Ryan, holding the Sword of Vengeance, approached the Red Duke on the meadow.
The Red Duke looked pitiful; half of his face was completely destroyed, leaving nothing but charred boils and rotting wounds, with the remaining half hidden inside his helmet, revealing only a pair of crazed, blood-red eyes.
"For centuries, you've brought pain to the people of this nation." The Sword of Vengeance burned with white flames, emitting a pale blue light as Ryan approached.
"You can't understand my hatred, my mission. I wanted to destroy this country, just as they did to me." The Red Duke was burning all over, struggling to stand, but his body wasn't cooperating.
The concentrated holy water from Alfred had caused tremendous damage to the vampire, even to a high-ranking vampire like the Red Duke. He couldn't resist the power of holy water, unable to control the chaotic magical elements. One of his legs was crippled, corroded by the holy water.
Yet, he stood up, with supreme will, the Red Duke barely rose.
"I can't understand, nor do I want to!" The Sword of Vengeance swung, cutting down a large tree. The Red Duke barely dodged the attack, rolling several times to a bush.
Ryan's fierce onslaught never stopped. Intent on killing the Red Duke, the Sword of Vengeance attacked continuously, forcing him into perilous situations. However, the Red Duke, with centuries of combat experience, was slightly weaker than Ryan but managed to dodge and survive: "You don't understand, you don't know what I've gone through?! If not for the gift from Abhorash, I would have died long ago!"
He dodged another attack from Ryan, falling to the ground. The Red Duke groped for something, then instinctively used it to counterattack.
"Clang!" The swords clashed, the Sword of Aquitaine against the Sword of Vengeance. The sword, passed down from the first Duke of Aquitaine, the noble Grail Knight Fremund, to now, showed its strength, not entirely falling to the Sword of Vengeance.
"Yes, in the end, only this sword has stayed by my side, always!" The Red Duke launched a series of swift attacks with the Sword of Aquitaine, but Ryan effortlessly parried them all. The young man in his twenties was more powerful than the Red Duke, and a fierce battle unfolded in the forest under the night sky.
And the Red Duke's mad words: "I! Participated in the Great Crusade! I! Fought for glory in Araby! But other dukes! Other dukes! Jealous of my achievements, they sent assassins to kill me! The blade was poisoned, I was wounded! I was dying! It was Abhorash, he saved me! Turned me into a vampire, otherwise, I would have died long ago!!!"
"False nation! False beliefs! False glory, this country doesn't deserve to exist! I will destroy it all! Destroy!!!" The Red Duke roared, opening his mutilated mouth. Ryan pierced his shoulder with the Sword of Vengeance. The Red Duke grabbed the blade, disregarding the purifying fire's power. Instead, he opened his mouth, vowing to pour all the undead magic and vampire curse into Ryan.
Even in death, he wanted to take Ryan with him.
But Ryan wasn't going to sit idly by, his right fist clenched.
No matter what the Red Duke had gone through, his actions were not sympathetic. For his own hatred, he brought endless pain to this nation, slaughtering his people, nearly destroying his own family. He repeatedly summoned undead armies, causing too much suffering to the nation and humanity. To defeat him, a duke, five marquesses, and twelve earls died in battle, and thousands of knights perished.
His revenge was for himself, for defeating him, knights of the kingdom bled.
"Take this!!" Ryan's fist, filled with explosive power, hit the Red Duke's face with the judgment of a Grail Knight, distorting what was left of his face. The undead magic and cursed vampire blood the Red Duke tried to spew were knocked back by Ryan's punch. Several teeth flew out as the Red Duke screamed and hit a tree, wailing in pain. Ryan pulled out the Sword of Vengeance and decapitated him, chopping off the Red Duke's nose and the arm he used to block.
"Die! Grail Knight!" The Red Duke's nose fell to the ground, his face spewing black blood as he attempted to attack Ryan from behind with the Sword of Aquitaine.
Ryan immediately turned around, grabbing the Red Duke's hand with unmatched strength, twisting it and taking the Sword of Aquitaine to stab through the Red Duke's head from behind, the sharp blade entering from the neck and exiting through his mouth.
"Your life ends here, I win, you lose!" Ryan's fiery fist pierced through the Red Duke's chest, exploding his ribcage and burning a hole. The black heart was grabbed by the Lake Fairy's Chosen Champion and crushed. Ryan lifted the Red Duke's head, shouting into his ear: "Face your judgment!!!"
"Remove your helmet!" The Red Duke's helmet was removed by Ryan, revealing his true face, half-destroyed, on the verge of death.
Before falling to vampirism, he must have been a handsome man.
"In the name of the Lady! I judge you!" The Sword of Vengeance swung, decapitating the Red Duke. His soul was sucked into a spatial storm created by Ryan, ensuring he could never resurrect.
The Red Duke, who brought five hundred years of painful memories to Brittany, met his end by the Grismore River.
Ryan realized it wasn't that the Red Duke was weak; it was he who had become stronger. After this battle, he had touched the threshold of the sanctuary.
"No!!!" In the distant sky, riding a zombie dragon, Manfred arrived too late, witnessing the moment the Red Duke was beheaded.
On the horizon, two squads of Blood Knights on nightmare steeds were rapidly approaching. Everyone's expression changed. Ryan picked up the Sword of Aquitaine and the Red Duke's head, telling everyone, "You go! I'll cover your retreat! Teresa's teleportation spell will take her and me away."
"No! Ryan, we agreed not to separate again!" Veronica, out of breath, her body injured from burning the entire camp, her magic exhausted.
