Chapter 478: The Seed Disappeared XVII

Elena moved first.

The moment her new Mid-Rank God power stabilized, she crossed the courtyard and struck Stephen head-on. Their fists collided with enough force to send a shockwave through the already damaged Iron House estate. Broken stones lifted from the ground, several cracked windows shattered completely, and the weaker fighters nearby were forced to retreat from the center of the courtyard.

This time, Elena did not move backward.

Stephen did.

His feet slid across the broken stone before he stopped himself.

Elena looked at him with blood still covering part of her face.

"Now we are the same rank."

Stephen’s expression became serious.

Sofia and Natasha did not give him time to answer. They attacked from opposite directions, forcing him to divide his attention between three opponents. Sofia used blood weapons and restraints whenever Stephen tried to create distance, while Natasha stayed close enough to attack the openings Elena created.

Stephen was still more experienced with his power, but the difference between them was no longer overwhelming.

Elena could meet him directly now.

That changed everything.

Stephen blocked Elena’s next fist and tried to twist her arm, but Natasha’s claws struck across his shoulder before he could finish the movement. Blood appeared immediately. Sofia controlled the spilled blood before it could fall and turned it into several thin needles that attacked Stephen’s face.

He destroyed them with the strange force surrounding him, but Elena used the distraction to strike his ribs.

Stephen was thrown several steps sideways.

Mihos, who had been watching from farther back, finally lost the relaxed expression he had carried earlier.

He had expected Stephen to win.

That outcome had seemed obvious only minutes ago.

Now Stephen was fighting three women at once, and one of them had somehow reached the same rank as him.

Mihos looked toward Sekhmet.

Everything had changed because of him.

Sekhmet barely noticed the look.

His attention was becoming difficult to control.

The smell of Stephen’s divine blood had become stronger after Natasha wounded him. Sekhmet could feel those drops through Blood Control Lv3, and his body reacted before his thoughts did.

His throat tightened.

The System sounded inside his mind.

[Host Bloodlust: 82%.

System control assistance remains active.

Primary hostile target: Stephen.

Warning: Host mental restraint continues to decline.]

Sekhmet clenched his hands.

"Keep my focus on Stephen."

[Primary hostile focus maintained.]

That was enough for now.

The larger battle around them had also become more violent. Mihos’s people were fighting the Dawn House battle maids across the courtyard and surrounding buildings, while Raka and the lesser vampires pushed inward from the outer walls.

Mira, Lily, Vera, and Vela remained close enough to Sekhmet that no enemy could reach him easily.

Mira’s snakes attacked anyone who came too close while she used her claws and powerful legs against the stronger fighters. Lily fought beside her in Cruoraphim form, using her higher rank to break through enemies who tried to surround the battle maids.

The twins stayed together.

Vera defended.

Vela attacked.

They moved as if they had already decided each other’s next step before it happened.

Mihos saw several of his people being pushed backward and pointed toward Sekhmet.

"Stop fighting everyone else! Get to him!"

A group immediately changed direction.

The battle maids moved to intercept them.

Weapons collided in front of Sekhmet.

Raka saw the same thing from farther away and shouted at the lesser vampires.

"Close the gap! No one reaches the young master!"

The vampires rushed forward.

The fighting around Sekhmet became denser, and with it came more blood.

Too much blood.

A battle maid took a cut across her arm.

One of Mihos’s guards lost several fingers.

A lesser vampire bit into the shoulder of another enemy.

Someone farther away was stabbed through the stomach.

Sekhmet felt all of it.

Not the pain.

The blood.

Each new wound entered his senses like a new voice calling his name.

[Host Bloodlust: 84%.

Blood hunger is increasing.

System hostile-target focus active.]

Sekhmet forced himself to look only toward Stephen.

The central battle had moved across half the courtyard.

Stephen finally began using more of the strange power he had shown earlier. The air around Sofia suddenly compressed and slowed her movement. Stephen tried to strike her while she was trapped, but Elena broke through the affected area and forced him to defend.

