Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 386

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Hell Trial!?
The strange stream of blood gradually coalesced into the form of the Archduke of Blood! He coldly surveyed everything around him, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

The other divine-level entities felt an unprecedented improvement in their physical condition, having expelled more than half of the residual toxins from the Blood of Contamination.

However…

Within the formation controlled by the Archduke of Blood, countless invisible threads had already formed, linking to the five divine-level entities!

The deadly trap created by the array of seizing heaven and creating fate, designed to extract Divine Power, was now in place!

Licitris was momentarily taken aback. Her initial thought was that her wave of blood absorption and purification would surely be interrupted by the other deities, but unexpectedly, it was the Archduke of Blood who made the first move!

This was unreasonable!

The appearance of the Archduke of Blood would inevitably draw the most hostility. To put it bluntly, everyone needed blood to purify the Blood of Contamination, and as the original master of this layer of hell, the Archduke had the highest level of control over the Heavenly Locking Formation.

If he didn’t show up, that would be one thing, but as soon as he did, he would become the target of all the divine-level entities.

Originally, Licitris’s forced evolution would have shattered the temporary peace among the five divine-level entities. When the real fighting began, the Archduke of Blood could reappear, and the gods would not be able to stop immediately.

This divine-level demon could then reap the benefits of the chaos.

Now that the Archduke of Blood had appeared, everyone was wary of his Origin of Chaos; no one dared to be the first to strike against him. However, the five deities also could no longer engage in battle among themselves, lest they provide him with an opening to take advantage of their conflict.

In fact, they would likely cooperate to prevent the Archduke of Blood from killing anyone else.

Sterl was somewhat puzzled.

The Archduke of Blood’s initial plans had seemed quite normal, so why did he falter at such a critical moment? Even if Licitris were to recover significantly, her level of pollution should be heavier than that of the Archduke, who had been lurking in the sea of blood. Moreover, other deities would certainly move to stop the Queen of Succubus from regaining her strength.

What was the Archduke trying to achieve by acting now?

Was he out of his mind?

Sterl watched as the Archduke of Blood wore a smug expression.

“Did you think I would give you a chance to recover? Dream on.”

“Next, you’ll understand what true terror is.”

He spat these words, his palm swirling as if about to unleash some kind of power.

The expressions of the many deities present changed dramatically. Even before the formation was activated, these divine-level beings sensed something was off.

Licitris reacted with remarkable speed! Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Mephistopheles and felt a surge of… courage!

She acted with a decisiveness far beyond her usual self.

“Let’s all attack together! We need to take down the Archduke of Blood first!”

“He completely controls the Heavenly Locking Formation. As long as he’s here, we can’t continue purifying the Blood of Contamination.”

Licitris made a valid point, but the other deities couldn’t possibly trust her, unless…

The Queen of Succubus took the lead and charged forward, exposing her back to the four divine-level entities as she swung her scythe, gathering energy to strike at the Archduke of Blood.

“Come on!”

However, while the other deities were surprised by the Queen of Succubus’s bold move, the Archduke of Blood was entirely unfazed.

He countered by gathering lightning!

Supreme Sky Thunder!

He unleashed it!

Terrifying bolts of lightning gathered and plummeted from the heavens, shattering the ceiling of the hidden valley.

Yet before the Thunder could reach the Archduke of Blood, the other four divine-level entities quickly chose to act.

The Long Night transformed into a bizarre scroll, rushing upward to intercept the Thunder mid-air, but it was soon shattered, causing Marlon to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Next came a barrage of fine lasers and dense energy projectiles, culminating in the Lord of Evil Spirits unleashing a Smoke Dragon from his mouth.

These multiple forces combined to counter the Thunder. Although individually, the lasers, energy projectiles, and Smoke Dragon could easily be torn apart by the Thunder, they continuously shielded and covered for each other, even managing to revive the leafless Long Night scroll once more as it surged upward.

In the end, the scroll depicted a scene where the Thunder was entangled and strangled by the dragon’s shadow and various energies. Because of this, the lightning was forcibly suppressed and unable to break free from the scroll!

Despite having engaged in battle only a few times, the deities noticed that the Archduke of Blood’s Supreme Sky Thunder seemed to require the lightning from above to be summoned before it could launch further attacks.

Though the gods found it strange that a skill of the Origin of Chaos level could have such a major flaw, it didn’t stop them from springing into action at the first moment.

Licitris had made the right bet.

Divine-level beings, most of the time, would make rational decisions. They couldn’t possibly trust the words of an alliance.

But when the Queen of Succubus even put her own safety aside to launch an attack, the four deities did not let Licitris down; they decisively targeted the most terrifying foe, the Archduke of Blood.

This scene seemed to be well within the Archduke of Blood’s expectations; he showed no surprise at being besieged.

The Archduke of Blood let out a furious roar, “Useless! Useless!”

