PS: Not much to say about this chapter, so I'm adding an extra update today. Let's get excited!
Hordes of giant Crypt Ghouls gathered around the burning camp, using their lives to protect the siege engines engulfed by flames.
Inside the camp, screams and wails were endless. Workers serving the vampires fell in swathes under the flames, mercenaries fled in all directions, and Estelle and Dace continuously shot arrows, hitting many mercenaries directly in the forehead, killing them instantly.
"Fireball!" Veronica's fingertips sparked with flame, launching a ball of dense fire elemental energy directly at the siege engine, igniting the air.
The vampire lord responsible for the siege machinery, Herman von Carstein, watched the fireball fly towards the siege engine and shouted, "No!!!"
Under his command, a Crypt Ghoul roared and blocked the path between the fireball and the siege engine, its body blasted to pieces by the fireball.
"Ice Arrow!" Teresa's spell also arrived in time, another Crypt Ghoul rushing forward to block the spell with its body.
The sacrifice of two Crypt Ghouls saved two siege engines, and a group of Grave Guards charged at Ryan and the others under the vampire lord's command. Ryan and his companions raised their weapons and charged into the battlefield with a shout.
"Quadruple Ring Divine Magic, Consecration!" Alfred released divine magic, the golden holy light shining on the nearby Grave Guards. The Grave Guards hit by the light bubbled, melted, and corroded as if scalded by boiling water.
"For the Lady!" Gerard's sword pierced through the chest of a Grave Guard. He pulled out his sword and kicked the body away. The fatally wounded Grave Guard lost control and turned into a pile of bones on the ground.
"Teresa! Cover us, we must destroy the siege engines!" Ryan swung his war hammer, smashing several Grave Guards away. The Grail Knight was unstoppable, the Grave Guards' polearms only sparking against his finely crafted power armor, not affecting his movements. Ryan grabbed a polearm and shredded it with his hands.
Inside the burning camp, the mercenaries had fled, and numerous vampire guards were gradually approaching from all directions. They were fearless skeletons and a few vampires, all charging at Ryan and his companions, striking from all sides.
"Alright!" The sorceress began chanting her next spell: "Ice Barrier!"
A pale blue light formed a barrier, blocking reinforcements from two sides. Veronica released another fireball in an attempt to destroy the siege engines. Under the vampire lord's command, another Crypt Ghoul charged forward, colliding with the fireball and perishing together.
The mighty Crypt Ghouls were used as mere sandbags and meat shields.
"Can you summon another meteor, Veronica?" Ryan, holding off the attacks of a dozen Grave Guards, raised his hand: "Psychic Storm!"
Pale blue lightning covered a narrow passageway, dozens of Grave Guards caught in the psychic storm's vortex. Their armor blackened by electricity, their decayed bodies torn apart.
"I can't, I'm out of mana." Veronica, wearing a fiery red leather coat and holding a dwarven-crafted longsword, the blade aflame with "Ruin Fire Weapon" spell, was not proficient in close combat but was not defenseless. The witch shouted, "I need at least three more minutes to prepare another meteor spell."
"Then clear a path for me." Ryan roared, facing several Grave Guards alone. In the distance, the Red Duke approached on his zombie dragon.
"Ah!" Vampire lord Herman, wielding a sword embedded with dark red crystals, battled Gerard.
This vampire lord was no match for Gerard, who, blessed by the Lake Prophet, surrounded Herman with continuous sword light. Struggling to defend against Gerard's attacks, the vampire lord was heavily suppressed.
With six legendary beings and a Paladin specializing in undead eradication present, the camp's Grave Guards began to falter. Teresa's spells suppressed the vampire lord.
Second Ring Magic, Mind Blast!
The spell-casting vampire lord was dazed by a Mind Blast, then beheaded by Gerard: "In the name of the Lady!"
"Flame Skull!" Veronica's spell arrived, the witch summoning a small Flame Skull with all her might. The powerful spell cleared a path for Ryan, leaving only molten metal on the ground.
Ryan rushed forward, his war hammer smashing two siege engines completely, the flames consuming their remains. A Crypt Ghoul charged at him; Ryan smashed its head with a hammer, ready to order a retreat.
"Roar~~~" The zombie dragon's roar was very close, its giant claw grabbing Ryan and lifting him high into the air.
"You always oppose me, you've always been against me, Ryan Macado, can you... just die already!!!" The Red Duke on the zombie dragon's back screamed madly, the dragon's claws pressing Ryan into the burning camp. After repeatedly pressing him into piles of burning materials and then throwing him from the air, Veronica and Teresa's voices rose in alarm. In anger, Teresa released six arcane missiles, energy beams chasing after the Red Duke.
The Red Duke, face twisted with endless madness and hatred, glanced at the burning siege camp and pulled on the dragon's reins, dodging the energy beams.
He had rushed here immediately upon receiving the vampire lord's message but was too late! The siege weapons were destroyed, and taking Tures couldn't happen soon!
The thought twisted the Red Duke's face with hate, hating all Bretonnian knights. Once the Duke of Aquitaine, he believed he should now be king of Bretonnia.
