Monster Girl Development Master.

He had already tried it; the blood of someone who wasn't his own was ineffective against him!

But Zhuang Sen didn't care about any of that. As Count Kross transformed, Zhuang Sen unleashed his new abilities—[Blessing], [Inspiration], [Shield], [Gift of the Book], [Heroic Legend], [Writtener's Heart], [Being with the Gods], and [Summoning Celestial Weapons]!

Layer upon layer of magic was applied to Zhuang Sen, and his originally slender and petite boyish figure grew considerably, reaching the level of a teenager. He also acquired a warhammer burning with holy flames.

After all this was done, Dantalian completed her transformation, swept away those fickle guests, and looked at Zhuang Sen, one hand flashing with holy light and the other shimmering with green light.

Seeing this scene, Count Cross's excitement cooled considerably. He flapped his wings and took to the air, his cold gaze sweeping quickly around before settling on Zhuang Sen's face: "Is this your reliance? Two level-three bloodline users from the Church of Vengeance? Then you can prepare your last words, you foolish imposter!"

“You can’t even tell your own child apart anymore. You’ve really become completely distorted. It’s truly astonishing…” As Zhuang Sen spoke, his wings flapped suddenly, and he appeared above Count Kross, his blazing warhammer crashing down.

The buffs are all applied, who wants to waste time arguing with you!

At the same time, Dantalian's holy spear and poisonous ray flew out, cleverly blocking Count Kross's choice to dodge left or right. Nia, who had been silent all along, was also ready. As long as Count Kross dodged to the only option of retreating, her prepared attack would take the opportunity to strike.

But the perfect plan still failed, because Bishop Charles and his high priest jumped out together, blocking the Holy Lance and the Poison Ray respectively. Before he could speak, Bishop Rosa had already closed in with her rapier, forcing him to shut up and focus on delaying Bishop Rosa. But the deadly combined attack was still neutralized, and it wasn't just the War Church that attacked.

The bishop of the Healing Church intervened to stop Priestess Loris, while Earl Cross's Minister of Military Affairs and Minister of Justice joined forces to attack Zhuang Sen, and the guards who were standing in various places also raised their crossbows and aimed at Lady Lia and her companions.

But none of these things are as eye-catching as one particular event.

In mid-air, Count Cross faced the falling warhammer without dodging or avoiding it, but instead flapped his wings to meet it head-on! Although his wings and hands were deformed and terrifying, they were still flesh and blood. They collided with the warhammer and easily withstood the blow!

The only person capable of doing this is...

"A fourth-level bloodline?!"

Someone screamed, and a triumphant smile appeared on Count Cross's狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) raven head as he seized the opportunity to shout: "That's right! I'm not a bloodline mutant! I've completed four awakenings! I've unleashed the true form of the Shadow Raven Blood! Foolish deceiver! I'll pay for your folly—Aaaaaah!!!"

Before he could finish his triumphant words, Count Cross was left only with screams. What terrified him even more was that his power was also waning!

"What did you do?!"

"It's just a purification of your mixed and mutated bloodline, you're welcome."

As soon as Johnson uttered the first word, he swung his warhammer again, aiming it at Count Cross, who was covered in black smoke.

Chapter 119: Naturally Unleashing a Kill After Development

Zhuang Sen only used Purification on Earl Kross on a whim. The main reason was that Earl Kross's strange blood plasma, thick black mist, and body that looked like it had been pieced together made him look like a normal person. So, since physical attacks were ineffective, Zhuang Sen casually used his most familiar ability to test his magic resistance.

Unexpectedly, the effect was outstanding. It not only interrupted his boasting but also made him visibly stiffen. Although the reason was unclear, it was only natural to strike while the iron was hot and finish him off!

The blazing warhammer and the jet-black wings began to collide fiercely in mid-air. With the help of a large number of buffs stacked beforehand, as well as the inherent superiority of the monster girl bloodline, Zhuang Sen barely managed to fight to a draw with Count Kross, who was awakened four times and had two helpers, and even had a slight advantage.

Meanwhile, below, others were also fighting.

The battle between Bishop Charles and Bishop Rosa needs no further explanation; the Bloodthirsty Bees continued to overwhelm the Flame Horses as always, but neither side could gain the upper hand for the time being.

