The bony wings on Ian's back couldn't be described at all as something beautiful. It's even right to say that it looks hideous. Bony spurs protruded, uneven bumps, and miniature cracks on its edges.
In his long life, Grand Elder saw many wings from different races. For instance, a few vampires awakened wings made of blood, those four-winged dark feather demons, and even wings made of pure energy. However, those were the rare times that he saw something that looked ugly.
The Grand Elder took a deep breath. 'It looks more like dinosaur wings.'
Just like that, Ian tried to flap his wings, and slowly it began to follow his will, though it made him feel really awkward at first. He quickly hurled himself into the sky as he unstably flew in different directions like a tipsy driver. Thankfully, as it was literally a part of his body. Just like how one can naturally clench their fist, it feels like the same for Ian. In just a few minutes, he finally managed to get the hang of it, and he flew in the air like a seasoned driver this time.
'So this is what it's like to fly.' It was a novel feeling for Ian.
Who doesn't have the dream of flying? As a fan of animations and films, it was every man's dream to fucking fly with their own body!
The Grand Elder also took off and appeared behind Ian. Unlike Ian, the Grand Elder could fly without wings. His body is free from the restraints of gravity.
A hundred meters. Two hundred meters.
The Grand Elder followed Ian's pace. Ian had an expressionless face. 'Damn this is so slow... I need to upgrade this shit and make it look convetionally cooler.'
For him, the bony white designs look badass and cool. Yet, when he saw the Grand Elder's face, he knew that he had a different opinion. Ian couldn't blame himself as he had a heavy taste in most things.
'Nah, why would I change its design just for validation? Since I like it. It's not their business.'
A few minutes passed, and Ian and the Grand Elder finally reached the floating island. The gust of wind around was enough to lift a sturdy three-story building. If not for their strength, they would have already blown away helplessly.
'Can my wings endure this?'
Ian felt his wings shudder due to the wind resistance. By far, it was his weakest body part. He knew that the reason was that he had only spent a few hundred biomass to make it.
"This is the Core Ring. What is your first impression?"
The Grand Elder opened his mouth as he landed beside Ian on the ground.
Just as they landed, he could feel several powerful presences locked on them. His face turned serious. He couldn't afford to be careless now. He must ensure Ian's safety.
Ian was right. The Grand Elder indeed has motives. But it wasn't a devious scheme as he thinks. The elder just wants Ian to be bound with the Blood Empire and really have a sense of responsibility for it. He saw Ian's strength and potential. The Grand Elder had witnessed far more powerful beings than himself outside the Curtained Imperium. Enough to instill a sense of despair, even with his current ceiling-level strength.
Luckily, he had his own reliance. An ancient technique he unearthed on one of the Secret Realms was as dangerous as the God of War Secret Realm. A technique to convert the prosperity of an entire empire to one's own strength!
The Grand Elder secretly uses this technique on the Blood Empire. Now, the more prosperous the empire, the stronger its people become, the stronger he becomes! Conversely, the destruction of the empire would be akin to the severance of his path.
With him alone and the Vampire Council, he couldn't see the rise of the empire. There are many powerhouses as strong as him at the top of the food chain in the Curtained Imperium. He doesn't even dare to think what would happen if those powerful beings outside of the Imperium invaded. Fortunately, thousands of years had passed, yet those beings remained unmoved, showing no signs of interest.
The weakest of those beings could topple an entire planet. A power that even the SSS-rank hunter doesn't possess. In terms of battle power, the Grand Elder knew that he could erase multiple islands on Earth at most. As for Ian, the Grand Elder wasn't quite sure, but he speculates that Ian had enough power to destroy the US and China outside single-handedly if he went all out.
As for the Elders of the Council? Each one had the power to destroy a city, with the strongest capable of destroying a small island.
'This is it!' Compared to the Grand Elder's worries, Ian felt nothing but excitement as those monstrous presences locked on them. 'Hahaha! I could finally improve again!'
"Are you perhaps a battle-maniac?" The Grand Elder, who saw Ian's shit-eating grin, didn't know what to say.
"..."
Ian's smile froze. He was caught red-handed. "Elder, it's not quite what you think it is." His tone was uncertain.
The Grand Elder just smiled. "Sure sure sure..."
'Damned old fog!'
"So what do we do now? It seems the beings here aren't friendly to visitors." Ian combed his hair with his fingers to a slick back style. It further emphasized his angular face. His cheeks were bony, well-developed ramus, and just the right balance of jawline. Coupled with his red irises, it gave him a different kind of aesthetic.
"Nothing because they're here."
The Grand Elder readied himself. With his clenched fist, vibrations shook the very air itself. The vibrations, slowly but surely, began to exert a terrifying pressure that produced tiny cracks in the void.
'Hmmmm?'
Ian distanced himself a bit from the vibrations. If not for his extremely compressed cells, his internal organs would have suffered.
'As expected of the king. He's physique is really extraordinary.' The Grand Elder's eyes narrowed. If it were those Elders from the Council, the slightest contact with his vibrations would result in heavy internal bleeding, possibly even put them in a near-death state.
The only reason he unleashed it, even when Ian was near him, was because Ian was far stronger than him.
Suddenly, multiple shadows of behemoth towered over Ian and the Grand Elder.
Not far, eight hundred meters beasts; one that looks like a lion but with purple stripes on its body and grayish fur with a snake tail, another with the shape of a bear surrounded with flashes of blue lightning and hail, a humanoid ant enveloped with crimson flames, and many others.