Chapter 78: What it Means to be a Noble

“Haa—”

Julius clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath as if to draw all the surrounding air into his lungs.

His slender fingers closed one by one, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, the cold touch of the metal transmitting through his gloves.
He slowly closed his eyes, and the world plunged into darkness, leaving only the enemy’s aura exceptionally clear in his senses.

He crouched slightly, like a cheetah poised to strike, his voice so low it seemed to come from an abyss:

“Entwine, Blood Rose—Thorn Blade.”

In that instant, the earth trembled.

Countless dark red vines burst from the ground, kicking up gravel and dust.

Like living pythons, these vines writhed madly, lashing out with tendrils covered in sharp thorns.
Crimson lightning coursed through the thicket of thorns, letting out a series of crackles, and the air filled with a mixture of ozone and the smell of blood.

Julius raised his longsword over his shoulder, assuming a perfect thrusting stance.

A blood vessel in his left eye burst with a ‘pop’, and blood trickled down his pale cheek, but he seemed to feel no pain.
Instead, a cruel arc formed on his lips.

—”Strike.”

The word was as soft as a whisper, yet it carried the weight of death.

The two-hundred-meter distance was erased in a thousandth of a second.

Julius transformed into a streak of crimson lightning.
A violent hurricane rose in his wake, tearing a deep trench in the ground.
The thorns that tried to obstruct him seemed to have a will of their own, parting for him and then closing again behind him.

War Shield’s pupils shrank.

At the last moment, he frantically activated all his defensive skills: Holy Light Shield, Vajra Barrier, Absolute Bulwark…
Layers of light stacked before him, forming a near-tangible defensive barrier.

His muscles swelled, veins bulging, as he concentrated a lifetime of learning into this single moment of defense.

Too slow.

Before Julius’s speed, all defenses seemed sluggish.

The instant the thunderclap sounded, a thin, blood-red line flashed through the air and vanished.
It was the trajectory of a blade slicing through space—precise, elegant, and lethal.

When the crowd came to their senses, Julius was already standing quietly ten meters behind War Shield, his longsword angled towards the ground.
Crimson drops of blood slid slowly down the spine of the blade, gathering at the tip before dripping off.

“Crack.”

First, there was a faint cracking sound, which then grew louder.
The layers of shields in front of War Shield shattered like fragile glass, dissipating into motes of light in the air.

Julius’s expression was indifferent.
The strong wind blew through his silver hair, and the hem of his clothes whipped about.
He elegantly swung his sword in a perfect arc, flicking off the remaining blood, and calmly sheathed it.
The sound of metal scraping against the scabbard was crisp and clear.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Everyone was frozen in place, the hopeful expressions from the previous second still on their faces.
Even War Shield himself had not yet realized what had happened.
It wasn’t until the towering “Great Wall” let out a dull rumble and began to crumble inch by inch.

War Shield suddenly felt a strange coldness in his abdomen.

He looked down in disbelief and saw a thin red line appear in the center of his armor.
He touched the red line with a trembling hand, and the sensation that met his fingertips sent a chill through his entire body.

With a “pfft,” blood gushed from his mouth like a burst dam, drawing a startling arc in the air.

“No… impossible…”
His eyes widened as his tall body slowly split in two.
Organs and blood spilled onto the ground, and his heavy armor shattered into four or five pieces, crashing to the ground with a sickening thud.

Julius swept his cold gaze over the surrounding Exterminators.

When his eyes met one of them, the young Exterminator’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, a dark, wet patch spreading beneath him.

Fear spread through the crowd like a plague.

Some began to tremble uncontrollably, some sobbed quietly, and others were completely stunned.

“Is this all there is to the strongest aura in this city…”

Sensing no other A-rank Exterminators, Julius lost interest in the remaining humans.
His figure gradually blurred, vanishing as if melting into the air, leaving only a scene of devastation and the lingering smell of blood.

The battle… was over.

In a single instant.

The Exterminators stood frozen like puppets, their faces ashen.

War Shield… was dead?

That senior who was so powerful he brought a sense of security, that War Shield who specialized in defense and was almost invincible, had been so fragile before the Bloodkin.
This had to be a nightmare… but could they wake up from it?

Reality was too cruel to bear.

The ordinary Bloodkin of the legion were far less terrifying than the legends claimed, but Julius had carved the horror of the Bloodkin nobility into everyone’s memory in the bloodiest way possible.

War Shield’s all-out defense, his meticulously arranged multiple shields, the exertion of 120% of his power, the most perfect state of his life… all turned to nothing before that single sword strike.

The true terror of the Bloodkin originated from their nobles.

The primordial power born from the chaotic night manifested with the appearance of the ancient Bloodkin, Dracula.
After he was sealed by the Exterminator family possessing the Sacred Forbidden Aura, his bloodline was inherited in twelve parts.

The inheritors were called nobles, and their strength and status were far beyond that of ordinary Bloodkin.

Progenitor-rank, Legion Commander-rank, Staff Officer-rank…

Each rank represented a world of difference in power.

As the Staff Officer of one of the ten great Bloodkin legions, Julius’s strength was nearly on par with a Legion Commander.
An A-rank Exterminator alone could never hope to deal with such a noble.

The “Savior” operation was now in a desperate situation.

The highly anticipated A-rank War Shield had fallen before everyone’s eyes.

This was an utter tragedy.

Tantan City’s strongest current Exterminator, killed in action.

At this time, only 1 hour and 18 minutes had passed.

3 hours and 42 minutes remained until the arrival of the main human forces.