Volume 4 Chapter 264
by Need_More_SleepVolume 4 + Chapter 264: It Is Not Over Yet
“Archers, prepare!”
“Loose arrows! Loose arrows!”
“Die, every last one of you!”
The elven Grand General Kennedy was directing the elven army, launching wave after wave of arrow volleys at the vampire forces.
Through the combined effect of the elves’ unique techniques and specially crafted arrows, magic-laden shafts detonated continuously upon impact within the vampire ranks, dealing heavy damage to their army.
On the outskirts of the imperial capital, the vampire army was steadily retreating. They were on the verge of being unable to hold the outer defensive lines any longer.
Once that happened, the Anti–Vampire Alliance would surge together into the capital of the Holy Crimson Empire, trample the vampire palace, and execute the true culprit behind this war, the Vampire Ancestor, bringing the conflict to an end with the vampires’ defeat.
“General!!”
While Kennedy was commanding the battlefield, an elven soldier rushed over to report.
“What is it?” Kennedy asked.
“The Dragon Clan, it’s the Dragon Clan!”
“The Dragon Clan? What are those bastards up to now?”
Kennedy frowned, deliberately putting on an indifferent expression.
But in his heart, his hostility toward the Dragon Clan had long since reached its limit.
Those damned flying reptiles had schemed against him, ruining his perfect plan and turning it into nothing. Worse still, during the Anti–Vampire Alliance meeting, they had caused him to lose all face.
Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable!!
“General, those dragons are actually…”
Before the elven soldier could finish his report, numerous massive dragon silhouettes appeared in the sky.
Kennedy looked up, focusing his gaze, and immediately recognized them.
This was clearly the Dragon Clan’s special anti-vampire strike force!
He distinctly remembered that these dragon soldiers were supposed to have followed the Silver Dragon Princess to attack the vampire rear lines. Why had they come here instead, to the elven army’s position?
“Elven army, as members of the Anti–Vampire Alliance, we, the Dragon Clan, request your assistance!”
A wounded captain staggered forward, approaching Kennedy.
“Our troops are severely injured and urgently require treatment!!”
“Treatment?”
Kennedy quickly realized that every dragon present was injured, and badly so. Just making it here by flight had clearly been a struggle, they looked ready to collapse at any moment.
The elves, masters of natural magic, were highly skilled in healing. In that regard, the dragons had indeed come to the right place.
Still, Kennedy found the situation strange.
He was aware that dramatic changes had occurred on the battlefield, how snowstorms had arisen, and how a massive iceberg had fallen directly into the imperial capital.
Such awe-inspiring magic could not possibly have been cast by the Silver Dragon Princess. Only the Silver Dragon Queen, the King of the Upper Races, possessed that level of power.
Kennedy deduced that the Silver Dragon Queen had likely led the dragons into the capital on her own initiative, engaging in a cataclysmic battle with the vampire elites stationed there.
“Elven General, what are you waiting for? Give the order already!” the captain urged again. “Our Queen, no, Her Highness the Princess, is gravely wounded and in critical condition! She desperately needs treatment!”
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Kennedy asked.
“How could we be? If you don’t believe me, look for yourself!”
The captain pointed behind him.
Kennedy saw an unconscious silver-haired dragon girl, surrounded by wounded dragon soldiers.
He froze.
A thought surfaced in his mind.
Although Kennedy had never personally met the Silver Dragon Queen, he had heard from the Elven King that the Silver Dragon Queen and the Silver Dragon Princess, mother and daughter, looked almost identical, indistinguishable at a glance.
That meant the one lying there was very likely the Silver Dragon Queen herself.
He immediately realized this was an unprecedented opportunity.
Every dragon soldier present was injured, barely capable of fighting. The Silver Dragon Queen had lost consciousness entirely. Meanwhile, the elven army held an overwhelming advantage.
If they were to wipe out the Dragon Clan right here, it would be an absolute, devastating blow to the Dragon Kingdom!
Especially after witnessing the terrifying power of the Silver Dragon Queen, power capable of effortlessly annihilating nations, how could Kennedy not feel fear? And why would he ever allow such a supreme Upper-Race King to return alive?
They could annihilate the dragons completely and later pin the blame on the vampires.
Kennedy’s eyes filled with ruthless resolve. For the future of the elves, he was willing to gamble, gamble that this truly was the Silver Dragon Queen, and kill her here, permanently severing the future of the Dragon Kingdom!
