The clash between elves and undead raged with undiminished fury, but they were not the only ones caught in the storm of battle. In the other chamber, where Thalion and his warriors fought desperately against the vampires, the tides of war threatened to shift once more. Kargul was locked in a brutal, unyielding duel with the crimson-skinned orc, Grommash. Neither fighter held the advantage, every blow was met with another, every roar matched with an answering cry. Not far from them, Jack and Josh, supported by Vorlok, wrestled for dominance against an undead wyvern. They were gaining ground, but the creature's regenerative abilities made each wound meaningless, and the blood witch’s erratic spells lashed out like serpents through the air, sowing chaos.

Annie and Jakob held the line with the remaining fighters, pushing back the vampire horde inch by inch, while Evelyn became a blur of motion, darting between allies, mending wounds with swift bursts of healing light. In the heart of the chamber, however, no warrior dared tread. A seething inferno blazed unchecked at the center, a living wall of flame that swallowed all in its path. Only fleeting shadows danced within that fire, Thalion and the vampiress, Valeria. The sheer pressure of their auras eclipsed every other presence in the chamber. None dared approach. All eyes turned to them, knowing the truth: the victor of this duel would decide the fate of the entire battlefield.

Escape tokens were useless within the chamber’s wards. To flee, one had to reach the exit, but if either Thalion or Valeria fell, the losing side might not live long enough to try. Thalion, however, had no thoughts of retreat. His mind was singularly focused. This was no mere battle, it was a crucible. One of the many trials he must overcome on his path to godhood. Not just any god but the strongest of them all. His heartbeat pounded like a war drum. The air around him shimmered with heat as crimson flames roared along his limbs, the manifestation of his bloodline’s power.

Beneath his heart, the core of the Crimson Virethorn burned like a miniature sun. The plant, once reluctant to act, now poured its essence into him without restraint. Having failed to assert dominance over the vampiress’s blood plant, the Virethorn now channeled everything to empower Thalion even further. The second-stage Sanguine Thorn had already brought hidden advantages not listed in any status screen: speed, strength, clarity. These effects now surged through him with unparalleled intensity. He suspected the Virethorn was also enhancing his very essence, amplifying his blood to new heights.

Thalion's eyes, too, played a decisive role. Each time their gazes met, he unleashed his Crimson Gaze. Though Valeria retaliated with her own ocular magic, his eyes always triumphed, piercing her with force, though not yet able to inflict real harm. Her defenses held firm, but his gaze exposed every trick, every hidden weapon. To him, the blood in her body lit up like stars in the night. He saw each thorn, each tendril of blood magic before it struck. He could read her movements, predict and counter, dodging with precision honed in the traininghalls of the golden palace.

He had been fighting at full force for some time now, yet he had held back his bloodline’s most powerful ability, sensing something ominous building within the vampiress. The air around her quivered subtly, a slow gathering of energy that even his title seemed to warn him about, louder and more urgent with every passing heartbeat. A storm was coming.

He stopped responding to her openings with physical attacks. No more kicks or counters, only relentless focus. He wreathed her in fire, tightening the circle of crimson flame. The inferno consumed blood magic, feasting on the very mana that sustained it. She could feed it more, stabilizing her spells, but the cost was high. Each flame burned deeper, hotter. And then, she moved.

Without warning, Valeria ceased her pursuit and dropped low, her clawed hands touching the scorched stone. In one fluid, reverent motion, she whispered words that chilled Thalion’s blood more than any blade.

“Feasting Jungle of the Crimson Sovereign.”

Vines erupted like serpents from her hands, spreading outward in a pulsing shockwave. Thalion shot into the air, using his telekinetic dash, intensifying his bloodline flames as he ascended.

This was no mere garden. While Thalion’s Crimson Garden conjured vines and blossoms steeped in power, Valeria’s domain was a grotesque paradise of carnivorous growth. Monstrous trees erupted around her.

To call them trees would be a misnomer. The only resemblance they bore to any woodland growth was the twisted, sinewy trunks, deep crimson in color, that spiraled toward the ceiling like tortured veins pulled taut. They did not rise in neat lines but writhed upward with unnatural curvature, as though resisting gravity itself. The branches were grotesque appendages, shaped like elongated arms with clawed hands, ever reaching, ever grasping. Intertwined with them were blood-red vines, lashing at anything that came close like enraged serpents.

