Chapter 865
Chapter 865
‘How did it come to this? This secret vault is the safest place, and this steel door is over half a foot thick. How could it be broken? Shen Lang, that man from the East, truly has miraculous abilities. There's nothing he can't do.’
Princess Dora said.
“Duke Dybas, will you come out on your own? Or shall we come in and get you?”
The gold and silver covering the floor caught Duke Dybas's eye. The shockwave from the recent explosion had overturned many chests, spilling gold everywhere.
“I will come out myself.”
Duke Dybas said. Her escape had not been easy. First, she fled from the chapel to a secret passage, then to this underground hall, and finally into this seemingly indestructible vault. Now, there was nowhere left to run.
She stepped forward and tried the mechanism, but the door was already damaged and wouldn't budge. Did she have to go through the hole? The steel door was still glowing red; her skin would be instantly seared if it touched the metal.
“Hmph!”
Duke Dybas frowned slightly and then kicked off the ground. In an instant, her body shot through the hole in the steel door. Not only did she avoid burning her skin, but even her clothes were unsinged. She had moved with incredible speed and precision. Her martial prowess was truly formidable.
After emerging, Duke Dybas said.
“I have a request. Can you seal this door again? This is the fortune my Russo family has accumulated over hundreds of years. If others were to see it, they would lose their minds and plunder it all.”
Princess Dora glanced at her and nodded. An Amazon warrior found a piece of steel plate. It wasn't half a foot thick, but it was at least an inch. She pressed it against the hole in the vault door and lit a small thermite charge. The intense heat, reaching 2,600 degrees Celsius, instantly melted the steel plate, welding it onto the vault's door. It was a makeshift seal, but it would have to do. Then, a dozen elite Amazon warriors surrounded Dybas. Princess Dora spoke to her.
“Will you be taken captive after a fight, or will you surrender now?”
After speaking, she even tossed a sword to Duke Dybas.
“I know you possess a high level of martial skill, and that your bloodline is superior to even Count Austin's. When you led your army against the Witch Empire, you never once failed to achieve victory. Your martial arts are likely on par with mine, or perhaps even slightly better. Once one's fighting aura reaches a certain level, it becomes incredibly powerful. So, will you fight me?”
Princess Dora's strength lay in her physical power and body; she did not possess a fighting aura. However, she was still very young, only twenty-five this year. The Amazon warriors were physically superior to average people, and every one of them was a formidable combatant.
Duke Dybas took the scimitar in hand and fiercely gathered her fighting aura. Instantly, a gleam of light appeared on the blade. This woman's fighting aura was indeed exceptionally strong.
“Enough.”
Dybas tossed the scimitar aside. Although her martial skills were formidable, she couldn't possibly face a dozen elite Amazon warriors.
“But I must tell you two things. First, even if you capture me, you won't be able to escape this place. My ducal estate is already surrounded by thousands of soldiers. A hundred of you cannot fight ten thousand. Second, the man from the East you pledged your loyalty to, Shen Lang, is most likely already dead.”
Princess Dora said dismissively.
“Oh, is that so?”
Then, she took out a syringe and approached Duke Dybas.
“If you fight, we will completely subdue you, perhaps even breaking your limbs, before injecting you with this. Or will you not resist and allow us to administer it?”
“What is that? What happens if I'm injected?”
“It's a powerful anesthetic. After the injection, you will be completely paralyzed for about a day. It will cause no harm to your body or strength, and there are no side effects.”
“Are you certain of that?”
Princess Dora said calmly.
“An Amazon does not lie.”
“Very well. Then you may proceed.”
Princess Dora stepped forward and injected Dybas's wrist. In an instant, Duke Dybas was completely paralyzed, losing all sensation. An Amazon warrior approached, hoisted her fiery and alluring body over her shoulder, and walked away.
***
“Save the Duke! Protect the Guardian of the South!”
When Princess Dora and her group returned to the surface from the secret underground passage, the situation had become extremely tense.
An army of over ten thousand soldiers had poured into the ducal estate, surrounding the hundred or so Amazon warriors. The hundred elite Amazons had already retreated into the chapel, and outside, countless bodies were piled high. Count Vytin, leading several thousand experts, had the red chapel completely surrounded, with tens of thousands more troops arriving. However, the hundred Amazon experts were so powerful that, fighting from within the chapel, they created a situation where one person could guard the pass against ten thousand attackers.
“The catapults! Have the catapults not arrived?”
A moment later, a dozen catapults arrived. They were medium-sized, but they would be more than enough to deal with them.
“Set up the catapults! Use the largest gunpowder bundles.”
