570
Chapter 570
Castro snapped to his senses when he felt the cold touch of the dagger against his neck.
'If I'm not careful, I'll die here.'
In a normal battlefield situation, commanders wouldn't be killed recklessly. Usually, the customary practice would be to take them prisoner and demand ransom.
But this wasn't such a situation. Prince Leo had volunteered as successor, and with the Rom Empire collapsing, Castro's family, House Pollock, was in no position to exert much influence.
Moreover, because Castro's alliance with the dark mages and summoning of monsters and beasts had been clearly exposed, the Allied Forces had ample justification to kill him.
Essentially, if this attacker cut his throat now, it would be tantamount to ending the war itself.
Growing desperate, Castro said to Boris:
"Are you from Draker? The Black Corps ? How about we talk for a moment? I don't know what the Black Corp’s terms are, but if you spare me, I promise twice the wealth and honor he offers."
In his desperate situation, smooth talk came naturally.
Of course, Boris wasn't swayed by Castro's words at all.
He pressed the dagger closer to Castro's neck and spoke:
"Where is the Red King? We all know you're just a puppet."
Castro's face contorted momentarily as he shouted at Boris's words:
"I am the commander of this castle!"
"Fine, I understand. So where are the Red King and the Dracula Knights, Commander?"
The intelligence unit personnel had been searching for traces of the Dracula Knights inside Jupiter Castle, but they had already disappeared.
Castro gritted his molars and said to Boris.
"...They left Jupiter Castle long ago. Honor-less country bumpkins! Not worthy of being called knights...!"
Watching Castro shout in excitement, Boris realized he wasn't lying.
'So the Red King and Dracula Knights are elsewhere? Could they be planning to attack the Allied Forces from behind...?'
Boris stopped at this uncertain speculation. Anyway, having confirmed the Red King wasn't in Jupiter Castle, he decided to open the main gate first.
If the Allied Forces occupied Jupiter Castle, the enemy's headquarters, the Red King and Dracula Knights outside would be isolated. Whatever they were plotting, this was the best course of action Boris could take.
Still holding Castro, he took out a crystal ball and ordered his subordinates:
"We've secured Castro Pollock. Proceed with assassination of key personnel and securing the castle gates."
Hearing Boris's instructions, Castro trembled with rage.
"You damn bastards..."
But then it happened.
"KUHUCK!"
Castro, being held by Boris, began to convulse and seizure.
'What?'
At first, Boris thought Castro was faking it.
But soon he noticed the ominous energy emanating from him.
Boris released Castro and stepped back, raising his aura to strike at his neck immediately.
SWOOOOSH!
Castro's head split and fell to the floor.
But that wasn't the end. Tentacle-like things began to sprout from the cross-section of the severed neck.
SSSSSSS!
The sprouting tentacles elongated and then attached themselves to the severed neck on the floor.
GRRRRRRRR!
Grotesque sounds flowed from Castro's severed head.
Though startled by Castro's sudden transformation into a monster, Boris collected himself and shouted to his team members:
"A dark mage is controlling Castro! Find the one who's hiding!"
Hearing Boris's words, Zion turned and spread his telekinetic power widely.
Then the dark mage with waxy skin, who had been pretending to be dead on the floor, rose and pulled out a dagger engraved with bizarre patterns.
The evil energy flowing from the dagger was controlling Castro, who had transformed into a monster.
GRRRRRRRRR!
Castro, with tentacles growing all over his body, opened his mouth wide and enlarged his body.
Boris drew his sword and cut the tentacles with his aura blade while shouting:
"Adol! We're retreating from here!"
Though they had essentially lost Castro, they had achieved their primary objective, so retreating seemed better.
Adol created an escape route by making a hole in the stone chamber floor.
Seeing this, the dark mage tried to capture the retreating intelligence unit by controlling Castro.
"Catch them!"
Following that command, Castro's two arms elongated to wrap around Boris's body.
