The Golem Mage

Ethan couldn't fathom how Damien had managed to bring Seraphina under his control, but he quickly realized he was at a significant disadvantage, particularly if Damien decided to join the onslaught he was currently fending off.

Ethan restrained himself, not wanting to seriously injure Seraphina just because she was under Damien's control, yet she showed no such hesitation, her light blade was faster as she clashed against his stone fists and sliced through his earth spikes with ease, as if cutting through butter.

As both Ethan and Seraphina unleashed their martial skills to the max, Ethan disregarded Damien, deducing that he wasn't going to intervene since he seemed content observing the battle like a spectator, Ethan felt slighted by this, but he was fully aware that he was far less powerful than Damien.

Bang!

A resounding explosion echoed, not from Ethan and Seraphina's clash, but from Damien, who had been struck by a massive firebomb set off by Aria.

Ethan's attention was diverted toward her, and he saw that she had finally broken free from the blood tendrils that had ensnared her, her body was riddled with small wounds from which blood seeped out, a gruesome sight.

Yet Aria stood resolute, adopting a boxer's stance, even as Damien emerged from the blast radius with a rare look of surprise on his face, he hadn't anticipated her deciphering the secrets of his Blood tendrils spell and escaping.

Despite the surprise attack Damien was unharmed, but that came at a cost as the blood pool around him had been completely depleted , and he no longer had any blood orbiting him.

"It seems you haven't learned your lesson, you should have accepted the easy death I had arranged for you, considering my reluctance to kill women in a gruesome manner. But since you're so insistent on a terrible end, be my guest," Damien said.

His words seemed to carry a heavy weight, instilling fear in both Aria and Ethan.

They exchanged worried glances, concerned about his next move, however, they found some solace in the fact that the blood pool, which had acted like an ammo for his magical moves, was now depleted.

However, everything changed when Damien began making peculiar hand signs.

[> Mid Bloodline Skill – Blood spikes <]

Damien recited the incantation slowly, causing each phrase to reverberate in their minds, recognizing Aria's exhaustion, Ethan swiftly moved to disrupt Damien's casting, realizing that Aria was in no condition to defend herself.

Unfortunately, in his determination, Ethan briefly forgot that Seraphina was no longer their ally, as he inadvertently exposed his back to her, making himself vulnerable to a direct strike.

Aria's body trembled, her eyes bulging as she sensed a foreign presence had infiltrated her body, it sought to manipulate her blood, but despite her attempts to expel it using her mana, her efforts proved futile.

After five seconds of fighting with the invasive force, spikes made from her own blood began to protrude from her body, one of them impaled her heart as it made its way out, causing her to resemble a porcupine with the enlarged blood spikes jutting out of her body.

As the light in Aria's eyes gradually dim, the Colosseum's bright lights flickered once more and enveloped her body, making Aria vanished from sight.

Damien turned his attention to the remaining two individuals only to find Ethan injured on the ground, and Seraphina trembling, her blood-stained sword no longer emitting its previous gleam, Seraphina couldn't recall anything that had transpired.

Ethan gazed at her, as he realised she didn't strike own, and he noticed that the colour of Seraphina's eyes had returned to normal, indicating that she was no longer under Damien's control.

However, in that moment, Ethan had lost all motivation to resist after witnessing Aria's defeat.

"Tch, despite my blood aura enhancing your strength and speed for that long, you still couldn't eliminate him before breaking free from my control, you are truly worthless," Damien sneered as he retrieved a small gin flask from the inner pocket of his uniform.

He leisurely uncorked the flask, perplexing the crowd who wondered why he would want to drink in the middle of a battle, but Instead of consuming the liquid inside, Damien poured its contents onto the ground.

Blood gushed forth from the flask, spreading around him and forming a larger pool than the one created when he killed Tristan.

Expressions of grim determination crossed the faces of the other academy teams watching, they quickly discarded their previous ideas of how they would restrain Damien if they were unlucky too meet him, realizing their earlier assumptions of his abilities were mere foolish illusions.

They had believed that if they could prevent him from spilling blood, he would be limited to his own blood which he seems to avoid wasting, his physical abilities and the defense provided by his academy spirit equipment uniform.

Yet, in this moment, they realized the extent of their narrow thinking, never had it occurred to them that Damien would enter the arena with his own source of blood, bypassing their assumptions, the flask confirmed their suspicions that it was some form of spatial Artifact capable of storing liquid.

Damien had utilized the flask to store blood, which now emanated a dangerous aura as it pulsed and throbbed like a heart beat around him, tinged with streaks of black.

The sight of such a vast pool of blood floating behind him made onlookers question how many lifeforms' blood he had managed to collect within it.

[> Low Bloodline Skill – Blood Needle <]

Damien unleashed another spell, sending seven elongated blood needles hurtling toward both Ethan and Seraphina.

Seraphina skillfully deflected the needles and retreated back into the air with light wings, but Ethan wasn't as lucky.

He dealt with the grim reality as the seven blood needles pierced his vital areas—eyes, heart, and other internal organs—draining his blood until the bright light flashed and whisked Ethan's body away.

The seven blood needles, now saturated with Ethan's blood, ascended into the sky, as they had turned pure black and vibrated with increased intensity as they sped toward Seraphina, who was still fending off her own set of seven needles.

The needles, now faster after absorbing Ethan's blood, moved in a blur, and In the next instant, they replicated their previous action, piercing Seraphina.

The additional seven needles she had been fending struck her as well, hastening her demise as the light flashed once more, removing her body from the scene.

A hush fell over the spectators as they watched Damien effortlessly command the needles with a mere gesture of his right hand, as they executed his will with precision.

The fourteen blood needles returned to him, but now seven of them were not only black but also longer, the other teams took note, realizing that with each kill, the blood needles grew in strength.

As they quickly recorded this new threat, the thought that Damien was merely a vice-captain sent shivers down the spines of the teams observing, they now understood why the ranks of the Great Eight Academy were rarely changed , as beads of sweat formed on their brows at the realization of the formidable power they were witnessing.

Damien leisurely approached the castle where Maria Darkbliss stood guard.

"I surrender. You can have the flag," Maria declared before Damien even made a move.

"Ehhh? Your entire team fought to the death, displaying such determination even in the face of certain defeat, but now, you are giving up so easily?" Damien questioned, surprised by Maria's contrasting behaviour compared to the rest of her team.

He had expected Maria to put up a fight, to make things interesting for him, even if she was the weakest, however, her emotions were hidden behind the veil covering her face, leaving Damien unable to gauge her true reaction.

"You are not the one I wanted to fight against, i made that clear when I joined the team, and they were fine with it, so just take the flag, as I won't stop you," Maria responded, her words piquing Damien's curiosity.

"In that case, I'll be watching, i hope you get to face the person you're interested in, i want to see if they are on my level or if this is just a bluff ," Damien mentioned, as a colossal hand made of blood emerged to retrieve the flag from the castle roof.

With the announcement of the Bloodline Academy's victory echoing throughout the Colosseum, the one-man show battle came to a conclusion.