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Six of these monstrous growths had sprouted around the vampiress, forming a grotesque grove in the heart of the jungle. On the ground, the domain expanded, vines slithering outward in every direction, hungry and unrelenting. A few twisted flowers bloomed amidst the chaos, faintly reminiscent of Thalion’s Crimson Garden. But any spores they dared release were instantly incinerated by the inferno that continued to burn beneath. The petals followed moments later, curling and blackening as the flames devoured them.

Thalion narrowed his eyes. How he wished he had advanced his fireball skill further. Though he could wield it now like a crude flamethrower, what he truly needed was a dragon’s breath to match the scale of this blood-drenched jungle. Still, with the vampiress seemingly preoccupied, he saw an opening, a chance to test the limits of his progress. He had made great strides with Aqua Lance during the battle with the leviathan; perhaps those insights could be applied here as well.

He activated his fireball ability, not as a projectile, but as a focused torrent of fire. The stream burst forth, tighter, hotter, more refined than anything he’d achieved before. It burned in the signature crimson hue of his bloodline, condensed into a searing, controlled blaze. The flaming jet tore through the air toward the jungle below, aimed at the last place he had seen Valeria kneeling. Even with his enhanced vision, locating her amidst the blood-slicked growth was near impossible, everything pulsed with life.

The vines sensed the threat before it struck and writhed into action, shifting like a living tide. They surged upward to intercept, only to be engulfed by the inferno. Multiple tendrils were reduced to ash in seconds before Thalion ceased the attack. He couldn’t afford to waste more mana. Still, it wasn’t enough. He could tell this was not the spell she had been preparing. This wasn't her true threat.

Realizing the flamethrower lacked the force to pierce her defenses, Thalion returned to his earlier strategy. He intensified the inferno beneath him, feeding it with power. The jungle’s one weakness was elemental: it burned. And blood, unlike water, could not extinguish fire, it only made his flames hotter. In time, the domain would consume itself. But time wasn’t something he intended to give her.

Getting close was out of the question. His mana slash would lose too much potency over this distance, and he doubted it could reach Valeria through the jungle's layers of defense. But he was far from out of options. Drawing a bow he had claimed from a vampire on the fourth stage, a item made for bloodcraft, he notched one of its signature arrows. Forged from condensed blood, each bolt would explode on impact. Perfect for disrupting whatever nightmare she was conjuring.

He drew the string fully, channeling his energy into the weapon. The longer he held it, the more destructive the projectile became, a collaboration of his power and the bow’s ancient enchantments. With a sharp breath, he released it. The arrow screamed downward and detonated in a violent burst, hurling flames outward, shredding vines and forcing the jungle to recoil.

More arrows followed, each charged with greater fury. One struck a malformed tree directly, the explosion obliterating its crown in a plume of blood and bark. Yet still, the vampiress remained hidden. What was she doing down there? Her superior domain kept him at bay, but she couldn’t reach him either. Was she preparing to strike him with those blood thorns again? If so, she could forget it.

Thalion summoned a mana barrier beneath his feet and let it gently carry him upward. Already forty meters above the trees, he knew every bit of distance might matter depending on what horror she planned to unleash. For a brief moment, he scanned the battlefield below. His companions were holding their own. The tide of battle remained uncertain, but stable.

Then he saw the blood witch. At the far end of the chamber, she cast spells that appeared directly above or below unsuspecting fighters. He watched as a ghostly red entity, fanged and clawed, peeled itself from her body and streaked toward Jack and Josh, aiming to disrupt their fight with the wyvern. The display struck Thalion like a spark of inspiration. That was the kind of power he wanted, ritualistic, long-range, horrifyingly effective. With his mana reserves and recovery rate, he could wield such skills better than anyone.

He didn’t know how the witch had acquired them, but he intended to find out. She would not die before he had extracted answers. Evelyn could kill her later if she pleased, but Thalion would have his questions first. After all, the witch had murdered her family; he doubted Evelyn would protest too much if the woman suffered a bit beforehand.

His thoughts were cut short as every fiber of his being screamed in alarm. Danger surged in his veins like lightning. He whirled around just in time to hear it. A low, sinister cackle echoing through the blood jungle. The laughter was disturbing enough on its own, but it was the wave of energy that followed, a suffocating, ancient aura, that truly made his blood run cold.

Something monstrous was coming.