Then Luther, who had been fighting the dark mages, leaped forward and cut off Castro's arms with his sword.
SWOOOOSH!
Luther launched an aura-infused sword strike while simultaneously raising flames with magic.
WHOOOOSH!
The suddenly rising flames blocked the dark mages' vision.
During that gap, the intelligence unit entered the escape route.
While helping the team members escape, Luther called out to Boris who was still guarding the rear:
"Commander Boris! Come quickly!"
But Boris was staring at something with a surprised expression.
'What's that?'
Castro's severed tentacles wriggled and crawled toward the black crate that had fallen to the floor.
The power flowing from Emperor Nero's ominous legacy was drawing in the tentacles.
Responding to that call, the tentacles burrowed into the cracks of the crate.
DUDUDUDUD!
A moment later, the crate began to shake violently.
Then suddenly something exploded out from inside, and Boris, postponing his escape, focused his senses to assess the situation.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The dark mage who had been controlling Castro from behind was also shocked when the entity inside the crate, which had absorbed the tentacles, broke its seal and emerged without any separate action being taken.
As both the dark mage and Boris watched tensely, what was inside the crate formed a cocoon-like shape and extended tentacles in all directions.
Boris's face hardened at the sight.
'It looks similar to that flesh mass we saw in Jiemens' Labyrinth?'
It wasn't exactly the same, but it was equally ominous.
The tentacles extending from the black cocoon wrapped around not only Castro-turned-monster but also the dark mages.
"Damn it all!"
Even the dark mage seemed not to have expected something like this inside the crate, as he frantically tried to control it by casting spells.
But the black cocoon wouldn't listen at all, instead extending its tentacles to draw in and devour the corpses of the dead dark mages.
Then it swallowed Castro, who had become a tentacle monster, in one gulp.
KURURURUK!
Strange reactions occurred in the black cocoon after swallowing Castro.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Vibrations like a giant heartbeat began to pulse from the cocoon.
The dark mage, entangled in tentacles, reached out toward Boris who was watching this.
"S-save me!"
Boris snapped to his senses and shouted at the dark mage:
"What is that monster? Why did Castro suddenly transform?!"
The dark mage, trembling at the creepy sensation of tentacles digging into his body, shouted:
"S-seeds of chaos! What was planted in Castro were seeds of chaos! But this monster... Emperor Nero's legacy... never expected...!"
In an instant, the dark mage's face shriveled like a mummy. The tentacles wrapped around his body undulated as if absorbing his vital fluids.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The cocoon extended its tentacles toward Boris again.
Seeing this, Boris gritted his molars, took out a magical bomb from his pocket, and threw it at the cocoon.
"Damned monster!"
As he threw the bomb, he jumped into the escape route on the floor.
Just as Adol closed the entrance to the escape route, a massive explosion was heard from above.
KWAKWAKWAKWABOOM!
Boris, the last to come down, took out a crystal ball and urgently said to his subordinates:
"Alert all team members! Leave the castle immediately! Quickly!"
* * *
Zeke spoke to the Red King:
"Red King, why do I sense dragon energy from you?"
At his words, the Red King remained motionless, holding his axe.
As the Red King just glared at him without moving, Zeke took one step closer.
"Not planning to speak?"
Zeke's pupils changed to dragon eyes as dragon energy burst from his body.
When the dragon power fluctuated, the ravine known as the dragon's grave responded.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
A gale arose in the ravine as fog enveloped Zeke and the Red King.
The Dracula Knights rushed in to protect the Red King, but the fog separated them from him.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Within the swirling foggy gale, Zeke and the Red King faced each other alone.
Zeke said to the Red King.
"Those armaments you're wearing. They're all made from dragon bones."
Even a single regular Hersion was such a precious artifact that its value could buy an entire castle of a small territory.
If the Hersion itself was made from dragon bones, its value would be incalculable.
Hearing Zeke's words, the Red King raised his axe again.