“Elven soldiers, hear my command! In my capacity as Grand General of the Elven Race, I hereby issue an order!”
Kennedy raised his hand, a cold smile forming. He was about to command the annihilation of the Dragon Clan,
But at that moment, a voice rang out,
“Domain of Decay.”
The withering domain descended, covering the surroundings. Kennedy’s smile froze instantly.
He stared in disbelief.
The Storm King had appeared.
“Provide… treatment,” the Storm King said.
Kennedy’s cheek twitched. He never could have imagined that the Storm King, who should have been dead, would appear here, standing alongside the Dragon Clan.
Within the Domain of Decay, Kennedy dared not act rashly.
If the Storm King went berserk, who knew how many would die.
Thus, Kennedy was forced to suppress his earlier murderous command and abandon the plan.
“All healers, step forward. Provide treatment to the injured dragons,” he ordered.
“Yes!”
The elven healers sprang into action, tending to the wounded dragons.
Under their care, the dragons’ injuries rapidly began to heal.
“Thank you, Storm King.”
Only after seeing Xia Lulu receive treatment did the captain finally relax, expressing his gratitude.
“……”
The Storm King silently withdrew the Domain of Decay.
In truth, he had already reached his limit. The domain he released was nothing but an empty shell, mere intimidation. Fortunately, no one noticed.
“General, the vampire front line has collapsed!” an elven soldier reported.
“The vampire army is retreating toward the rear!”
“So they’ve finally been defeated? Then let’s pursue them immediately!!”
Kennedy’s face lit up with excitement.
He wanted to seize the opportunity when entering the capital, strike decisively, and claim the greatest merit.
“General, although the vampire army is retreating, someone is blocking the Anti–Vampire Alliance!” the soldier replied. “The frontmost line cannot advance any further!”
“How is that possible? Where did the vampires get reinforcements?”
“It’s the Troll Tribe and the Minotaur clans! For reasons unknown, they’ve launched attacks against us! The remaining allied armies can’t get past them! The Human and Fox army are already locked in chaotic combat with them!”
“That makes no sense! Those bastards… they have no reason to defect!!”
Kennedy was utterly baffled. Setting aside the Minotaurs, the Troll Tribe had been severely humiliated by the vampires, there was absolutely no reason for them to switch sides.
The Dragon Clan was equally confused by the internal strife within the Anti–Vampire Alliance.
The Storm King, however, cared nothing for these matters. War left him completely unmoved.
Suddenly, he sensed something. He turned toward the distance, detecting an ominous presence, one that began to surge forth like a spring, sending chills down the spine.
A catastrophe of extinction was about to descend upon this land.
The Storm King attempted to rush toward the source of the disaster, but after taking a single step, his body refused to move.
His soulfire could no longer endure. It was on the verge of extinguishing.
“I… failed… to stop it.”
His voice carried deep sorrow.
Letting out a heavy sigh, his consciousness gradually faded under the influence of self-preservation. To barely sustain the flickering soulfire, he entered a temporary slumber.
……
……
“Uraaaaaaah!!”
The Shadow of Gluttony stood upon the sea of blood, emitting a shrill, unbearable screech.
The sound was like murky darkness itself, carrying potent mental contamination.
Even Elizabeth, merely by hearing it, was forced to activate her Blood Divine Authority to resist the mental invasion, and even then, she felt a splitting headache.
If an ordinary lifeform heard such a sound, it would likely lose all sanity and suffer mental collapse on the spot.
“Blood Magic · Blood Frenzy Assault!”
As a test, Elizabeth unleashed blood magic, transforming the blood sea into swarms of blood bats.
Hundreds upon thousands of bats screeched as they charged toward the Shadow of Gluttony under her command.
Facing the mass of fanged, clawed bats, the Shadow of Gluttony neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, she stepped forward and spread her arms.
That was when Elizabeth noticed something strange.
Under the moonlight, the shadow cast by the Shadow of Gluttony was not humanoid, it was the silhouette of a massive beast utterly mismatched to her body.
That outline was unmistakably that of the Beast of Gluttony, Beelzebub.
From that shadow, countless black extensions erupted like limbs of the creature itself, sweeping through the bat swarm.
In an instant, the vast number of bats Elizabeth had summoned were devoured by the black shadows, converted into pure energy and funneled into the Shadow of Gluttony.
Elizabeth raised her hand, and clenched it tightly.
“Blood Magic · Brutal Grasp!”
