Chapter 393: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 12
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 393: The Lightning Did Not Fall From the Sky - 12
Lunken's charge was more than destructive; it was overwhelming. A single step seemed to flip heaven and earth, shaking the very clouds. He ran in a straight line, crashing head-on into the hundreds of armed soldiers.
The Guardians of Thunder, like the weak humans they were, banded together to face him.
They formed a phalanx, linking themselves with alchemy. After a flash of mana, thirty men instantly became the bricks of a single, massive fortress wall. Spears coursing with electricity jutted out from the gaps. It was a phalanx formation passed down from ancient times, now fused with alchemy and revealed to the world.
"Now this is what I'm talking about—!"
Lunken roared with manic laughter and threw his entire being into the crash.
Spears broke. Bodies shattered. Steel cracked.
The boar beastkin's charge was several times more powerful than that of a real boar. Spearheads snapped, and the Guardians' grips, unable to withstand the force, were torn open. The thirty-man phalanx, reinforced by alchemy, was gradually pushed back.
Of course, Lunken was not unscathed. Spearheads were embedded in his body, and his forehead was split open and bleeding from the impact. He was a gruesome sight, caked in blood like a hunted beast.
And yet, he was smiling, as if even the pain was a pleasure.
One of the Guardians of Thunder muttered.
"A-a monster...!"
As if welcoming the word, Lunken grinned, baring his teeth. He fixed his gaze on the Guardian of Thunder who had called him a monster and threw his head far back.
Then, he delivered a headbutt with all his might.
The boar beastkin's headbutt sent a massive shockwave through the phalanx, creating a crack. The fissure spread uncontrollably. As Lunken charged into the gap and thrashed his body, the phalanx shattered, sending men flying in all directions. Getting away with just a broken bone was considered lucky, as the unfortunate Guardians directly in his path had all been killed instantly.
Caked in blood, Lunken roared.
"Yes—! I am a monster—! You're not enough to kill me! More! Is there nothing else—!!"
As Lunken whipped his head around, he spotted a massive shadow approaching him.
It was a vehicle modified from the Juggernauts of Primarchs who had reached the end of their lives. Its sheer size and presence were not something a single individual could hope to face, but Lunken, in his excitement, pawed at the ground.
"Let's—fiiight—!"
Without a second thought, Lunken charged the Juggernaut. The pilot was stunned. It was a mad act, like trying to break a boulder with an egg, but if the enemy wanted to do something crazy, there was no reason to stop him. Though startled, the Guardian gunned the engine, driving the Juggernaut forward even harder.
CRASH. The Elder and the Juggernaut collided. Blood splattered and steel crumpled. In the initial impact, the one pushed back was, naturally, Lunken. Even an Elder could not withstand the force of a Juggernaut. Blood burst from his muscles, and his legs bent at a bizarre angle, digging deep into the ground.
"Kuh, ugh, aaargh—!"
By all logic, he shouldn't have been able to withstand it. But sometimes, logic exists only to be shattered.
Lunken roared and strained. As he held his ground, even at the cost of his own body being crushed, the Juggernaut's speed gradually decreased. The more blood flowed, the more his body was soaked in red, the stronger he became.
At one point, the Juggernaut came to a complete stop. Its lifted wheels spun uselessly in the air. The Guardians piloting the machine were horrified by Lunken's immense strength.
"Bloodweaver...! So this is its power...!"
A Juggernaut without a Primarch couldn't even display half of its original performance, but it was still powered by thunder. It wasn't a tool meant for fighting humans in the first place; it was heavy machinery, better suited for felling trees or digging up the earth.
But this Elder was less a man and more a force of nature. Just as a single human could not face a Juggernaut, no human could face an Elder. He was a superhuman who had transcended humanity... no, a different life form altogether. A Guardian of Thunder muttered in despair.
"...If there are three beings like that... then how, in God's name..."
Bloodweaver Kavila split open the back of a doll. Inside the small figure, bone needles were packed tightly together. Kavila took the needles in both hands and shouted.