Natasha immediately attacked from behind.

Stephen turned and blocked her claws.

That single moment left his chest open.

Elena’s fist struck him directly.

The impact sent him through the remains of one of the Iron House statues.

Stephen rose almost immediately, but this time there was more blood on him.

Sekhmet smelled it.

His fangs became visible without him consciously extending them.

[Host Bloodlust: 86%.]

Sekhmet took one step forward.

Mira noticed.

She had just pushed an enemy away when she looked toward him.

"Master Sekhmet?"

He did not answer immediately.

His eyes remained on Stephen.

Mira moved closer, and Lily followed when she noticed the concern on Mira’s face.

Sekhmet finally looked toward them.

For one dangerous heartbeat, Lily’s pulse became clearer than Stephen’s.

The sound was warm.

Close.

Alive.

The System reacted immediately.

[Warning: Friendly blood source temporarily selected by Bloodlust.

Correcting target focus.

Primary hostile target restored: Stephen.

Host Bloodlust: 87%.]

Sekhmet stopped himself.

"Do not come closer."

Lily froze.

"What happened?"

"My bloodlust."

Mira immediately caught Lily’s arm before she could ignore him.

"Stay here."

Lily looked at Sekhmet’s eyes and finally understood why.

Sekhmet turned back toward Stephen.

"If Stephen dies, move my focus to Mihos’s hostile people. Do not let it choose anyone on our side."

[Instruction recorded.

The system will attempt hostile-target reassignment.

Warning: Full control cannot be guaranteed if Bloodlust reaches 100%.]

Sekhmet accepted the warning.

There was nothing else he could do without removing himself from the battlefield completely.

In the center of the courtyard, Stephen released a burst of divine power that forced Sofia and Natasha away from him. Elena remained standing.

Stephen looked at her.

"You became stronger very quickly."

Elena wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"So did my patience for listening to you."

She attacked again.

Their powers met in the center of the courtyard, but instead of another simple collision, the strange force around them spread outward. Stephen’s power tried to compress the space around Elena. Elena’s own divine authority pushed back through the ground beneath them.

Sekhmet still could not understand exactly what either of them was doing.

The System gave him only a short response.

[Divine Authority detected.

Host understanding is insufficient.]

Sekhmet remembered it.

He would ask later.

For now, Stephen and Elena were evenly matched enough that neither could simply overpower the other.

That was where Sofia and Natasha became important.

Sofia created several blood chains and forced Stephen to break his focus for a moment. Natasha used that opening to reach his side and cut across his ribs.

Stephen retaliated by striking Natasha hard enough to throw her away, but Elena immediately punished the opening with another attack.

For the first time, Stephen was fighting defensively more often than offensively.

Mihos saw it.

His face darkened.

"This is ridiculous."

One of his men looked toward him.

"Young master?"

Mihos pointed toward Sekhmet again.

"Break through and kill the people around him if you have to. Just reach him!"

The order pushed the surrounding battle into another stage.

More of Mihos’s people abandoned their current opponents and rushed toward Sekhmet.

The battle maids formed a tighter line.

Vera and Vela joined them.

Lily moved forward in front of Sekhmet while Mira covered the side.

Raka and several lesser vampires attacked the approaching group from behind.

Chaos energy filled the estate.

Weapons struck.

People shouted.

Blood sprayed across the stones.

Sekhmet’s breathing became heavier.

[Host Bloodlust: 89%.

Warning: Bloodlust approaching critical threshold.

System control assistance under heavy strain.]

Sekhmet stared at Stephen.

The old butler was bleeding from several places now.

His blood was divine.

Powerful.

Rich enough that Sekhmet could almost taste it without drinking.

Everything else in the courtyard slowly became less important.

The fighting.

The shouting.

The collapsing pieces of Iron House.

Even Mihos.

All Sekhmet could hear clearly was Stephen’s heartbeat.

And beneath that sound, the Blood God Will inside him continued repeating the same desire.

"Drink."