After defeat, those who were drained and died were even more numerous. Practitioners of levels one and two were almost completely wiped out within minutes. The tragic scene of dried corpses littering the ground was unbearable for anyone, prompting them to question the gods, why their followers had to endure such suffering.
Li Xi couldn't bear to watch. In the age of cold weapons, close combat meant severed limbs flying and blood splattering the sky, with screams unending. Facing the relentless tide of vampires, humanity could only retreat, swept away like wheat fields in harvest. In the end, they had no choice but to form a dense formation centered around teams of spellcasters.
Humanity's offensive power was insufficient, and retreat was impossible, as it meant the destruction of Cado City. They could only barely hold on.
Fortunately, the mages who had suffered backlash from interrupted spells did not die. As long as they took potions and rested for a few hours, they could recover. Now, it all depended on whether the vampires would give them that time.
The battlefield, which had originally encompassed the entire military camp, was now confined to a corner. The ground was covered with a layer of corpses. Little bats diligently picked through the bodies, sucking out any remaining blood and pouring it into the blood pool.
Meanwhile, at Nasser's location, the complex sacrificial ritual had begun. A faint golden light started to shimmer in the blood pool. Every vampire who witnessed this intensified their desperate attacks, offering their all in the final step to ignite the divine fire for their great Dracula.
Ancient incantations began to resound from Nasser's lips. The night, which had been clear with visible stars, was suddenly filled with the rumble of thunder, though strangely, there was not a single cloud. Silver lightning flickered above the blood pool.
This was not lightning produced by the contact of positive and negative charges, but a self-reaction of natural energy due to the concentration of immense power.
As the thunder appeared, it was initially very weak, no different from an electric spark, but soon the thunder became deafening, and a bolt of lightning shot down towards the blood pool.
Seeing this, Nasser, holding a staff that had appeared in his hand at some point, struck heavily. A blood-red barrier covered the blood pool, ensuring the lightning would not harm it in the slightest.
After the first bolt of lightning came the second, then the third. The might of heaven and earth struck fear into everything. The swarms of small bats flying in the sky began to wobble like drunken birds, falling to the ground and transforming into vampires with sickly pale faces. With every clap of thunder, they were filled with a primal fear, shivering uncontrollably even in the midst of a life-or-death battle.
These low-level vampires feared lightning produced by natural energy even more than death.
The higher-level vampires were somewhat better, but since the thunder began, their strength and speed had diminished by more than half.
"They are beginning to refine divine power. We must stop them!"
A priest with a hexagram badge on his chest and snow-white beard exclaimed with a shocked expression, loudly explaining what was about to happen.
The hexagram was the symbol of the Goddess of Magic. Some mages who practiced magic believed in her, while others were atheists, like Demanga.
Everyone knew the gravity of the situation, but being barely able to resist, they were powerless to attack. They could only watch as bolts of lightning struck, and the highly concentrated blood in the blood pool visibly diminished.
Li Xi stealthily observed. Nasser was extremely cautious, with about eighty high-level vampires protecting him, in addition to himself, a level seven vampire. Most of these vampires were level five. It was clear that Dracula had painstakingly accumulated these forces over countless years. Although vampires advanced slowly, their lifespans were theoretically infinite, allowing them to hoard resources like moles. Even if it took a decade to cultivate a level five vampire, over ten thousand years, this number could drive any faction mad.
Li Xi was tempted to sneak attack. He was less than twenty meters from the blood pool, but an attack would surely draw the concentrated fire of vampires with thousands of years of accumulated power. He would only act at the most critical moment, to turn the tide and save the collapsing situation.
Some priests began to show a willingness to die, intending to use their own cultivation to ignite their lives and break the vampire's promotion ritual.
Their desperate sacrifices were not entirely for the sake of Cado City. These commoners were not worth such efforts. They were doing it for their deities, and one should never underestimate the power of fanatical believers who would sacrifice everything for their gods, including their lives and souls.
The first priest to sacrifice himself for a temporary boost was a priestess of the Dark Lady, as the Dark Lady was Dracula's greatest enemy after his ascension. It was only natural that her priestess would fight desperately.
Magical tides began to fluctuate. Cado City, which had been quiet for less than a month, was once again ravaged by energy. Countless weak creatures cowered in their homes, pleading with unknown entities to let them see the next day under such pressure. Such power, in their insect-like lives, could indeed be considered divine.
A priestess of the Dark Lady knelt on the ground, her face showing a lingering attachment to the world and a desire for life. However, the divine light radiating from every inch of her skin made her appear like a descending celestial being. Her original power was less than level four, and even with a desperate effort, her strength would not exceed level six, and it would be very short-lived.
"Evil, filthy creatures, you deserve only hell."
The priestess spread her hands to embrace the heavens and the earth. The scorching tears on her face evaporated before they could fall.
"Divine Praise."