Pulling the reins, the Red Duke charged at Ryan, now on the ground, who roared back like a beast. Holding his war hammer, the Red Duke drew the Sword of Aquitaine in response.
Ryan charged at the Red Duke, a Crypt Ghoul trying to block his path was knocked aside by Ryan's hammer, then hit by several arrows. The half-elf Estelle shouted, "Ryan, you take on the Red Duke, we'll cover you."
"Okay!" With arrows covering his back, the two Rangers shot tirelessly, clearing the path for Ryan. He roared, drawing the Sword of Vengeance, and fearlessly challenged the Red Duke, who was filled with hate, vowing to slay the Lake Fairy's Chosen Champion.
The Sword of Aquitaine, no longer glorious as it was hundreds of years ago, had become a sword of the undead. The Red Duke, in his black armor, attacked Ryan.
The zombie dragon opened its mouth, spewing foul breath. Ryan used Psychic Storm to break it apart, tormenting the Red Duke's senses with psychic lightning. The pain distracted him, allowing the Sword of Vengeance to leave a deep, bone-visible wound on the Red Duke.
"Ah!" The cleansing flames burning the wound caused the Red Duke to howl in pain. To escape the purifying flames, the Red Duke tore at his own flesh, green rot and dark red blood flying through the air. He ripped off several charred pieces of flesh, barely escaping the purifying fire by self-mutilation.
Seizing the opportunity, Ryan climbed onto the zombie dragon's back, his war hammer smashing the Red Duke's dragon-wing tip helmet, nearly crushing his skull. The Red Duke counterattacked with the Sword of Aquitaine, forcing Ryan to dodge. He barely managed to grab onto one of the dragon's spines, hanging onto the dragon's back.
Ryan ferociously attacked the zombie dragon with the Sword of Vengeance, stabbing repeatedly into the dragon's belly. The dragon howled loudly, struggling violently in the air, unable to maintain stable flight. Ryan's onslaught left the dragon's back a mess.
The continuous attacks caused the Red Duke anxiety. He seized an opportunity, maneuvering the reins to move the dragon left and right, then thrust the Sword of Aquitaine towards Ryan's face.
Ryan let go of the spine and gracefully fell from the sky, landing within the camp.
By now, the battle inside the camp had largely ended. Gerard, Abel, Jule, and Veronica were slightly injured but nothing serious. The camp environment was bizarre, some areas were on fire while others were encased in ice, likely the result of Teresa's recent blizzard spell.
A literal fire and ice situation.
Ryan understood why the Red Duke, with Mousillon as his absolute fortress, had fought Brittany for two hundred years without success.
Compared to Ryan, the Red Duke was somewhat weaker. Ryan, who could hold his own against Manfred, was able to suppress the Red Duke with his strength. Without the zombie dragon's help, the Red Duke's power might not even match that of the Black Grail Knight Lichthe whom Ryan had once faced.
So it wasn't that the kingdom of knights couldn't defeat the vampires of Mousillon; it was that the entire kingdom couldn't unite.
The zombie dragon struggled to flap its wings, its belly burning with purifying flames. The Sword of Vengeance had inflicted a fatal wound, pus and black blood falling from the sky. The dragon turned in the air and charged again towards the people in the camp.
"Ice Barrier!" Teresa raised a sturdy ice barrier: "Everyone, get behind me!"
"Take cover." Everyone hid behind the ice barrier. Perhaps due to its injuries, the zombie dragon's breath became weak, unable to breach Teresa's defense. The Red Duke, unwilling to give up, forcefully pulled the reins, trying to ascend into the sky.
He was attempting to flee.
Seeing this, Ranger Dace reached behind to his quiver, taking out a specially made arrow. The arrow's tip wasn't a sharp metal point but a large, round black ball tied with string.
"Whoosh!" The composite bow was fully drawn, starfire power infused into the arrow, filling the shaft with green and blue starfire.
"Arrow of Khorne!" Ranger Dace shouted, the Hunt God's divine power providing endless strength. The starfire arrow soared into the sky, drawing a beautiful arc in the night sky like a blue-green rainbow, aiming for only one target – the Red Duke's head.
"Petty tricks." The Red Duke scoffed, reaching out to catch the starfire arrow, then crushed it entirely.
Mortals are mortals after all. How could they defeat me?
What was crushed wasn't just the arrow shaft but also the black ball, which exploded, releasing a large amount of holy water – a full 500 milliliters doused the Red Duke and his injured zombie dragon. Steam billowed out, engulfing both the Red Duke and his dragon. The Red Duke's screams could almost echo across the kingdom as he frantically clawed at his own body. The zombie dragon also sustained fatal damage, the holy water burning holes through its body, one of its wings burned off entirely.
The Red Duke and his zombie dragon fell from the sky, crashing into a field not far from the camp, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"The same trick won't work on me twice." Ryan smirked, the Lake Fairy's Chosen Champion holding the Sword of Vengeance. Alfred also smiled: "Three times the concentration of holy water, three times the fun."
"The Red Duke and his story end today!"
Updated! Second update of the day! Vote for me!
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT