"What, what is that?" Ryan widened his eyes. How could such a beast appear in his vineyard during the Winter Festival?
"That is a Sphinx beast," Olica, the dark elf, realized immediately. "It shouldn't be here, master. It should be active in the Necohara Desert!"
"Damn it!" Ryan saw the creature rampaging through his vineyard, grabbing the dead body of the vineyard manager with its pincers and swallowing it, belching loudly before continuing its hunt for more prey.
Out for the holiday, Ryan wasn't wearing his psychic power armor nor had he brought his war hammer!
"Olica! Protect Morgiana and Amelia!" Ryan reached behind his back: "I'll handle this beast!"
"Clang~" Ryan hadn't brought his war hammer and armor, but the Goddess of Vengeance was always with him.
The Goddess of Vengeance, ablaze with white flames, was unsheathed as Ryan leaped from the window. Amidst the howling cold wind and heavy snowfall, the Champion of the Lake Fairy landed nimbly on the ground. He raised his sword and roared at the beast, "Come here, Sphinx! This is not a place for you to run wild!"
"Roar~ Wuuah~!!!" Seeing another human appear, the Sphinx let out a huge roar.
Ryan's roar not only drew the beast in front of him but also the Grail Knights stationed within the vineyard. Almost instantly, the lights of the annex lit up, with the Grail Knights rapidly mobilizing and donning their gear. Even during the restful Winter Festival, they never slackened in their devotion to their goddess.
With a flutter of its giant wings, the Sphinx charged directly at Ryan, its hands massive pincers. Seeing Ryan charge towards it fearlessly, a bloody and ferocious grin appeared on the Sphinx's human face as its pincers shot forward, aiming to cut Ryan in half.
Just as it had devoured that human.
"Ha!" Ryan had already anticipated the beast's intentions. Clasping the hilt with both hands, the Goddess of Vengeance glowed with a pale blue light in the cold night. Almost instantly, as the pincers reached him, the blade of the Goddess of Vengeance fell.
"Bang!" Silver sparks and the sound of intense friction appeared on the Sphinx's pincers, followed by the creature's agonized scream as Ryan chopped off a segment of its pincers, yellow blood spraying from the wound. The beast, in pain, kept retreating.
With its attack interrupted, Ryan pressed forward, stepping quickly towards the Sphinx.
On the second floor of the vineyard, Morgiana, supported by Amelia, approached the window. The face of the Lake Witch was full of shock: "A necro-Sphinx, why is it here?"
Amelia's sword at her waist was trembling. The young maid noticed the anomaly, but pretended as if nothing was happening: "A necro-Sphinx?"
"It's a half-biological, half-metal construct from the Necohara Desert, a war beast of the Tomb Kings, but… why here?" Morgiana couldn't hide her astonishment.
Olica, the dark elf, furrowed her brows, recognizing the creature as well. First noticing Morgiana's unsteady stance, then looking at Amelia and her trembling sword.
She began chanting, summoning her staff.
Through the window, the Sphinx was engaged in a fierce battle with Ryan. Its body, covered in metal and filled with flesh inside, was harder than steel, but Ryan was not hindered. The Goddess of Vengeance sliced easily through the tough metal.
"Roar~" Continuously at a disadvantage, the Sphinx's robust body indeed proved formidable. While the Goddess of Vengeance could slice through its carapace, it struggled to penetrate deeper layers. The beast briefly retreated, then charged forward violently.
The piercing cold wind made it hard for Ryan to keep his eyes open, prompting him to swiftly dodge. The Sphinx charged forward, missing and trampling a patch of grapevines.
"For the lady!" The Grail Knights appeared, fully armed, raising their swords and shields to encircle and attack the Sphinx.
The beast quickly sensed danger; it could tell that all the surrounding humans were formidable. The human in front of it had been fighting tirelessly without defeat, not to mention so many Grail Knights.
After being continuously attacked by the Grail Knights, the beast was at a disadvantage. The necro-Sphinx lowered its head and let out an angry shout. Its human face opened wide, spewing a torrent of green flames.
