162: backlash

Emperor Meiji slumped dejectedly to the ground. "This... how is this possible?! Yamata no Orochi is a divine beast, how could it not even compare to an egg?"

Just then, he turned his head and saw Xiao Xu, who was no longer preparing to hide his figure for a sneak attack, and the flickering black humanoid figure beside him. He recognized it at a glance—that was Lin Xi!

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and said, "Lin Xi isn't dead yet? Then this must be a dream! That's right, this must be a dream!"

He stumbled over to Xiao Xu, pointing at his nose and speaking like a madman, "Xiao Xu, you must have done this, right?!"

"I knew there was something wrong with you, Lin Xi didn't die at all! You wanted to plot against me!"

"But I never trusted you either. Once Yamata no Orochi is complete, I won't need the existence of those damn Dark Guards anymore!"

"Those few captains have all been in secret contact with America. Did they really think they could hide it from me?"

"Whether it's you or Geng Mu, I never intended to let either of you off! Yamata no Orochi will use the blood of all the Dark Guards to further its strength and firmly establish its footing in the realm of divine beasts. America won't be able to control me either!"

Xiao Xu looked at the finger almost poking his nose, gave him a somewhat sorrowful look, shrugged, and said, "Your ambition is great, but unfortunately, this is no dream."

He pushed down Emperor Meiji's finger, then looked into his bloodshot eyes and said, "His Majesty the Emperor, your beast seems to be on its last legs. Two of the three Dark Guard Captain Generals are dead, and the remaining one is currently dreaming outside."

"So... standing this close to me now, don't you feel it's very dangerous?"

Only then did Emperor Meiji snap out of it like waking from a dream, falling back onto his buttocks. Though he still stubbornly insisted, "This... you really didn't tamper with anything? This really isn't a dream?! This is impossible... this is impossible..."

But his body was very honest, using both hands and feet to crawl backward, his hands getting scraped with many bloody marks.

Xiao Xu ignored him, instead turning to look at the scarlet blood egg surrounded by waves of blood in the air, and Su Ze on the shore.

He murmured, "Yeah... it's hard not to suspect it's a dream. It was one thing for diamond rank and platinum-level demon beast eggs to constantly appear around him before, but now he even has a divine beast egg, and its level isn't low either."

"Just how many secrets does this kid have on him..."

Beside him, the expression on Lin Xi's face revealed more of a sense of gratification.

"Is this what you meant by thwarting our plan? Well thwarted. Since we can produce our own Moonlight-rank Divine Beast, there's no need to use that ugly snake from Fuso anymore."

Soon, Su Ze felt another contract added to his soul.

The scarlet blood egg stopped drinking blood, and the blood pool receded. However, more than half of the blood had vanished, leaving only a layer of murky filth at the bottom.

Yamata no Orochi hadn't been completely sucked dry, managing to save its life.

But before it could breathe a sigh of relief, it suddenly felt the little blood left in its body become scorching hot again, as if it were about to boil inside its veins.

The meager remains of blood at the bottom of the pool evaporated rapidly, soon drying up completely.

In reality, the surrounding temperature had indeed risen quite a bit, but only to the extent of a scorching midsummer day; it hadn't reached the point of rapidly evaporating water.

However, centered on the scarlet blood egg and spanning a thousand miles, all moisture was rapidly evaporating except for the area around Su Ze.

On the ground, the land of Fuso quickly dried and cracked, the soil turning a parched blood-red.

It was more like a concept—the concept of 'Drought'.

Xiao Xu also decisively retreated, quickly putting distance between them. Though he still felt an unbearable thirst, at least he didn't feel like he was about to turn into a mummified corpse.

Lin Xi, in his spirit state, was unaffected.

Yamata no Orochi, being closest to the scarlet blood egg, was the most severely affected. Coupled with having had too much blood absorbed earlier, it now felt an extraordinary thirst.

It opened its massive snake mouths, trying to get some residual blood from the bottom of the pool to drink, but only bit into mouthfuls of mud. The blood pool had long since dried up completely.

At this time, Emperor Meiji, enduring the influence of the scarlet blood egg, struggled to approach and said, "Yamata, are you alright? We have completely failed this time... but don't lose heart. As long as we live, we can always find eight new types of Divine Beast Essence Blood, and we'll still have a chance!"

But Yamata no Orochi wasn't listening at all; it was staring fixedly at Emperor Meiji's hands, which were raw with bloody scrapes.

Though they had already scabbed over due to the influence, it at least meant there was still blood in his body that could... help quench its thirst!

This thought was sensed by Emperor Meiji through the contract. He stepped back two paces in fear, first threatening, "Yamata, you can't do this! I am your master! If I die, you will be harmed too!"

Then he said soothingly, "We'll escape together. When the time comes, you can drink as much blood as you want, even if you have to suck every person on Fuso Island dry!"

But unfortunately, for Yamata no Orochi's low intelligence, the physical emptiness and thirst it was currently experiencing were far more unbearable, even causing it to ignore the pain of the contract's backlash.

After all, as a divine beast, it was confident it wouldn't be obliterated by the contract, though a period of agony was unavoidable.

So it decisively opened its mouth and swallowed Emperor Meiji in one gulp. The blood that burst in its mouth amidst his painful wails finally managed to barely quench its thirst.

But following that was the immense pain of the backlash on a soul level.

Enduring this pain, it used the strength it had barely recovered to quickly leave this place of trouble.

Not far away, Xiao Xu quietly pursued in the direction it left. As for Lin Xi, he remained where he was.

Because the current situation no longer required Lin Xi to burn his soul to forcibly swap the contract; Yamata no Orochi had swallowed its own master, so Xiao Xu could simply go and pick up the spoils.

Although Yamata no Orochi hadn't successfully completed its bloodline to become a Moonlight-rank Divine Beast, its strength was still formidable, existing somewhere between a level 100 demon beast and a divine beast once fully recovered.

Xiao Xu was someone who constantly pursued becoming stronger. To that end, he was first willing to betray his country to cooperate with Fuso, and then turned traitor again because Lin Xi promised he would get the contract for Yamata no Orochi.

Therefore, he would absolutely not pass up the chance to contract Yamata no Orochi, even if its bloodline hadn't been completed.

Now that everyone else was either dead or gone, only Su Ze and the unaffected spirit-form Lin Xi remained.

After successively displaying two powerful authorities, the scarlet blood egg finally completed its hatching.

A blood-red light rose from the completely cracked egg, then condensed into a human-sized shape.

"What kind of demon beast will it be?" Su Ze and Lin Xi, and even Feng Qingyi, who had retracted her original form, were all full of anticipation.