Chapter 234: Frequency of Madness

Chapter 234: Chapter 234: Frequency of Madness

Clang!

Tariq’s twin daggers descended in a blur of crimson arcs, but Lucian was already there to meet him. The Blood Reaver, locked in its massive greatsword form, swept upward, deflecting the daggers with a shower of sparks.

Lucian didn’t pause. He drove his boot forward, aiming a crushing kick at Tariq’s stomach. But the Khamsin Patriarch dissolved into a thick cloud of blood mist, passing straight through Lucian’s leg as if he were a ghost.

Lucian’s eyes didn’t widen in surprise—his Blood Sense had already mapped the shifting molecules of the mist. He sensed the vampire reforming behind him and pivoted, swinging the greatsword in a brutal backward slash.

But before the blade could complete its arc, Lucian’s knees buckled.

Cough!

A wet, violent cough tore from his throat, spraying bright red blood onto the rubble. His eyes widened as a creeping, cold numbness spread through his veins, locking his muscles. Poison. It wasn’t just the daggers. The blood mist itself was laced with a lethal, neurotoxic venom that had seeped into his pores the moment Tariq phased through him.

Seizing the opening, Tariq’s dagger plunged toward Lucian’s heart.

BZZZT!

A small, dense square barrier of golden light materialized inches above Lucian’s chest, perfectly concentrated to block the blade. The dagger screeched against the Light Shield. But Tariq was a Peak Grand Core veteran; his reaction speed was monstrous. With his other hand, he drove his second dagger deep into Lucian’s stomach.

Squelch!

Tariq ripped the blade sideways and delivered a vicious kick to Lucian’s chest. BAM! Lucian was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing through a pile of collapsed stone. The Blood Reaver slipped from his grasp, clattering onto the blood-soaked ground.

"Lucian!" Rose screamed from across the battlefield.

Without hesitation, she extended her hands. A vibrant, emerald-green aura of pure life energy erupted from her palms, surging across the distance and coating Lucian’s body. Genesis Vitality. The life energy immediately began neutralizing the poison, stimulating his cells and accelerating his natural regeneration.

Seeing Rose standing exposed, an Early Grand Core vampire smirked. He assumed she was just a support healer, a liability in close combat. Hefting a massive, jagged battleaxe, he charged at her.

"You’re wide open, bitch!" he roared.

A cold, terrifying smile spread across Rose’s face. "Am I?"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Six glowing orbs flew out of her storage ring, orbiting her body like loyal planets. These were S-Rank bonded artifacts, forged specifically to obey her mental commands. Rose pointed a finger at the charging vampire.

One orb shot forward. The vampire sneered, raising his giant axe to block.

Clang!

The orb struck the flat of the axe. But Rose wasn’t done. She clenched her fist, activating her A-Rank Force Amplification. A visible, rippling shockwave of kinetic energy gathered around the orb. She wasn’t just throwing it; she was multiplying its mass and velocity at the exact point of impact, compressing the kinetic force into a localized singularity.

CRACK!

The S-Rank orb shattered the giant axe into metallic shrapnel. The vampire’s eyes widened in absolute horror just before the amplified orb blasted through his chest, tearing his heart to shreds. He dropped dead before his body even hit the ground.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the barrier, a group of lesser vampires tried to flee. Zap! Zap! Two shadowy figures intercepted them. The Apep sisters, Heket and Renenet, moved with ruthless efficiency, their shadow serpents tearing the deserters apart.

Back in the center of the crater, Lucian rose to his feet, steam hissing from his wounds. Tariq blurred forward, daggers aimed at his throat, but Lucian raised a hand.

Zap!

A condensed, blinding Light Bolt erupted from his palm, slamming into Tariq’s chest and sending the Patriarch skidding backward, his boots carving deep trenches in the earth.

Lucian didn’t pursue. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a deep, rattling breath. The poison was still in his system, a thick, heavy sludge in his veins.

Toxins, venoms, and foreign chemicals have a different molecular weight and density than actual red and white blood cells, Lucian thought, his mind racing. By vibrating the blood at a precise high frequency, I can force the heavier or lighter foreign poison molecules to separate from my healthy cells.

Hummmmmm!

A low, terrifying vibration echoed from Lucian’s body. He was vibrating his own blood cells at a microscopic level. The intense friction generated immense heat. High-frequency vibration could break the chemical bonds of hemotoxins before they could bind to cellular receptors.

Cough!

Lucian leaned forward, violently expelling a thick, black, foul-smelling glob of liquefied toxin from his mouth. Black sweat oozed from his pores as he forcibly manipulated his blood flow, flushing the venom out.

When he straightened up, wiping the black blood from his chin, a maniacal, bloodthirsty smile stretched across his face.

Tariq stared at him, his daggers trembling slightly in his hands. "You’re... you’re crazy."

"I know," Lucian laughed, the sound dark and unhinged. "If the vibration frequency is slightly off, I risk shattering my own healthy red blood cells, causing massive internal bleeding. The friction can literally boil my blood from the inside out and liquefy my organs. It’s a very dangerous move."

Rose’s green life energy pulsed around him once more, erasing the internal damage, and Lucian felt his body return to absolute peak condition.

He extended his hand. Whoosh! The Blood Reaver flew from the ground, smacking perfectly into his palm.

"Well, that was dirty," Lucian spat, his crimson eyes locking onto Tariq. "Then again, I shouldn’t expect anything less from a pack of inbred, bottom-feeding scavengers like the Khamsins. You can’t win with strength, so you resort to poison. Pathetic."

Tariq’s face twisted in fury, but Lucian wasn’t done.

"Speaking of pathetic," Lucian continued, tilting his head mockingly. "How are your kids doing, Tariq? Oh, wait. I kicked the shit out of them back in Egypt. I killed Khalil and Omar. And Zara... how is Zara? Is she still crying herself to sleep? Is she still traumatized after the way I beat her within an inch of her life? I don’t sense her here. Did she run away with her tail between her legs?"

"YOU BASTARD!" Tariq roared, his voice shaking the very sky. The death of his children and the mockery of his daughter snapped the last thread of his composure.

BOOOOOOOM!

Tariq’s aura exploded. He activated his True Vampiric Form.

His body swelled, muscles tearing through his robes as his height increased to nearly eight feet. His skin turned an ashen, deathly gray, with thick, pulsating crimson veins glowing beneath the surface. His fangs elongated into vicious, dripping sabers, and his eyes dissolved into pools of pure, glowing blood.

But the most terrifying part was the mist. Thick, crimson, and toxic, it rolled off his body in waves, instantly wilting the weeds and rotting the stone beneath his feet.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. He couldn’t afford to breathe that mist in again.

"Crimson Vessel."

Hiss!

A full-body armor of condensed, crystallized blood encased Lucian from head to toe. His skin took on a glossy, diamond-hard crimson sheen, sealing his pores and protecting him from the toxic air.

At the same time, Lucian forged a Telepathic Link with his entire team.

’Everyone, be careful!’ Lucian’s voice echoed in their minds. ’His mist is highly toxic. Do not breathe it in. Use barriers or cover your faces!’

Tariq let out a guttural, animalistic roar that echoed across the ruined city.