The Grail Knights raised their shields to block. The green flames couldn't penetrate the blessings of the Lake Fairy.
Seizing the opportunity, the beast suddenly spread its wings and flew into the sky. In the air, it roared angrily, releasing more green
flames that quickly covered a swath of the vineyard. Fortunately, due to the heavy snow, the flames did not catch fire.
"This is bad!" Ryan's expression changed as the beast flew directly towards the vineyard!
Atop the vineyard, the faces of Morgiana and Amelia changed as well. The young maid quickly supported the Lake Witch: "Princess Morgiana, the Sphinx is heading our way. Please step back for a moment!"
"Damn!" Morgiana instinctively wanted to summon her magic power, but found herself completely drained, except for a bit of psychic energy left by Ryan in the runes carved into her.
Morgiana was reluctant to use this power, but had no choice but to try.
At that moment, Olica was chanting: "Forces of chaos, heed my command, by the name of Urs, pale flames of doom."
Somehow, a massive staff appeared in the dark elf's hands. The staff was dark blue all over, topped with a huge ruby.
Dark magic surged and swirled around Olica, entering her body and gradually turning into a purer deep purple. Her waist-long hair fluttered with her movements as she stood in place, gently swaying her staff, the power of dark magic gathering around it.
Then, the dark elf released all her magic in one breath: "Huff~"
"Seventh-tier magic, Annihilating Magic Arrow!"
The sky burst open, a violent thunderstorm erupted from a ball of dark purple light, and pale lightning, thicker than a bucket, tore through the cold night air, striking directly at the Sphinx.
"Boom~ Crack~ Boom~" Deafening explosion sounds echoed as the Sphinx was obliterated in mid-air without any resistance, its golden wings shattered, exploding in the air less than five hundred meters from the vineyard, turning into ashes, leaving only smoke and debris.
"Wow, Sister Olica! You're amazing." Seeing the crisis averted, Amelia let out a sigh of relief, her pretty face full of admiration: "I had no idea you could cast such powerful magic."
Having cast such a powerful spell, the dark elf's complexion turned slightly pale. She smirked, casting a disdainful glance at the Lake Witch.
Morgiana's face darkened immediately.
After a while, Ryan returned. His body was covered with snow. The Count sheathed the Goddess of Vengeance back into its scabbard: "Who knows where that beast came from. Durand is dead. According to the Grail Knights, it seems to have flown over from the nearby Oracular Mountains in search of food…"
"Master~" Olica suddenly went from calm to weak, stumbling a few steps before falling towards Ryan.
...
About three hours later, the Winter Festival dinner continued, the only difference being that the dark elf was sitting on Ryan's lap, enjoying being fed by Ryan: "Master, I want to eat this."
"Okay, Olica, you've earned it this time." Ryan picked up a piece of toast smeared with honey with his fork and fed it to the dark elf: "If it weren't for you, we would have been in big trouble. I don't even know how we would have handled that thing."
"Master, I want to eat this."
"Master, I'm out of strength."
The dark elf took the opportunity to act coquettishly towards Ryan, her face flushed, openly accepting Ryan's feeding.
Amelia was fine, but Morgiana's face darkened as the Lake Witch scooped up corn and vegetable chowder with a spoon, trying to divert Ryan's attention: "Why would a Sphinx appear in the Oracular Mountains? And even come to your territory, I think there must be a conspiracy, Sphinxes are war beasts of the Tomb Kings, could it be Settra? Or Arkhan?"
"I'm not sure either, the only thing we know is that for some reason this beast lingered in the Oracular Mountains." Ryan fed the dark elf as Amelia cut a turkey leg and brought it to Ryan.
Under the bright magic lamp and silver candlestick, the room was filled with joy. The attack by the beast did not affect the festive mood of Ryan and the others, except for Morgiana's poor expression.
"Sphinxes need to feed, they need to replenish their energy," Morgiana spoke with a trace of anger, her tone not very pleasant: "The Necohara Desert is hot and dry all year round, Sphinxes can hibernate for a long time, but the mild and rainy climate of Brittany, especially the cold of winter, is very uncomfortable for Sphinxes, so it must come out to feed."
