The Monarch of Blood didn't sit. Instead, he circled him, playing with Lidien's own blood-like verve as if it were his own.

"Why do you want everything standardized, Child?"

The question of the Monarch of Blood hit Lidien as if it were a punch to his stomach, taking his breath away in an instant.

"As if everything you learned came from a scripture."

Lidien stayed quiet, and only listened to the words of the Blood Monarch without prejudice.

"What do you know about blood?"

He didn't answer, and only stared at the blood-like verve that now looked like a sharp sword.

"Actually... I don't need to teach you anything, for the answer was already within yourself... you are just blinded by your own 'Standard' of what blood should be..."

Then, as the Monarch of Blood stopped his circling, he spread his arms and laughed maniacally.

"Look at this vast, never-ending ocean of verve... what's the use of it if you'll never use it?"

Lidien stared into the Monarch's eyes, and though it was just a simple gesture... he understood what he had been doing wrong.

Since his original soul came from another world, he was still using the rules of Earth instead of adapting to the rules of his current world.

Not every answer he needed had to be based on the science he had learned from books.

Like instinct... he needed his mind to be flexible.

Since science couldn't explain how the monster outside of his Dreamflow had become an abomination.

"Remember, Child... as long as there is blood, you will never die."

Snap!

Lidien was immediately sent back outside of the Dreamflow, his mind tingling from the sudden transfer. Then, as he opened his eyes... time continued as if it had been just a blink of an eye.

Another tentacle was flying towards him while he was still mid-air.

'My verve is almost unlimited... I need to spend more of it than my blood.'

Then, with his still bleeding hands, he willed his verve to sheath the blood and form a bloody whip, before slashing it towards the upcoming limb.

As the whip latched itself onto the tentacle, he pulled it, using it as a swing to go to the other side, sliding towards his initial position before he searched for Alva.

He scanned around, then smiled. Using his other hand with a whip, he used it to retrieve the ripped arm of the Matriarch that Alva had gifted him from the failed assassination.

Gulping, Lidien bit the arm and chewed it madly as if he had been hungry for years.

Then...

His mind seared with information as he relived the experiences of the Matriarch thanks to the Echoes of the Flesh.

As the searing pain eased and subsided in a blink of an eye, he smirked.

"Alva! Bring all the dead bodies outside and place them here! Now!"

Alva, who was busy flapping her single wing and dodging the tentacles, immediately left using the broken wall that had been destroyed by the large tentacle.

Now, without hindrance... with him and the Matriarch alone, Lidien could go all out.

As he remembered the Monarch of Blood saying, as long as there is blood, he would be immortal...

Lidien's whip suddenly entered his bleeding hands, till the wounds knitted, removing the scars, regenerating as if he was an Angel of Life.

'Good... you are there, Child, but remember... one wrong move and both of us will perish.'

The Monarch of Blood's warning only made Lidien excited, as his face blushed from his cheeks to his ears.

"That's why I trust you, old man... let's finish this, both of us. We just need more blood so we won't die against this Abomination."

Lowering himself, Lidien with his Blood Form and Incite of Blood running at their peak, released his spiritual verve, trying to cover every blood present in the area while dodging the tentacles rushing at him.

His head felt like it was burning, blood dripped down his nose... his ears rang from the vast control he had never done before...

If not for his now sturdy Sparkline, Lidien's body would have burst from the influx of Spiritual Verve being released from his Dreamflow towards the real world, sheathing all the blood with his Verve.

And, as he raised his arms, a wall made of blood erupted from the floor, literally dyeing the Dark Wolf Palace, the Matriarch, and even himself... Crimson!

"ah ha! ha ha! AHAHA!"

Splat!

A single black-red wing suddenly erupted from Lidien's back, signifying his advancement to a Prime Stage, Blessed of Death... that could not only control his own blood, but also the blood from others who had left their bodies.

Lidien willed all the blood to cover the titanic body of the Matriarch, and lifted it using his spiritual verve!

The Matriarch fought, writhed and wiggled non-stop, splashing all the coagulated blood that tried to attach itself to her.

But the amount of blood was still not enough to trap her in a bubble of blood.

Then...

Boom!

Lidien willed it to explode, depleting almost half of his reserves. As the body parts of the Matriarch scattered all over the place, he smiled.

But then, it was still not enough... when he noticed that small, hair-like tentacles suddenly erupted from her body, attaching themselves to any biological matter.

This also hit Lidien's crossed arms that defended his face from it.

And when he felt that his own flesh was thinning, Lidien ripped off both his arms before leaping away from the Matriarch, who was slowly regenerating herself.

Blood dripped from both his shoulders without arms, as he gritted his teeth from the agonizing sensation he hadn't felt before... his balance seemed off as he hardly kneeled on the ground, without the support of his now absent arms.

Then...

Willing the blood, either his or the one scattered on the floor, to go towards his shoulders, it slowly regenerated from bones till their marrow produced bright red blood as he flooded it with his spiritual verve, regenerating both his arms anew... and the only thing gone was his armor protecting them.

"Let's see who dies first..."

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