Under the intimidation of the guards' crossbows and the awe-inspiring presence of Count Cross's fourth-level bloodline, the guests finally decided to place their bets and side with Count Cross. Of course, even so, they dared not attack Johnson or Dantalian, but instead focused their attention on the most obvious target, Lady Lydia.

Although Lady Lia did not participate in the battle, nor did she speak out in support of Zhuang Sen, what could she do? She was Zhuang Sen's mother, and the easiest one to bully.

An ordinary woman paired with a female knight who, despite her excellent equipment, is still just an ordinary person, and oh, a little girl who seems to have a level three bloodline but has only awakened once. This lineup might be quite good in other places, after all, there are bloodline users, but among the guests present, there are quite a few bloodline users.

For example, Baron Flor, Sir Thor, Priest Ancart, and more than a dozen others, either picked up kitchen knives, demanded weapons from the guards, or simply couldn't wait to unleash their abilities on Lady Lydia and her companions with their bare hands. Sound waves, water ropes, poisonous fog... all sorts of strange, non-lethal abilities appeared in mid-air and then bombarded Lady Lydia.

Their plan was sound. Lady Leah was just an ordinary person; they could easily subdue her without needing to kill her. What if Earl Cross still wanted to maintain relations with the Farau family? What if they could use that to threaten the villain impersonating Johnson Leon? Wouldn't that be a great achievement?

Faced with the incoming attack, Lady Lia remained calm, as if it were just some kind of illusionary performance, and she didn't even bother to look at it.

Of course, in the eyes of these people, it was just Lady Leah's disguise, a bluff. When the real attack landed on her, her face would naturally be shrouded in pain and fear, distorted and deformed.

By this time, the guests who had taken up arms had also launched their attack. Some bloodline users without ranged abilities were at the forefront, their attention focused entirely on Nia. They hadn't forgotten that there was still a level three bloodline user here! Although she had only awakened once, she could still pose a threat to their lives. As for the female knight? Heh, just an ordinary person.

So when they heard the furious roar, it was too late to react.

【Fearful Roar】: Unleashes a roar filled with fury, filling those who hear it with terror.

The surging crowd froze instantly, some even scattering in all directions. Only three people remained unaffected by the fear, but even they couldn't stop the next attack.

[Death Charge]: Launch a charge forward with the power of death!

[Necromantic Strike]: Infuses the weapon with the power of death, making the next attack have an instant-death effect and can attack souls.

With a battle cry and a charge, the once crowded throng was instantly emptied, leaving behind seven or eight headless corpses on the ground.

At this moment, the three bloodline members with strong will and fearlessness finally made their preparations and rushed towards Lydia, who seemed to have frozen in the crowd due to excessive force.

Two of them were Level 1 bloodline users, and one was a Level 2 bloodline user. They each carried longswords thrown by the guards, their blades ablaze with flames—the ability of the Level 1 bloodline [Fire Lizard]—[Fire Entanglement]. Their luxurious and expensive clothing, devoid of any defensive protection, was now covered by a transparent shield—the ability of the Level 1 bloodline [Nightwhisper Owl]—[Invisibility Armor].

They were aggressive, swift, and coordinated perfectly. It was clear that they were not just showy bloodline users who lacked training, but rather warriors who had truly experienced battle. They even surrounded Lydia from three sides at the same time. No matter which one Lydia chose to fight back, she would be killed by the other two. Even if she escaped, the level two bloodline user was ready with his abilities.

【Instant Step Slash】: Instantly dash forward to the target and launch an attack.

Full of confidence and motivated by both revenge and the desire to achieve merit, they surrounded Lydia and simultaneously drew their longswords.

A flash of light appeared.

Lydia used [Surge Slash].

She was like a giant fan, spinning around from left to right. The fire lizard on the left was severed from under its armpit, the Night Whisper Owl in the middle was beheaded, and the level two bloodline user on the right finally blocked the attack and, in shock and anger, activated his ability.

In an instant, he appeared before Lydia, almost face to face, and the longsword in his hand seemed to appear out of thin air, slashing at Lydia's neck armor. With a loud bang, Lydia's head flew into the air and fell to Nia's feet.

The second-level bloodline user was panting heavily, his hands suddenly went weak, and he couldn't even hold the longsword in his hand. The adrenaline subsided, and the double pleasure of turning the tide and surviving the ordeal made him tremble all over. He directly knelt down and was then pierced through the top of his head by Lydia's sword.

Before he died, he suddenly remembered—why didn't he see any blood when he was beheaded?