"So the question is, why would the Tomb Kings place such a creature within the Oracular Mountains? I remember I have no enmity with the Tomb Kings." Ryan fed the dark elf the soup, pondering: "Then… the Lich King Arkhan? It doesn't seem like it."
Arkhan did come near his
territory, but was immediately defeated, with only the Lich King himself escaping. Under such circumstances, Arkhan would not have had the time to place a Sphinx in the Oracular Mountains.
Ryan felt the whole affair was very suspicious.
Ryan and Morgiana discussed this topic for a while longer without coming to any new conclusions. Seeing this, Ryan changed the subject, somewhat regretfully: "Durand is dead, his body was split in half by the Sphinx, the remaining half fell in the vineyard. I think I need a new vineyard manager."
"Sulia has many excellent winemakers." Amelia's tone also carried some regret: "Mr. Durand was very dedicated, but he was somewhat lacking in management skills. There are many excellent winemakers in the Court of Wintefort, as long as you speak to Sister Sulia, many winemakers are willing to work under your command."
"Is that so." Ryan did not show much response, simply nodding along.
The Earl knew his team was filled with various factions, including the tax collector Gaston sent by the Lake Fairy and the Lake Witch Morgiana, including the butler Kasenberg from the Wintefort Academy and his fiancée Sulia, as well as many foreign knights and local knights, dwarves and wood elves, even Olica the dark elf.
Factions needed to be balanced, but when it came to winemaking and managing a vineyard, undoubtedly the Grand Duchy of Wintefort possessed the Old World's most skilled winemasters.
Next were the winemasters of Bordeaux and the winemakers of Cacao.
"Then I will write to Lord Francois, asking him to send a new vineyard manager to me." After thinking it over, Ryan decided to seek help from his father-in-law.
Wintefort's wine culture was too famous, owning the Old World's only super first-class vineyard and two of the five first-class vineyards. The remaining three first-class vineyards were in the Duchy of Bordeaux, the Duchy of Connaught, and the Empire's Avian Region.
Since Ryan's rise, Duke Francois of Wintefort began to support and infiltrate his power, even marrying his daughter to him. Ryan's rise was greatly benefited by Francois's support, and naturally, he reciprocated, the commodities of the wood elves, the finely crafted weapons and armor of the dwarves, and the various magic potions produced by Veronica's Wizard Tower greatly promoted the continuous prosperity of the Duchy of Wintefort.
There must be give and take, without giving, there can be no receiving.
After dinner, the outside had turned very dark. Due to the delay, it was already past ten at night by the time they finished dinner, and it was time for everyone to rest.
"Princess Morgiana, I'll stay with Olica tonight, I won't be coming over." After dinner, while Amelia was washing dishes, Ryan spoke to the Lake Witch: "Olica... is a bit weak."
"She's weak? She looked fine earlier." Morgiana said sourly: "She became weak the moment you appeared."
Ryan had no good response, merely offering a smile. Morgiana was clearly sulking, mostly angry at her own uselessness. Under normal circumstances, a high-tier magic spell would easily deal with a Sphinx, but this time, the perceived enemy, the dark elf, had taken the initiative.
Returning to the master bedroom, after a simple wash, Ryan lay in the middle of the bed, Olica with a flushed face rested on his chest. The dark elf wore a purple velvet nightgown, her beautiful legs in black silk peeking out: "Master, today's events were somewhat strange."
"Yes, I also found it very strange." Ryan hugged his personal pillow, whispering in her ear: "Olica, you did well today. If it weren't for you, things might have gotten very complicated."
The dark elf wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck: "Master, do you think the Sphinx was targeting Princess Morgiana?"
"Otherwise? I suspect the Sphinx was indeed targeting Morgiana, the vampires have never stopped searching for her whereabouts." Ryan nodded.
"No… Master, I think, this beast, it's very likely it was targeting you."
"What?"
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