Naafiri now regarded Luke with a slightly more serious gaze.
It seemed she would have to start taking this human seriously.
Her only concern was that unleashing too much power might attract the attention of even greater beings.
Such as those damned Aspects.
Even after all these years, they were still alive. She had learned that much from the humans she'd captured.
If they noticed her too early, it would interfere greatly with her future plans.
But now, if she didn't use her full strength, she might not be able to deal with the human in front of her.
Within a few breaths, Naafiri adjusted the rhythm of her breathing, and the way she manipulated her blood magic changed as well. Her aura suddenly began surging dramatically.
In the next instant, she stepped forward and shot toward Luke like a bloody streak of light.
Luke surged forward as well, slashing with his sword and colliding head-on with the Darkin blade Naafiri controlled.
That Darkin weapon contained tremendous energy.
The instant the two attacks collided, an explosion erupted with a deafening boom, cracking several nearby rock walls.
Although Naafiri's body had become that of a dune hound, her offense remained tremendously oppressive.
She manipulated her Darkin blades with blood magic, while her claws and teeth served as equally deadly weapons. Combined with the coordinated attacks of the pack surrounding her, even Luke began feeling considerable pressure.
In the next instant, a second weapon suddenly appeared in his other hand.
The Void Riftblade.
His aura surged almost immediately.
Several forms of Sword Intent blended together, forming a powerful wave of force around his body.
Naafiri instinctively sensed that something was wrong, but it was already too late to retreat.
Luke swung both swords.
His slashes descended like flashes of light.
With both blades moving simultaneously, it was almost as though two equally powerful versions of Luke were attacking at once, and the sword techniques each hand used were completely different.
Shock appeared in Naafiri's eyes.
Naturally, she could tell what he was doing.
What she couldn't comprehend was how a human could possibly accomplish it.
Even more frightening was the fact that Luke's aura was growing stronger with every passing moment.
It was almost as though he possessed some unusual ability that allowed him to grow during battle itself.
Something was wrong.
There was something deeply abnormal about this human.
Naafiri's battle instincts told her that this fight couldn't drag on too long.
Otherwise, even she wouldn't be able to predict how it would end.
But Luke's pressure was completely different from before.
With two swords in hand, his combat ability had risen by far more than a single level.
Naafiri was forced backward again and again.
Even after ordering the surrounding pack to attack, she couldn't stop Luke's advance.
Without hesitation, she activated her blood magic and ordered one of the hounds forward like a sacrificial pawn.
Luke fearlessly swung his sword.
But at that exact instant, his instincts screamed danger.
Without hesitation, he teleported away and reappeared dozens of yards above the ground.
Boom!
The instant he disappeared, the dune hound's body suddenly expanded at terrifying speed and exploded.
Crimson blood energy surged violently into the sky.
The blood-magic detonation shook the ground.
When the clouds of sand and dust finally dispersed, an enormous crater had appeared below.
If Luke had been even slightly slower, that would've hurt.
Naafiri used the opportunity to create distance, staring at Luke with a grim expression.
The hound she'd detonated could no longer be revived through blood magic.
It was effectively a portion of her own strength sacrificed in exchange for the safe distance she now had.
"I never imagined I would be forced into a battle like this against a human. To make me use this technique, you can die without regrets."
Naafiri opened her maw, revealing rows of sharp fangs, and spoke in a human voice.
As she did, the crimson energy around her grew increasingly intense.
"An inferior race will always remain inferior. Miserable creatures no better than ants, prepare to be annihilated."
Her eyes became increasingly blood-red, filled with darkness, brutality, and deathly emptiness.
In the next instant, Naafiri's fur suddenly ignited like crimson flames.
The aura radiating from her became terrifying.
And along with her transformation, the blade hounds around her underwent a drastic change as well.
The hounds surrounding Taliyah fired sharpened fangs from their mouths.
The projectiles struck the stone walls Taliyah had summoned and exploded violently.
Each tooth detonated like a bomb.
Taliyah's heart tightened.
She hurriedly summoned more stone walls to defend herself.
Morgana was likewise facing blade hounds whose strength had more than doubled and couldn't afford the slightest lapse in concentration.
Luke, meanwhile, was surrounded by at least fifteen of them.
Pairs of crimson eyes stared hungrily at him, filled with murderous intent, as though they desperately wanted to tear him apart on the spot.
"You're literally a dog, a bone-chewing animal, and you still have the nerve to call humans an inferior race?"
Even while surrounded, Luke showed no panic whatsoever and immediately mocked her back.