At Count Vytin's command, the arms of the dozen catapults were drawn back, and hundred-pound bundles of gunpowder were placed in their pouches. If this were an open field, the gunpowder would likely not harm the Amazon experts, as they could easily dodge it. But with over a thousand pounds of gunpowder from a dozen catapults aimed at the chapel, the confined space would amplify the blast's power. The flesh-and-blood bodies of the Amazon experts would not be able to withstand such an explosion. Count Vytin shouted.
“I command you to lay down your weapons and surrender immediately! Otherwise, I will unleash a thousand pounds of the Fire God's wrath and reduce you all to dust! I will count down from five. Surrender now! Five, four, three, two, one. Light the fuses!”
Following Count Vytin's order, the fuses on the dozen gunpowder bundles were lit.
“Ready!”
The fuses began to burn. They had to burn for a certain length of time before launching to ensure the bundles would explode immediately upon landing.
Inside the chapel, the resisting Amazon warriors had already suffered at least several dozen casualties. After a moment, just as Count Vytin was about to swing his hand down to signal the launch, his expression suddenly changed, and he yelled.
“Extinguish the fuses! Extinguish the fuses!”
The Fire God Cult warriors frantically pulled out all the fuses from the gunpowder bundles. Otherwise, they would have been launched and detonated. But Count Vytin could no longer attack. Because someone had appeared on the chapel balcony. It was his disciple and his lord, Duke Dybas. Princess Dora's sword was pressed against Dybas's neck; the slightest movement would separate her beautiful head from her body.
To think that Dybas, whom he believed had escaped safely, had fallen into the enemy's hands, and was even unconscious and unable to wake.
Princess Dora said.
“She is still alive. Count Vytin, I order you to have your army retreat a hundred meters. Otherwise, I will cut off Dybas's left arm. Five, four, three, two, one...”
Princess Dora's countdown was extremely fast, and as soon as she finished, she prepared to swing her sword without hesitation. She gave him no time to think.
“Stop, stop! All troops, retreat a hundred meters!”
At Count Vytin's command, the several thousand experts and the dozen catapults all moved back a hundred meters. Vytin said.
“Princess Dora, you will not escape. Our tens of thousands of troops have the entire ducal estate surrounded. There are only a hundred of you; you will not be able to break through the encirclement.”
Princess Dora asked.
“My lord Count, how high is this mountain the ducal estate is on?”
“Five hundred meters.”
“And how tall is the chapel?”
“Fifty-three meters.”
“Thank you for the information.”
Then, she gestured and gave an order.
“Prepare to withdraw.”
“Princess Dora, the large flying ball you arrived in has already departed. It is a pipe dream to think you can leave this city with Duke Dybas. Your hundred warriors will not break through our layered encirclement.”
“You need not worry about that.”
The hundred or so Amazon warriors entered the chapel and quickly assembled, rapidly constructing a triangular hang glider.
“Your Highness, we will wait for you at the top of the chapel.”
After General Quinnin finished speaking, the hundred warriors swiftly climbed to the top of the fifty-three-meter-high red chapel. They moved as if walking on flat ground, even on the steep rooftop. Count Vytin was astonished.
‘What are they trying to do? What are they planning to do on top of the chapel?’
Eunuch Taren shouted.
“This is bad! They're going to fly! They're trying to fly... My Lord Count, stop them quickly!”
His face paling, Count Vytin immediately took a hundred experts and scrambled madly up the chapel. But it was too late. Several Amazon warriors forcefully spread open the hang glider, and Princess Dora, after strapping Duke Dybas to her own body, lay down beneath it.
“Farewell, Count Vytin.”
Swoosh.
Princess Dora ran, picking up speed, and then took off with the hang glider. She had a flying suit, but it couldn't support the weight of two people. The hang glider, however, could. Being near the coast, a sea breeze was constantly blowing. After leaping off, the hang glider dipped slightly before soaring westward. Then, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
One by one, the Amazon warriors leaped from the top of the red chapel, spreading their limbs and catching the wind, flying away.
‘Thank you, Dybas, for building this chapel so tall. Thank you, Russo family, for building this fortress on a five-hundred-meter-high mountain.’
From an altitude of nearly six hundred meters, both hang gliders and flying suits could easily take flight. And so, before the eyes of Count Vytin and countless others, the hundred or so Amazon experts soared into the sky. The sight was breathtaking.
‘Not only did they descend from the sky, but they've now returned to it. That man from the East, Shen Lang, truly possesses miraculous abilities.’
And just like that, the hundred or so Amazon experts, with Duke Dybas as their captive, flew through the sky, breaking through the layered encirclement of tens of thousands of soldiers, soaring right out of Bigeum Castle and beyond the enemy lines.