"Did you really think the Village of Clouds has been safe all this time because you were so great?! Heehee. Stupidity is only cute in moderation! This is why you can't use livestock once they get arrogant!"
The Bloodweaver, Kavila, makes dolls. Her materials are bone, blood, and flesh. She gives them form, fills them with blood and darkness, and brings her dolls to life.
The Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka's greatest power is the creation of Kindred. In that sense, Kavila is the vampire who most resembles the Progenitor. When it comes to creating and controlling Kindred, no other vampire can match her.
"The only reason we never bothered with the Fallen Dominion is because your blood tastes absolutely disgusting! If we had to grade you, you'd be a Grade 4! You're food waste that should have been thrown out long ago! You knew we were beyond the mist, and you still called for an angel?!?!"
Kavila screamed as she threw the bone needles. They fell upon the corpses left in Lunken's wake and melted into them. Using the bones as a medium, the scattered blood coalesced into new forms. From pools of dark red blood, menacing skulls containing ghostfire rose up.
All those bones belonged to those who were once her subjects. Even in death, they fight on as her Kindred.
"Dragonfang Puppets! Kill every obstacle standing between me and my sister!"
Ten Dragonfang Puppets moved as one.
Just ten of them. It was a paltry number for an Elder, a terror of the world, to command. Moreover, Kindred who could not wield Qi were bound to be weaker than their master.
"Do not fear them!"
A Guardian bravely leaped into the reach of a Dragonfang Puppet. Dodging the downward swing of its bone saw by a paper-thin margin, he grabbed its ribcage.
Alchemy hadn't only developed in the direction of creating harder materials. The Guardians of Thunder also studied combat alchemy, researching ways to weaken their enemies. To them, these Kindred were perfect prey.
The Dragonfang Puppet's ribs crumbled instantly. Good structures are often alike, but every bad structure is flawed in its own way. The Guardian of Thunder who had so easily destroyed the puppet shouted confidently.
"Anything without a clear distinction between its exterior and interior is nothing more than raw material for alchemy! Everyone, close in and crumble them!"
The Guardians of Thunder charged the Dragonfang Puppets. Dodging the bone saws, they swarmed the puppets. Some Guardians were hit, but thanks to the active support of their comrades, their lives were spared.
Just as the Dragonfang Puppets were being overwhelmed, Kavila, who had been watching silently, stretched out her hand as if conducting an orchestra.
"Stupidity makes for excellent fertilizer. Now, my Dragonfang Puppets. It's time to harvest."
And then, a dark and terrible black magic seized them all.
The Guardians of Thunder who had been wounded and were retreating applied pressure to their arms to stanch the bleeding. Blood was flowing, but the injuries were minor, and they planned to return to the fight as soon as they were treated.
But then... a chill ran down the spines of the wounded Guardians, and they began to tremble. Searching for the source of the cold dread, they saw that their wounds were still bleeding.
"The, the blood..."
"It won't... stop..."
The blood flowed. Blood, the food and source of power for vampires, was draining from the humans. It had only just stepped outside the body for a stroll, yet its master had already changed.
Without mastering even the Gam Qi Art to control their own bodies, they were nothing but prey. But those on par with the Military State's generals were not so common.
Victims with nothing more than a scratch collapsed absurdly, one after another, their blood flowing toward the Dragonfang Puppets. The crumbled and broken puppets revived themselves by drinking the blood, and then began to multiply.
Kavila moistened her throat with blood and cried out,
"A virtuous cycle of blood! Now this is new-generation farming!"
The Thunderarch did not move. No, she could not move.
She knew the tide of battle was turning against them. That was why she had already made her move. If the Thundermill's defense systems activated, she might be able to gain the upper hand against the Elders.
Still, she wouldn't be able to kill them. Just as capturing someone is many times harder than killing them, capturing the Undying was next to impossible.