"You don't understand. Before beings such as us, every race is inferior."
Naafiri didn't become angry at his taunt.
She simply threw back her head and unleashed a savage howl.
Crimson light shot into the sky.
Even the color of the heavens seemed to change as an unsettling pressure spread from Naafiri's body.
Then she transformed into a streak of blood-red light and shot forward.
At the same moment, every blade hound rushed Luke.
An incredibly fast barrage erupted.
Only streaks of crimson arcs could be seen, continuously attacking Luke from every direction.
The blade hounds were more than twice as powerful as before.
Luke didn't dare underestimate them.
He immediately teleported over three hundred feet into the air.
Yet in the next instant, several crimson streaks pursued him from below as though tracking his location.
Luke teleported again, reappearing nearly a thousand feet away.
But within a single breath, the crimson streaks arrived like arrows fired from a bow.
There seemed to be no way to shake them off.
"No matter where you run, it's useless. Until I've torn you apart with my teeth, I will never stop."
Naafiri's gaze seemed to look down upon Luke from above.
It was almost like an all-seeing eye, able to lock onto him perfectly no matter where he teleported.
After erupting with blood energy, Naafiri and her pack were only slightly slower than his teleportation.
And from what she'd observed, Luke's teleportation range was only a few hundred yards at most.
As a former king-class Darkin, if Naafiri couldn't cross a few hundred yards quickly enough to catch him, she would have been too ashamed to remain alive.
"Is that so? Then I won't run anymore."
Luke stood suspended in midair and watched more than twenty crimson arcs rapidly approach.
There was no longer any point in continuing to evade.
Naafiri had even recalled the hounds that had been surrounding Taliyah and Morgana.
She had already assessed the situation.
As long as Luke was defeated, the remaining two would be easy to handle.
There was no need to divide her forces any longer.
"So you've got numbers. Fine."
Luke rapidly formed seals with both hands.
"Come, swords!"
Mana erupted from within him and immediately spread through the surrounding area.
One magical sword after another materialized from pure mana, each radiating tremendous power.
As the crimson streaks rushed toward him, the magical swords fearlessly flew to meet them.
Even Naafiri was slightly surprised by this new technique.
She could sense that every one of those magical swords carried powerful Sword Intent, making the already formidable blades even sharper and more unstoppable.
They actually matched the blade hounds empowered by her crimson eruption.
Any remaining crimson attacks were intercepted by Luke himself.
He seemed to remain standing in place, yet suddenly stepped forward.
His slashes became streaks of glowing green light.
Afterimages of him swinging his swords appeared simultaneously in multiple locations, flowing like the changing seasons. The only way to tell where he had moved was by following the traces left behind.
He was so fast that it almost seemed like he'd never left his original position.
Wuju Style.
Highlander.
Alpha Strike!
For the first time, Naafiri was truly astonished by Luke's unfathomable strength.
She had long since stopped underestimating humans as a species.
And now, even personally, she was forced to acknowledge Luke's strength.
He was capable of fighting her.
Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Explosions thundered continuously through the sky.
The disturbance grew so violent that it even stirred up a sandstorm in the distance.
A massive wall of yellow sand swept toward them from the horizon, seeming ready to swallow everything in its path.
Luke remained within his sword formation, continuously intercepting Naafiri's crimson charges while looking for opportunities to counterattack.
Yet the scales of victory had already begun tipping decisively in his favor.
Why?
Because Conqueror was fully stacked.
Combined with the limitless potential of his Wuju Sword Intent, Luke's strength was practically increasing by the minute.
Naafiri seemed to realize this as well and gradually began finding the fight increasingly troublesome.
The pack under her control was simply too small.
If she had twice as many hounds, this battle would've been much easier.
Unfortunately, dune hounds capable of undergoing Darkin transformation weren't easy to find.
Ordinary dune hounds couldn't integrate into her pack at all.
As the effects of her blood-fueled eruption gradually began fading, Naafiri was unable to use the same blood magic again.
If she forced it, she would only suffer backlash.
Her mind raced, desperately searching for a way to deal with the current situation.
Luke had no intention of giving her time to think.
Among the rapidly moving crimson arcs, he accurately located Naafiri herself.
Then he thrust his sword forward.
A magnificent burst of sword energy tore straight through the crimson wave surrounding her and struck the blood-magic barrier she'd formed at the last possible moment.
At such close range, Luke raised one hand and unleashed Windburst without hesitation.
Boom!
A violent explosion instantly blasted Naafiri away.
