Ed held the drop of True Blood in his hand, feeling its texture, temperature, and the power it contained.
True Blood is both scorching hot and icy cold; its physically low temperature cannot mask its chemical-like "burning" heat.
He was like a bad student who had direct contact with chemicals, about to experience the feeling of being burned by chemicals, causing the teacher to emit a sharp, piercing sound.
Willow was almost perfectly suited for the role, quickly providing a hint when Ed grabbed the True Blood.
"Do not touch it with your bare hands. The power of True Blood is too strong; touching it could lead to infection!"
Her voice rose an octave, her eyes fixed on Ed's, as if afraid to find any trace of infection.
With the World Tree above, he and his Soul Returner are already insane; if they become infected and turn into Blood Corpse...
That would truly be a nightmare for the world.
Ed didn't actually care about the lich's overreaction.
Just like when he analyzed the Rosalind worm, Ed did not give that drop of True Blood a chance to corrode him.
He was always cautious in his actions. Even though he was confident that direct contact would likely not result in infection, he did not actually come into contact with the drop of True Blood. Instead, he used an anti-gravity technique to levitate it.
A wooden splinter pierced through his palm and plunged straight into the drop of True Blood.
A surge of immense power flowed into Ed's body. He found a chair, sat down, closed his eyes, and began analyzing and replicating the power.
Meanwhile, Muller's body, having lost its True Blood, had begun to decompose.
The meat grinder was turned off, but he had no time to think about escaping.
Muller fell off the alchemical golem's head and landed in his own mangled flesh.
His body resembled a blood-red onion, shed its skin layer by layer at a visible speed.
With each layer of flesh he shed, his body shrank a little, and Muller knew that when there was nothing left to shed, death would come.
Without thinking twice, he began to devour his own bloody mess.
There's still a chance! There's still a chance!
As long as you eat faster than you molt, you can survive!
Muller, with his enormous appetite, was hurriedly eating, while Ed beside him remained motionless.
At this moment, his consciousness had already left his body, and relying on the connection between that drop of True Blood and his original body, he flew towards an unknown direction.
Although he didn't know the exact location, Ed knew his destination was the consciousness of Grand Duke Rosalind.
He had seen Adelaide in Oliver's consciousness because he replaced part of Oliver's body with vegetable juice, making him a kind of half-creator of him.
He had seen Antasia and the Blue Dragon Noya in the consciousness of his own Root Network, because that " Machine Spirit " gained consciousness by borrowing from his plants.
Now, with this drop of True Blood, Ed is about to meet Rosalind.
But he remained calm. With his experience in summoning players, Ed had his own unique insights into when to disconnect.
If there's a problem, he can immediately disconnect the network and isn't worried that Rosalind could open the box herself in the opposite direction.
The journey through consciousness felt both instantaneous and incredibly long.
Amidst the crimson light, Ed heard a questioning voice:
" Muller?"
The voice was clear yet contained a hint of madness, like a deep pool with a calm surface but turbulent undercurrents.
Just hearing this voice from the level of consciousness, Ed felt as if he were being swallowed by endless hunger.
The next moment, the voice came again:
"If you're not Muller, then who are you?"
The voice was filled with vigilance and anger, and in an instant, Ed felt his consciousness being enveloped by a sea of blood that had appeared out of nowhere.
Upon closer inspection, one can discern that the sea of blood is not composed of blood, but rather of worms about the size of a finger.
These worms feed on willpower and have now enveloped Ed, waiting only for someone to give the order to devour him completely.
Experiencing a feeling that doesn't exist in the real world, Ed's tone remained calm:
" Rosalind, so this is your true face..."
Ed became aware of Rosalind's lineage when he saw Muller transform into a giant worm.
Muller temporarily gained High Tier abilities through True Blood, becoming a so-called pseudo- High Tier.
The High Tier of the Rosalind Lineage all possess the ability of " Aspect of Origin," meaning that Rosalind's true nature is most likely a large worm or a bunch of small worms.
Now it seems that this is pretty much the truth, at least on a conscious level.
Upon hearing Ed's words, the surging, boiling sea of blood instantly froze.
"You have my blood, hmm, it's Middle Tier plant-type bloodline unlike anything I've ever seen before..."
As the blood tide receded, a tall woman appeared opposite Ed's consciousness.
She had long, dark red hair and wore a corseted dress reminiscent of a noblewoman from the Demonic Tide era. A wine-red veil hung down, obscuring her face and making it impossible to see her true appearance.
Seeing this, Ed couldn't help but marvel:
So, at High Tier, one can freely manipulate images at the level of consciousness?
Ed thought of Antasia, who was similar to the Cybertronian in the consciousness space, and himself, who was seen as a big tree by them.
This is too abstract. Even if it's just for appearance, it gives us another reason to definitely advance to High Tier.
"You possess my blood; do you wish to join my lineage?"
"If you agree, drink this drop of blood, and you will become a new duke, and you will also gain..."
"My love."
Rosalind's thoughts were transmitted to Ed's consciousness as information. Although it was not a physical voice, he could still detect a hint of allure in it.
However, Ed remained unmoved. Not only was he not susceptible to such temptations, but the mere thought of Rosalind's Aspect of Origin that she had just revealed was enough to extinguish all his desires.
Humans cannot, or at least should not...
But perhaps those players will choose to give it a try?
Ed declined Rosalind's invitation without batting an eye.
You mean this?
He manifested that drop of True Blood.
"What do you mean 'your'? I picked this up!"
"What did you say? This drop of blood is clearly mine, it was I who gave it to Muller!"
Rosalind had never been rejected by a Middle Tier, especially not in a way she couldn't understand.
This development was beyond her expectations, even leading her to argue with the vegetative patient in front of her, as if two children were fighting over a precious toy.
Ed continued:
"As for Muller? You mean Müller-chan, right?"
"This was given to me by him before he died, so it's mine now."
"I ventured deep into this area to see if anyone else was eyeing my treasure."
As he spoke, Ed had already Incarnation a giant tree, his roots growing wildly within Rosalind's consciousness space.
"How dare you!"
A noblewoman's furious voice rang out, and in an instant, her figure vanished, and the sea of blood Descent once more.