"Veronica!" Ryan continued, "Listen!"
Seeing Ryan's determined face, Veronica knew it wasn't the time to hesitate and nodded: "Ryan, I'll wait for you in the barony."
Then, Veronica, with the two witchers and two half-elves, quickly left, retreating to a predetermined location. Once across the river, an arranged army would cover their retreat.
But Gerard, Alfred, and Teresa stayed behind. The sorceress silently took out numerous potions, desperately guzzling them down. She still had a significant reserve of magic power and would be the hope for everyone's escape.
"Why aren't you leaving?" Ryan raised the Sword of Vengeance, the Blood Knights only a few hundred meters away, Manfred's zombie dragon even closer.
"You have no right to command me, Ryan," Gerard laughed heartily, the usually stern kingdom knight filled with a carefree joy:"In the face of formidable enemies, we show no fear, remain loyal and righteous, die rather than surrender, protect the weak, for the Lady! I am a knight of honor, I am the Lady's knight. It is my duty to cover the retreat."
"Good friend, I have nothing to say," Alfred also smiled warmly.
"Ha, alright then," Ryan chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "We should have retreated after destroying the camp, but killing the Red Duke was too good an opportunity to pass up."
"I understand, Ryan. Cover me!" Teresa pulled out another potion and downed it, her body surrounded by swirling frost energy, even covering her skin: "Buy me some time!"
As she finished speaking, Manfred approached. The vampire count was truly enraged now, witnessing the Red Duke's decapitation.
On the horizon, more than thirty Blood Knights charged in the darkness, their nightmare steeds exhaling sulfurous air, their tainted lances raised high. In the sky, Manfred's zombie dragon spat dragonfire, closing the distance rapidly.
Ryan and the others immediately retreated into the camp. Many areas were ablaze, others encased in ice. The camp, now ruined, became their shelter. Ryan, Alfred, Gerard, and Teresa retreated inside as the Blood Knights roared through the burning gates.
Manfred's zombie dragon unleashed a massive breath of fire, clearing the piled construction materials and revealing Ryan and the others' location. The vampire count shouted, "There they are!"
"Fight!" Ryan knew they had nowhere to run on the open field, so he turned to face the Blood Knights head-on. He dodged sharp lances, cutting into a nightmare steed's legs, throwing its rider.
"Blizzard!" Frost energy gathered into a swirl under the sorceress's direction, forming dozens of ice spikes. The Blood Knights were caught in the blizzard, a temporary setback for these fearsome knights of the Old World, halting their charge.
"Ice Barrier!" Teresa's spells were unleashed frantically, separating the Blood Knights on three fronts. Ryan, Gerard, and Alfred charged forward, engaging the Blood Knights in heroic combat.
The Blood Knights' combat prowess was unmatched. Gerard and Alfred were quickly overpowered, Alfred's plate armor slashed open by the tainted blades, bleeding profusely. His holy spells were ineffective against these knights, only the holy water-coated sword somewhat holding them off. Gerard, covered in wounds, continued fighting in the Lady's name.
Hold on! Hold on! Ryan shouted inwardly. They must stall the Blood Knights, ensuring Veronica and the others could retreat safely. The Grail Knight bravely faced five or six Blood Knights alone, his face slashed, bloodied.
In the camp, a fierce battle raged. This was a rare opportunity, and Manfred vowed to put Ryan to death.
After five minutes of desperate fighting, the situation became dire. Ryan and the others were cornered inside the camp, surrounded by dozens of Blood Knights and the vampire count Manfred, struggling to hold on.
The Blood Knights fought against Ryan and his companions inside the camp, while Manfred engaged Teresa in a magical duel in the sky: "Gaze of Nagash!"
"Crystal Mantle!" Teresa summoned a sparkling ice tornado, wrapping her slender body in layers of frost, blocking Manfred's spells. With clenched teeth, she released another spell while resisting Manfred's magic: "Call of Soika!"
Call of Soika, an eighth-ring spell, created by the first frost domain sanctuary witch Soika, caused an explosion in the camp, then a towering ice tornado eight meters tall. The battling Blood Knights were swept up into the sky, their rigid bodies slightly frozen, but after only a few seconds, cracks appeared in the ice, and the Blood Knights broke free. The freezing armor injuries that would kill a normal person had no effect on them.
Manfred, pressed by the powerful magic, couldn't open his eyes. Clenching the Blasphemous Blade, he decided to engage in close combat, sensing the sorceress was countering him through overdrawing her life force and magic potions.
"Ah!" Gerard's chest was pierced by a Blood Knight's sword. He kicked the knight away, clutching his chest, retreating. Alfred was drenched in blood, a halberd aimed at his face, forcing him to finally cast a divine spell: "Shield of Faith!"
"Teresa, how much longer!" Ryan's Sword of Vengeance cut through a Blood Knight's armor. He felt at least two sword blades graze near his head.
"Fifteen seconds!" Teresa's face was pale as paper, the teleportation spell nearly ready, but she was out of mana!
"Ugh!" The sorceress once again overdrew her bloodline's power, raising a two-meter-tall ice wall between her and Manfred.
Useless, Manfred extended his hand, and his powerful necromancy quickly melted Teresa's ice wall.
Are we going to lose? The sorceress collapsed in despair.
It seemed her end was near; despair was evident on Teresa's face.
Mana was gone.
All seemed lost.
Standing before her, Manfred raised the Blasphemous Blade: "It's over! This will be your graveyard!"
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