New Form

Having issued his declaration of victory in advance, Saliba scanned Birmingham, which overlapped with the border, and shook his head in pity.

It was not pity for the passing of lives, but for the mercy of his opponent.

Inside the hospitals, in the bars, in the schools... the connections between him and all the lives struggling under the Blood-Thirst Syndrome were severed, never to be the same again.

Without the catalyst of the original spreader, the urge for blood slowly subsided; even if it was only treating the symptoms rather than the root cause, it saved countless lives that were about to become fodder.

The Realm of Separation continued to operate, cutting off all subsequent interference from Beelzebub, keeping the terrifying, pervasive plague blocked outside the gates, unable to advance an inch.

Merely maintaining such a massive barrier was likely enough to occupy half the focus of the formidable enemy before him.

That was why Saliba was so fearless, even daring to provoke her.

Did she spend so much effort just to rescue these expendable materials from his hands, people who were already drowning in their own desires and unable to pull themselves out?

Could such a dull blade still kill anyone?

Responding to him was a golden-red glow descending from the sky.

Falling Glow as Mountain!

Opening a door from the void, Veronica had arrived above the clouds and beneath the firmament in an instant, at the very limit of the border's coverage. Looking down at Saliba's body, which appeared tiny in comparison, she unleashed a supreme judgment.

Rising from the infinitesimal, like an inverted mountain crashing down, what was woven from the essence of Sharpness—refined to the extreme—was this gorgeous, yet capable of shredding all tangible things, Falling Glow.

Fall!

Without wasting effort trying to block or dodge, Saliba allowed his newly regenerated body to be illuminated into nothingness within the brilliant sunset, silently agitating the Fallen Heart that had shifted into his torso, accelerating the absorption and conversion of the Restless Blood.

He even went further, using the damage caused by Veronica to guide the power belonging to the Heart to repair himself, further savoring the essence of this authority.

Then came the thunder and lightning!

The lightning-flashing dark clouds were swallowed into the belly of a giant beast. Massive amounts of spirituality were purified by Saliba through a cycle from earth to sky. Then, a rainstorm rose against gravity, smashing toward Veronica above the firmament.

"How troublesome."

With a soft click of her tongue, Veronica dissipated the unformed cross in her hand. Staring at the rainstorm flying upward, she traced a circle in the air with her index finger, and a creaking sound of a door opening echoed before the rain.

Passing through the temporarily opened door, the surging rainstorm surged right back out, its direction deflected, smashing heavily onto the deserted streets, leaving the overpass riddled with holes before it collapsed with a boom.

The initial test failed, but discouragement did not visit that beating heart. Intoxicated by the rhythmic pulsing, Saliba was unable to extricate himself, almost to the point of shedding tears.

"Ah, so that's how it is! So this is how a heart beats!"

Following the tempo of a polka, the roaring sound waves swept across the sky. Saliba's massive body expanded further, growing from the size of an elephant to that of a blue whale, yet the sound of his heartbeat grew more powerful, almost drowning out the rolling thunder.

The ritual of the Storm Burnt Offering had never ended; in the trembling, Saliba welcomed a further sublimation.

Heart and Blood had merged into one, no longer separable. All the foundations had been laid; now, Saliba only needed to construct the cycle and establish the basis for his great achievement to truly welcome his transformation during the sacrifice, ascending to an existence that could well be called a god.

Foundation of Immortality!

And so, the heart beat once more. This time, what poured down from the clouds was dazzling lightning!

"Is this what you're relying on?"

The brilliant lightning, which should have ionized everything in its path, was split in two before her raised palm. After being deflected and dimmed, the two bolts of electricity struck the barrier of the border, causing the boundary that cut off reality to shake.

Amidst the roar, she descended against the lightning, cleaving through all obstacles like a sharp blade. Veronica aimed directly at Saliba's exposed chest, at that glaring, dark red heart.

"What, are you in a hurry?"

Feeling the power surging forth endlessly, far exceeding the past, Saliba could no longer suppress the excitement leaping in his heart and mocked her.

"Now, I have a small doubt about whether you are truly stronger than me."

As Veronica approached, the storm swirling around Saliba's body expanded violently, abandoning concentrated power to instead pull everything into a frantic rhythm.

The cymbals rang out, and heaven and earth shook!

With a suicidal act of dealing eighty damage while taking a thousand, Saliba interrupted every possibility of Veronica's teleportation.

Caught off guard, even as she retreated into the door of the void, Veronica, whose internal fragile balance had been disrupted, let out a muffled groan. Her heart skipped a beat, the backflowing blood impacted her valves, and the tips of her golden hair scorched slightly, curling up.

Facing an opponent who could not be targeted, the best method was a suicidal, wide-area attack!

Combining both Heart and Blood, Saliba's reserve of spirituality even exceeded that of some Immortals, and his regenerative power was nothing to worry about. As long as the opponent lacked the means to kill him in one strike, what would follow was endless torture!

"Is this your result?"

As she asked, Veronica's fist rose, crossing the insignificant distance to strike Saliba's heart, which had dimmed slightly, was pulsing with the rhythm of his breathing, and was slowly recovering.

Discarding all external manifestations, forged into this fist—which could almost be called delicate—was an awe-inspiring killing intent!

Boom!

The world paused for a moment, and then, a roar greater than thunder erupted, triggering a frenzy that shook the entire hospital!

Piercing through the hurricane and lightning, ignoring the obstruction of layers of proliferating flesh, even bones harder than metal were snapped before the fist. Veronica's strike, delivered without reservation, hit Saliba's source of power directly.

The storm was dispersed, the flesh was stripped away, and Saliba, his body erased by more than half once again, fell toward the ground. Yet, a sound still emerged. On that mangled face, what appeared was relief and ecstasy.

Blocked!

Sixth Mark · Blood Macro-Spring!

Right in front of Veronica's fist, infinite joy caused the ruptured, shriveled heart to become plump once again. Brand new flesh and tissue covered it, and the newly born bones intertwined into a silhouette unlike any beast.

Aging and death were far removed from this body: covered in scales and horns, with ferocious claws and a heart pulsing with scorching, boiling blood, it was a complex and solemn form that only appeared in myths.

This was the end of evolution, the apex of the food chain, the final destination of the search along that cruel path where all things devour one another.

New form!

With wings covered in hooked claws unfurling, the descent of Saliba came to an abrupt halt. High above in the firmament, the dissipating crimson thunderclouds gathered once more, and endless strands of silk descended, pouring that miracle brewed from agony and the life extracted from death entirely into the newborn, ferocious body.

Extend, absorb, grow!

Even though the spreading plague had been isolated by the Realm of Separation, from the Blood Pool that had exhausted all of Saliba's accumulations, a constant stream of transformative blood rose up, offering a Sacrifice to this ritual dedicated to the gods!

The Gate of Tricuspid was now within reach, and the burnt offering never ceased!