Chapter 484: Bloodlust IV

Elena froze for half a heartbeat.

There was recognition inside those eyes.

But it was buried very deep.

The person looking at her knew she was Elena.

He simply did not care about that fact nearly as much as he normally would. His entire attention was being drowned by blood.

Elena tightened her hand around his shoulder.

"You already won. He cannot fight you anymore."

Sekhmet stared at her.

Then Stephen’s heartbeat sounded again.

Thump.

Sekhmet’s head turned back toward him.

Elena immediately understood that words alone were not reaching him properly.

"Sekhmet!"

The System continued producing notifications he was not reading.

[Blood Proficiency: 182/100.

Blood Proficiency continues to rise.

The host body is absorbing a portion of divine blood essence.]

Another mouthful.

[Blood Proficiency: 200/100.

Two Blood Skill Upgrades available.

Additional Blood Proficiency cannot be stored until one or more skill upgrades are completed.]

At that exact moment, something inside Sekhmet’s body broke through another boundary.

His Chaos Energy surged.

The divine blood he had consumed did not remain as foreign power. His Blood God abilities tore through it, separated what his body could use, and forced that energy into his own foundation.

Sekhmet’s body shook.

The stones beneath his boots cracked.

[Major Blood Absorption completed.

Chaos Energy increased.

Chaos Body strengthened.

Overall Battle Power increased by 12,000.

Overall Battle Power: 37,000 → 49,000.]

A second wave moved through him.

[Chaos Rank advancement achieved.

Chaos Rank Three → Chaos Rank Four.]

The change spread through his entire body.

His heart beat harder.

Chaos Energy flooded through vessels that had never carried this much power before. His body expanded internally without changing its outward appearance, adapting to the stronger energy circulation.

The System continued.

[Blood Awakening increased by 2%.

Blood Awakening: 5% → 7%.

Chaos Energy Purity increased by 5%.

Chaos Energy Purity: 14% → 19%.]

Sekhmet noticed none of it consciously.

His fangs remained inside Stephen’s neck.

The old butler’s skin had become almost gray now.

Elena felt Stephen’s remaining divine aura fading.

She pulled Sekhmet’s shoulder again.

"Stop!"

This time she used enough strength to physically move him.

Sekhmet’s head shifted slightly. His fangs tore through the side of Stephen’s neck as Elena pulled him back.

Blood sprayed.

Sekhmet immediately reached toward it.

The floating blood stopped in the air.

Elena caught his wrist.

"No."

Sekhmet looked at her hand.

For one terrifying moment, Elena felt the full weight of his killing intent turn toward her.

Not because he wanted to kill her.

Because she was preventing him from reaching blood.

Her own corrupted blood reacted inside her body.

The Blood Authority bond immediately stopped any instinct she might have had to attack him in response.

Sofia took one step forward.

Natasha caught her arm.

"Wait."

Elena kept holding Sekhmet.

"Look at me."

His eyes moved slowly toward her face.

"Stephen is finished."

Sekhmet looked back toward the old butler.

Stephen’s body had collapsed onto both knees. His remaining hand rested weakly against the ground. His mouth opened.

But no words came out.

Then his arm gave way.

The Mid-Rank God fell sideways onto the broken courtyard. His chest did not rise again.

Elena immediately checked him with her God Sense.

Nothing.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"He is dead."

Sekhmet stared at the body.

The words reached him.

Slowly.

Stephen was dead.

The heartbeat he had been hearing had disappeared.

That created a new problem.

There was no longer a primary target for his Bloodlust.

Every heartbeat around Iron House immediately became louder.

Sekhmet’s head lifted. He heard hundreds of them. The battle had mostly ended, but wounded people were everywhere.

Mihos’s surviving fighters.

Battle maids.

Lesser vampires.

Iron House servants.

The captured members of the family.

Mira.

Lily.

Vera.

Vela.

Elena.

Sofia.

Natasha.

Their blood surrounded him from every direction.

The System rang urgently.

[Warning.

Primary hostile target Stephen is dead.

Reassigning Bloodlust focus.

Hostile targets detected.

System control assistance active.]

Sekhmet shut his eyes.

That did not help.

Blood Control did not require sight anymore. He could feel them. Every single person.

Then the number appeared.

[Host Bloodlust: 104%.

Warning: Bloodlust has exceeded the Host’s normal maximum threshold.

Blood God Will remains active.

System mental restraint is severely limited.]

Sekhmet’s breathing changed.

Elena noticed immediately.

"Is it still increasing?"

He did not answer.

Another notification followed.

[Host Bloodlust: 109%.]

Sekhmet took one step away from Stephen’s corpse.

He needed distance.

The smell followed him.

Divine blood covered his mouth and chin.

He could taste it on his tongue. He wiped his mouth with the back of one hand, but that only spread the blood across his skin. His eyes moved toward one of Mihos’s wounded fighters.

The man was lying near a damaged wall.

His leg was broken. His shoulder was bleeding.

Sekhmet started walking toward him.

The man saw him.

His face went white.

"No..."

Elena immediately moved in front of Sekhmet.

"Sekhmet."

He stopped.

Not because the Bloodlust disappeared.

Because some part of him still understood who stood in front of him.

Elena looked into his crimson eyes.

"The fight is over."

Sekhmet breathed slowly.

"I know."

His voice sounded rough.

The fact that he could answer gave Elena some relief.

Then Sekhmet’s eyes moved past her toward the wounded man again.

The relief disappeared.

The System rang.

[Host Bloodlust: 113%.

Warning: Host Blood Hunger continues increasing due to recently consumed divine blood.

The system is attempting to redirect aggression toward remaining hostile targets.]

Sekhmet clenched his fists.

Something inside him needed release.

That was the only way he could describe it.

The Bloodlust did not feel like an emotion anymore.

It felt like energy.

Like pressure building inside his blood with nowhere to go.

His new Chaos Rank Four strength only made his body better at containing that pressure instead of removing it.

He could kill the remaining enemies. That would release some of it. He knew that instinctively. But he also knew what could happen afterward.

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