538
Chapter 538
WOOOONG!
Carmilla's ancient blood magic interfered with the Lich's power, changing the targets of skeletons and zombies.
This caused the skeletons and zombies to change direction while marching toward the fortress and attack the army of death instead.
CRACK!
As Carmilla's blood magic grew stronger, more skeletons turned crimson.
The Liches, sensing something strange, searched their surroundings and discovered Carmilla floating in the air.
KAAAAK-
The Liches led their Wraiths across the sky toward Carmilla.
Carmilla was exposed and defenseless while casting blood magic.
The Liches immediately sent Wraiths to attack Carmilla upon confirming this.
Just as the Wraiths charged at Carmilla with wailing screams, something suddenly shot out in the air.
SWOOSH!
It was Bacchus riding a ghost horse. He wielded Royal Vampire Garin's dagger and swung it at the Wraiths.
KIAAAK!
Although the Royal Vampire's power in the dagger had transferred to Carmilla, the dagger itself was a rare artifact that could damage spiritual beings like Wraiths.
After instantly dispatching the Wraith, Bacchus charged toward the Liches.
SWISH!
Bacchus's eyes turned into gleaming jewel eyes as vampire blood magic arose and enveloped the dagger.
Though Bacchus could no longer use Aura after awakening his power and becoming a true vampire, he could recreate dragon-slaying techniques using blood magic.
He swung the dagger imbued with blood magic toward the Liches.
Dragon Slaying Secret Technique
Blood Sword Technique
Blood Sky
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Fierce bloody energy erupted from the sword and covered the entire sky.
The bloody waves created by blood magic spread and enveloped the Liches.
KAAAAK!
Unlike regular magic, blood magic had strong subordination and high density as it used the owner's blood as a medium.
The Liches exposed to Bacchus's Blood Sky quickly lost their negative magic as they were enveloped by his blood magic.
TSSS-
It was natural that Liches, being half spiritual beings, would struggle to maintain their form after losing magic.
Bacchus rode his ghost horse and swung his dagger at the Liches who were now just bare bones.
CRACK!
The Liches, weakened from having their magic drained, shattered into pieces when hit by the sword strike, their remains scattering in the wind.
Though they could rise again by recharging magic in their Life Vessel, repeatedly reviving would eventually take its toll.
Since Life Vessels weren't eternally preservable, there was a risk of them breaking while recharging magic in a weakened state.
While this wouldn't normally be concerning, the situation was different now. The opponent's abilities were sufficiently threatening.
"I'll make you disappear again each time you revive."
With these firm words, he guarded Carmilla's side to prevent other enemies from approaching while she controlled the undead with blood magic.
Shortly after Bacchus appeared, Vampire Knight Bishop led the Red Knights in a charge against the undead legion's flank.
THUD! THUD!
Bishop and the Red Knights, who were revived as vampires from being Abyss's test subjects, had lost their ability to express memories and emotions from when they were human due to experimental side effects, but they remembered one thing clearly.
The fact that Abyss had made them test subjects.
The Red Knights charged toward the undead legion with anger born from remembering this fact.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Combining vampire strength with blood magic, the Red Knights could exert power far beyond humans.
Undead shattered with each swing of their swords.
CRACK!
Ghost horses trampled undead under their hooves while emitting blue eye-light, and the Red Knights riding them swung blood magic-infused sword energy, breaking enemy formations.
Simultaneously, Vampire Queen Carmilla controlled approaching undead legions with blood magic to launch counterattacks, causing formations to collapse helplessly.
As both the Liches and undead legion crumbled, even Abyss's black mages leading them couldn't hold on any longer.
"Retreat, retreat!"
The dark mages leading the undead legion had no choice but to turn back and retreat to their camp.
Carmilla, watching from the air, withdrew her blood magic and transmitted her will to her subordinates.
—Focus on defending the fortress instead of pursuing them.
Though they stopped the advancing undead legion, they lacked the troops to push into their camp.
Carmilla descended from the air and approached the Prince and Daria on the fortress.
The Prince's face flushed momentarily upon directly facing the Vampire Queen with gleaming jewel eyes and her alluring yet elegant beauty.
But the Prince quickly composed himself and spoke to Carmilla.
"I am the Commander-in-Chief of this fortress. I extend my gratitude to all of you for your help."
Carmilla gracefully bowed and spoke.
"It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness. But your gratitude should go to Lord Zeke. He wished for this fortress to be protected."
Leo was surprised to hear that the vampires had come at Zeke Draker's request once again.
'Knight of Salvation... just how far does his influence reach?.'
Bacchus, standing beside Carmilla, spoke to the Prince.
"Thermo Fortress is the most important gateway into the Empire and must not fall. The Continental Alliance will soon attack Jupiter, so we must defend this place until then."
Daria asked with a surprised expression.
"The Continental Alliance is attacking Jupiter? Is the Knight of Salvation leading this as well?"
Bacchus shook his head at Daria's question.
"Lord Zeke has been assigned another important mission. Regardless, we must defend this fortress until the Continental Alliance captures Jupiter."
Leo nodded with a resolute expression.
"As Commander-in-Chief, I will defend this place even at the cost of my life."
Though many reinforcements came thanks to Zeke, problems still remained.
The walls were crumbling everywhere, and the soldiers were already exhausted.
Leo gritted his teeth seeing this desperate situation. He couldn't waste this chance Zeke had given them.
