Crack Crack Crack My shields have cracked 50%, and now their cracking has slowed down again, and that seemed to frustrate them but also make them even more furious. This fury is transforming into their strikes as they attack my shields with greater and greater power. These bastards are very powerful, and thanks to my shields, I could now predict their power and would be much better prepared to deal with them. I stared at them for a couple of seconds before focusing back on my core, where the runes were harvesting the power from the seven Grimms. As for the two other Grimms with the inheritance, they have already turned to dust, and their essence roses have been added to the formation around the necrotic tree. They will be used to heal it when the growth energy is released. The bloodlines are still resisting, but their resistance has grown much weaker. Now my runes are harnessing the humongous amount of bloodline essence from them. It is really immense, so much that I am just shaking at the thought of getting strengthening energy and growth energy. My core looked barren compared to what it looked when I fought against the old snake; there were very few trees which have the Grand Lord class resources on them. There used to be a time when nearly all the trees had the Grand Lord class resources on them. That time is not far away; the moment growth energy comes out, I will have trees filled with Grand Lord class resources. Hun! I was having these excited thoughts when suddenly, my expressions turned somber; the three blood videttes, too, had stopped, but they had beaming smiles on their faces. "See Zaar, while you have been hiding in the shields, your people are dying," said Taga, "At least they are dying by fighting bravely, not hiding like a coward like you," it added tauntingly. I met its eyes but did not say anything. It is my fault Lord Kale died, not because I am hiding in the shields, but because I have called back Nero and Ashlyn. They were the ones keeping a lot of human Grand Lords safe, but now with them; the danger had increased, and a human Grand Lord had been killed, but there was no other choice. I need both of them to consume the essence of bloodlines; it is the only way they can grow stronger quickly and deal with the bigger danger. If I had not called them, they might save saved some weaker Grand Lords, but some stronger would have died in the future. So, no matter what I felt, I had to make the hard decision; there was no other choice. Seeing no response from me, the Grimms have resumed their assault with even greater fury, but the progress they are making is slow, which is better for me. It won't be long before the runes harness all the bloodline essence and the strengthening energy is released; I am waiting for that moment. Once again, I focused on my core and saw the changes that were happening here, especially the bloodline phantoms, which used to be majestic a few minutes ago, that I did not dare to look at their faces. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂 Now they faded, and with the power of core support, I could even look directly into their eyes. Though I could only do it for a second, any longer, and I would be feeling someone crushing my head with a very sharp hammer. I tried that, and I don't want to experience it again. The bloodlines are from the mighty being, powerful enough that destroying a world like ours is simple and effortless as breathing. They have imprinted their mark on the quintessence of the universe, which is why those with their bloodlines could harness its power anywhere in the universe. Sometimes, I really feel jealous of them, as the bloodlines are the source of unlimited power; it is up to one how much they are able to harness from it. Dhub! Another minute had passed when suddenly a Snakeman exploded into the dust, leaving behind just an essence rose. Seeing that, a smile couldn't help but appear on my face; the essence of the first Grand Lord had been harnessed, and it won't be long before the essence of others got harnessed, and they turned to dust like this Snakeman. I quickly move the essence rose in formation, covering the necrotic tree; I will feed it as many essence roses as it needs to recover and grow further. I need to make the tree generate as many life crystals and other important things as possible. They are extremely vital, and I feel like I might have need of them soon enough. Dhub Dhub! A few seconds later, another Grimms exploded, and then another right after that; immediately, I transferred their essence roses into the formation surrounding the necrotic tree. It took around twenty seconds more before another Grimm exploded; the last one, among the six Grimms who had fought against three councilmembers. Now, only three have the strongest; their bloodlines are still strong. I am quite surprised by Mazla's bloodline; it had just awakened, but despite that, it was only slightly weaker than Nras. To be honest, when it had first awakened, I had thought it might be the weakest of all seven bloodlines, and despite that, I was happy. Now, I am ecstatic. Dhub! Another two minutes passed when finally, Mazla exploded, leaving behind a very powerful essence rose, which, too, had gone to the necrotic tree. Dhub! One and half a minute later, Nras exploded, and then the power of all the runes concentrated on the Chanf; the strongest among all nine Grimms. 'It is time for you to die, Chanf,' I said as its bloodline began to drain away rapidly while it let the silent scream of horror. Dhub! Finally, it too exploded, and I immediately sent its rose to the necrotic tree and waited. Buzz! I did not have to wait for long, as the next second, the strengthening essence I had never felt before rushed into my runes from the core, in such amount that my extremely powerful runes, which have become more powerful in nirvana, became shake. Gasp! That immense power had shocked me like never before; a gasp of shock couldn't help but come out of it. It also surprised the Grimms, who stopped for a moment before attacking with greater power, feeling something, they did not like. The strengthening essence released through the runes and entered my body when a surprising thing happened. My body begins to swallow it like it has been hungry for years; it is swallowing the essence faster than the runes release. It shouldn't be possible; the only reason I could think of was merging with the substance before going through nirvana, which had cleansed me to my deepest. In my body, the strengthening energy had been released while in my core; the growth energy was growing the plants at such speed I have never seen in my life. The growth energy always grew the plants faster, but now it is doing that with a much greater speed than before. The plants are growing resources of Grand Lord class by seconds, and most importantly, the necrotic tree also started to suck essence roses like it had hungry for a generation. Seeing that, a smile couldn't help but appear on my face.