The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse Chapter 1722: Trial Of Blood

"Well, this is indeed something," Asura smirked, looking at the familiar face staring back at him.

Long before he became the Asura God, he was known as Blood Sword, a prince who felt like the peaceful life he had wasn’t something he was meant to live, so he picked up his sword and started roaming the universe, challenging every swordsman he met.

He was good, and so he won all his battles until the day he met the Asura Princess, who later became his wife, finally crowning her as the Asura Queen.

Their battle was quick and decisive, so decisive that it ended before people knew when it began.

That battle was also the turning point for Asura.

He had a change of heart, and through that decision, he finally became the Asura God he was destined to be.

Today, however, he had to face the same battle again, for his first opponent was Queenie, or at least the version of her he had met when he was called Blood Sword.

"Isn’t this a full-circle moment?" he said, a smile playing on his face.

To his shock, Queenie smiled and nodded. "It is indeed a full-circle moment. Just that today, I will be fighting at 100% rather than the 20% I used back then."

Asura grinned, a part of him wishing he could tell Queenie’s clone a piece of his mind. Back then, he fought with all he had and lost.

Hearing she had only used 20% of her power made him wish a bus would come out of nowhere and slam into her body, crushing her like a bug.

’I can do that with my sword.’ He extended his hand, and a broadsword bathed in Blood Qi materialized in his palm...

"In that case, let’s determine the winner with a single move."

Queenie’s clone smiled and nodded. "If that is what you want."

The entire arena grew tense as the two faced each other. This battle was one Asura wanted, or had, to win to finally clear himself of the loss he had incurred back then.

Just like how Knox, Klaus’s second incarnation, wished to beat Vida Stronghold, the Barbarian Queen, for the beatdown he had received back then, Asura also wished to absolve himself.

So when Queenie harnessed the power of blood, causing thousands of swords to appear in the air, Asura also made his move.

"This move was one I used to kill a Celestial. Be grateful I am using it on you."

Just as he said that, he lifted his sword into the air, and a red skull, eerily similar to the one used in creating the Tower of Ascension, appeared.

Then a deep, dark smoke came from the sockets, causing the space around him to tremble. The smoke moved and merged with the sword, then the skull also dissolved, merging with the sword.

BOOOOOOM

A terrifying Blood Qi exploded from Asura’s body, causing the very ground to start cracking beneath him.

Opposite him, Queenie’s clone frowned. But then a smile formed at the corner of her lips, and then her sword fell, causing thousands of swords formed from the power of blood to move.

"Blood Sword Rain."

Asura also smirked, and then, tracing his finger along the blade of his sword, he took a deadly swing, forcing out a powerful crimson sword arc.

"Blood Calamity Cut."

For a moment, the distance between them seemed to shrink more slowly as the two attacks closed in on each other. Asura held the smile on his face, and when the Blood Calamity Cut was three meters from the Blood Sword Rain, the smile broadened.

The incoming swords started to tremble, causing Queenie’s clone to become pale at once. Then, when they were a meter apart, they started to disintegrate.

Within a second, all thousands of swords melted into nothingness. Maybe that wasn’t entirely true because as the swords disintegrated, one could tell that the Blood Calamity Cut was growing stronger.

And by the time all thousands of sword arcs were gone, the Blood Calamity Cut had become something unrecognizable.

"Damn..."

That was all Queenie’s clone could say before her body was disintegrated by merely the shockwave of the Blood Calamity Cut that had yet to arrive before her.

Seeing that she had died, Asura snapped his finger, and the Blood Calamity Cut came to a halt before shattering into sparks of energy.

The battle ended, and the spectators took a few breaths of tense anticipation before cheers filled the arena.

Asura didn’t bother with them, though, since he was staring at the message he had received after killing Queenie’s clone...

[You have absorbed a Blood Mark Rune]

He felt it deep within him; he had become more powerful. This meant the Blood Mark Rune had something to do with it, perhaps something he would soon come to love.

He straightened his back, and then his next opponent entered the arena holding two swords. The moment he appeared, a deadly gust of wind started to blow all around him.

Asura sensed a deep-rooted feeling of danger coming from him, but he didn’t bother to act. He had already seen how he would kill his next opponent, and that was all he needed at the moment.

The battle lasted for only five seconds, for Asura had done his fair share by eliminating the threat before he had time to even gather his energy to launch an attack.

[You have absorbed a Blood Mark Rune]

He became even stronger after winning his second battle.

His third battle wasn’t any different. In fact, the battles that followed were as he expected, easy, making him wonder if this trial had a cultivation cap, considering he hadn’t sensed any yet.

All his opponents had no visible cultivation rank, so he didn’t know if he had killed demigods or gods. But judging by how easily he was able to kill them, he figured things wouldn’t be as difficult as he had expected.

His thinking, however, was shut down when he met his 10th opponent, who happened to be the last challenge in the first stage.

The battle lasted for a minute, but that told him something...

Stage one was just a prelude to the main blood and carnage.