And besides... a being far more dangerous than any other Elder stood before her. Valdamir, the Lord Sanguine, looked at the Thunderarch blocking his path and tilted his head.
"Did you not have a message for me?"
[...Why would you think that?]
"If not, there would be no reason for you to be standing here facing me while your subordinates are dying, would there?"
Her intention was obviously to buy time, but the Lord Sanguine seemed to have interpreted it differently. The Thunderarch spoke.
["As if I'd have anything to say to the likes of a vampire. I am standing here because I am the only one who can face you.]
"How interesting."
The Thunderarch flinched at his slightest movement, but the Lord Sanguine paid her no mind, simply stroking his greatsword with a leisurely air.
"The Sky God may openly demand sacrifices, but he would not deceive you with lies. How did you arrive at such a flawed judgment?"
["Flawed? It is the correct judgment. I am the only one here who can stop you."]
"Oh."
The Thunderarch remained poised to react at any moment as she thought.
The most dangerous thing about the Lord Sanguine was his intelligence. He utilized his innate power, accumulated experience, and exceptional political acumen at precisely the right moments. An intelligent beast is the most terrifying thing of all.
Her role was to hold him here, to prevent him from joining the other Elders. That was the Thunderarch's judgment...
"Now then."
The Lord Sanguine raised his greatsword. A crimson aura flowed from his body into the blade. As he prepared to strike, the Thunderarch countered, drawing forth lightning and unleashing it upon him.
Her lightning drew its power from the city. This moment, while he was channeling his aura into an attack, was her chance.
Divine punishment descended upon the Lord Sanguine. Lightning tore through his body indiscriminately. His body trembled violently. Within his vision, now bleached completely white, the Lord Sanguine slowly brought down his greatsword with a trembling arm.
"Sanguine Script."
The Cloud Waterfall was split in two.
For a Qi Practitioner, distance had always been the greatest obstacle. Even if they could imbue their weapons with Qi, they were left helpless if the enemy was too far away.
The Lord Sanguine had overcome that limitation in an unimaginable way.
The blood aura he scattered with his power leaped across space. The crimson aura was his blood—a part of his own body. What she had thought was a blade of Qi was, in fact, himself, condensed upon the edge of his greatsword.
It was a technique possible only for a vampire. The humans caught in its trajectory were sent flying like trash.
If it caught an arm, the arm was severed. If it touched a leg, the leg was sliced off. The sharply refined blood cut into human bodies, collected the blood that flowed from the wounds, and then raged on like a storm, gaining momentum. A new cloud of blood rose within the Cloud Waterfall.
Over a hundred severed body parts were swept away by the crimson wave.
—And the Thunderarch watched, clear as day, as the slash that had bypassed her completely went on to slaughter her people. She hadn't dodged it. The Lord Sanguine had intentionally excluded her from its path. As if to mock her.
["You vicious bastard—!"]
"Do you understand now? You cannot stop me. Not even when I am standing still."
He was, indeed, mocking her.
Taking her attack head-on without resistance, killing her Guardians of Thunder from where he stood—it was all done for the sole purpose of proving a point.
Their very ways of thinking were different. Beyond tension or fear, the Thunderarch felt a dizzying sense of distance, as if they were staring at each other from opposite sides of an eternally unbridgeable chasm.
"Let us return to our earlier topic. If you have nothing more to say, I will be on my way."
She had nothing to say.
He had no fear of death, and thus, no hesitation in killing. He was as nonchalant as if he'd just finished a chore, despite having killed dozens of people from where he stood. What was a heart-wrenching tragedy to some was merely a routine task to him.
They would never understand each other, not even after eons. The only means of communication was blood and fists.
["You bastard, you vampire—!"]
The enraged Thunderarch charged. Propelling herself with wings of lightning, she moved like a thunderbolt. Reaching the Lord Sanguine in the blink of an eye, she swung a fistful of raw lightning.
["I'll kill y—!"]
Her words were cut short. SNAP. Because the Lord Sanguine's arm had shot out and clamped precisely around her throat.