The means possessed by these descendants of ancient wizard families are endless, and Duke has been watching from the sidelines, observing the process as these two revealed their bottom cards.

The reason he didn't choose to directly eliminate Samuel was because the other party might have some life-saving means, just like Bell.

Duke also felt relieved that he didn't make a move, as he was not sure if he could kill Samuel in one strike; most likely, he couldn't, and the opponent would definitely have the chance to activate the Witchcraft Artifact and leave.

This would not only expose his presence here but also add an enemy for no reason.

Duke ignored Bell on the ground and went straight to the altar, where Dog-man Reed had already helped him remove the Bronze Box.

He took the Bronze Box, feeling its icy cold and heavy weight in his hands.

The carvings on the box were not ordinary runes but rather a series of extremely ancient and rough primitive murals.

The images depicted some terrifying life forms, enormous enough to obscure the sky, with twisted yet majestic forms, which must be the ancient Blood of the Dark.

Beneath the feet of these giant creatures were countless human-like beings, as tiny as ants, prostrating in worship and conducting massive blood sacrifices.

These carvings exuded a sense of primordial, archaic yet powerfully fundamental origin, silently telling of the Blood of the Dark clan's might and terror.

Duke gently lifted the lid of the box, revealing a drop of blood, viscous like solidified obsidian, yet moving subtly like a living thing on its surface, suspended quietly.

It emitted no dazzling light but resembled a mini black hole, subtly twisting and absorbing the surrounding light and perceptions.

A pure, ancient, and utterly deep dark source aura overwhelmed him, and just by being close, Duke felt his body thrilling with resonance and tremors of excitement.

This was because he himself had a very high Dark Attribute Affinity, and the Blood of the Dark was inherently a bloodline of dark attributes, at an extremely pure level.

Through his previous observations, he had already understood what this was - for a bloodline mage, this drop of blood could transform their own bloodline into the Blood of the Dark.

After considering, Duke temporarily decided not to follow the path of the bloodline mage, as that would mean losing a lot.

Once he used this drop of the Blood of the Dark, his bloodline, body, and even the spiritual power of his mind would undergo earth-shattering changes.

The Blood of the Dark was the pinnacle of dark attribute bloodlines, but likewise, it would reject other attributes.

Duke couldn't be sure whether, after converting to the Blood of the Dark, he could still retain his High Affinity Talent for other attributes.

If converting to the Blood of the Dark meant losing his High Affinity Talent for earth, wind, water, fire, and light, that would be a great loss.

"The elements are already the invincible path; there's no need to rely on another's blood," Duke thought to himself.

Though he couldn't use this drop of the Blood of the Dark to transform his bloodline, he could use it as a dark attribute Crystal Core.

Using high-purity blood as a Crystal Core is not uncommon, though for many wizards, it is a compromise.

Only when they cannot obtain a specific attribute Crystal Core through other channels do they choose the blood of some demon as the Crystal Core.

A Crystal Core is ideally obtained from naturally occurring sources like the Heart of the Earth or Molten Fire Flower, as using blood could cause minor effects on oneself.

Because many wizards acquire blood from ordinary or not-so-powerful demons, they can't even get a Crystal Core; one can't expect them to obtain blood of the level of the Blood of the Dark.

Duke faintly sensed that if he used the Blood of the Dark as a dark attribute Crystal Core, he might even gain some additional benefits.

He just needed to research and investigate a bit, looking up some related information.

He then closed the lid of the Bronze Box, placed it directly into the Space Ring, and approached the dying Bell.

Bell was still conscious, and he had long noticed Duke, also seeing the process of Duke taking the Blood of the Dark.

When he saw this, he was almost angered to the point of spitting blood; after scheming for so long, in the end, Duke benefited.

"Ah... ah..." Bell's throat emitted sounds like a broken bellows; he wanted to roar, to curse.

But severe injuries and the life-supporting thin membrane prevented him from uttering even a clear syllable.

He could only use his bloodshot eyes, filled with overwhelming hatred, unwillingness, and humiliation, to glare at Duke, as if he could cut him to pieces with his gaze.

His facial muscles twitched and convulsed from extreme anger, each breath accompanied by painful spasms.

Duke walked beside Bell, looking down at this once proud and arrogant young master of the Crawford Clan.

His gaze was calm and unfluctuating, as if looking at an object that had lost its value, or examining an ember about to be extinguished.

"It seems, the resting place you've meticulously chosen for yourself has quite a nice view." Duke's voice was flat, absent of any emotion, yet it penetrated the thin membrane clearly into Bell's ears.

This sentence was like the final straw, completely shattering Bell's remaining sanity.

His body jerked violently, his one remaining eye almost bursting open, as a sweet-sour mixture of filthy blood and visceral fragments surged up his throat.

Extreme fury and humiliation, at this moment, even overshadowed the pain of his flesh.

He stared intently at Duke, his gaze filled with enough malice to chill anyone to the bone.

Duke was not deterred in the slightest, calmly standing next to Bell, glancing at the protective membrane on Bell, which seemed particularly strong.

He certainly wouldn't let Bell go; if Bell managed to escape, it would cause a lot of trouble, so he had to deal with him before Bell regained any mobility.

If Bell also had a teleportation witchcraft artifact like Samuel, then once Duke left, he could only remain within Black Sail; otherwise, the Crawford Clan would go mad trying to find him.

This drop of the Blood of the Dark was extremely important to the Crawford Clan, and they would never allow it to fall into anyone else's hands.

"Reed, smash this membrane." Duke did not act personally but instructed Reed instead.

Reed, with his giant five-meter-tall body, approached, a clenched fist as large as a millstone, and slammed it directly onto Bell's face with a fierce gust of wind.

Due to the existence of the protective membrane, this punch did not cause Bell any substantial harm, but the psychological damage was significant.

Bell's face turned red with anger; his heart filled with unbearable fury, suffocation, and resentment. The fact that Duke would allow a Kobold to humiliate him in such a way was something he couldn't accept, even more distressing than being killed outright.

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