Rising god
Chapter 74: Domain

Chapter 74: Domain

The core of the Treyl family estate unveiled a spectacle of opulence that eclipsed even the grandeur of House Darkan’s main residence. Though smaller in footprint, its sprawling width was adorned with an extravagance that spoke of their wealth.

Immaculately trimmed gardens unfurled in intricate patterns, spiraling vines, geometric hedges, and floral mosaics while paved roads gleamed with a rich ruby hue, their polished surfaces reflecting the dim light of the overcast sky.

The air carried the faint scent of exotic blooms, a stark contrast to the bloodshed that had preceded their arrival.

Baines, Ralph, and the first executive stepped into this lavish domain, their boots crunching on the pristine gravel, only to be met by two formidable groups: fifty warriors clad in resplendent golden armor, their full-body suits etched with arcane runes, and another fifty shrouded in black cloaks that seemed to absorb the light around them.

"I was thinking who it was that released his slave seal, but it was you," the leader of the black-cloaked group said, his voice casual yet laced with a disturbing elation.

His face, partially visible beneath his hood, bore a twisted smile, his eyes glinting with curiosity.

How had he broken free from the slave contract? the man wondered, his mind racing with the implications.

Before he could finish,

Boom!

Baines launched a sudden attack, a surge of blood energy hurtling toward the leader.

"It’s not nice to attack when one is still speaking." The man raised a bare hand, effortlessly blocking the strike without a flinch or scratch, his expression unchanging.

’He didn’t move?’ Baines’ shock rippled through him.

’Did they succeed?’ Baines thought, recalling Ralph’s account of the Treyl family’s experiments.

-Yes, they had succeeded.

Ralph confirmed telepathically, his voice taut with tension.

’How did they do it?’ Baines asked Eye, his mind flashing to the Outliers’ methods, but this felt different. The black-cloaked figures exhibited bulging, unnatural forms, their bodies distorted with dragon-like features concealed beneath their robes.

[BLOOD OF DRAGONS WAS DIRECTLY INGESTED AFTER NUMEROUS EXPERIMENTS]

’So, they really just ingested it,’ Baines mused, his gaze narrowing as he studied the enemy.

"We watched your work over there," the leader continued, shaking his head with mock sympathy. "And I’m sorry to tell you, but you won’t survive here." His tone was almost pitying, a prelude to the violence to come.

-Baines, watch out for the darkness.

Ralph warned, his senses sharpening. At that moment, the leader snapped his fingers, and the world plunged into darkness.

Blackout.

This was the Black Rose Covenant’s signature skill, a domain of total darkness that enveloped their enemies. It was a weapon that had earned them fame through the assassination of stronger foes. But its power went beyond mere blindness; it disoriented and displaced the senses.

"Shit..." Ralph cursed, his body tensing as he scanned the void frantically. As a former member, he knew the skill’s terror intimately.

The first executive, too, struggled, extending his senses beyond their normal reach, groping blindly in the pitch-black expanse.

However, for Baines, the darkness was irrelevant. His training in the haunted mansion had honed his perception beyond the physical, allowing him to see the fifty Black Rose members encircling them, their movements calculated for a lethal strike.

The leader, however, remained elusive, his presence masked within the shadows.

’It’s not only you that can form a false domain,’ Baines sneered, his voice cutting through the darkness.

Blood Palace.

Its effect was immediate as blood gushed from his body uncontrollably, a crimson tide that reshaped the battlefield. Within the Blackout domain, a new realm emerged, a gazebo of blood-red stone materialized, its open structure.

Beyond it, a river of blood flowed, its surface rippling with an eerie glow, fed by a massive blood moon perched above the gazebo, its light casting a sanguine hue over the scene.

The first executive and Ralph stared in shock, their eyes darting from the transformed landscape to Baines.

His appearance had shifted dramatically; the dried and fresh blood that had caked his body vanished, replaced by flowing blood-red hair and piercing red eyes. A ceremonial robe, adorned with golden markings, swirled around him, its edges trailing like liquid fire.