Lydia caught the helmet Nia threw to her and put it back over her empty neck. She turned around to check the situation, but as soon as she moved, a barrage of crossbow bolts flew at her. It was the guards' spontaneous action, but unfortunately, their attack only injured many guests who were still running around in fear. They did not cause any harm to Lydia.

Most of them failed to break through the defenses of the advanced magic iron plate armor. A few lucky ones did manage to break through, but they couldn't inflict any damage on the headless knight's immortal body. Lydia was now completely devoid of blood, and apart from her contact with Zhuang Sen, she had no senses whatsoever, like a corpse. So she didn't even bother to move. After confirming that Lady Lydia was alright, she looked in the direction of Dantalian.

Just then, I saw the high priest turn into a swollen, green corpse.

Chapter 120: The Massacre

As the high priest's body fell to the ground, the air fell silent for a moment, with only the sounds of battle between Johnson and Earl Cross, and between Bishop Rosa and Bishop Charles remaining. Everyone else was numb, completely numb, especially those who had a deep understanding of the bloodline.

Although there are obvious differences between those who have awakened their bloodline three times, they are generally like Bishop Rosa and Bishop Charles. Although Bishop Charles was beaten and ran around on the ground, he could still hold off Bishop Rosa without being killed instantly. In fact, most of the time, he would be defeated and escape rather than die.

But Dantalian ended the battle in just a few minutes. Many people didn't even get a clear look at the situation, especially those whose attention was drawn to Lydia. All they knew was that the female knight, who had been considered an ordinary soldier, suddenly revealed her bloodline abilities and killed more than a dozen bloodline users as if they were cutting melons and vegetables. Then, they turned around and found that the high priest of the Church of War had become a corpse... Wait, what level of bloodline user was that female knight, who had awakened several times?

No, no.

The question should be, didn't that female knight's head fly off just now, yet she was completely unharmed?

Honestly, even Bishop Rosa and Priestess Loris were a little bewildered, let alone these outsiders. Was this really their Dantalian?!

In a moment of distraction, Bishop Rosa almost got injured by Bishop Charles. However, Bishop Rosa was not the only one who was distracted; Earl Cross and his henchmen were also there: Bishop Ottel from the Healing Church and Bishop Bivoro from the Commercial Church, as well as his Minister of Military Affairs and Minister of Justice.

Furthermore, Johnson was not Bishop Charles; his stats were superior to his opponent's. So, he didn't miss by a hair's breadth, but precisely smashed Bishop Autel's head with his warhammer, then turned and used the tip of the hammer handle to pierce the Minister of War's heart.

That's because they're only of the second-level bloodline.

The bishop of the Commercial Church felt the still-warm, fresh brain matter on his face. The skill that was about to be launched was abruptly stopped, and his movements became visibly slower, completely lacking the previous ferocity—a wise choice.

Zhuang Sen chuckled, flapped his wings and took flight, blocking Count Cross's slash—he was carrying a sword—then raised his hand and cast a [Judgment Light] on Count Cross.

As the waterfall of light cascaded down, the mutated black crow transformed into a shadow and flashed behind Zhuang Sen. A sharp blade wrapped in black mist thrust out, but Zhuang Sen spun his wings and quickly turned around in mid-air. He raised his hand and used [Purify] again, forcefully interrupting Count Kross's attack. This caused Count Kross to let out an angry roar, but the roar sounded somewhat blustering.

There's nothing that can be done about it; whether it's the numbers or the mechanics, he's completely outmatched by Zhuang Sen.

Although Count Kross has now "completed" four awakenings, and his base stats are stronger than Zhuang Sen's, who has only had three awakenings, Zhuang Sen has surpassed him after stacking buffs. Moreover, Count Kross hasn't mastered all of Shadow Harpy's abilities. This is partly due to the influence of mutation, but more so due to the inherent difference between bloodline beings and monster girls. Therefore, with the [Shadow Harpy Encyclopedia], Zhuang Sen easily figured out his attack mechanism and gained the upper hand with more skills. Not to mention, he is a holy angel, which is effective against shadows, and he also has the [Purify] ability, which is specifically effective against bloodline mutations.

It would be an injustice if we didn't win.

That makes sense. He's worked so hard to develop, if he still loses, wouldn't all his efforts have been for nothing?

Red and white wings fluttered, and a warm healing light shone, calming some of Zhuang Sen's minor external injuries. This made the Commercial Bishop slow down his movements even more, as if he was about to give up the act.