She shot through the air like a kite with its string cut.
The current Windburst was genuine Rune Magic, and its power was tremendous.
Naafiri hadn't expected Luke to possess another technique like this.
She watched the barrier she'd only just created get forcibly shattered and simultaneously sensed several surges of mana appearing around her.
"Damn it!"
She immediately activated her blood magic with no regard for the cost.
At the same time, Luke parted his lips.
"Detonate."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Multiple Windbursts that had been formed in advance detonated around Naafiri.
Violent shockwaves rippled through the air, almost seeming to distort space itself.
Nearby rock walls collapsed entirely, unable to withstand the tremendous force.
Even so, Naafiri relied on her extraordinary battle instincts and activated blood magic defenses as quickly as possible.
But she was already at the end of her strength.
Although she'd managed to protect herself in time, the explosions still sent her flying.
And in the very next instant, Luke teleported directly beside her.
Snowglance pierced straight through her hound-like body.
At the same time, the weapon seemed to activate some hidden property, continuously drawing Darkin energy from her.
Naafiri stared at Luke in horror.
Then her gaze fell upon the weapon in his hand.
It felt familiar.
This weapon...
It could absorb the power of a Darkin...
She instantly thought of that damned woman.
The woman who had tricked her.
The woman responsible for reducing her to this!
Only she could create such a disgusting weapon!
Boundless hatred erupted within Naafiri's heart.
She stared murderously at Luke.
"What is your relationship with her...?"
Luke didn't answer.
Instead, he focused on Snowglance.
This time, the sword's reaction was different from what he'd experienced before.
He remembered that it hadn't reacted like this when he fought Xolaani.
Did the blade have to actually pierce the Darkin's body?
Something similar had happened when he fought the shield-bearing Darkin, but even then the reaction hadn't been nearly this intense.
The blade, normally pure white from tip to hilt, had now turned blood-red.
It was also scorching hot in his hand.
Luke could feel the Darkin energy inside Snowglance continuously expanding, approaching the weapon's limit.
Once it was nearly full, he immediately pulled Snowglance free from Naafiri's body.
"Human, I will remember you!"
Naafiri released a low growl and glared murderously at Luke.
Blood energy erupted violently from her body, filled with rage and brutality.
But it was little more than a final burst before death.
It looked terrifying, but that was all.
Luke raised one hand and finished her with a point-blank Fireball.
Amid a towering eruption of flames, Naafiri's main body was completely annihilated.
But she was different from ordinary Darkin.
The instant her primary body died, the entire pack froze as though their minds had suddenly shut down.
Luke immediately stepped forward.
An afterimage remained where he'd been standing.
Sword light flashed repeatedly as he cut down one blade hound after another.
This time, the slain hounds weren't revived by blood magic.
Only after killing every last blade hound did Luke finally relax his guard slightly.
Naafiri was fundamentally different from ordinary Darkin.
The Darkin had been sealed within weapons.
To escape, they needed to find suitable hosts, generally humans, and usually just one.
When facing those Darkin, all someone had to do was sever the hand gripping the Darkin weapon, cutting the connection between host and weapon.
That would seal the Darkin back inside.
Naafiri's hosts, however, were an entire pack of dune hounds.
Her Darkin weapon had been devoured and divided among them, which was why she'd become a pack of dogs.
Every hound was Naafiri.
That meant there was no simple way to sever her connection with her weapon.
The entire pack had to be killed.
Even now, Luke wasn't certain whether Naafiri had truly been sealed back inside her weapon.
After all, the Darkin weapon that had been divided and devoured by the pack was nowhere to be seen.
Still, Naafiri's presence had unquestionably disappeared.
Even if she wasn't dead, she had definitely suffered severe damage from this battle.
Feeling the scorching heat in his hand gradually subside, Luke raised Snowglance and watched its blade slowly fade from red back to white.
The Darkin energy stored inside it, however, hadn't disappeared.
It remained within the sword.
Luke thought about it for a moment, then decided there was no need to worry about it right now.
At that moment, a deep rumbling sound reached his ears, like an enormous wheel rolling across the desert.
The air carried the scent of dust and destruction.
Luke raised his head.
In the distance, a massive sandstorm was sweeping toward them, swallowing everything in its path.
Countless desert creatures desperately fled before it.
But in the end, many still failed to escape and were consumed by the wall of sand.
Seeing that, Luke stopped thinking about Naafiri.
He immediately turned around and withdrew.
He quickly regrouped with Taliyah and Morgana, and the three fled the area at maximum speed.
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