If he had known the Lighting Technique consumed so much blood, he would have found a way to get more beforehand. But now, it was too late.
As the door and windows shook with increasing violence, Yang An clutched his knife and had no choice but to keep backing away. Soon, he was in a corner, with nowhere left to retreat.
The main door was the only exit, and it was clear a Demon Fiend was right outside. He had no way to escape. He could only brace himself and hope these Demon Fiends were timid enough to be scared away before the blood in the Blood Bowl was gone.
If that failed, his only option was to try using his own blood for the Lighting Technique.
HUMMMMM!
The wind grew louder and louder, as if some invisible, terrifying thing was relentlessly slamming against the door and windows.
Although Yang An had braced himself, less than two breaths later, the window burst open with a dull THUD.
A gale roared into the room, carrying a foul stench. It instantly whipped Yang An's hair into disarray and sent his clothes flapping loudly, making it impossible for him to open his eyes.
But at that moment, Yang An's heart felt unbearably heavy.
His first thought was to look at the lit Blood Bowl on the table. There was no way it could stay burning in such a fierce gale.
And just as he'd expected, the moment he forced his eyes open, the room was plunged into total darkness.
The lamp was out!
As the room plunged into darkness, Yang An's heart sank into the abyss. A powerful sense of dread washed over him, and his consciousness began to drift, as if he were a rootless weed tossed on the waves.
He acted almost without thinking, making what he knew was the right decision. Gritting his teeth, he took the knife in his left hand and immediately sliced open the palm of his right.
The blade wasn't particularly sharp, but it still easily sliced an inch-long gash in his palm.
A sharp, stinging pain shot up from his palm, followed by the feeling of something warm welling up from the wound.
Yang An wasted no time. As he chanted the mantra, his fingers immediately began to form the Seal Decision.
He could normally perform the Lighting Technique in two seconds, but this time, his speed increased dramatically, a huge improvement spurred by the imminent danger.
In less than a second, as the Seal Decision concluded, an intense red flame, as large as a human head, flared to life before Yang An.
The blaze of light instantly illuminated the dark room once more. It simultaneously wiped away the strange feeling in Yang An's mind and consciousness, causing him to become instantly clear-headed.
He could clearly feel his own blood draining away, rapidly consumed by the red flame in his palm. A wave of weakness immediately followed.
However, the sense of security this brilliant light gave Yang An was unparalleled.
But as the entire room was illuminated once more, a single glance was enough to make Yang An's scalp tingle with horror.
At some unknown point, four twisted figures had appeared in the room. Though they varied in height and build, they all had the same appearance and clothing as the previous Demon Fiend. Four pairs of empty eye sockets stared ferociously at Yang An, and the closest of the creatures was less than a meter away.
One of the Demon Fiends had very clear burn marks; chunks of black, charcoal-like rotten flesh were peeling away from its body, connected only by a few strands of tissue. It was a terrifying sight.
Yang An recognized it in an instant. It was the same Demon Fiend that had escaped earlier. From the looks of it, the Lighting Technique had clearly done a great deal of damage to it.
He hadn't expected this Demon Fiend to actually return, and to bring others with it.
These Demon Fiends clearly hadn't expected this. The gale they had summoned had already extinguished the red flame in the room, yet Yang An had somehow lit another flame directly in his hand—one that was more than ten times fiercer than the one in the bowl.
Just as the Demon Fiends were about to strike Yang An, the sudden flare of light caused them to feel intense pain. On their faces, which lacked mouths or noses, a surprisingly human-like expression of fear appeared.
The first to be affected was the Demon Fiend closest to Yang An.
Yang An didn't even have to move. The Demon Fiend was simply too close, causing the flame in his hand to flare up. The creature let out a horrific shriek as its entire body began to glow like a red-hot branding iron. Its stooped frame was instantly set ablaze, burning with a translucent, dark-red light.
Meanwhile, red blotches began to appear one after another on the bodies of the other Demon Fiends standing behind it.