Then, he reached out to harness the lightning, but when he realized that his Thunder was being held back by the combined efforts of the five deities, panic immediately crossed his face.

“How is this possible?! Damn it!”

Just a moment ago, the Archduke had exuded confidence, but now he resembled a gambler who couldn’t accept defeat, his eyes filled with rage.

The array of seizing heaven and creating fate was gradually activating, faint threads flowing from each deity, drawing away their Divine Power, though the extraction efficiency was not very high.

At that moment, the formation’s array plate was suspended in the air, slowly taking shape.

It shone with a colorful light, similar to that of the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array.

Now it was Sterl’s turn to be dumbfounded. “Aren’t you a divine-level being and the creator of this formation? Are you really playing this carelessly, just putting the array plate out there like that?”

Could it be that there was some technique I’m unaware of protecting it?

Sterl was highly skeptical.

Meanwhile, the Archduke of Blood was in a state of panic!

He had originally planned to use the Thunder generated by the Origin of Chaos to defend the array plate, but now he couldn’t summon any lightning at all!

He needed at least a little time to activate the Supreme Sky Thunder.

For the Archduke of Blood himself, that amount of time was insignificant; he could easily suppress the five deities afterward.

But it was enough time for the unprotected array plate to be destroyed.

“Damn it!”

A shout of anger echoed… but it didn’t come from the Archduke of Blood. It was Sterl, who was inwardly lamenting his situation, his face contorted in frustration.

He had been thinking of utilizing this formation.

After days of research, Sterl… had failed.

He wasn’t the protagonist who would suddenly gain immense power at a critical moment, turning the tides with a newfound understanding of the formation. However, his solid fundamentals had given him a decent grasp of the array of seizing heaven and creating fate.

After activating his ascension to godhood, Sterl could forcibly twist and modify parts of the formation’s patterns, similar to those in the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array, thereby redirecting a portion of Divine Power away from the Archduke of Blood and towards himself.

Sterl was somewhat satisfied with this.

He had always been an ordinary player from a trash race.

After allocating points, he had forcibly piled up his talents, managing to learn parts of the divine-level array in just five days.

That was already quite impressive!

He could be considered a genius in his own right.

Gaining additional Divine Power significantly enhanced Sterl’s combat strength. In fact, when it came time to hunt down the Archduke of Blood, he could rely on the formation to sustain his efforts. The chances of securing the kill would increase dramatically.

But now, if the formation was destroyed?

Sterl nearly spat out blood in frustration!

Was the Archduke of Blood mentally impaired? He acted so immaturely in every way. Didn’t he have any contingency plans at all?

Sterl grumbled to himself. He had treated his opponent as a god and calculated meticulously, only to find that the Archduke of Blood was utterly foolish! It was infuriating!

Yet he couldn’t stop the five deities from moving to destroy the array plate.

Reluctantly, he adjusted his mindset, trying to act as if the formation didn’t exist.

Until…

“Ugh!!”

The Archduke of Blood emitted a howl, as if suffering from some severe backlash, his flesh bursting apart.

Then, all five deities, including Sterl, seemed to be swept by a faint ripple.

Drip!

Suddenly, a notification appeared before the eyes of the deities and Sterl:

[You have been summoned and joined the hell trial of this layer of hell. Teleportation begins!]

[You have…]

…

[Completing the hell trial will reward you based on the number of challenges completed. Warriors, show your strength! If you die during the trial, you will exit the trial and be revived.]

The notification surprisingly came from the [Transcendence]/Swallowing Heaven game system?!

Even though the deities had gathered their attacks and were about to strike the array plate, they found themselves unable to resist the power of the system. In an instant, they were immobilized, their bodies transforming into colorful threads and disappearing from the spot.

However, even as they vanished, they were still entwined by the lines from the array of seizing heaven and creating fate, which continued to draw away their Divine Power…

After being teleported away, the Archduke of Blood’s body shattered, yet it had no effect on his actions.

Even the Blood of Contamination swirling within him did not elicit a reaction from this divine-level demon.

He simply stood up silently.

Looking at the array plate that had finally taken shape and merged into the sky, the entire world transformed into a crimson barrier, and countless threads began to surge wildly…

The Archduke of Blood smiled.

“Ooh~”

“Haah~”

At first, his celebratory words sounded somewhat strange, not resembling normal speech.

After a few seconds, he realized something, pinched his mouth shut, and rearranged his facial features.

“I am the ultimate victor!”

“And with the blood of the upper realms, given time, it too will become my power!”

“Ha ha ha!”

The Archduke of Blood laughed maniacally.

He didn’t even attempt to heal his injuries, allowing his body to gradually decay.

He showed no concern for the Blood of Contamination; in fact, he seemed eager to use the power of this special creation!

Despite the fact that he had already been cursed and was on the verge of death.