[Avenge your fallen comrade. Use whatever skills in your arsenal to take down all the vehicles as quickly as you can.] [Rewards: Quadruple Stat Level Up.] Immediately, the system notification appeared in front of Ace’s eyes. He generated a large, thick, and heavy blood projectile, which he threw at the turret. Jim did the same, and together, they managed to damage the vehicle beyond repair. Meanwhile, Cherry ran to Anya’s aid and rushed her back to the Granian’s ship, following Lord Grim’s instructions. "The three of you must be careful not to just jump in recklessly," Grim warned, but he was quickly silenced as he watched Ace leap eight feet high into the air. Using his enhanced agility, the Blood Bishop landed on the closest vehicle and began ripping it from the top to the inside. While doing so, he noticed another vehicle aiming at him. At the right moment, Ace jumped off the one he was on, letting the energy blast that was meant for him destroy the vehicle behind him while he leaped onto the next. [Translation in Progress.] [Translation Complete: You can now communicate with these species.] "Ever wondered what it feels like to live without having a heartbeat?" Ace questioned with a grin, slowly opening the closed flesh on the position where his mouth was supposed to be. The gesture appeared similar to melted glue and gum as he grinned wider. Suddenly, and without warning, the Mutant’s tongue shot from his mouth and penetrated deep inside the driver’s chest. The creature, unprepared for this, watched in pure horror and agony as its beating heart got pulled from its body...while still being alive. Within a few seconds, the driver died, and Ace jumped into the next vehicle. In the process, the Granians and other Blood Mutants handled the rest of the enemy troops, quickly killing their enemies while advancing deeper into their defense lines. Meanwhile, Anya’s body was placed inside the cylindrical container; her wounds bled greatly but also healed quickly. Those who received her watched in amazement as her body began recuperating, but it was going to be a while before she returned to the battlefield. "Such a wound like that will take a very long time to heal," one of the Granians announced. The one who brought her in, Cherry, returned to battle while the Granians handled Anya. In a few short hours, the Granians had killed many of their enemies but also suffered losses on their side. If it weren’t for Grim, Helda, One Horn, Skyler, and the Humans tagging along, the Granian soldiers knew that the battle would have lasted much longer and had more catastrophic outcomes on their end. "The last of the enemy troops have been killed, Lord Grim," a report was made after the screams of war died down. The battlefield, buzzing with enraged fighters, fell silent. Dead bodies, pools of blood, damaged vehicles, stained weaponry, and shattered pieces of armor remained. Those that were reusable were salvaged by the Granians who found something resourceful to do with them. Those that weren’t were left to rot with the bodies of those who once wore them. As for the Blood Mutants, with the exception of Anya, the war was another opportunity they used to increase their blood strength and fighting skills. [Quadruple Stat Level Up.] [Please select the stat you would like to Level Up.] ’Judging by the condition we are in, the best decision I can go with is increasing my health points.’ Ace calculated and decided to increase his health points. ’If I can make them high enough, then that will give me enough breathing room on the battlefield.’ [Health: 250 >>>> 254] The level-up may have seemed little, but to Ace, it was a decent start for him in case he ever found himself in a life-ending spot. Even the least of points could be useful one day if he ever found himself in a life-and-death situation. "The battle has come to an end," Lord Grim stood before the Blood Mutants and gave a report. "As we speak, Lord Grania has completed conquering the third planet in this solar system." "That’s good news for us, right?" Cherry asked in anticipation. "That means we can move on to whatever other place you want us to go to, right?" "Not quite," One Horn intervened. "You may not know this, but during the fight, these creatures informed the Ethisians of our presence. Like us, we have colonies with slaves working the planets for us, and if those colonies ever get attacked, a distress signal is sent to us, and we can either decide to defend or attack those that attacked us." "Does this mean we are finally going to war with the Ethisians?" Ace asked, feeling as if he were finally going to fully extend the reason for his growing to the Blood Bishop Rank. In all honesty, he wanted to gauge himself against the Ethisians and their Blood Mutants to see where he stood. "No, it doesn’t work like that," Grim continued. "Two things happen. Either we continue intruding into the enemy’s colonies, or an Intergalactic Council will decide our punishment. If we refuse to adhere to those..." "War will be upon us." "When does this start?" Jim asked. "It already has," One Horn answered. "And Lord Grania’s going to represent us. It is up to him to decide whether we go to war or answer for our ’crimes’." "So it’s either you Granians answer for your crimes or you continue to fight?" Cherry asked, having finally understood the conditions they were subdued to. "Precisely," Grim answered with a grin on his face. The reason for this was simple. So simple that even the Humans, who hadn’t spent any significant amount of time with the Granians, knew what the outcome was going to be. "Lord Grania’s going to opt for war," Jim mumbled. "He’s a stubborn, proud, and relentless leader, so we know that war is going to break out." "Precisely," Lord Grim concluded with the following orders. "The three of you must go and rest immediately. Before you do so, your symbiotes are going to be genetically modified to forcefully increase your individual strength; both in your Human and Blood Mutant forms. Once that is complete, you will rest and wake up to find yourselves preparing for you. We have about a week, according to your Human time, to prepare for it, so be prepared to train like you have never done so before." This update ıs available on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