Chapter 193 - More
(Verc’s POV)
I dismissed Tatum and the others after giving them half the body of Morcant, the idiotic demon king.
I told them to make the others drink the blood as well once they finished consuming what they could from the beast’s body.
Anyway, the other half was left alone in this small room I made for myself.
Morcant was strong.
If he wasn’t stupid and a loner, then I probably wouldn’t be able to win against him.
What saved me was the fact that I’m a vampire, a demonic being that grows stronger very fast just by simply drinking blood.
When I first arrived in the village and saw Morcant inside the castle, I immediately knew that he was stronger than me. That was why even though I was really angry when I saw the others on the ground... I held it all in.
All just to find a good opportunity to take advantage of him and kill him on my own.
After all, I would’ve never forgiven myself if I wasn’t able to execute revenge and kill Morcant with my own hands for the disaster he had befallen in our village.
"I still need more... I need to be much stronger."
I mumbled to myself in a serious tone.
The order that I gave Diyael and the others; displaying Morcant’s dead body for the world to see.
It has two meanings...
One, it serves as a warning for everyone in the world—that if they want to mess with me, my people, and my territory—then they should be prepared to face someone who can kill a demon king.
Though, two... To the powerful forces out there in the world, be in public or hidden powers—they might interpret my warning as a provocation.
I was naive enough to think that because I’m strong, I wouldn’t have any problem.
That was stupid of me.
There are still those stronger than me in this world... And there are people under me now who are my responsibility.
"People that I need to protect."
I muttered, my face blank, but I wasn’t able to suppress the intense energy oozing out of my body because of anger and frustration.
I turned toward the remaining half of Morcant’s body again.
And this time, without beating around the bush—
CHOMP!
I took a bite on its thick skin, and with my fangs sinking in... I started consuming all the remaining blood in the beast’s body.
The thick, dark life force of the former demon king rushed down my throat like molten metal. My core expanded violently, hungrily taking in every single drop of dark energy embedded within the dense flesh. I didn’t care about the taste, nor did I care about the sheer volume of power flooding my system. I just pulled and pulled until my throat burned from the continuous drinking.
Every second I spent draining the corpse, I could feel my inner reserves swelling beyond their natural limit. The sheer density of a demon king’s blood was completely different from anything I had ever consumed before; it was heavy, volatile, and dripping with raw, chaotic power.
I don’t know if there’s a limit to how much I can consume, and it looks liej I will find out about that today.
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*****
Verc drunk Morcant’s blood until the corpse became dry, it looks like a dried up tree trunk now with a weird appearance.
The beast’s body looks like a mummy that had been dead for centuries, the red skin of it is now black and wrinkly. It looks like if you put even a bit of pressure in it, the whole corpse will fall apart.
That’s how much blood Verc drank in Morcant’s body without stopping even once.
He would’ve continued, but the half of the body that was with him is already drained!
Verc can feel a weird heaviness in his body, like he was about to explode.
His body was serving as a container for his powers and strength, but now that his strength suddenly jumped up unnaturally high without stopping—his container was having trouble adjusting, it was threatening to break!
"UGH...! Fuck it..."
Verc ignored the body and the weird pain he was feeling.
"Fuhhh..."
He immediately sat down on the floor instead, crossing his legs as his breathing turned heavy.
And instinctively, he started circulating his mana to absorb Morcant’s blood properly. To have his body adjust to the new level of power he had just acquired.
Verc had an easy time until now after absorbing blood. Normally, his vampiric body effortlessly integrated whatever essence he took in, converting it into smooth strength without any backlash.
But because he overexerted himself by drinking a huge amount, of someone really strong, at that—
"GRRRAGH!!!"
Verc was now in an excruciating pain.
A sudden, overwhelming wave of violent mana exploded inside his chest. It felt as if his internal pathways were being torn apart by jagged blades, his veins bulging unnaturally under his pale skin as dark crimson light pulsed through them. The raw, unrefined energy of the thirteenth demon king was thrashing against his core, resisting complete assimilation.
Sweat poured down his face in sheets, mixing with the dark blood still smeared around his mouth. His muscles twitched violently, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands into tight fists. The agony was so sharp that it threatened to snap his consciousness in two.
He knew he couldn’t scream out loud. Outside this room, his subordinates and the recovering villagers were resting. If he let out a cry of weakness now, it would only spread panic among those who depended on him.
"GRRRGH...!"
He bit his lower lip until it bled just to stop himself from making any noise. He cut off his connection with the others who drank his blood as well.
So that they don’t know what’s happening to him.
CRACK!
His fangs pierced straight through his own bottom lip, the fresh metallic taste of his own blood filling his mouth as he clamped his jaw shut. The pain from his lip was nothing compared to the inferno burning inside his mana pathways, but it gave him a physical anchor to focus on.
’I can’t collapse here...’
Verc thought, his vision blurring as red spots danced before his eyes.
’If I can’t even handle this much, how am I supposed to stand against the rest of the world?’
The violent energy thrashed harder, trying to tear its way out of his physical body. The sheer pressure of the demon king’s blood felt like it was going to crush his bones into powder from the inside out.
Then with pure determination...
’I... NEED TO BE STRONGER!’
Verc pushed through the pain and continued anyway.
He didn’t pull back his mana; instead, he forced his inner circulation to speed up, forcefully crushing the wild, chaotic essence of Morcant and dragging it into his core with absolute, unyielding authority.
He refused to yield an inch to the pain, using his sheer willpower to tame the raging power inside him until every last drop of the crimson demon’s blood submitted to his command.