825 Explosive
Eren didn’t even want to imagine how many innocent children had been killed – their blood drained until nothing was left – to fill several water tanks.
It was disgusting and filled Eren with anger. The partial Curse Transformation might have been canceled by force, but Eren didn’t need Slyver and his curse power to kill the Blaze Patriarch.
He dived downward, dozens of silver droplets conjuring around him. A Longsword Artifact appeared in Eren’s hand while the silver droplets burst forth. However, he was teleported away before the droplets could pierce and kill the Blaze Patriarch.
Eren’s head flicked to the right, where dozens of powerhouses appeared. It felt like the powerhouses appeared out of nowhere. No. It was more like they had been waiting for Eren. He hadn’t been in the Tritan Alliance’s territory long, yet the Blaze Patriarch set up a trap to deal with him? That was…
weird…
Hundreds of silver weapons manifested around Eren, who willed them to leap forward and plunge into the powerhouses before they could move against him.
His attacks were fast and deadly like before, but the human powerhouses were not that weak either. The powerhouses who’d appeared out of nowhere were much stronger than the rest. They weren’t on par with Evalynn Fang or most other Tier-6 Curse Users yet, but it wasn’t like Eren went all out yet.
Eren was forced to hold back to keep the casualties low. The downpour of silver weapons was one of the stronger attacks and probably the strongest he could unleash without harming civilians. Eren held back with his Soultrait and didn’t even consider using one of his many techniques.
As for his Cursed Arts, Eren couldn’t use them right now, either way.
A few human Awakened couldn’t evade the large-scale attack. They either lost a limb or two, survived with a few broken bones, or were killed on the spot. The powerhouse, who’d survived for hundreds of years, accumulating tremendous power and experience, died just like that. It would have been a disaster under normal circumstances, but neither the Blaze Patriarch nor the other human Awakened seemed to care much about the dead. If anything, the deaths seemed to work in their favor.
The smug smile on the Blaze Patriarch’s face irritated Eren. The batch who managed to evade the attacks had teleported out of the weapon storm’s area of effect. Some glanced over to the carnage inflicted by Eren’s attack, but their attention pulled toward the Blaze Patriarch, their eyes filled with fear.
‘Is he controlling them? Maybe he blackmails them?’ Eren wondered, but it didn’t matter.
He swore a long time ago that he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate his enemies, whether they attacked him for selfish reasons, to survive, or to protect someone they loved dearly. It didn’t matter. Their intentions were all that mattered. And, right now, they intended to kill him.
Eren clicked his tongue and unleashed a dazzling light of silver energy. He transmuted his silver energy to shit bright like the sun. That move might injure civilians if they stared into the dazzling light, but it wouldn’t kill them. The groans of many resounded in Eren’s ears, but he continued with his next move. Massive silver spikes burst out of the ground, impaling the feet, legs, and waists of the human Awakened who had been flashed.
The dazzling silver energy did exactly what it ought to do – blind the human Awakened momentarily. The Blaze Patriarch was hit as well, but he ignored the pain of his thighs being impaled. Instead of screaming, the Blaze Patriarch clicked his tongue.
“Divine Lifeforms are too annoying to deal with,” He cursed before closing his eyes for a second. He hacked up dark crimson blood all of a sudden, and his complexion changed as well.
“That’s your fault,” The Blaze Patriarch shouted toward Eren as flames erupted underfoot. He shot high into the air and looked down at the expansive city.
He released his power, commencing one of the plans he didn’t want to execute. It was a plan proposed by the Supreme Human Alliance to ensure that nothing could go wrong. An emergency plan that required decisive actions to be initiated.
The Blaze Patriarch was decisive, but that didn’t mean he wanted to steep this low. However, he valued his life more than anything. Even the lives of millions of civilians and tens of thousands of Awakened didn’t compare to how much he valued his life. 𝑓𝘳𝔀𝑜𝓋.𝘤𝘰
The first explosions erupted in the center of the extensive city as the Blaze Patriarch unleashed his power. The explosive devices filled with his power had been activated.
Eren observed highly condensed energy fluctuations spreading out underneath the entire city. If he hadn’t known that something was wrong and that the Blaze Patriarch had set up traps against him, or people like him – Divine Lifeforms –, Eren would have realized now, at the latest. The puzzle pieces were coming together.
The Blaze Patriarch didn’t know how strong Divine Lifeforms were. He was confident that the Primordial Bloodline Technique would give them a valid chance against Divine Lifeforms, but that was wrong. Eren was still stronger than the High Awakened. Not even his severed connection with his Curse changed that. Eren was too strong to be dealt with by ordinary Lesser Humans. They didn’t have the means to deal with him. It was that simple.
However, that didn’t mean they were helpless now that the Supreme Human Alliance sponsored the Blaze household. The odds changed, even if it was only ever so slightly with the addition of the Primordial Bloodline technique and the Vylraen Seal.
The Blaze Patriarch set up several traps to deal with unwelcome guests, yet he didn’t have the means to deal with everyone alone. He was in need of some help.
The call for help was about to erupt.
It all started with the explosions in the city center, but that was merely the start of a massive chain reaction. In a matter of seconds, the explosions were overwhelmed as a massive amount of energy, in the form of immense heat, light, and radiation, swallowed the city center, devouring everything.
A powerful shockwave merged with heat, light, and radiation, pushing a massive amount of energy in all directions. The blast wave expanded outward from the epicenter of the explosion at supersonic speed, demolishing all buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure in its path.
Simultaneously, a searing heat pulse emitted, reaching temperatures hotter than the sun’s surface. The intense heat ignited fires wherever they passed, causing widespread conflagrations that engulfed buildings, vegetation, and humans.
The combined effects of the blast wave, the heat pulse, and the radiation wave resulted in unparalleled devastation. The entire city was leveled within seconds. Skyscrapers were reduced to rubble, and there was no sign of the former highly efficient infrastructure. Everything was destroyed beyond recognition.
The death toll was staggering, with millions, if not close to a hundred million civilians, killed instantly by the initial blast and the heat pulse. However, that was only the beginning. Many more would suffer agonizing injuries and succumb to the effect of the radiation in the days following the explosion.
In the aftermath, only the strongest Awakened survived.
Eren was unscathed, but his eyes widened in surprise.
“You slaughtered your people,” He uttered as a matter of fact, his eyes pulling toward the Blaze Patriarch, whose constitution was much worse than before. He was not yet dead, but without immediate help, the Blaze Patriarch would die soon.
“So what? If that’s what it takes to kill you, I’ll gladly do what it takes,” The Blaze Patriarch responded with a toothy grin before retrieving a large vial of green liquid.
He swallowed the content in a single gulp and gasped for air once he was done.
“Say welcome to my friends,” The Blaze Patriarch said, his eyes traveling to the epicenter of the explosion, where a swirl of darkness had formed, “You should know them. Even if you do not know them…they know you.”
The swirl of darkness expanded until it formed into a massive portal.
“A Carnage Portal…really?” Eren asked, his expression stiffened. It had been thousands of years since he last saw a Carnage Portal. It was unusual for anyone to use something like this. But then again…it was also rare to see a Vylrean Seal.
Eren’s heart constricted as he recalled something from the past. A particular annoying household of the Supreme Human Alliance flashed through his mind.
“You guys are obsessed with me as ever. How about you stop obsessing over me, brothers?”