The transformation was both majestic and terrifying, a testament to the power he wielded.

"B-Baines, w-what is this?" Ralph stammered, fear lacing his voice.

Why was his brother harnessing blood, a force known to be gathered through the deaths of others? And to sustain such a river, how many had he slain? Baines’s silence only fueled Ralph’s wild speculations, his mind reeling with the implications.

"That day, I gave up a lot of things, and I don’t regret any of it," Baines finally said, his voice resonant with resolve. The blood-enhanced timbre made him appear even more formidable.

With his trembling Demon Blade still gripped in his right hand, he stepped onto a stony pathway that bisected the blood river, his gaze fixed on the enemy.

The fifty Black Rose members frowned, shedding their cloaks to reveal their grotesque mutations.

Some bore single dragon arms, others sported tails or wings, while a few had slit eyes or enlarged, misshapen bodies, all covered in a sheen of black scales.

Yet a unifying trait crackled around them: golden lightning danced along their forms.

"What is wrong, why are—" the leader began, stepping into the blood domain, only to freeze at the sight.

"Leader, he seems dangerous," one subordinate warned, their voices tense as the blood continued to push back the darkness.

"Tch..." The leader frowned, initiating his own morphing.

Two massive claws sprouted from his hands, and his head transformed into a half-human, half-dragon visage, his maw opening to unleash a Boom! of blinding speed.

The attack hurtled toward Baines, but a towering wave of blood rose to intercept it.

Simultaneously, winged mutants ascended, raining golden lightning bolts downward.

Shaa... Shaa...

Blood walls surged at Baines’ will, deflecting the assault. Gathering a massive amount on his blade, he swung with a resounding "Heaven Arc."

The blood arced skyward, tearing the wings from one mutant, who plummeted with a scream. The others retreated, scattering in the air.

Before the fallen could hit the ground, serpents of blood and chains coiled around him, though their grip struggled against his thick scales.

Baines waved his hand, and blood coalesced into spheres that bombarded the mutant at a relentless pace, cracking his defenses.

Screams echoed as his blood drained into the river, the chains ensuring no impurity sullied the sacred flow.

The battle intensified as the floating dragons fired from a distance, their lightning met by blood walls.

The leader and his ground forces charged, the slit-eyed mutants predicting blood attacks while the leader ripped apart constructs with his claws.

Fire and lightning were blood’s weaknesses, but the sheer volume overwhelmed them.

As they closed in, Baines gathered blood around his blade again, thrusting with a piercing "Break" from the Absolute Cut technique. The destructive wave surged through the blood sea.

"DODGE!" a slit-eyed mutant shouted. The group parted like a trained orchestra, but the last to move was caught.

BOOOM!

The explosion silenced his cry.

"Shit..." The leader shouted to attack again, however, Baines lifted his hand and dropped it.

Under their wide eyes, several large, thick blood spears rained down from the blood moon against the floating mutants.

"Noo..." The leader roared in anger as ten of his men were helplessly and continuously pierced through.

’Urgh... I can’t hold this for too long,’ Baines thought, feeling a tug on his reserves. No blood pooled from his mouth; his internal injuries were suppressed by the domain’s power.

This was a domain, and he could do anything; however, the more he did, the more it halved its sustainability.

’I should finish with one strike,’ he decided, forming blood blades coated with a thick layer of crimson.

The blood spun around them, transforming into drills with a Whiiii... as he lunged forward.

’No more joking,’ he thought. Countless swords morphed into blood drills, trailing behind him.

"DEFENSE!" the slit-eyed mutant roared, and the group formed a lightning-infused barrier.

Baines reached and pushed the blade forward; the others followed.

Piercing Spiral

A thrust that drills through defenses, that was the word for it.

However, just seconds to impact,

Clang... Clang... Clang

The golden-clad armored knights stepped forward, joining the mutants with the input of lightning to form a more sturdy barrier.

Booooooom! Boooooooom! Boooooooom!

The explosions cleared, revealing the assassins gasping on the ground, the leader struggling to stand, while the golden armored knights all stood tall.

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