The sun returned to the heavens, and immeasurable light illuminated the entire Cado City. The vampires attacking the human formation were instantly like ants hit by an atomic bomb, with low-level vampires vanishing in large numbers. This divine art, performed at the cost of the priestess's life, vaporized thousands of low-level vampires and mortally wounded or killed nearly a hundred high-level ones.
Any vampire touched by the light of the praise, even if not dead, bore wounds like they had been doused in acid, with large areas of festering flesh. At this moment, it was the vampires' turn to emit chilling screams of pain.
Indeed, divine arts were extremely effective against vampires. For normal humans, they were merely buffs, but against evil beings, they were more devastating than any attack.
A normal level six non-spellcaster would never be able to inflict such damage. Yet today, a priestess below level four had accomplished it.
The humans were greatly emboldened by this. Everyone here had come with a resolve to die, but no one wanted to fight a battle they were sure to lose. Now, with a strategic attack spell like Divine Praise, there was still hope.
Of course, the priestess who released this ultimate move was no more in this world. Her existence, like that of the vampires, left no trace.
If this battle was won, perhaps her story might be briefly heard from the mouths of bards. But with humanity's tendency to forget, her existence would vanish within a hundred years.
The humans seized this opportunity and sent forth their few remaining cavalry. However, the gap created by the priestess's life sacrifice was less than ten meters wide. As the cavalry charged, they were immediately blocked by the vast vampire army, and their attack was once again thwarted. The situation remained unchanged.
The difference in strength was too great; it could not be altered by the self-sacrifice of one or two individuals. What was needed now were powerful, top-tier experts, such as Boondi's Divine Descent technique, or Demanga's forbidden spells. With a single spell, it would be a testament to their lack of skill if even ten vampires survived.
Unfortunately, these two were already dealt with in advance.
"Divine Praise."
With the self-sacrifice of another priest, Cado City was once again illuminated. However, the damage inflicted this time was less than half of the previous one. It was not that the power was insufficient or the priest's self-sacrifice was less determined. It was simply that after the previous incident, the vampires were already prepared. As soon as a priest made a sacrificial move, those who could escape did so. Except for a few vampires entangled by humans and unable to flee, who turned to dust, most managed to survive.
From the previous Divine Praise, it was evident that although this move was visually impressive and powerful, its range was not extensive, and its kill radius only extended about ten meters beyond the human formation.
Li Xi counted the numbers. The total number of spellcasters was less than fifty, with about twenty-five priests. Thirteen priests had been incapacitated by the vampires' sonic attack. Now, only twelve remained who could sacrifice themselves. But when it came to sacrificing their lives, every life was precious. The two who had decisively sacrificed themselves earlier were priestesses of the Dark Lady. Could priests from other temples make such a tragic sacrifice?
The answer was likely no. Even if they all could sacrifice themselves, the remaining eleven would not last until the humans reached the altar. Moreover, there were still a large number of level five vampires and Nasser, a level seven, who had not yet acted. The lack of high-end power could not be compensated by any amount of low-end strength, unless they were all mages. Even small fireballs with area-of-effect damage could deter these vampires from coming to Cado City.
Alas, there were no "ifs" in this world. The number of mages required could not be gathered even by ten Cado Cities, let alone one.
The situation once again fell into a stalemate. Many humans showed despair in their eyes. Everyone knew that once the divine power in the blood pool was refined, not a single person in Cado City would survive. Death was merely a matter of time.
Nasser didn't even spare a glance at the battlefield, except for a brief turn of his eyes during the first Divine Praise. The rest of the time, he was engaged in a battle against the lightning bolts constantly striking from the sky.
The blood pool, the size of a swimming pool, now contained less blood than could fill a basin. The blood was no longer red but golden, and the peculiar fragrance had disappeared, replaced by a faint pressure. Li Xi was very familiar with this pressure.
The golden divine power and demonic patterns on Lilith's body had felt the same. Later, it was the same with the God of Light, Apollo, only the intensity of the pressure differed, from largest to smallest: the God of Light's pressure was the greatest, followed by the golden blood in the current blood pool, and then the clone of Lilith.
Nasser waved his hand gently, and the golden blood, elastic like jelly, floated up. Nasser even dissipated the red barrier that had been protecting the blood pool, allowing the lightning to strike the golden blood directly.
"Boom!"
Unlike before, the collision of lightning and golden blood was like igniting a Tomahawk missile. The entire ground trembled. Li Xi and the stone brothers beside him were like pebbles on a drum, bouncing half a foot high before falling heavily.
"Good opportunity."
Li Xi, in the momentary fall, nimbly rolled half a meter towards the blood pool, ensuring that no vampire could detect any anomaly in his stony form.
The golden blood, originally filling a basin, was struck by lightning once. Impurities were expelled, and it immediately halved in size, becoming only as large as a rugby ball. However, the pressure did not decrease; instead, it more than doubled. Even the vampires near the altar could not bear it and retreated several steps. Only the stones on the ground and Nasser remained still.