Just then, as Leo was looking for ways to reorganize their forces.
CRASH!
Walls of bone appeared outside the broken walls, and solid ice filled the broken spaces.
Simultaneously, the fallen undead rose again and formed ranks in front of the wall as if guarding it.
Leo stepped back in surprise at these sudden events.
Carmilla gestured reassuringly.
"Do not worry. This too is all Lord Zeke's arrangement."
A massive shadow appeared in the sky.
Richmond and Bane were mounted on top of Tyrant, who took the form of a massive dragon.
Not just them, but the Barbarian unit led by King Fist, the Three-Eyed clan, and Naga healers from the Southern Continent arrived at Thermo Fortress.
Zeke had ordered his subordinates who couldn't directly participate in the Continental Alliance to defend Thermo Fortress.
The despairing Thermo Fortress finally found hope upon seeing the approaching reinforcements.
* * *
—The fortress defense has reached a relatively stable state.
Zeke nodded as he heard Bacchus's report through the security crystal.
"Were there any traces of high-ranking demons in the Death Legion?"
—So far, no traces of demons have been found except for the black mages.
Zeke showed a surprised expression at Bacchus's words.
'No demons attacking such an important strategic point as Thermo Fortress. Something's strange.'
Could it be that they decided not to use high-ranking demons since they judged the Death Legion alone sufficient to occupy it, given only Imperial troops were present?
Then something occurred to Zeke.
'The Demon Realm Princesses.'
Abyss summoned Elizabeth and Yekaterina, Demon Realm Princesses, to attack Mycenae.
Both princesses were highest-ranking demons, so the karma required for summoning them must have been substantial.
'Perhaps Abyss no longer has the capacity to summon high-ranking demons.'
Blood Stones were essential for summoning demons.
Knowing this, Zeke persistently sought out and destroyed Abyss's Blood Stone factories to disrupt production.
There was a limit to using already-made Blood Stones, so once they used up what they had, summoning more demons would clearly become difficult.
Zeke spoke to Bacchus through the security crystal.
"Strengthen security and guard the fortress as high-ranking demons could appear anytime, even if not now. If high-ranking demons appear, contact Mycenae immediately."
—Understood, my lord.
He turned off the security crystal and fell into thought.
'In this situation, it's highly likely all summoned demons are concentrated in the Labyrinth of Jiemens, Abyss's headquarters.'
He speculated that Abyss's priests would mobilize all resources to protect headquarters and prepare the summoning ritual for the Demon King's descent.
Zeke slowly rose from his desk.
'We must strike them now. We don't know what the priests might do if we give them time.'
Not only Abyss, but if Arthur Draker who faked his death really took the Black Star, his motives needed to be uncovered.
'Though it seems unlikely, if Abyss and Arthur Draker join hands...'
The combination of Grand Master and Tyrant Arthur Draker who absorbed the Black Star with Abyss would be the worst possible situation.
Zeke shook his head.
He couldn't find any reason why Arthur Draker would join hands with Abyss in the current situation.
Then something crossed Zeke's mind.
'What if Arthur Draker's goal is the Demon King's power...?'
Just as Ramon Jiemens tried to devour the Demon King's power using Evil God Ajitahaka's authority, he wondered if Arthur Draker might also be trying to claim the Demon King's power.
The Demon King's power residing in the body of a Grand Master possessing an Elder Dragon's heart.
Perhaps an even worse situation than when the Demon King descended into Jiemens Apollion's body could unfold.
But even if this was possible, it was hard to find a reason why Arthur Draker would covet the Demon King's power.
As head of the Draker family, he had power and authority no different from a continental king, so he had no need to take such risks.
'Or was there a need I'm unaware of? Perhaps to counter some other greater power?'
Various thoughts continued to chain together in Zeke's mind.
BANG! BANG!
Rough knocking at the door broke his train of thought.
The door burst open and Alicia entered the office holding a bottle and glass of liquor.
"Zeke Draker! What are you doing cooped up in here so unlike yourself?!"
She plopped down in the office chair without invitation and poured hard liquor into the glass.
"Meeting after so long, we can't say we've properly caught up without enjoying a proper feast!"
Though she looked like nothing more than a delicate beauty, her speech was exactly that of a rough northern knight.
Zeke smiled seeing Alicia like this and sat across from her.
He took the glass she poured, clinked glasses, and downed the hard liquor in one shot, northern style.
Seeing this, Alicia nodded with satisfaction.
"As expected of Zeke Draker! Excellent."
She too downed her liquor in one shot and refilled the glasses.
With his immortal body, Zeke never got drunk no matter how much he drank.
Though Alicia's face was flushed red, her eyes remained clear, suggesting she wasn't very drunk either.
She emptied another glass of liquor at once, put down her glass, and spoke to Zeke.
"Zeke Draker."
She lowered her voice and spoke to him.
"What do you think of me?"
Zeke didn't easily understand the meaning of Alicia's words.
"What do I think of you? What do you mean, Grand Duke?"
Instead of answering, Alicia stood up.
Grasping the Wolf Fang Sword at her side, she spoke to Zeke.
"I'm asking how you assess my capabilities as a knight."
By now, Alicia's drunkenness had long since cleared.
Her eyes flashed with a burning competitive spirit that was almost frightening.
Looking at Alicia's piercingly bright blue eyes, Zeke spoke.
"If you want my honest opinion, I'll tell you."
A cold voice flowed from his lips.
"It's a complete mess."