My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 147: Second Phase

Deep beneath the black sky of the Nightmare Realm, the battlefield had become a place of endless ruin.

Cain stood upon one of the massive branches of the Devouring Blood Tree, looking down at the destruction with bright crimson eyes. His long vampire coat moved slowly in the heavy air while the violent aura around him continued to pulse like a living storm.

Below him the ground was covered with torn bodies.

Some still twitched.

Most did not move at all.

The Emperor powerhouses who had tried to flee were still running across the shattered land, but the blood tentacles of the Devouring Blood Tree chased them relentlessly. Those massive tendrils burst from the soil like spears, coiled around fleeing warriors, and dragged them screaming toward the tree.

Cain watched it all with a calm smile.

Then he turned his gaze toward the enormous trunk behind him.

"Woah," he said softly.

The Devouring Blood Tree had begun to change.

At first it had only been a dark crimson tree made of flesh and twisted bark, its surface crawling with veins that pulsed with stolen life. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Now that color was growing deeper.

The bark that had once looked like raw flesh began turning thicker. The crimson veins inside it burned brighter. The entire tree slowly absorbed the countless corpses being dragged toward its roots.

Every tentacle carried another body.

Humans.

Beastmen.

Snake warriors.

Rabbit disciples.

Their lifeless forms disappeared beneath the ground as the roots swallowed them.

The color of the tree deepened.

Red turned darker.

Then darker still.

It looked less like flesh now and more like living blood hardened into wood.

Cain leaned forward slightly while watching the transformation.

"Oh?" he murmured with interest.

The bark cracked open in several places as new layers of dark crimson wood began forming beneath the surface. Veins inside the tree glowed like molten metal flowing through a furnace.

The air around the tree thickened.

A deep humming sound spread through the ground.

Meanwhile, the killing did not stop.

Several Emperor powerhouses were still trying to escape.

One of them leapt across a broken ridge, his body covered in lightning while he pushed his speed to the limit.

"I won’t die here!" he screamed.

A tentacle shot up from the ground in front of him.

He twisted his body mid-air and dodged it.

Then another tentacle rose from behind.

He barely avoided that one as well.

But the third wrapped around his waist.

The Emperor roared and fired lightning from both hands.

"BREAK!"

The lightning struck the tentacle again and again.

But the flesh did not tear.

The tendril tightened.

Then it dragged him screaming across the ground toward the roots.

Cain watched quietly.

"Too slow," he said.

Another Emperor unleashed a giant wave of fire to burn a path through the forest of tendrils.

For a moment the flames cleared an opening.

But more tentacles burst from the soil and surrounded him again.

Cain shook his head.

"Too weak."

The Emperor screamed as he was pulled beneath the earth.

All around the battlefield the same thing continued.

One by one the powerful warriors were caught.

One by one they disappeared into the roots of the Devouring Blood Tree.

The tree’s color deepened further.

The crimson bark thickened.

The veins inside the trunk glowed brighter and brighter until the entire tree looked like a gigantic pillar made of dark blood wood.

Then something else happened.

The mangled corpses scattered across the battlefield began to change.

At first the change was slow.

The blood soaking the ground began crawling toward the tree like living threads.

Then the torn bodies themselves started hardening.

Skin darkened.

Flesh stiffened.

Broken limbs twisted as if something inside them was pulling the material apart and rebuilding it.

Cain watched with growing satisfaction.

The corpses were no longer rotting flesh.

They were turning into something that looked like dark red wood.

The bodies hardened.

Their surfaces cracked.

And from those cracks small roots began growing.

Those roots spread through the battlefield and connected with the massive Devouring Blood Tree.

The entire area had become part of the tree now.

Cain laughed softly.

"Finally."

He placed one hand on the trunk beside him.

"Second phase."

The moment those words left his mouth, the Devouring Blood Tree exploded with power.

A massive shockwave erupted outward from the trunk.

BOOOOOOM.

The air shattered like glass.

The ground trembled violently as a crimson wave spread across the entire battlefield.

The tree’s bark hardened completely into dark red wood that looked stronger than iron. Its branches grew longer. The tentacles became thicker and moved faster.

The shockwave continued traveling outward through the Nightmare Realm like a roaring storm.

Mountains cracked.

Black clouds scattered.

Even the distant forests trembled under the power of the tree’s awakening.

Far away from the battlefield, several powerful beings felt that wave at the same time.

...

In a distant canyon filled with furious monsters, a massive ape wearing black armor moved through the battlefield with wild laughter.

The ape warrior was enormous.

His muscles bulged beneath his dark armor while a long spear spun effortlessly in his hands.

Around him dozens of beast creatures roared with anger as they tried to surround him.

One monster lunged forward with claws extended.

The ape jumped backward and laughed loudly.

"Too slow!"

Another creature tried attacking from behind.

The ape twisted his body and struck it across the face with the shaft of his spear.

"Come on!" he shouted with excitement. "Fight harder!"

He moved through the battlefield like he was dancing.

Each step avoided claws.

Each spin of the spear knocked enemies aside.

He clearly enjoyed the chaos.

But then suddenly...

The ape stopped.

His laughter faded.

He slowly turned his head toward the distant horizon.

His eyes narrowed.

"What was that...?"

The shockwave from the Devouring Blood Tree passed through the canyon at that moment.

The ground trembled lightly.

The beasts around him roared in confusion.

One monster tried attacking while the ape was distracted.

The ape reacted instantly.

Without even looking he drove his spear straight through the creature’s skull.

The beast collapsed.

The ape pulled his weapon free and stared toward the far distance again.

His voice became serious.

"Something interesting just happened."

...

Elsewhere in the Nightmare Realm, a gigantic elephant warrior marched through a battlefield surrounded by his army.

The elephant stood taller than most giants. Heavy armor covered his massive body while a huge war hammer rested across his shoulder.

Behind him marched hundreds of warriors from different races.

They fought against swarms of twisted nightmare creatures.

The elephant moved steadily at the front.

"Hold the line!" he shouted in a deep voice.

His soldiers roared as they fought beside him.

Blades clashed.

Magic exploded.

Monsters fell beneath the crushing power of the elephant’s hammer.

Yet the horde continued advancing.

The elephant swung his hammer again, smashing a monster into the ground.

Then suddenly...

He stopped.

His large ears twitched.

His trunk lifted slightly as he looked toward the horizon.

The shockwave from the Devouring Blood Tree rolled across the land.

The ground trembled beneath his feet.

Several of his soldiers stumbled.

One warrior was struck by a nightmare beast during the moment of confusion.

The elephant’s eyes sharpened instantly.

"Stay focused!" he roared.

He crushed the attacking beast with one swing of his hammer.

Then he looked toward the distant sky again.

"That energy..."

For a moment he stood there thinking.

Then he shook his head and raised his hammer once more.

"Keep moving!" he commanded.

The battle continued.

...

Back at the Devouring Blood Tree, the battlefield had become quiet.

There were no more screams.

No more fleeing warriors.

Only the massive tree remained, towering above a land that had become part of its roots.

Cain stood on the branch and looked at the transformed forest of crimson wood spreading across the battlefield.

The Devouring Blood Tree pulsed slowly behind him.

Its second phase had begun.

Cain stretched his arms slightly and let out a relaxed breath.

Then he smiled.

"Alright."

He turned away from the battlefield and looked toward the dark sky of the Nightmare Realm.

"Time to go back to my wives."