The blood bats consumed by the Shadow of Gluttony detonated simultaneously.
Before being fully digested, their blood essence transformed into bombs, exploding violently inside her body.
Boom, boom, boom!!
The Shadow of Gluttony’s body shook violently amid successive explosions, continuing for quite some time before finally settling.
She appeared largely unharmed. Only a crack opened in the black-shrouded head, releasing scorching heat.
For her, it was likely no more than having eaten something extremely hot.
After this probing exchange, Elizabeth was completely certain.
The monster known as the Shadow of Gluttony drew its power directly from the Legendary Beast of Gluttony.
In her current state, she was akin to a larva, requiring vast amounts of life to feed upon, supplying energy, before undergoing a metamorphosis and emerging as a complete form.
Though the Shadow of Gluttony wielded Beelzebub’s authority, she was not yet fully equivalent to Beelzebub himself.
That was the conclusion Elizabeth reached after testing her.
“If I choose to retreat now, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Elizabeth said calmly. “As long as I wish to live, you can’t possibly kill me.”
“Uuughh, yaaaaah, graaaah!!”
The sounds emitted by the Shadow of Gluttony were chaotic and meaningless, utterly beyond communication. She merely continued to display her insatiable desire to devour.
Just as Elizabeth prepared to withdraw, an unexpected situation arose.
“Divine Ancestor! The Divine Ancestor is here!!”
“Divine Ancestor, please save us! We can’t hold back the Anti–Vampire Alliance any longer!”
“Divine Ancestor, please wipe out those insolent foreign races for us!!”
Elizabeth and the Shadow of Gluttony both saw it,
A vampire army had appeared in the distance.
They were retreating after defeat and had coincidentally fallen back to this location. Unaware of the situation here, they instinctively rushed toward the blood deity they worshipped.
“Hahaha, haaaa!!”
Upon seeing a vast number of vampires, the Shadow of Gluttony became unnaturally excited, like a predator scenting a feast.
She kicked off the surface of the blood sea, sending up massive waves, and shot forward like an arrow loose from a bow.
She raised her arm. The black shadow extended once more, slamming down upon the vampire army.
“AAAAAAHHHH!!”
In an instant, large swathes of the vampire army were erased. Thousands of lives were devoured by the shadows, their screams echoing as they were converted into energy for the Shadow of Gluttony.
Even Upper Races were no more than ants in the face of such calamity, shattered by the lightest touch.
This was the disaster wrought by a Legendary Beast,
Catastrophe.
“……”
Elizabeth stood frozen, her pupils trembling.
The scene before her felt hauntingly familiar.
Back in the Mythic Era, within the Dragon Kingdom, the Beast of Gluttony had slaughtered countless lives in exactly this way.
And at that time, the one who stepped forward was…
Elizabeth lowered her head.
She could survive, she could flee from here. The Shadow of Gluttony, not yet fully matured, could not kill her.
But she also knew that beyond the vampire army lay the Anti–Vampire Alliance.
Among them, there was not a single person capable of resisting the Shadow of Gluttony.
Once the Shadow began devouring life, it would snowball endlessly, growing stronger and stronger until Beelzebub fully descended.
“Heh… hehehe…”
The Vampire Ancestor seemed forever trapped on that snowfield of the far northern wastes, never able to escape.
She longed for power, power strong enough to command her own fate, and it was all because…
She despised the version of herself who had helplessly watched Cynthia die.
At times, Elizabeth wondered, if she could return to that day, would she choose to fight and die alongside Cynthia on the snowfield, or would she choose to cling to life?
“Heeheehee, hihihihihi!!”
The Shadow of Gluttony swung her arm again. The black shadows split apart like thousands of blades, stabbing down at the remaining vampires, intent on slaughtering everyone present.
“Blood Divine Authority · Whale Dance!”
From beneath the blood sea, blood whales surged upward, leaping into the sky.
Like a living barrier, they interposed themselves before the vampire army, absorbing the Shadow of Gluttony’s attack in their stead, before dissolving away.
The blood sea’s surface level dropped sharply, signaling another massive expenditure of the Divine Ancestor’s power.
“?”
The Shadow of Gluttony slowly turned her head toward Elizabeth.
A faint glow shimmered in Elizabeth’s crimson eyes. Her divine halo fully activated as she drove her Blood Divine Authority to its absolute limit.
“Beast of Gluttony,” Elizabeth said coldly, “our battle is not over yet.”
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