Chapter 482: 482: Bloodlust II

Sekhmet barely read it.

Stephen's blood was everywhere now.

The wound Elena had just opened along his side was very deep.

Divine blood ran down his clothes and dropped onto the stone.

Sekhmet could feel each drop before it landed.

Stephen turned back toward Elena. He had succeeded in sending Mihos away. Now he no longer needed to protect anyone.

That should have made him more dangerous.

Instead, Sekhmet noticed something else.

Stephen was tired. Not physically exhausted like an ordinary cultivator. His divine power had been spent repeatedly. He had fought Elena. Then Sofia and Natasha.

Then all three together.

He had used his strange power across large areas several times. Now he had used an enormous amount again to force an escape route through the surrounding estate. His heartbeat had changed.

Sekhmet could hear it.

Slower.

Heavier.

More irregular.

The hunger inside him responded.

[Host Bloodlust: 98%.]

Sekhmet took one step forward.

Elena looked back at him.

"Sekhmet?"

He did not answer.

Stephen did.

"You should control him."

Elena looked at Stephen coldly.

"You should worry about yourself."

Stephen raised one hand. His divine power gathered again.

Sekhmet felt the blood inside his own body surge.

The Blood God Will that had been forced through Sofia, Natasha, and Elena had never truly gone quiet.

It had remained inside him.

Waiting.

The smell of Stephen's blood pushed against the final part of his restraint.

[Host Bloodlust: 99%.

Critical warning.

The system is losing the ability to suppress Blood Hunger.

Primary hostile focus remains locked on Stephen.]

Stephen attacked. He sent a compressed wave directly toward Sekhmet.

Elena moved to block it.

Sekhmet moved first. His body disappeared from where he stood.

Elena's eyes widened.

Stephen's expression changed.

Sekhmet should not have been that fast. Not at Chaos Rank Three.

But for that single moment, his movements did not feel like they belonged to his normal rank.

Blood God Will flooded through his body. Blood Control Lv3 reached outward. And Stephen had already spilled far too much blood.

Sekhmet appeared beside him.

Stephen turned.

Too late.

Sekhmet's hand struck the wound on his side. He did not punch it. He placed his palm directly against it.

Blood Control activated.

Stephen's entire body froze. His eyes widened.

Sekhmet felt the blood inside the open wound.

Then deeper. Through the damaged vessels. Into the surrounding flesh.

Stephen immediately tried to resist. His divine blood pushed against Sekhmet's authority.

Under normal circumstances, the difference between them would have made the attempt ridiculous.

Blood God Will did not care about the difference in the same way ordinary skills did.

Sekhmet clenched his fingers.

Stephen's blood stopped moving through the damaged side of his body.

His right arm dropped.

"What…"

Sekhmet pulled.

Blood burst from the wound.

Stephen shouted and struck toward him with his remaining hand.

Sekhmet moved his head aside.

The fist missed.

Then the System rang.

[Host Bloodlust: 100%.

Warning: Maximum Bloodlust reached.

System restraint has failed.

Hostile target lock preserved.

Blood God Will fully active.]

Everything changed.

Sekhmet stopped hearing the battlefield. He stopped hearing Elena. He stopped hearing the battle maids. He stopped hearing Mihos's people screaming as they fought elsewhere in the estate.

There was only one heartbeat.

Stephen.

Thump.

Sekhmet looked at him.

Stephen took one step backward. For the first time since entering Iron House, real fear appeared in the old God's eyes.

Sekhmet smiled. It was not a normal smile.

Stephen raised both hands and released his divine force.

Sekhmet lifted one finger. The blood covering Stephen's clothes moved. All of it. It wrapped around his arms before his power could fully form.

Stephen broke the first restraint.

Sekhmet pulled again.

Blood erupted from the wound in Stephen's shoulder. Then from the cuts across his chest. Then from his nose. Then from the wound Natasha had opened in his stomach earlier.

Stephen's body jerked as every damaged blood vessel became a point Sekhmet could reach.

"No!"

He released more divine power.

Sekhmet walked through it.

The pressure tore pieces from his clothes and cut his skin.

Blood appeared on Sekhmet's body. His regeneration closed the wounds immediately. He did not seem to notice.

Stephen tried to create distance.

Sekhmet raised his hand.

The blood inside Stephen's injured leg stopped flowing properly.

The God stumbled.

Elena watched from several steps away. She did not interfere. She had never seen Sekhmet like this.

Sofia and Natasha had stopped fighting nearby enemies as well.

Both ancient vampires turned toward him.

Their blood reacted instinctively to the Blood God Will filling the courtyard.

Natasha whispered, "That presence…"

Sofia said nothing. Her expression was far more serious.

Stephen attacked again.

Sekhmet moved through the opening in his power and grabbed his wrist.

The difference in physical strength should have allowed Stephen to tear free immediately.

He could not. The blood inside his arm betrayed him. Muscles needed blood. Even divine muscles.

Sekhmet disrupted the flow for a fraction of a second.

Stephen's strength disappeared at exactly the wrong moment.

Sekhmet twisted his arm.

Crack!

The God's elbow broke.

Stephen shouted.

Sekhmet kicked his knee.

Another crack followed.

Stephen dropped onto one knee. It happened so quickly that Elena barely had time to understand the change.

Only moments earlier, all three women had needed to fight together just to pressure Stephen.

Now Sekhmet was tearing him apart almost casually. Not because Sekhmet's normal battle power had suddenly surpassed a God.

Because Stephen was wounded.

His blood was exposed.

And at one hundred percent Bloodlust, Blood God Will was forcing Sekhmet's Blood Control into something far beyond its normal limit.

Stephen tried to rise.

Sekhmet placed one hand against his chest.

"Stay."

Stephen's own blood answered. His body stopped. The command had not controlled his mind. It controlled the thing his body needed in order to move.

Stephen's eyes widened.

Sekhmet stared at the vein moving beneath his neck. That was all he could see now.

Blood… Divine blood.

His hunger became unbearable.