dragons weren’t individually strong enough to pose a threat to him, but he could see the fire burning away the blood. That wasn’t all. The concentrated fire from almost a thousand dragons was a different case.

The heat began to kiss his skin.

"More!" Tasha ordered.

The flames intensified.

TSSHHHH.

He grunted, skin searing, body failing. The shield was no longer holding, and he couldn’t avoid the attack because of its range, unless,

With a final shout of agony, he dropped the shield.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And let the fire consume him.

His body crumbled into ash—

SPLAT!

He reappeared some distance away, panting, skin still smoldering. "Fools," he began, "Did you really think—"

PSTCHCH!

"AAARRGH!"

A blade, wreathed in fire, pierced him from the side, flames crawling up his flesh. He twisted in agony, head turning slowly—

"YOU!"

Of course, it was Baines.

He had predicted the escape. The moment the Deplorable burned himself to relocate, Baines had moved, sword ready.

He wielded Moonfang, now radiating solar flames. It was a technique adapted from the Sunblade Legion: Solar Flare. It was a technique that concentrated aura into pure heat.

It was on this basis that the other techniques were formed. The main point was, it was useful against the blood deplorable.

"YOU BASTARD!" The Deplorable screamed, teleporting again, his wounds closing as he spewed blood into the air.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Dozens of blood bullets surged toward Baines.

Baines tried to use the dagger to absorb the blood attacks, but they didn’t work.

His eyes narrowed as it dawned on him, ’He’s not using aura... or mana...’

Moonfang could also absorb attacks and redirect them, however, no effect was made this time. It was like there was no energy to absorb.

But at the moment, tens of bullets were already raining on his head.

’Should I use it? ’ he thought grimly. The ashenfall technique, his last resort that required opening his heart core.

Suddenly—

Chains of blood shot up from the earth and coiled around him.

He was trapped.

If he focused on the chains, he’d die from the bullets. If he focused on the bullets, the chains would hold him down.

’Guess I have no—’

"HOLY CROSS!"

A blinding burst of light exploded above him. Divine energy split the sky, tearing through the incoming attacks.

Kent, sword still aglow with divine radiance, appeared beside him.

"You alright?" he asked, eyes fixed forward.

Baines, eyes wide with understanding, nodded slowly.

"Divine power..."

"With that look, I can tell you have a plan. What is it?" A voice joined.

The remaining commanders had regrouped. Above them, the dragons hovered, still waiting for an opportunity to rain down hell.

"Divine power!" Baines muttered.

"Hmm?" Kent exclaimed.

"Divine power would work against him."

"I get you, but the priests can only draw up a limited amount."

"Then mix it with fire," Baines suggested.

Kent frowned. "That doesn’t work. Divine power can’t be mixed with created fire." He thought Baines would know this.

’Of course, divine power is an updated version.’ He thought to himself and spoke. "The fire from dragons isn’t created."

The others blinked. Realization dawned.

Dragon fire wasn’t summoned like magic or created; it was innate. It came from their very essence.

But how was it possible? How would they mix the two?

As if reading their minds, he answered,

"Isn’t there a way to use divine power like a blessing?"

Kent didn’t need to hear any more.

"Priests, heed my call, send your blessings to the dragons." He shouted with his divine power.

The Blood Deplorable’s eyes widened as he listened from afar.

Then—realization. Horror. Rage.

"It was you." He snarled, now certain, his gaze locked on Baines. "You’re the one who killed my brother... You destroyed everything! I’LL KILL YOU"

His rage exploded.

A massive wave of blood erupted from his body, larger than any he had ever drawn out, and formed and formed a five-meter-tall figure. Muscled. Bare-chested. Burning with malice.

Those familiar would recognize this figure as the younger deplorable. The silhouette glanced down, his eyes turned to rage as if he could see the ones who caused his death

The colossus glared downward with sentient fury. It didn’t wait.

BOOOOOM!

It swung its arm.

The ground cracked open beneath the impact. The commanders leapt back, shields of aura raised to block the flying debris.

Again and again, the blood giant swung its fists, raining down destruction with the wrath of a god.

If there was one thing it didn’t do, it never left the Blood Deplorable’s side. He wasn’t a fool. He knew they were scheming.

And he wasn’t about to let them isolate him again.

The silhouette continued hammering the battlefield.

But then—

It turned, changing its direction.

His direction? The priests.

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