[Ding! Consume 2,000 bloodstones to reconstruct the skill?]
"Yes!"
Raine chose reconstruction without the slightest hesitation.
[Ding! Reconstruction successful!]
[Creation Evolution: You may consume bloodcores to evolve powerful creations…]
Raine quickly scanned the description, and in short order he had grasped the essentials of this forbidden art.
Through Blood Pact, one could evolve not only beast-type creations, but also weapon-type creations and special creations!
Weapon creations were easy enough to understand. As for these "special creations"—
By consuming the bloodcores of certain rare alien races, one could evolve creations with special functions such as control, support, or defense—things like a Blood Barrier, Greed's Touch, and more!
Earlier, Yobir's Ossuary Warbeast had been a powerful abyssal creation evolved through Blood Pact.
Even now, the sheer strength of that Ossuary Warbeast still left Raine shaken.
Even with his beginner-level golem body, he had nearly been unable to withstand its attacks.
If it were an ordinary Elite-rank fighter, they would have been slapped to death long ago!
Raine had immense expectations for this forbidden art, but he knew he couldn't rush it.
Because to activate Blood Pact required a large quantity of bloodcores as support.
And right now, he had only this single bloodcore in his hand.
Staring at Yobir's ruined corpse not far away, Raine struggled to his feet and said to Herbert beside him,
"Officer Herbert, I'm feeling much better. I'm going to retrieve something."
With that, he sprang up and dashed toward Yobir's body!
During his fight with Yobir, that black spear in the enemy's hands had posed an enormous threat to him.
After all, even gargoyle prodigies normally couldn't do much damage to him.
That war spear must not fall back into alien hands—and besides, it was his rightful spoil of war!
Herbert's eyelids twitched uncontrollably at the sight.
"No—am I seeing things?"
How had the guy who was just barely hanging on a moment ago suddenly popped back up?
He even slapped himself hard across the face!
"What kind of joke is this?"
Unbelievable as it was, he still gritted his teeth, dragged his injured body forward, and chased after Raine to cover him.
And then—
Boom!
A terrifying pressure instantly swept across the entire Bloodhowl Highlands!
The dark clouds overhead were churned by an invisible force, forming a massive, slowly rotating vortex!
Every human soldier and alien race on the battlefield felt their hearts sink violently!
Even Aaron, Tetra, and the other Master-rank powerhouses fighting high in the air involuntarily stalled, staring toward the sky in alarm.
A dark-golden silhouette descended slowly from the center of the vortex.
One could vaguely make out a gigantic figure with four wings on its back!
That will—so overwhelming it seemed capable of suppressing all things—made every human warrior's heart turn heavy.
Mid-tier Grandmaster!
A true lord-level existence among the gargoyles—one with real power and authority.
Even the gargoyle lord that had ambushed them earlier had only been Grandmaster Level 1.
The gap sounded small, but the higher the level, the more vast the difference between ranks became!
It could be said that this gargoyle could clean up three Grandmaster Level 1 gargoyles like that without breaking a sweat!
"Prince Yobir…"
A deep voice sounded directly in everyone's ears, thick with wrath and icy coldness.
"Who… dares kill a member of my royal line?!"
The light contracted, revealing a towering figure nearly ten meters tall, its entire body seemingly cast from divine metal.
Two pairs of massive, gorgeous metallic wings were folded behind its back.
Golden flames burned in its eyes as it looked down upon the battlefield below.
Its gaze finally locked onto Yobir's shattered corpse—then onto Raine not far away, bloodcore in hand!
"An ant… it was you?!"
A freezing killing intent stabbed straight at Raine!
Even from hundreds of meters away, Raine felt as if his very soul had been frozen solid—he couldn't move even a finger.
He couldn't resist it.
Raine clenched his fists, a profound sense of powerlessness drowning him.
"Protect Raine!!!"
Black Falcon charged toward Raine's position with no regard for himself!
Tetra, Roderick, Aaron, and the others also erupted with their auras, trying to intercept the impending pressure and prevent Raine from being crushed outright.
But in front of that Grandmaster-rank gargoyle lord, their movements looked unbearably slow.
The gargoyle lord didn't even move.
Boom—!
An invisible mental shockwave slammed down toward Raine's location!
Where it passed, the air exploded with strained, overloaded booms.
This strike was something Raine absolutely could not endure—even Expert-rank fighters like Black Falcon, closing in to help, could be severely injured!
At the critical moment—
"Old bastard, your opponent is us!"
A loud shout rang out from behind the human lines!
Then—one, two, three…
A full dozen powerful auras surged skyward!
Green Nex radiance, icy-blue brilliance, crimson tides of flame, heavy earth-yellow bulwarks…
All kinds of energy light crashed head-on into the invisible shockwave aimed at Raine!
Rumble—!!!
A terrifying boom shook heaven and earth!
At the center of the collision, even space itself appeared to warp.
The shockwave blasted nearby corpses and shattered rocks into the air, annihilating them outright!
Dozens of figures landed steadily in front of Raine, like the stoutest dike, shielding him behind them.
At the front stood the Captain of the Second Battalion—Tom!
He wore a white uniform trimmed with platinum, and the five golden stars on his collar were especially dazzling. In his hand, his longsword spat out scorching Nex!
At this moment, his gaze was sharp as an eagle as he met the gargoyle lord's eyes in the sky without fear.
Behind him were elite powerhouses from the Second Battalion, the Third Battalion Arcanist Corps, and the Tenth Battalion ability-mercenary unit.
Among them were no fewer than five Masters; the rest were all Experts!
The follow-up main force had finally arrived—at the most crucial moment!
"Captain Tom!"
Seeing the newcomers, Black Falcon felt a boulder drop from his heart.
"Instructor Black Falcon, you've done more than enough. Leave the rest to us."
Tom didn't turn his head. His voice was steady.
"All personnel, obey orders! Form the Iron Dragon Battle Formation!"
"Target: the gargoyle lord! Avenge our fallen brothers, and protect our brave warriors!"
"Yes!!"
Amid roaring shouts, the arriving elite warriors moved swiftly. With Tom as the core, Nex and ability-light linked and interwove, instantly constructing an enormous battle formation!
The formation faintly took on the shape of a roaring dragon. A bloody, iron-clad killing aura surged skyward—no weaker than a mid-tier Grandmaster—and forcibly pushed the gargoyle lord's pressure back!
The golden flames in the gargoyle lord's eyes flickered once, as if surprised that the human reinforcements' formation was so strong.
But the fury and killing intent in its heart had long since boiled over.
"A mere formation. A pack of ants. And you dare block me?"
It gave a disdainful snort, and the colossal metal wings behind it snapped open, blotting out the sky!
Stone-type energy across heaven and earth gathered madly.
"Then you shall be buried with Prince Yobir!"
With a single beat of its wings, countless razor-sharp feathers turned into a storm of destruction, pouring down indiscriminately over the entire human position in the Bloodhowl Highlands!
Every single feather carried terrifying power—enough to effortlessly tear apart Master-rank defenses!