Time seemed to have stopped in front of the empty blood-bone altar.
The phantom wearing a crown was suspended in the blood-colored light, and his voice was as deep as a judgment from the old era:
"After the blood oath, only blood can be paid. Are you ready to pay the price?"
Su Yue's breathing stagnated, and the blood in her body seemed to be oppressed by some invisible will. The blood oath mark appeared on her wrist, emitting a faint red glow.
Ethan walked forward slowly, his eyes cold: "Who are you?"
The phantom did not answer, but raised a hand.
In an instant, the space shook, and an ancient blood formation appeared under the feet of the two. The oath scroll above the altar flipped gently, and the weeping blood rune appeared in the void.
"This is not the time for questions and answers." The phantom said slowly, "This is a judgment."
Bang——
The surroundings suddenly shook, and blood shadows rushed out of the void, rushing towards the two like beasts. Su Yue immediately drew out her short blade, and her figure flashed, fighting back to back with Ethan.
"What is this? An illusion?" She tried to stabilize her breath while fighting.
"No, it's a memory... This is the afterimage of the will swallowed by the blood oath." Ethan whispered, and the silver blade shone with cold light, chopping a blood shadow into pieces.
"They are the spirits of the previous generation of oath-takers." He added in a deep voice.
Su Yue was stunned.
These blood shadows that rushed over were stiff in movement but powerful in breath, and each one carried anger and pain that could not be ignored. Their eyes were empty, as if the obsession of the dead had not yet dissipated.
This was a punishment for those who broke the oath, and a warning to those who came later.
"If we don't defeat them, we can't touch the oath volume." Ethan turned the silver blade in his hand, drawing a silver ripple and blocking a blood shadow.
Su Yue suddenly realized.
These afterimages were not meant to kill them, but to test whether they were worthy of inheriting this cursed history.
The battle lasted for half an hour.
When the last blood shadow groaned and dissipated in the air, Su Yue had already knelt on the ground, covered with scars.
She gritted her teeth and propped herself up, looking at Ethan who was still standing like a pine tree, with some apology in her eyes, but more stubbornness.
"I didn't hold you back."
Ethan walked to her side, helped her up, and whispered: "You are the first swearer who can fight the blood formation with me."
Su Yue's cheeks were slightly red, and she lowered her head and said nothing.
At this moment, the suspended shadow raised his hand again, and the blood oath scroll slowly sank and landed on the altar in front of them.
"You have passed the first test." The shadow spoke, and his voice was no longer oppressive, but a little more desolate.
"My name is Ariel, the last 'Blood Oath King' of the old era. On the day when the oath was broken, I sealed my will here, waiting for the arrival of the true successor."
"You are the people of the blood covenant chosen by fate."
Su Yue looked up, puzzled: "Why... us?"
Ariel's eyes fell on the blood mark on her wrist: "Because she - the real oath master - left 'source blood' in your body."
"Source blood?" Ethan was shocked, "You mean... Su Yue has the blood of the first generation of oath masters in her body?"
Ariel nodded.
"Her blood does not belong to pure humans, nor to vampires or werewolves. It is a drop of blood that integrates the source power of three tribes, and it is the core of the entire blood oath system."
"And you," he turned to Ethan, "are the direct descendants of the last Silver Claw royal family, and the gatekeeper of the origin of the oath."
"If you combine, you can recast the blood oath."
The two were speechless for a long time.
Su Yue's eyes wavered: "But I... didn't get involved voluntarily, I just..."
"She chose you." Ariel sighed softly, "The source blood has a will. It awakens you because you still have an unyielding heart."
Su Yue's heart suddenly jumped, and the phantom under the blood moon that night appeared in her mind again, the woman who called her name softly, with those gentle and sad eyes.
Is she... really responding to me?
On the altar, the blood oath scroll slowly opened.
The red runes wandered in the void, surrounding the two like living things.
Ariel's voice sounded in his ears: "The oath-taker, in the name of blood, at the cost of life, awakens the true seal of the contract."
Su Yue and Ethan stood on the altar, pierced their fingertips at the same time, and blood dripped into the scroll.
Buzz!
The altar glowed, the void vibrated, and a deep red mark emerged from the palms of the two people, and then merged into a moon-shaped mark.
"Blood oath to the new master, awaken."
"Pledge, reborn from now on."
However, at the moment the contract was completed, the space outside the altar shook violently.
A black shadow suddenly broke through the barrier and broke through the air from the depths of the tunnel!
"Finally found it - Su Yue, hand over your blood!!"
In the shadow, a vampire noble with cursed chains wrapped around his body leaped over, his eyes were bloodshot, and he held a nail hammer engraved with blood in his hand.
"Elder Ye Yu!" Ethan shouted angrily.
"How did you find this place?" Su Yue was also shocked by the familiar and terrifying breath.
"It's the source blood in your body...calling us." Ye Yu grinned, revealing his white fangs.
"This is not awakening, this is sacrifice."
"Now, return her blood - otherwise you will all die here!"