The scorching heat caused the Demon Fiends to feel excruciating pain. Plumes of black smoke began to rise from their bodies, rendering them unable to move. They could only endure the searing heat.
Seeing this, Yang An's terror gave way to a moment of stunned surprise, which was quickly followed by a surge of elation in his heart.
'They can't withstand the flame ignited by my blood!'
He instantly understood the predicament the Demon Fiends were in.
Even he hadn't expected a flame ignited with his own blood to be this powerful. Unlike the flame from the blood in the bowl, the difference in their potency was like night and day.
When practicing the Lighting Technique before, Yang An had never tried using his own blood, so he was completely unaware of the difference in effect. That ignorance had nearly cost him his life.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late to find out. He could also roughly guess the reason for such a great difference in effect.
The blood in the bowl came from a corpse; it was blood that was on the verge of congealing.
But the blood in his hand came from him, a living person. His blood was fresh and warm.
Clearly, only the blood of a living person could unleash the true power of the Lighting Technique!
Having witnessed the Lighting Technique's power to suppress and harm Demon Fiends, Yang An was no longer afraid. His confidence surged.
He understood that he needed to end this fight quickly. Otherwise, the massive blood loss would put a huge strain on his body and could even endanger his life.
With this in mind, Yang An gritted his teeth and took the initiative, extending his hand.
The head-sized flame burned like a crimson fireball as Yang An pressed his palm directly against the Demon Fiend in front of him.
A piercing shriek rang out in his ears. The Demon Fiend was completely powerless to resist. Its body, already burning red-hot, was instantly engulfed in an even more violent blaze.
At the same time, as the flame drew nearer, the red blotches on the other Demon Fiends also burst into fire, instantly engulfing their entire bodies.
The Demon Fiends were already standing very close to one another. Yang An's move to close the distance was akin to lighting the fuse on a stick of dynamite.
When one Demon Fiend caught fire, the others were not spared. The flames that were already smoldering on their skin could no longer be suppressed and erupted violently.
In that instant, a towering red blaze lit up the small house. Even the raging gale could not extinguish it. Instead, the fire fed on the wind, growing even more ferocious.
A series of horrific screams rang out one after another, but after only a single breath, there was silence.
The fiery blaze dissipated quickly, the light rapidly receding.
Inside the room, the flame in Yang An's hand had already shrunk to the size of his fist.
The red glow of the flame illuminated his face. It was covered in sweat, but what was more prominent was a sickly pallor, a weakness visible to the naked eye.
In that instant, he felt as if he was about to faint. His entire body was limp and powerless, and his vision plunged into darkness, leaving him momentarily blind.
A moment ago, in order to completely incinerate the Demon Fiends, he had subconsciously detonated the flame in his hand with all his might. He hadn't expected that his blood would be consumed so drastically. In just a single breath, it created the illusion that he was being sucked dry.
He was now incredibly weak, and he didn't dare extinguish the flame in his hand.
He was afraid that if he extinguished the flame in his hand, he would lose the sustaining effect of the Lighting Technique's Bright Heart and Pure Spirit, which was what kept his mind stimulated and awake. He would very likely lose consciousness on the spot, and it would be disastrous if another Demon Fiend were to show up.
After waiting quietly for a while, once his vision gradually returned, Yang An forced his body toward the table. He lit the hemp-rope wick in the bowl, and only after seeing a thumb-sized flame reappear in the Blood Bowl did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and extinguish the fire in his hand.
Yang An leaned against a leg of the table and slowly slid to the floor. He was now so weak he didn't even have the strength to go and shut the door.
Although he was in a wretched state himself, at least his life was safe for now, and he was satisfied with the outcome.
Four Demon Fiends, and not a single one had escaped. All had perished on the spot.
By now, the figures of the Demon Fiends had completely vanished from the room. All that remained were a few piles of black ash, slowly scattering in the wind like sand.