The Era of Gods

Alemende’s pupils radiated a faint blood light as he concentrated on the teleportation vortex. It was only after a long pause that he replied to his subordinate:

I’ve examined the memories of Lord Garcia. That’s not a noble one but rather an existence that has just set foot on this path.”

Then, my lord…

Blood Knight Garcia looked at the Blood Count with a surprised gaze but didn’t continue, knowing his lord understood his question.

Blood Count Alemende nodded and said:

If that were a noble one, I would immediately close the spatial rift and leave.

Unfortunately, it’s not; it’s an existence that has just begun this path. So…”

My lord wishes to slay a god?

No, he isn’t worthy of being called a god. Only the great Blood God Ancestor is the True God. All others are false gods, including that one from the Human Empire.”

As he spoke of these two beings, his eyes revealed deep envy and expectation. He extended a long, pristine hand, gently miming a grasp as streaks of blood light escaped between his fingers. Suddenly, he whirled around, his magnificent robe billowing. A circle of blood-colored aura explosively burst forth, as he bellowed to the army fast approaching:

Heed my command, invade the extra-dimensional plane, and kill any life in sight!”

Blood Knight Garcia felt a chill in his heart, bowed deeply, then looked up fiercely. From beneath his heavy helmet, his eyes blazed with blood light, spurting nearly a foot out as he viciously drew his massive blood sword and roared:

Brave warriors, follow me to battle!”

His fully armored warhorse reared high, the knights under his command roared thunderously, and the front row of heavily armored infantry rushed toward the teleportation vortex with shields raised.

They’re here!

Lin Xiao suppressed the urge to issue a divine mandate, believing Slarda would not disappoint him.

As a sea of blood light gushed from the teleportation vortex, two knight brigades appeared simultaneously. The moment they arrived, Blood Knight Garcia pointed his sword at the distant, mountain-like Slarda and led tens of thousands of fully armed blood slaves in a charge against the seven to eight thousand Fishmen and more than four hundred Supreme Naga.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the vortex, Lin Xiao saw that the second knight brigade was in position, and a very powerful, somewhat familiar evil presence hung in front of the teleportation vortex.

The Blood Count!

The aura matched the enormous face he had seen when the door first opened, indicating that the Blood Count had personally arrived.

This was a Rank 7 High Transcendent. According to Different Domain power levels, he was at least at Level 18 or 19, just a step from the legendary Level 20 threshold of touching upon the rules—a fearsome adversary.

However, Lin Xiao glanced at his remaining eighty million plus faith value and wasn’t the slightest bit worried.

If it were only a virtual invasion, as the Divine Realm Master, he couldn’t intervene, but this was a bona fide invasion. As the Divine Realm Master, it was within his rights to act. Surely, he couldn’t just watch his Clan be outmatched and annihilated, his Divine Realm be ravaged?

Of course, since it was a trial, under normal circumstances, the Divine Realm Master could only intervene when the Clan was clearly outmatched with significant losses. If he struck down the enemy right from the start, it would definitely diminish the evaluation of the task significantly.

Therefore, how exactly to act, whether to prioritize evaluation or the safety of his own Clan, required careful consideration.

The Blood Count did not directly enter the portal but continued to order the second batch of subordinates to prepare for teleportation. He personally stabilized the teleportation vortex, reducing the interval between teleports to less than two minutes.

By this time in the Divine Realm, the two armies had just begun to clash. The Fishmen vanguard had just overturned the front line of the Blood Knight brigade with a wave of the Salted Fish Charge and stomped the ground for a Thunder Strike, sending the second wave of enemies flying with a powerful shockwave that deflected all incoming arrows from behind.

Compared to the single-target five-fold burst of the Salted Fish Charge, the Thunder Strike was an area-of-effect skill, mainly used for crowd control. Unless the enemy was too weak, below Level 1, and poorly equipped cannon fodder from a lower race, it was difficult to kill instantly with one stomp.

The eight thousand Fishmen and the remaining seven to eight thousand fully equipped human blood slave warriors clashed head-on, and within tens of seconds, they gained the upper hand. Slarda commanded the central army to press forward while the Fishman magicians approached the battlefield and cast various spells to support their allies and tactically suppress the enemy.

Especially the more than one thousand Fishmen magicians capable of summoning Water Elements. Under the command of a magician leader, a large congregation was performing the summoning.

Every Fishman magician would randomly receive three spells from the spell library upon promotion. While random, there are a few spells that are quite common, with a high probability of being obtained, such as summoning Water Elements and Tide Call, among others.

Just as Kobold Geomancers also awaken spells at random, there’s one spell all Kobold Geomancers awaken to: Dragon Breath Fireball, with a force comparable to a 500kg warhead ballistic missile.

The Water Elements summoned by the Fishman magicians were medium­sized, equivalent to a Level 4 troop. About four meters in height, they possessed skills like Water Arrow, Tide Call, Create Water, and Water Control. Their combat power was quite impressive, making them formidable summons.

Most importantly, Water Elements originate from a vast Elemental Plane of Water and aside from magical energy, their bodies are composed mostly of pure water.

Water that can be directly consumed.

Thus, if a spellcaster found themselves in a desert or some other waterless environment, they could summon Water Elements to quench their thirst.

Should the Divine Realm lack fresh water, one could summon a large number of Water Elements from the Water Elemental Plane to the Divine Realm, then dissipate them so their water remains within the realm.

It’s a flashy trick but very practical. Lin Xiao planned to create a large lake and develop several water channels on the Divine Realm Land when he had the chance, using this very method.

