Bloodline Gift (2)

"Silence!"

"You will submit to me absolutely."

Keosius unleashed his Leader Aura with all his strength, making every follower present feel a heavy pressure descending from above.

Whether Wyverns, Chimeras, or Ogres, they all lowered their heads and knelt without resistance.

Once every follower had bowed down, the red Keosius slowly sliced open the skin of his palm with his claws.

There were no scales covering his palm, but the skin there was thick and tough. Even for a Red Dragon, cutting it open was no easy task.

The cut widened, and warm blood slowly seeped from the wound, gathered, and fell.

"Drip."

"Drip."

"Drip."

Bright red blood flowed endlessly onto the massive rock, pooling in a shallow depression.

The followers kept their heads lowered, and silence hung in the air.

No one dared look up any longer. Their gazes stayed fixed on the ground, afraid that they might accidentally anger the Red Dragon and meet a miserable end.

"Bloodline Gift."

Keosius murmured inwardly.

As the special ability activated under the Red Dragon's will,

a strange power emerged within the Leader Aura, linking the Red Dragon to the blood.

At once, Keosius sensed that the flowing blood was no longer lifeless. It had become something closely connected to his body and his bloodline.

It was even like an extension of his own bloodline, capable of extending his influence farther and deeper.

Once all the blood had been fully transformed, Keosius could clearly feel a portion of his power being divided away.

But this was not merely a gift. It was more like a tree scattering its seeds; when the day came for them to blossom and bear fruit, they would nourish the tree in return.

The still-warm blood in the shallow depression slowly flowed.

It contained unimaginable power.

This was the Blood of Grace.

The followers did not know how far the ritual had progressed or whether it had succeeded, so they still did not dare raise their heads.

The air in the valley was nearly frozen. More than a thousand monsters were crammed inside, yet the place was unusually silent.

At last, Keosius broke the silence himself.

"You may rise."

Hearing their master's command, the followers in the valley rose in great swaths, as though a weight had been lifted from them.

But when they noticed the crimson blood slowly flowing in the shallow depression, they held their breath again, their hearts pounding with apprehension.

Who would not want to be the lucky one to gain a long life and immense power?

"Lang Pu."

Keosius called the first name.

This Ogre Mage was the Red Dragon's personally appointed chief steward, a rare monster spellcaster, and a major contributor to Ember Nest's prosperity and growth. More importantly, he had been thoroughly won over and wholeheartedly believed in the Red Dragon's so-called grand blueprint.

Keosius needed him to maintain his authority and possess greater power, setting a positive example for all the monsters of Ember Nest.

Lang Pu calmly adjusted his glasses, as though he had long expected to be the first to receive the gift.

In truth, he had been trembling with nerves just moments ago. Only when the Red Dragon called his name did he barely calm his turbulent emotions and put on an air of complete understanding.

Lang Pu laboriously climbed onto the rock and waited quietly.

The blood flowed upward against gravity and poured into the Ogre's mouth.

Only a portion of the blood entered Lang Pu's mouth, which was not much for an Ogre over three meters tall.

Under normal circumstances, this gluttonous Ogre could even force down the blood of an entire Mammoth.

But the instant the Blood of Grace entered his mouth, Lang Pu's body began to shake violently.

The fat all over his body quivered without pause.

"Ah—"

As immense elemental energy surged down his throat,

the Ogre's eyes turned blood-red, and his face twisted savagely. He opened a gaping maw large enough to swallow a human head, looking like a monster that had completely lost its mind. Not a trace remained of his earlier pretense of calm.

Yet the scorching fire element continued through his esophagus and into his stomach, burning his abdomen red and swollen, as though a blazing fire had erupted inside his body.

Ogres were said to eat anything, and their digestive systems were incredibly powerful. But at this moment, he experienced unimaginable pain in his belly for the first time.

"It's burning! It's burning!"

Lang Pu could no longer remain standing. He curled up on the ground involuntarily, his huge body rolling and struggling as his arms repeatedly hammered the ground to vent his agony.

His fists struck the boulder with booming thuds while the dragon blood churned violently within his stomach.

As the Ogre writhed, the blood containing elemental power entered his veins. His violently beating heart pumped it throughout his body, about to bring the most thorough transformation to his entire being.

"Pant, pant."

He lay on the rock, gasping heavily. His bloated, massive body had swelled and turned red, and wisps of white smoke rose from his skin. He was like an overinflated balloon, seeming ready to burst at any moment.

The power of dragons was simply too much for an Ogre with such lowly blood.

Lang Pu let out low groans one after another. His voice grew weaker, but clarity gradually returned to his eyes. Anyone could sense that his life was slowly fading.

The dragon blood greedily drained away his life force, turning it into immense elemental energy that filled his body.

Was he going to fail?

Keosius made no sound and merely watched in silence.

If he failed, Keosius would regret losing a capable subordinate, but that would be all.

The Ogres gripped their wooden clubs nervously. They did not possess much affection for their own kind and would even devour a dead companion's corpse without hesitation. But they still wanted this boss who was so good at "finding food" to survive.

Meanwhile, Hobgoblin leader Dolo's breathing grew rapid.

He had been suppressed by Lang Pu for too long. If the Ogre died and the other followers proved useless, Dolo could seize the chance to rise in rank and become Ember Nest's true chief steward.

At this thought, the corners of Dolo's mouth curled upward slightly.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

"Ah—"

The Ogre, silent for a long while, let out a deep roar.

He dropped to the ground on all fours in a strange posture. His swollen body continued expanding, greedily drawing in the surrounding energy and leaving the air around him dry.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

His body rose and fell.

His size grew from three meters to four, then did not stop until he exceeded five meters.

A spine studded with bony spikes protruded from his back.

His hands and feet also became sharper, taking on forms resembling dragon claws.

His thick skin actually cracked apart, forcibly split open by his expanding body to reveal newly grown, incomparably hard red scales beneath, like a snake shedding its skin.

Only then did Keosius realize that the Ogre Mage was not passively accepting the changes brought by the gift. Instead, he was using the elemental power contained within the dragon blood to draw upon the Weave, constructing a spell model similar to Fireball within his body and thereby absorbing the dragon blood's energy more completely.

It was exceedingly risky, but the rewards were equally great.

Thanks to Lang Pu's extensive research, his control over spells had reached a terrifying level.