I feel disgustingly weakened. Like really weak and on top of that feeling of weakness, there is massive headache rocking the life out of my brain.

Its really not a nice situation to be in.

Saying the V word had always taken a lot out of me, and I'm guessing due to how quickly I said it again the toll it has taken has only grown. And my current state made all the more sense when you consider what the being had said before I lost consciousness.

'This will cost you.'

And it would make even more sense when you learn exactly what it did. I have no idea how many Nascent Soul Vamps had littered the skies we needed to approach, but to hear that all of them were dead was somewhat surprising.

When I said the V word, all I wanted was a chance. To give us an opportunity to run and even a realistic chance at fighting back. I truly had no idea that death to millions would have been the outcome.

Even now, as I sit here amidst the wreckage of a ruined ship with a few others surrounding me, it still all feels a bit weird.

One second I was in the arms of Scalera saying the V word while being bombarded with a disgusting amount of attack, and the other second we were on the ground where the darkness was still present and the ship we were in had crashed.

Even though the being had got rid of all the Vamps in the area, a lot of attacks had still crashed into the ship, and it didn't have the ability to stay in the air any longer. And not too far away the other ship had crashed as well.

A lot had happened while I was unconscious.

Thankfully, it was only for three hours.

Though that was still precious time considering the situation we were in, and I was glad to find out that the folks I came with hadn't just sat here waiting for me to come back to. While I'm sure my safety held some level of importance, the bigger picture was the Core Sacrifice happening.

So, most of our forces were sent off to scout the area for any thing of relevance.

None of us believed the Vamps that just died would be the end of the fighting, but we did hope that we wouldn't see a force that size again. I don't know how many more V words I had in me, but I don't think I am ready to find out just yet.

Anyway, the only people here with me were the members of the Ash Guard, the boys, and a few Nascent Soul Realm Infernals.

Scalera was off on the scouting trip as well, so my focus since I've woken up had been ignoring my pain and cultivating.

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Not a process I could necessarily rush, but I was desperate now. The peak of Qi Refinement would only help so much going forward when I all I could do was say the V word when we ran into much stronger opponents.

If that's all my worth would amount to on this final stretch I was better off being carried in a princess hold and only talking when it was time to say the V Word.

That's unacceptable.

I need to break through. I have to.

It wasn't that I'd be able to suddenly hold my on against Nascent Soul Vamps, but my body would be far stronger and so too would my flames grow in strength.

The Eternal Flames.

There were not to be trifled with and although I don't know just how much they would grow, there was still a chance that the growth would be enough to threaten the those of the Nascent Soult Realm.

And even a threat is better than nothing.

Of course, the threat wasn't the main reason for wanting to reach the Core Formation Realm. Instead us the boost to my body that was desperately needed. The stronger I was, the more I'd be able to withstand when saying the V word, and I had half a mind to believe at some point, it would no longer drain me as much as it did.

Either way, no matter what benefit came with breaking though to a higher level, the fact remains that there will indeed be a benefit to be had. One that would be necessary at some point.

So I continued to push.

And push…

And push…

And…

"Patriarch."

I opened my eyes to see Scalera standing in front.

"Found something?"

"Yes Patriarch. Far deeper inland there is a valley nestled in the middle of a crop of massive mountains. In that valley sits a sprawling City. We weren't able to get as close as we'd like to investigate, because it is heavily guarded.

"Despite that we were still able to see a few things. The Vhampryls who guard the City seem to be a cut above the rest we have faced thus far. The aura's they gave off weren't simple.

"But with that being said, there were likely less than a thousand of them in total from what we could see. There could be more, but none of us get glean any more without being spotted."

"Roughly a thousand of them, but stronger than what we've faced…I'll take those numbers. Anything else?"

"Yes Patriarch. Two more things. A massive amount of smoke could be seen coming from deeper in the valley, and we believe that's where the Core Sacrifice is being conducted. Lastly, humans are in the City."

"Humans are still alive in the City?"

"It appears so Patriarch."

Humans in a City that is apparently now controlled by Vamps, and the current location of the place they are sacrificing our Core.

Have they betrayed Earth?

•••

"What did you just say?"

"All of them are dead Sir. Not a single one of survived whatever happened at the coast."

"What do you mean no one survived. Our reports said that their forces numbered not even half a million. And most of them were in the Qi Formation Realm, yet your telling me millions of us died to that?

"Explain."

"It was the one we were told to look out for Sir. He did…something.

"I wasn't able to see clearly from where I was, but one second we were baring down on their ships and it looked as if they would be destroyed in moments, but then he muttered something and the battlefield seem to freeze.

"Then as if the reaper himself gripped the hearts of our people, every single one of them lit aflame and burned till nothing remained. At one point it felt something…that something looked at me. I immediately departed after that."

"…Raise the alert level and leave nothing to chance. If the wind blows I want to know. There can be no mistakes. This is too important for our race and the Young Lord cannot be disturbed at this time. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, then go make sure everyone else understands."

"Right away sir."

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