The blood effigy's mental attack had to be far more powerful than the previous ones, so Liam knew that he couldn't stand simply any longer. He needed to do something, and he needed to do it fast. Haaaaa! He shouted and rushed forward with his black dragon sword in his hand. [Sword Dance] [Fire Slash] [Spirit Slash] [Lightning Sword] He erupted into his strongest form and attacked the blood effigy from all directions. His mana core thrummed wildly as he did not hold back and used everything in his capacity to fight. Blood sizzled and crackled with every attack Liam landed. Growl! On the other side, Luna snarled and rushed forward to tackle the blood effigy. She blurred left and right and unleashed blasts of fire from all directions relentlessly. Growl! Growl! Growl! Growl! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! However, the duo's combined attack did little to nothing to the blood effigy. Only they were running out of mana and stamina. It was clear that unless they stepped it up, this fight would be over before it even began. Liam pumped his body with even more mana, churning his mana core dry of every last bit of mana. He was also wildly pulling in mana from the air around him and pushed his limits as far as he possibly could. Then with everything he had, he attacked the blood statue in a frenzy, in the same spot repeatedly again and again, and finally, he managed to land an actual hit! When he brought down the black dragon sword the next time, slashing down at the blood effigy's arm with a fully powered [Fire Slash], it went through the defenses, and the hand ended up being severed altogether. A big blob of blood dropped onto the ground, splashing to form a puddle right next to the effigy. Liam was shocked. He quickly prepared to attack again, and this time aimed for the neck of the blood effigy. However, this small victory was short-lived. Before Liam could even raise his sword, the hand that was severed was regenerating and very rapidly at that. The blood puddle that was on the ground was also absorbed back into the effigy. Not just that, but the blood effigy finally stopped standing indifferently. It raised its leg and stomped onto the ground with a cold snort. The next instant, without any warning, several pools of blood erupted around the blood giant, and from within each one of these pools, a bloody figure materialized. Liam immediately had a bad feeling. He already knew what this attack was. It was something he had faced once before. It was the first vampire lord Jonathan's skill. The blood giant was capable of regeneration which was the second vampire lord's attack. This could only mean that the blood effigy in front of him was capable of executing all the attacks that the puppet vampire lords possessed. Liam's pulse raced. Of course, this was the worst-case scenario, but for some reason, he knew that this was exactly what was going to happen. His gut instincts said so. He did not care too much about the other attacks per se. His main concern was the mental attack. If that vampire lord's mental attack was so strong, then how strong would this blood effigy's mental attack be? No, he needed to finish this fight right now. [Soul Splice] cooldown was still 27 mins, and he could not count on that skill. This only left him with one option. Liam immediately fortified his [Soul Shield]. Could his [Soul Shield] block an actual mental attack? Perhaps it would have little to no effect on the mental attack? But he had to press on and gamble. For the situation he was in at the moment, this was the only saving grace he had. Bang! Bang! Bang! Not waiting for him, the ten bloody figures immediately started pelting Liam with crimson orbs containing rich blood essence. Each attack zoomed through the air, vibrating with immense power. Liam only barely managed to form the [Soul Shield] just in time to block the attacks. Even then, he could feel each and every single attack shaking the soul barrier he had erected. He had to keep repairing the barrier constantly. It was as if his barrier could break apart any second now. It just wasn't strong enough to defend the attacks from the blood summons. However, the moment the barrier collapsed, it would be game over for him. So he desperately applied and reapplied the soul shield and made multiple barriers of soul, siphoning everything that was being generated on the battlefield. But how could things remain so simple? All of a sudden, something else started happening. Liam did not know why, but he felt as if the blood effigy was suddenly sneering at him and his pathetic effects, almost like it was challenging him. When he looked up, he saw the huge figure stomping its leg once again. The entire ground shook. The air around them pulsed with power. The next instant, surprisingly, all the blood from the battlefield started rising up from the dead vampires that were squished like ripe tomatoes and flew towards the blood effigy. The soul essence was being inhaled by Liam, and now, the blood essence started being inhaled by the blood effigy. The entire battleground crackled. Liam had never seen anything like this before. It was almost as if the space around them was split into two zones or two domains, one made of soul and the other made of blood. And at the moment, the two domains seemed to be equally matched as both of them pushed and pulled at each other. Unfortunately for Liam, this was only for a split second. He might not have any idea what he was doing, but his opponent surely did. So the next instant, things changed, and the collective blood essence started thickening and solidifying. They coalesced to form a sort of huge dome that covered the blood effigy and the blood summons and their half of the battleground.