WOOOONG!
Red energy gathered on the Red King's axe once more.
CRACKLE!
Threatening red lightning spread in all directions, but seeing this, Zeke shook his head.
"No matter how I look at you, I don't sense the power of a Black Knight from you."
Watching the red lightning raised by the Red King, Zeke continued:
"If my assumption is correct... you are not the real Red King."
As if resisting Zeke's words, the Red King kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
CRACKLE!
Red lightning pierced through the foggy gale toward Zeke.
Zeke swung Leviathan to neutralize the lightning flying toward him.
KWAAAAANG!
Zeke's sword pressure pushed back not only the lightning but also the airborne Red King.
The Red King tried to launch another fierce attack with his axe, but Zeke was no longer on the ground.
"Looking for me?"
Zeke, appearing behind the Red King, swung his sword at him.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!
The powerful sword strike hit the Red King's back precisely.
KWAKWABOOM!
Unable to withstand the powerful impact, the Red King crashed to the ground.
KUGUGUGU!
Within the foggy gale, the Red King barely managed to rise and reached out toward his distant axe.
The axe moved on its own, returning to the Red King's grasp.
As he grabbed his weapon again and raised his power, this time a red light flowed from the Hersion he was wearing.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Geometric patterns appeared on the Hersion's surface, and energy gathered in the axe the Red King was holding.
WOOOONG!
The Red King swung the axe, delivering a powerful strike toward the airborne Zeke.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The red energy transformed into a dragon-like shape and charged at Zeke as if to devour him.
Seeing this, Zeke took the dragon-slaying stance with Leviathan.
WOOOONG!
As he activated the Black Sword Technique: Black Dragon Water strike, a black dragon sprang from his sword and charged toward the red dragon created by the Red King.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The red and black dragons met in midair, biting at each other.
But the clash was brief the red dragon created by the Red King was helplessly devoured while entangled by Zeke's black dragon.
KAAAAAAA!
The black dragon, having swallowed the red dragon and grown larger, charged toward the axe-wielding Red King.
The red energy from the Red King's Hersion surged even stronger.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
As the red energies gathered to form a barrier, the black dragon charged toward it.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
As the black dragon and the barrier collided, powerful shockwaves spread in all directions.
Even the ravine's power that controlled dragon energy couldn't overcome the black dragon's force, weakening the gale.
CRAAACK!
Under that tremendous power, cracks gradually appeared in the red barrier blocking the black dragon.
The Red King tried to endure with his axe, but it was futile.
Soon after, the barrier completely shattered.
KWADUDUDUDUDUDUK!
The black dragon violently bit and wrapped around the Red King's body.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The place where the Red King had been was completely devastated, engulfed in a black whirlwind.
Zeke watched the black whirlwind enveloping the Red King while floating in the air.
When the storm subsided, Zeke slowly descended and stood upright on the ground.
The fog that had gathered around had also dissipated.
As the obstructing fog cleared, the Dracula Knights appeared.
They raised their shields and tried to charge at Zeke.
Seeing them, Zeke used dragon speech toward the Dracula Knights.
"Bind."
The dragon speech, mixed with Soul technique energy, seized the bodies of the Dracula Knights.
The Dracula Knights couldn't move, as if their feet were stuck to the ground.
When the whirlwind completely subsided, Zeke approached the Red King who had fallen in the middle of the devastated ravine.
The Red King was barely holding on with his axe.
The Hersion that had protected his body was torn to shreds, its parts scattered on the ground.
"Kugh."
As the Red King tried to rise, the helmet concealing his face shattered and fell to the ground.
At the same time, red hair that had been tied inside the helmet came loose and flowed down.
Through the red hair, an intelligent-looking woman raised her head and glared at Zeke.
Zeke nodded at her.
"As I thought. You are not the Red King."
He continued slowly, looking at the fake Red King.
"Why did you involve yourself into this war?, Vlad II. Bathory Basarab."