The irony was that it had worked. Lady Eve’s sword wasn’t very wide in the first place. The issue was that the heat had caused far more damage than the original wound and was still wreaking havoc even to this point.

Leonidas was in such pain that he couldn’t even pause to think of who could possibly be talking to him right now. His vision was nothing but flashing lights as though his brain was being overloaded.

‘Here’s the deal, kid. Compared to my other choices, you’re pretty pathetic. But, I’m what you would call a shit disturber. Watching the world burn is a habit of mine, so I’m going to give you a helping hand.

‘In exchange, I need your soul. How about it?’

Leonidas somehow managed to hear these words clearly. The moment he heard the last part, a fierce rejection came from the depths of his heart.

“No.”

Saying the word made Leonidas feel as though he had swallowed a bag of needles. Even just a single syllable made his body feel like it was being torn to shreds by them. But, the resonance was loud and clear.

The spirit clicked his tongue. He was just making a joke, did this bastard really have to refuse so seriously? How was he supposed to retreat now without making it seem like he was begging for this trash’s services?

It was beneath his status to even talk to such a brat, how had he gotten himself into this situation?

‘Forget it, this little bastard is actually so ungrateful. He really needs to be taught a lesson. Pride is something only the strong have the right to have. Pride in the weak is a death sentence. I didn’t want your soul before, what the hell could such a weak soul do for me? But I almost want to snatch it now just for the hell of it.’

The spirit continued to shake its head as Leonidas was quite literally dying.

Looking off into the distance, the spirit began to wonder if it was even worth it, sighing.

How long had it been since then? How many years had he spent looking for someone? Maybe a dumb fool who was willing to stick a boiling hot knife through his heart was exactly the kind of maniac he needed.

The spirit shook his head.

‘The hearts of two low-level Knights and the blood of a half-breed… I guess this is enough to heal someone as weak as you…’

The spirit waved his hand and a light descended upon Leonidas’ body.

Blood Sacrifice Shrines had a bad reputation, and it was often warranted, but as far as the spirit was concerned, the medium wasn’t at fault. Much like wells, altars were just a place of equivalent exchange and the spirit would argue it was even more equal.

The value of a coin could fluctuate, but the value of blood and life would never.

The cost of healing Leonidas was simple. It was a measurement of his bodily talent and his strength. The more talented a person was, the more valuable their blood, and the more expensive it would be to heal them. Likewise, the stronger a person, the more it would cost to heal them, even if the injury was the exact same.

Whether it was Jacque or Yako, both were far stronger than Leonidas. In addition, Leonidas’ Bloodline Potential was hindered by its poor synergy. However, he had still managed to awaken two talents, making his base potential greater than both.

Still, the difference in strength was more than enough to outweigh this. Even in his Berserk State, Leonidas was no match for just one of them, let alone two.

‘Oh? Two hearts?’ The spirit blinked as though he was pleasantly surprised. ‘Not just two, it seems like there’s a branch for a third and potentially fourth…? But his chest cavity was too small to accommodate them, so its growth was stunted. By the time he grew up, it was too late to properly correct.’

The spirit shook his head. ‘This is why you don’t randomly fuse Bloodlines, to think this body would be able to Awaken two such heavily sought-after Giant Race talents... What his mother was doing fucking a Lower Ogre is beyond me… Forget it, I guess I’ll fix this too.’

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Leonidas shot up.

The sound of something ripping to his back caught his attention. When he looked, he realized that the blood that had coated his back had dried to the point it had him completely stuck to the altar. What remained of his tunic tore under his forceful movement.

‘Huh?’

Leonidas was shocked. He had never made such a fast movement in his life. Even disregarding that, how was he even sitting up right now? Where was the pain?

At that moment, Leonidas’ head suddenly snapped in a certain direction. For the first time, he laid eyes on the spirit.

His pupils constricted, his bloodline running cold once again. He recognized the man immediately, how could he not? This was most definitely the same God from the statue. Even now, the spirit’s long, black tail waved about, a smirk covering his face.

However, as time passed, the spirit’s smirk turned into a frown.

‘What the hell is wrong with this kid? Shouldn’t he be shocked or at least reverential? What the hell is with those dead eyes?’

