The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1635

He said while rubbing the right side of his abdomen, throwing Hao Xuan a suspicious look.

"I had two 3rd circle defensive spells and you destroyed them just like that? I don't know if I should be enraged that it happened or glad that I won't have to fight this monstrosity alone."

Hao Xuan scoffed, "If you need my help to fight something this weak then you only have yourself to blame."

He could clearly sense some intense energy fluctuations coming from the hole but they were barely reaching the upper limit of a Spirit Realm cultivator's power.

"Buhahaha!" Gudmunder threw his head back, "You think THAT is it?! Hahaha! It hasn't even woken up yet!"

'....'

"What?"

He started stretching while looking Hao Xuan up and down as if he were a fool for not knowing.

"A shard. There was a shard of a demonic core hidden inside his body, usually somewhere near the heart. He probably didn't even know it was there but once the host is damaged the core begins to leak demonic energy until there is nothing left."

"Every last iota of energy will be discharged in one go, turning the mortal host into a Pseudo-demon mimicking the true form of its master. The energy you just sensed was that of its mortal host- not the demon."

"Then why don't we kill it now?!" Hao Xuan urgently questioned.

"Kill what?? It's just a puddle of blood right now. Go try it if you don't believe me and waste your energy."

Hao Xuan grit his teeth out of frustration. He knew better than most what kind of a threat it could pose, especially considering this could be just one of many.

"So all we can do is wait for it to finish creating its demonic form and HOPE it can be killed? Have you ever fought a demon? Those things are not easy to kill!"

Gudmunder turned away with a scoff from the sheer ignorance on display.

"Not easy to kill? I think you mean impossible! All you can do is wait for it to materialize. At least- Hah...I can't believe I'm saying this but at least it won't be complete so there is a good chance it is possible."

Another small tremor arrived with a spike in horrid demonic energy that quickly surpassed the limits of the Spirit Realm and reached the Profound.

Hao Xuan regulated his breathing and focused his senses as much as he could.

*Phew*

The energy continued to rise and reached the equivalent of the Second Stage Profound Realm within a minute.

Hao Xuan ground his teeth, "How strong will it get exactly?"

"How in the SEVEN HELLS would I know?" Gudmunder cursed, getting impatient himself.

"A lot of things affect the infestation process starting from the host's blood purity and cultivation to the level of the True Demon that created the shard and-"

Before continuing he closed his eyes to "taste" the air while smacking his lips.

"-Mmm, yeah it's as I thought. It will be an incomplete transformation thanks to the low blood purity of the host."

Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed, "And you can 'taste' all that from here?"

"Of course! I know blood!" he said pridefully, "And blood never lies!"

'Just as I thought, he's using an offshoot of the Blood Magic's school of thought. Maybe with that it might be possible.'

By now there were embers and sparks constantly shooting out of the hole. Rather than a simple cavity within the ground, it would be more accurate to say that it had been turned into a literal hellhole.

With the arrival of fire and ash, the energy level jumped again to nearly the Fifth Stage of the Profound Realm.

Hao Xuan's expression turned solemn.

"What were you saying about the transformation being incomplete?"

Gudmunder had also noticed the changes and he was starting to get serious as well.

"It is incomplete, I am sure of it! Not only will it be unable to use any of its demonic abilities but its form is highly unstable on top of it! If we can just hold out for a little while the infestation should just- dissolve on its own."

Hao Xuan briefly considered alerting the remaining guards to try and pull them together but they would only get in the way at their power level.

The only unknown variable was Gudmunder- a slave with a high affinity for blood magic, magic that was infamous for making people go berserk mid-combat.

But there were also some pretty powerful spells that could prove to be useful IF he knew how to cast them properly.

The energy spiked for the last time, reaching the upper limit of the Fifth Stage of the Profound realm. It wouldn't have been that bad by itself but a black cloud was birthed in the sky the moment it broke through the Fifth Stage and within seconds it had expanded to several hundred meters.

"Huh....that can't be a good sign," Gudmunder flippantly muttered while gazing at the storm clouds.