Solar Blood Masters (152)

Chapter 152 - Draconis Lu Ruby

“Draconis Lu Ruby!”

“Draconis Lu Ruby!”

“Draconis Lu Ruby!”

The crowd’s chants washed over Lu Ruby. Her arrogant and proud laughter resounded throughout the Grand Mound Arena.

“Do you hear that, you little shits? The audience is cheering MY name and condemning YOUR downfall.” She glared at Raphael’s team. “Wororororor! Time for you all to die!”

With a terrifying roar, she spat a golden beam of light from her mouth. It swung in a wide arc across the stage, targeting her opponents.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Each point of contact erupted in a fiery explosion.

“Don’t get caught by that energy! It’s Draconic Fire! It’ll burn your Solar Essences!” Raphael warned his team as they desperately tried to avoid Lu Ruby’s attack.

“There is nowhere to flee! You will all be killed by me, unless you yield! But you, little brother, you think I wasn’t aware that you were hiding beneath my chariot the whole time?”

“Then why did you…?” Lu Jade started; confused.

“It’s because I want to take my time torturing you, so you can feel all the pain and humiliation you caused Father!” Lu Ruby’s draconic eyes blazed with a vengeful fury.

"What about the pain that you all caused me? Don't act as if I started this!” Lu Jade retorted.

“Silence! On what grounds do you argue with me, your better? Don’t you see my glorious wings and my shining draconic scales? Even if you were treated unfairly in the past, you should have sucked it up, increased your strength, and offered your usefulness to our Father's ambition! Instead of prancing around disgracefully on that bull’s horn.”

“Well said, my daughter. Hahahaha.” Lu Ignis nodded approvingly, a smug grin stretching across his snout. His tail, coiled around his golden trident, thrashed excitedly. He was truly enjoying this display of his daughter's newfound power.

“That’s my girl! Show those weaklings what a true Draconic Serpent can do! Rip them apart! Crush their bones! Burn their Solar Essences! Make them pay for their insolence!” His boisterous cheers resounded through the arena.

Lu Ruby turned her gaze back to Lu Jade. “Look at you, you pathetic little shit. You’re actually coiled around that bull’s horn as if some adornment. You think that bull actually cares about you? Then you are sadly mistaken, brother. That bull will devour your soul the moment you stop being his plaything.”

“Don’t speak ill of Big Brother! He’s not like that!” Lu Jade’s voice was laced with a fierce loyalty.

“Oh, he isn’t? You think we can defy our nature? That bull is greedy, arrogant, and rotten to the core! It’s his nature to trample over others’ hard-earned efforts. What makes you think he won’t trample over you as well? It’s only a matter of time.”

“No, I don’t believe you.” Lu Jade shook his head vehemently.

Raphael felt a pang of gratitude towards Lu Jade, a silent acknowledgment of their bond, of his newfound family.

"Little Lu…” he whispered.

“Tsk, this is getting boring.” Qi Fenwei stepped forward. “I hate family drama. Are we going to kill each other or sit here talking all day? We are pressed for time.” She glanced back at the Manga Globe, which hadn’t even been scratched by ‘Hells Glory’ earlier. “That snake… she’s only trying to buy time for Lingshi. Which means her power is just boast. I suggest we cut her down now.” She aimed her sword at Lu Ruby.

Hearing this, Lu Ruby grumbled, ‘Damn that Fenwei! She actually saw through my plot. I’m still not used to this Draconic Serpent form. I can only maintain it for a few more minutes. Then… I better end those bastards with my next attack.’

Lu Ruby began to slither, coiling herself upwards around a massive, red sword that was slowly materializing in the air above her. The crowd watched in awe as she reached the hilt of her sword.

“Sanguine Coil Ascendancy - Fatal Redscale Impaler!"

With a terrifying roar, she launched herself from the sword’s hilt, acting like a spring to propel that massive weapon. The sword shot toward Raphael with a speed that defied logic. It was a blur of crimson heading straight for him.

Only Thienika reacted in time.

"ROYAL GUARD!"

She thrust her staff forward, and the world around the sword warped and distorted for a millisecond. The ‘Fatal Redscale Impaler’ froze in stasis.

“A second is more than enough for me to counter!” Qi Fenwei’s voice rang out.

“Black Wind Lightning Gate - Open!”

A swirling vortex of black and white lightning materialized around her. She merged Archon and Lullaby into Mephisto and positioned herself behind Thienika.

“Mephisto - Crescent Faust Lummox!”

SLASH!

Thienika dashed out of the way, allowing Qi Fenwei's attack to approach Lu Ruby’s frozen sword.

"What is THAT technique?" Lu Ruby wondered for a split second. "Whatever it is, my technique is still stronger! Now GO! Fatal Redscale Impaler!”

Her sword regained its momentum, and clashed against ‘Crescent Faust Lummox’!

The resulting explosion was deafening! The very air itself crackled with chaotic energy.

But the clash lasted only a second. Qi Fenwei's technique overpowered the ‘Fatal Redscale Impaler,’ shattering it into a million fragments that rained down upon the stage.

Undeterred, the seven Crescent Faust Lummox’s slashes continued onwards toward Lu Ruby with an inexorable force.

“What the hell IS that technique? It completely obliterated my ‘Redscale Impaler’! Hmph! Strong as it is, it’s too slow. All I have to do is dodge and that attack will only hit thin air!”

Lu Ruby tried to evade the incoming slashes.

But she couldn’t move!

“How the hell is this possible?!” Her draconic eyes widened in horror. She was trapped!