The spirit realized that Leonidas would be no fun at all.

“Did you… take my soul?” Leonidas’ first words almost made the spirit stumble out of the air.

‘Forget the damned soul, brat. Fuck! I finally do a good deed after so many centuries and the person can’t even fucking appreciate it!’

Leonidas’ brow furrowed. A good deed? Was that a joke? Even Lady Eve, who he thought he could trust for the simple fact she had a use for him, still ended up almost killing him. Who did things out of the goodwill of their hearts?

The answer was no one. And definitely not someone who could build a statue of themselves even more grandiose than a God’s.

Seeing Leonidas’ frown, the spirit almost flipped.

Fine, it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. In fact, saving Leonidas now would probably thrust him into a world of danger he couldn’t even fathom currently.

However, after millennia of sifting through the most talented Half-Beasts in the entire world, only to be disappointed by the character one after another, maybe he just finally grew tired of it.

Those brats were all so arrogant when they couldn’t even shine his shoes back when he was their age. Just thinking about it annoyed him to no end.

Leonidas took a deep breath. He realized at this point that he was being ridiculous. This was the Avatar of a God. If it took his soul, there was nothing he could do.

Didn’t he say that he would do anything to survive? Maybe he should accept even if it meant giving up his soul. One day, when he grew strong enough… he would just have to snatch it back.

Leonidas felt another slap to the back of his head, something he really didn’t know how to react to. All the hits he had ever received in his life had been with malicious intent, it almost made him want to lash out in fury immediately. However, the moment he thought this and his blood surged, the sounds of his beating heart forced him to freeze.

Leonidas was stunned, reaching his hand to his chest.

‘Ah, so you finally notice what I’ve done for you. I was surprised that such a low-tier bloodline synergy could manifest such a talent. But, the world of Blood has always been miraculous.’

However, rather than receiving the praise he thought he would, the spirit watched as Leonidas paled considerably.

At that moment, Leonidas felt his blood vessels threaten to shear apart. A surge of pain forced him to quickly cool his rage as quickly as possible. If he didn’t slow his heart rate down, his hearts would burst again just like they did in his childhood.

“My… body can’t handle more than one heart at a time…” Leonidas said slowly, trying to cool himself down.

The spirit was speechless. He had thought that he was already holding back by reforming all four of Leonidas’ hearts and sealing one of them away, come to find out this poor fool couldn’t even handle two. Is this what they call lifting a stone, just to drop it on your own foot?

Shaking his head, the spirit waved his hand again. This time, all but one of Leonidas’ hearts had been sealed.

The pressure on him dropped instantly. He finally felt that he could breathe again.

Leonidas took deep breaths, finally able to calm himself.

‘You really are too useless… What did I get myself into… And here I thought I found a gem. Your body is its own systemic problem. You have one of the most sought-after talents of the Giant Race, maybe the most sought after, yet you don’t have their hardy flesh.’

The spirit felt a headache coming on. As for Leonidas, he didn’t say a word and simply listened. He was quite aware of how useless he was.

However, inwardly, he was stunned. His heart issue was fixed just like that? No surgery? Wait, how had he suddenly gained four hearts to begin with? Let alone the fact he didn’t know he had more than two, one of them was nothing but a clump of dead cells that was constantly ruining his health.

‘Forget it, I’ve already helped you. They can already sense that shred of Karma. Whether you and I want to or not, we’re attached at this point.’

Leonidas froze. What was that supposed to mean? Karma? Attached? They can sense what? And who was sensing, exactly?

As Leonidas expected, nothing came for free in this world. In a lot of ways, the spirit originally not intending to save him was an act of kindness. Letting him bleed out on a table was likely a far easier death than he might experience in the future. It might sound ridiculous, but this was the hard truth.

Now, due to this act of ‘kindness’, Leonidas no longer had a choice. Ironically, in one way or another, he truly had sold his soul.

‘Alright, brat. I might as well explain some things to you.

‘This place isn’t an Abandoned Shrine. It is, first and foremost, a hideout… a meeting place of Brothers.

‘This Brotherhood… We are known as the Fallen Apostles.’