The tendrils lashed through the afterimages, catching almost every single one of them. But it was not enough. Nara's real body materialized several meters away, panting. He somehow managed to escape. The man did not stop after that and continued running.

Damon smiled. There was a reason why he let that guy go. He had already marked him, and now the assassin should directly lead him to the Umbra hand's base. He had already messaged Ghost, who should be here anytime now.

Damon knew very well that the other party was trying to get to the bottom of his umbra's shadow magic. The assassin was strong, and he could have stayed and fought. Perhaps something could have happened, but he sacrificed all of that, including the fairy king's tomb, just for the chance of finding out if there was more than one Umbra's heritage.

Clever guy. They were, in fact, doing pretty much the same. Damon let him go so that he could acquire more clues about the Umbra's hand and what they had. Both sides were aiming for the same thing. Now the question was… who was going to be successful?

Damon grinned and put that thought away. Umbra's heritage can wait. He first needed to figure out what exactly this whole dungeon was about. For him, it was just a luck farming spot, but clearly, there was more to it than meets the eye.

He looked around, and the assassins were starting to sneak out one after the other. It looks like their orders had finally arrived, and they had started retreating. However, that doesn't mean they could.

Damon only needed one or two guys with his blood mark to lead him right to their base. There was no reason why he would allow all of them to leave so easily.

With a grin, he dissolved into shadows and started hunting. Every time an assassin tried to leave the group, he was right there waiting for him like a reaper in the shadows.

Not leaving a single drop of blood essence to go to waste, Damon sucked dry all the assassins he could get his hands on.

Thanks to his increased luck, he was really hitting it this time with his blood extraction skill. Both stats and skills pinged non-stop. The harvest this time was extremely bountiful, so much so that he unexpectedly reached Minor Mastery in Umbra's shadow magic. His luck stat had also crossed 100 and officially entered the three-digit category.

But all good things had to come to an end. Soon, the chaos on the battlefield started thinning down with the fairies and assassins scattering in different directions. Damon tried to hunt down as many as he could, but some still managed to escape.

Without the assassins and the Western Desert Kingdom NPC fighters, the fairies had no visible enemies, and they too dispersed. While Damon was busy running around here and there, many left to occupy their own spots in the dungeon.

Damon could only sigh at this. Now he had to once again waste his time if he wanted to hunt down more of the fairies. He would have to search the whole place thoroughly. Besides, other problems could crop up anytime now.

The forest itself could change its layout, and he might miss out on the tomb's location. Or the dungeon might change its coordinates, kicking him out. It was simply not worth pursuing the small fries.

Damon did not know where the big boss of the dungeon resided, but before he fought with that problematic fairy, it was best to tackle the tomb. He quickly arrived at the location once again and used the gemstone.

For a second, he wondered if the barrier was going to let him in, but it looked like there was no problem. There was a pulse, and in a fraction of a second, Damon shot forward into the core region without any issues.

Once he entered, his eyes widened immediately. He was neither standing in the magical fairy forest nor on some sort of illusion land. Instead, he found himself back in a familiar cavern. A deep, dark cavern buried in the ground with blood sigils everywhere on the wall.

In front of him was the final boss of the Blood Reign quest chain, which was the end and the beginning of everything.

The huge blood clone looked down upon him with malice in her eyes. Several blood orbs swirled around her, each one carrying incredible power. A single attack was enough to end his life.

"Damon, we need to dodge. Otherwise, we might not make it." A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Damon's face immediately changed. How could he forget this voice? He spun around to see Aiden standing behind him, his eyes sharp and focused on the boss. There was not even a single trace of betrayal on his face, no conflicted emotions, nothing. He really did look the part of a best friend.

And yet when the fight started, everything would change.

Memories welled up within Damon, and rage and fury bubbled inside him. This man had toyed with him right from the beginning.

He clenched his fists, his aura flaring unconsciously. The blood mist thickened, swirling around his feet like a living tide. The giant blood clone ahead of them roared, its voice like the screech of a thousand tortured souls, and the air vibrated violently. The orbs circling it flared brighter, each one radiating power strong enough to melt stone.

"Focus!" Aiden barked, his tone sharp, commanding, like before. The tone Damon used to obey without question. "We need to draw her aggro! I'll flank her, you take the orbs!"

Damon growled as blood seethed around him. For a moment, all he saw was red. He wanted to destroy the bastard right here and now and settle the score, but in the end, he managed to control himself and bring his emotions down a notch.

***

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