From the stands, the spectators watched, baffled.

“Why isn’t she dodging?”

“That attack’s so slow! Just move!”

“Is she… underestimating her opponent? That must be it!”

On the Emperor’s platform, Lu Ignis also couldn’t comprehend. He knew how potent Qi Fenwei’s attack was, yet his daughter, his precious Lu Ruby… wasn't moving?

He glanced at Qi Hawk, who was smirking, and shouted, “You bastard! You KNOW something about that technique, don’t you?! Spit it out! Why isn’t my daughter moving?! If she dies today, you will…”

“Will what?” Qi Hawk cut him off. “This is the Great Divine Tribulation, Lu Ignis. Deaths are inevitable. If your daughter dies, that means she wasn’t strong enough, and as a loving father, you shouldn’t have allowed her to participate if she wasn’t ready. You can only blame your own incompetence for her demise.”

“What?! You DARE!” Lu Ignis was about to retaliate, when something far below caught his attention, a desperate attempt by his daughter to survive.

Seeing that she couldn’t dodge in time, Lu Ruby conjured a massive barrier.

“Draconis Scale Barrier!"

Hundreds of purple scales, each one as large as a shield and radiating an energy that could melt even the toughest steel, materialized before her, forming an intricate, overlapping wall of impenetrable defense.

Qi Fenwei simply smirked. “That won’t save you, snake.”

“KILL!”

Her seven ‘Crescent Faust Lummox’ slammed into Lu Ruby's barrier.

And the barrier…

It shattered! It crumbled like a sandcastle before a tidal wave, for her Draconic Scales were nowhere as strong as her father, or those Dragon Lords in Fol Ash.

“KYAAAH! NOO!”

Lu Ruby screamed in agony as the slashes ripped into her flesh!

Her left wing was severed! A huge gash appeared across her midsection! Her arms were mangled! And the final slash, aimed for her head…

She managed to shift slightly.

The slash grazed her face, cutting her left eye and leaving a deep, jagged scar that would forever mar her once-beautiful visage.

She collapsed.

Her Draconic Serpent form dissolved. Her scales reverted back to their normal crimson. She lay on the ground, looking like a broken mess.

…

“ARAAAAH!”

Lu Ruby howled in agony while twirling around on the stage. Crimson blood, thick and viscous, oozed between her scales and was pooling around her on the platform. She tried to channel her draconic energy to mend her wounds. But the areas where Qi Fenwei’s ‘Crescent Faust Lummox’ had cut deep, they resisted her efforts, and that empty socket where her left eye had been moments before, it throbbed with a phantom pain that made her vision blur.

Muburt shouted, “A stunning reversal! Qi Fenwei’s ‘Black Heaven Ripper’, a technique of unimaginable power, has decimated Lu Ruby’s Draconic Serpent form! It seems the princess of Ho Eastern has been defeated! What a twist!”

Qi Fenwei separated Mephisto back into its components. Archon and Lullaby. Sheathed, they rested on her back. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air; she swayed precariously.

“Princess, you ok?” Raphael’s massive form materialized beside her just as she stumbled. He gently caught her in his palm. She was light, fragile even.

"This is nothing,” she muttered, trying to maintain a brave facade, but her exhaustion was evident.

With Lu Jade and Thienika cradled protectively in his left hand, and Qi Fenwei in his right, Raphael turned his gaze toward Lu Ruby, who was still writhing in pain.

A hushed silence had fallen over the arena. The spectators stared at Lu Ruby’s mangled form. Their earlier cheers vanished, now whispers of disbelief and awe took their place.

“Why didn’t she dodge? That attack was so slow…”

“Is she that brave… or stupid?”

“She should have yielded! Now look at her…”

THUD!

Raphael slowly approached Lu Ruby. He could sense her weakened Solar Essence, her dwindling life force. He charged a ‘Helios Sphere’ between his horns, it glowed with a menacing orange light.

“Yield, or be killed.” His voice was a rumble of thunder.

Lu Ruby looked up. Her remaining eye blazed with defiance. “You… dare?!” she hissed but a violent cough wracked her body, blood sprayed from her mouth and nostrils, splattering the stage.

She collapsed.

Her head landed in a deep crater; growing pool of her own blood. It was a gruesome sight.

“Is she… about to drown in her own blood?” Muburt spoke with morbid curiosity.

Raphael paused and gazed on Lu Ruby’s blood.

“Hmmm, that blood…” A predatory grin stretched across his muzzle as Shao Jin’s ancient instincts awakened. “It contains draconic essence. Potent Solar Essence and ancient secrets. Maybe it can help strengthen my blood, my Solar Blood Spirit even! Yes… this is a treasure I cannot waste.”

Thinking this…

He summoned the ‘Buddhist Pill Gourd’ from his Abyss Nylon. It hovered above the pool of blood. Its mouth opened, and began absorbing the crimson liquid greedily. Within seconds, the gourd swelled, around it, a swirl of red energy was present.

Lu Ruby stared at the spectacle with widened eyes burning with disbelief as her life essence was siphoned away and those dreams of vengeance… they died as her consciousness drifted, then darkness almost claimed her.

Raphael smirked and returned the gourd to his Abyss Nylon. “Now then, time to eliminate you.”

He aimed his horns at Lu Ruby, ready to unleash a ‘Helios Stream’.

But then…

A loud crack echoed through the arena, and a powerful tremor had the very foundations of the stage quaking.

They turned.

The Manga Globe was cracking!

And from its depths…