Unholy Player

Chapter 529: High Stats Win Wars

"Oh?" Arvyn commented with interest. "He didn’t even use any Spark skill."

The sword in Zephan’s hand moved so fast that, to an untrained eye, it looked like it was only rising and falling in slow motion.

But in truth, it wasn’t just two strikes. Thousands were packed into those two movements, shredding everything in their path before the sound of the first cut could even form.

"Lunari people are known to be Ignis Path followers, if I’m not wrong, so speed should be their main strength, but..." Kaelor observed as well, his crimson eyes glinting under his robe as he analyzed the motion. "How high does his stat have to be to move like that?"

Meeting someone in the Outer Region this powerful wasn’t something the Blood Path followers were expecting. Such a powerful individual should not be present here.

Stat points were the main source of strength for a Practitioner, and there were only a few ways to increase them.

They could be increased by treasures, but in the Outer Region, where resources were very scarce, finding one was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The other most common way to increase them was registered talents.

But that wasn’t any easier than the other option.

Not everyone could learn and level up dozens of talents to the point where they could earn decent stat points by registering them. It demanded time, discipline, a solid foundation built on methods refined over generations, and the kind of training environment most Practitioners never had.

Even Kaelor and Arvyn, living in the Midlands where talent-related resources were far more abundant and operating under the name of the powerful Blood Sect, were still shaped and constrained by these harsh conditions.

With all the knowledge and training methods their sect had given them, they only had a few Level 5 talents registered in their character panels.

But looking at Zephan, they could tell that if he wasn’t relying on a treasure to raise his stats, then he had to have many Level 5 talents or maybe even a Level 6 talent registered by the system.

"Level 6 talent..." Kaelor murmured, the phrase coming out low and grim beneath his hood.

It was a requirement for a Practitioner to rank up to 5 and become an Adept, so its significance was undeniable. It meant that Zephan was already standing at the threshold and, given time and enough resources, could reach the next evolution step, where he would shed his mortal self completely and step into the ranks of immortals.

"Too bad. Whatever kind of genius he is, he will still die here. He can only blame the Path he is following." Kaelor genuinely appreciated Zephan’s strength, but between him and a Blood Path Practitioner there was something that completely shattered the balance of power.

Sevrak, after seeing his opening move get erased like that, looked shocked at first, but then the smile returned to his face. "I see you improved a lot while I wasn’t around."

He still had confidence, even after seeing how fast his attacks were, because Zephan wasn’t the only one who had improved.

Sevrak raised his hands again and used another Spark skill—in fact, multiple of them this time. His fingers spread slightly, like he was pulling invisible threads.

The scattered blood on the ground began to stir, then all at once it rushed back toward his body. Thin streams curved upward, snapping into motion at his will.

It coated his figure and started to harden, taking shape over him, sealing itself in layers.

First, it formed 2 massive, leathery red wings on his back, like a bat’s. The membranes stretched wide with a wet tightening sound.

Then it wrapped into 2 red gloves over his hands, their tips shaping into claws with a metallic sheen. The edges were sharpened until they looked capable of tearing stone.

The last of the blood condensed across his chest and began to boil there, melting and tearing apart the robe on his upper body as it pressed into his pale skin. It spread across his chest and formed a living, bubbling chest piece that throbbed like a heart.

From that living chest piece, thin blood veins spread across his body, pulsing as they crawled over him. Branching lines lit his form in a sick red glow.

Wherever those visible blood lines passed, a hissing sound followed, blackening the surface beneath them and making it look as if it was melting, yet Sevrak didn’t even flinch, even though it looked like his own skill was eating into him.

Zephan frowned slightly as he watched, his eyes narrowing as recognition settled in.

He knew that skill combo.

It was Sevrak’s best combo at his prime, before he became a Blood Path follower.

It was basically a mix of many Spark skills, creating an effect meant to increase the user’s overall speed, physical power, and destructive ability.

It was effective, but the side effect was that it damaged the user’s body as well, so even Sevrak, who had been a Nether Path Practitioner with a very high [Resilience] stat, could only use it for a few minutes before.

But now something was different.

The hot, corrupting blood moving through his body still looked like it was damaging him. His skin was darkening, and a faint hiss and smoke were rising from it, like it was breaking down too fast to hold its shape.

But at the same time, it was regenerating at an unbelievable speed, faster than the corruption could take hold. His body stayed in a fully healed state, with the damage vanishing the instant it appeared.

Sevrak noticed Zephan’s slight frown and chuckled in satisfaction. "You’re not the only one who improved your stats."

The stat Sevrak increased during the past few months wasn’t [Resilience]. It was a new stat he gained after changing his Path to the Blood Path.

He now had two stats in his character panel, the other being [Vigor].

And with his new bloodline talent, Sanguivore, he had increased it massively by feeding on the blood of others, pushing his [Vigor] stat to the point where it was almost equal to his [Resilience].

Sevrak looked eager to test his newly gained power on his old enemy. He bent his legs slightly, then flapped his massive red bat wings and shot upward in an instant, leaving a gust behind him.

THRRAAAM!

The ground beneath his feet shattered. Cracks spread out from the impact, and his body launched forward like a red streak toward his target.

Zephan watched the metallic red claws rushing toward him. Even though they looked fast, to his eyes they were still slow, the kind of attack he could dodge easily.

But then a sweet, corrupted scent reached his nose, thick enough to feel. His head tilted slightly as dizziness hit and his vision blurred. The air turned strangely heavy in his lungs.

Before he could collect himself and move, the red claw made contact with his body.

BOOM!

The white, swan-like Spark beneath him burst apart in an instant, scattering into fragments of body parts. Zephan’s body was hurled backward like a shooting star, thrown so far it shrank into the sky.