Thousands of Water Elements were summoned to protect the magician group without entering the battlefield. Instead, they shielded the magicians, enabling them to continue summoning more Water Elements.

As a Level 3 Magician, one could generally control about four or five Water Elements at the same time, aggregating a force of four or five thousand Water Elements, which was quite a formidable power as well.

By the time the magicians were summoning their third Water Element, the Teleportation Vortex surged with energy once again, indicating the imminent arrival of the next wave of enemies.

At this time, the first wave of two Knight Orders had dwindled to less than five thousand, pressed and pummeled by the eight thousand Fishmen together with several hundred Naga, now consolidating their defenses near the teleportation gate.

Among the new arrivals through the portal, one of the Knight Orders was led by Blood Knights, while the other was led by a Blood Wizard, who rose into the air, enveloped in a sphere of blood light, and shouted loudly:

Lord Alemende commands that we hold the exit at all costs. The Earl himself will soon lead the Guardian Knights into battle.”

“Oh!

The morale of the enemy soared with these words, but Lin Xiao, upon hearing them, was even more pleased. He stroked his chin in thought, then suddenly issued a Divine-mandate to Slarda to slow down the assault and not wipe out the enemy too quickly—it wouldn’t do to scare the Earl away before he even entered the fray.

Slarda, who was gradually approaching the Teleportation Vortex with the Central Army, paused briefly, then ordered the Central Army to slow both their advance and their offensive.

To slow their offensive meant to adopt a defensive posture, aiming not to kill the enemy but to preserve their own lives. With the protection of the Sea Water Boundary fortified by the Fishman magicians, their casualties were minimal despite the intensity of the battlefield.

Of course, there were still losses, but if they could entice the Blood Count himself to come forth, the sacrifice would be worth it.

The Blood Count waited outside the Vortex, helpless against his opponent.

Divine Power spears could kill his Transcendent-ranked underlings even across dimensions, but they absolutely could not kill a Vampire Count who was only a step away from legend. Only if the opponent entered the Divine Realm was he a hundred percent certain he could squash him.

With tens of millions of Faith value at his disposal, he wouldn’t falter against a demigod, let alone someone short of legend.

If he could kill the Blood Count and then annihilate the various Knight Orders of the Blood Legion that had entered the Divine Realm, Blood Castle would be left a mere husk, easy to topple.

Outside the Vortex, the Blood Count Alemende looked grim as he watched through the spiral toward the other side of the plane. Even though he saw the situation stabilize with the arrival of the second batch of his troops, who blocked the enemy’s onslaught, his expression became even grimmer.

Behind him stood several Blood Knights, with nearly half of the Blood Legion’s Blood Knights present. At this moment, one of his subordinates approached him and whispered:

My lord, the teleportation gate is stable!

Without responding, and with no action from his subordinate, Alemende suddenly snorted coldly after a few seconds and commanded:

Have Garcia and the others prepare to retreat!

His subordinates, puzzled, ventured to ask:

My lord, if we withdraw now, at least half of the Blood Slaves won’t make it out. Is that acceptable?”

Alemende whirled around, his pupils blazing with blood flames as he barked:

Obey my orders!

Yes sir!”

His subordinates immediately nodded in agreement, and two Blood Mages stepped forward to control the teleportation gate, relaying the message.

The four Blood Knights who were locked in battle with the Fishmen had different reactions to the order. The pair who had arrived later were somewhat confused, but Garcia and another Blood Knight who had arrived earlier breathed a sigh of relief, immediately ordering a portion of their forces to cover the rear while the rest hurried to withdraw.

This dangerous battlefield was nowhere they wanted to remain for another moment.

Slarda had ordered that they go easy, which the later arriving Blood Knights were unaware of, but how could he be unaware?

The previous wave almost made his Knight Order collapse, and the next moment their enemies eased the pressure. He understood very well the enormous disparity between the two and the fishing tactic the enemy was using —it was clear that they could defeat them but were holding back, clearly intending to lure the Earl into the fray.

Fortunate for him, the wise and valiant Earl had seen through the enemy’s trick and did not fall for it, a fact for which he was extremely grateful.

As the enemy began their large-scale withdrawal, Lin Xiao naturally witnessed it all, realizing his plan had been seen through. He sighed, a bit disappointed, then pointed, and a dazzling golden light, like a meteor, fell from the sky, heading straight for the Teleportation Vortex. The Blood Legion that had entered the Divine Realm would not be leaving so easily.

You wish!

Upon seeing this, the Blood Count behind the Vortex flew into a rage, his blood flames surging. He reached a hand into the Vortex.

In an instant, endless blood surged from the blood-colored Vortex, rapidly condensing into a gigantic blood hand that pressed towards the golden meteor falling from the sky.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion shook the heavens, as the terrifying energy ground the void, creating an invisible spatial distortion that spread rapidly.

The blood hand shattered, and the meteor was broken, dissolving into a shower of golden sparkles that vanished.

Lin Xiao paused briefly, a trace of anger crossing his face. He burned five million Faith value in an instant, and his body ignited in transparent golden flames. He slowly extended a palm that seemed forged of gold downward in a grasping motion. As his wrist pressed down, the void rippled like water, and his entire hand disappeared into it.

Meanwhile, Garcia, who had retreated to the edge of the Teleportation Vortex, suddenly felt his scalp tingle, a suffocating pressure descending from the sky. Instinctively, he slapped his mount, turning into a streak of blood, shooting towards the Teleportation Vortex.