"Is this the Blood Nest?"
Krul caught up with Victor just as he finished dealing with another wave of enemies. Her eyes immediately fixed on the towering structure in the distance, a grotesque spire constructed entirely of flesh and blood, its surface bristling with fang-like protrusions that jutted outward at irregular angles.
Directly above the spire, space itself had been torn apart. Through the gaping rift, an endless tide of otherworldly creatures poured into this dimension, their numbers seemingly inexhaustible.
No wonder the coalition of humans and vampires had been overwhelmed so completely. At this rate of deployment, even if they did nothing but stand there and attack, they couldn't possibly eliminate them all.
Krul tore her gaze away from the horrific sight and turned to Victor. "What's our next move? Should we destroy it immediately?"
Victor shook his head, his attention fixed on the spatial tear above. "Not yet. My spiritual sense alone can't penetrate to the other side. I need to cross over personally and see what we're dealing with."
Concern flickered across Krul's face. "Isn't that too dangerous? Why not just destroy the thing and be done with it?"
After all, they had no information about what lay beyond that rift. These creatures clearly possessed the ability to traverse dimensions at will, traveling freely between different worlds. That alone suggested their strength shouldn't be underestimated.
What if Victor encountered an overwhelmingly powerful enemy on the other side?
She didn't want to support this plan.
Victor reached over and ruffled Krul's hair affectionately. "Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. That's why I have to go this time."
Seeing the worry in her eyes, he added, "But you don't need to be concerned. If there's any danger, I'll leave immediately."
With his abstract abilities at his disposal, Victor was confident he could remain invincible. Even if he encountered an enemy of unimaginable strength, he could still escape danger quickly through the chat group's dimensional travel function.
Recognizing that Victor had made up his mind, Krul stopped arguing. "Then be careful. I'll handle any enemies that try to escape from the Blood Nest."
"Let's go."
The moment the words left his mouth, Victor and Krul transformed into twin streams of light, shooting toward the Blood Nest. One trajectory arced upward toward the dimensional rift, while the other plummeted directly into the blood-soaked spire itself.
In an instant, Krul's blade claimed the lives of hundreds of otherworldly creatures. When she glanced skyward again, Victor had already passed through the dimensional tear and disappeared from view.
The moment Victor emerged on the other side, a nauseating stench assaulted his senses, the putrid smell of rotting flesh and blood mixed with some kind of toxic miasma. It was absolutely revolting.
He quickly circulated his spiritual power to dispel the foul odor surrounding him, then began to survey his new environment.
As his spiritual sense expanded outward, he discovered with surprise that this was a planet completely covered in poison swamps and toxic vegetation. Within those poisonous marshlands, plant-like masses of flesh and blood tissue grew everywhere, pulsing with unnatural life.
He also detected the remains of ancient structures scattered throughout various regions. These ruins were clearly not built by the otherworldly creatures, the architectural style was completely different.
Some more ancient civilization must have constructed them.
This realization sparked a theory in Victor's mind. "So this isn't their home plane. This must be either a secondary world they've colonized, or a dimension that's already been completely devoured by these creatures."
His hypothesis was quickly confirmed. As his spiritual sense continued to spread, eventually encompassing the entire planet, he discovered more and more ancient ruins dotting the landscape. Among them were even some relatively well-preserved statues depicting humanoid figures.
The beings depicted in those statues were likely the planet's original inhabitants.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Victor suddenly detected spatial fluctuations manifesting before him. He withdrew his consciousness and opened his eyes just as ripples spread through the air in front of him.
A moment later, a three-meter-tall humanoid creature leaped through the spatial distortion. It wore blood-red armor, gripped a pitch-black spear, and possessed three eyes that glowed with malevolent intelligence.
"Are you the leader here?" Victor studied the figure from head to toe. Judging by its aura, this being was the most powerful entity on this planet.
"*#%@$&...!"
The creature opened its fang-filled maw and spoke in a harsh, grating voice that resembled no language Victor had ever heard.
He had absolutely no idea what it was saying. However, judging from the angry expression twisting its features, whatever it had said definitely wasn't polite.
"It seems we'll need to find another way to communicate."
Victor gripped the Mystic Ice Sword at his side, his aura rising steadily. After sensing the terrifying pressure emanating from him, a flicker of something, perhaps fear, perhaps recognition, passed across the creature's alien features.
But a moment later, it raised its spear and launched the first attack. A black slash powerful enough to tear through space itself shot toward Victor with devastating force.
Victor simply raised his hand and released a white sword light to intercept it.
BOOM!
Black and white energies collided in mid-air. Mountains crumbled, the ground fractured, sand and rocks flew everywhere, and even space itself shattered under the force of their clash.
When its first strike failed, the mysterious being swung its spear again, preparing for another assault.
Seeing this, Victor's lips curved into a wicked smile. "Kneel before me!"
He activated his 100% guaranteed Catching a Blade with Bare Hands ability.
A familiar scene played out once more. The creature suddenly discarded its spear, rushed forward at incredible speed, then slid to its knees with both hands raised high. The entire sequence of movements was smooth and flawless, executed with absolute precision.
[Ding! Your actions were too abstract. You have received 110,000 Abstract Points!]
One hundred ten thousand Abstract Points!
This creature's strength was nearly on par with the Lord Ravager Phantylia that he'd encountered before.
But before it could process what had just happened, Victor activated another abstract ability.
"Are you here to take a shit?"
The creature's expression suddenly changed. The armor covering its rear exploded outward, and a massive torrent of black liquid erupted from its backside, drawing a grotesque arc through the air.
In the next second, an overwhelming sense of weakness washed over it, causing it to fall from mid-air. It landed face-first, directly in the pile of waste it had just expelled.
[Ding! Your actions were too abstract. You have received 110,000 Abstract Points!]
But this was far from over.
"Broken butt!" Victor activated yet another abstract ability, Chrysanthemum Broken, Buttocks Injured!
The creature had barely managed to drag itself up from the filth when it collapsed to its knees again, both hands clutching its rear as it wailed in agony. It kept shouting something in its incomprehensible language.
Though Victor couldn't understand the words, judging by the creature's furious expression, it was probably cursing him with every profanity its species possessed.
[Ding! Your actions were too abstract. You have received 110,000 Abstract Points!]
Another 110,000 Abstract Points materialized in his account, bringing his total gain from this encounter to 330,000 points.
If this being had possessed the necessary anatomy, Victor might have been tempted to give it a Lethal Chicken Strike as well. Unfortunately, that particular option wasn't available.
While the creature was still reeling from the shock and humiliation, Victor placed his hand on its head and began the soul-searching technique.