"Father, stop! Don't let your bloodline control you anymore!" Zhuang Sen shouted, trying his best to look very sad. As for the effect... well, he just had to keep pretending.

The warhammer slammed heavily into Count Cross's head. Count Cross had no choice but to use Shadow Cloak again, weaving through the dappled shadows of the banquet hall and leaping towards safety. His gaze swept over Lady Lydia's location, but he quickly abandoned the idea. It wasn't that he thought he couldn't catch Lady Lydia, but rather that he didn't believe Johnson would give up such a good opportunity for power for a woman. Moreover, given Lady Lydia's consistent behavior, he highly suspected that even if Johnson were to act foolishly, she would simply commit suicide.

It's not worth wasting your time at all!

Lady Leah was useless, not to mention the others. After much thought, Count Cross decided to focus on the main objective of holding this banquet.

In his original plan, there was no scene of Zhuang Sen beating him up. Instead, he would easily defeat Zhuang Sen and then kill everyone present, except for his absolute confidants, to enhance his own power. Well, this plan had two parts: the sons of Leon present would be used to enhance their bloodline power—since they could become level four bloodlines, wouldn't consuming more allow them to reach level five?

The remaining guests, servants, and guards can be used as materials and currency to establish a closer cooperative relationship with the Bloodline Order in exchange for more good things and stronger support.

Unfortunately, his plan failed in its first step and now it has to be relegated to a backup plan.

He turned everyone into his expendable resources!

Count Kross reappeared on the second-floor railing of the banquet hall, activating a mechanism that had been set up long ago. Hidden holes within the beams and walls opened, unleashing arrows forged from demonic iron that created a storm of arrows on the first floor. Most of the guests were ordinary people, and even if they heard the mechanism, they wouldn't have time to react. Faced with the overwhelming barrage of demonic iron arrows coming from all directions, they were completely unprepared.

The few bloodline members who were still alive managed to react, but apart from one or two wearing armor, they were almost all dressed in gorgeous but nearly defenseless brocade robes, and were just as unable to resist the rain of magic iron arrows.

Lady Lia and the others were naturally among the targets, but apart from Ange using Shadow Cloak to dodge, the others had no intention of avoiding it. Dantalian's tail coiled around, directly engulfing Loris and Lady Lia in its serpentine tail, and simultaneously sweeping away the first wave of magic iron arrows, buying Nia time to unleash her power—although the dwarf girl, wearing full armor and having cast Rock Skin on herself, wouldn't be harmed even if she took the hit head-on.

Then, four stone walls rose from the ground, blocking the rain of arrows in the most stable way. Although the magic iron arrows could even penetrate steel, the stone walls, which were 60 centimeters thick and reinforced with earth magic, were clearly not something that ordinary magic iron could shake.

"Save the others!"

"Nia! Sister-in-law! Let's get some walls here too!"

Lady Lia and Angela's voices rang out almost simultaneously, conveying similar meanings. Nia did not hesitate and activated the [Stone Wall] spell again, protecting the surviving son of Leon, guests, and servants with a stone wall.

Dantalian released Loris and Lady Lia, and a holy light shone from her hand. The healing power descended equally upon everyone who could still be saved.

Including Bishop Charles.

The rain of arrows interrupted all the fighting. Bishop Rosa and Bishop Charles separated and returned to their own people. However, compared to the Church of Vengeance, which was unscathed, only Bishop Charles remained in the banquet hall of the Church of War.

Without a doubt, everyone sided with Johnson this time, including Bishop Charles.

However, Count Kross didn't care, because he sensed that his power had been enhanced once again! Far exceeding the previous enhancement!

The magic circle hidden inside the building transmitted the bloodline of the unfortunate sons of Leon to Count Cross, who was also there, but the most effective method was the blood dripping from Johnson.

"My foolish son! Your defeat was already destined!"

Count Cross spread his wings, which were completely stained with blood, and flew toward Zhuang Sen, who was suspended in mid-air and riddled with arrows.

Chapter 121: The Chimera Bloodline

Zhuang Sen was now very surprised.

That's right, he deliberately held back, not directly crushing Count Cross. His purpose was to make Count Cross even more twisted and distorted, so that he would have enough legal grounds to clear his name of patricide—cleansing up clansmen with distorted bloodlines cannot be considered patricide.