Chapter 3776: A Secret Well Kept (Part 1)

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 เม.ย. 2569 05:40

Chapter 3776: A Secret Well Kept (Part 1) Protector blocked rarely and traded blows most of the time. Blades cut his flesh, staves bludgeoned his skin, and maces broke his bones. Yet he bit back for every hit he took, sometimes literally. Whenever an Upyr came too close, either willingly or pushed forward by the crowd, Protector’s maw opened and swallowed a good chunk of their bodies. It restored the reserves of his Life Eater bloodline ability and sustained the illusion of his immortality. No matter if a vital organ was pierced or a limb bent into many unnatural angles, it healed faster than a Fae, and Ryman kept on fighting like it never happened. Each time he traded blows, he would come out of it weakened, but an Upyr would come out of it dead. Fear and the dwindling numbers of Orpal’s soldiers made his enemies retreat instead of advance, worried about their own survival more than killing their common enemy. The Upyrs soon lost any semblance of teamwork, allowing Protector to focus solely on those closest to him. "Please, Stop!" One of the few remaining Upyrs had landed a lucky shot that had turned the Skoll’s head into mush. "I surrender!" ’I don’t care!’ Protector’s flesh and bone rebuilt themselves so fast that it looked more like time reversal than regeneration. He returned the favor to the Upyr, but the Minotaur had no healing abilities, so his head remained crushed and the Emperor Beast fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood. The surviving Upyrs froze in terror and dispelled Frost Soul to Warp away. Protector conjured the power of the arrays to stop them and killed them with precise, merciless blows. ’I can’t stop here.’ He stumbled forward as his ragged breath foiled his attempts to activate Invigoration. ’I need to recover. Meln might send more reinforcements, and I can’t stop them. Lith might need my help out there, and I can’t help him.’ As if Protector’s thoughts had summoned him, Lith appeared in the room, quickly followed by the others. "I’m sorry it took so long." Lith said, panting. "There were a lot of those bastards, and they played it smart." "I know." Protector wheezed. "I..." "Don’t talk. Save your strength. For better or for worse, it’s over." Lith used Invigoration on the Skoll, bringing him back to his peak. *** Distar Household, at the same time. "How in the nine hells did you cockroaches survive the blast?" Orpal asked in amusement as the dust cloud lifted by Doom Tide settled down. He had used the full power of Dusk’s bloodline ability, yet none of his opponents was dead, not even the toddler. Milla was actually the best protected one, surrounded by the solid Davross of the baby safe. Her parents fared much worse. They were still alive, but broken and beaten. Doom Tide had drained the world energy from the surroundings, depowering most of the arrays and making all kinds of spells useless. Brinja’s and Ainz’s armor were now burdensome pieces of metal, and everything they had prepared for that day was for nothing. They could still heal themselves with the magic stored in their spell-holding rings, but they couldn’t conjure more spells to replace those they consumed. ’Easy.’ Night replied via their mind link. ’This place is not fueled by a mana geyser, but by a lot of powerful mana crystals. Our Doom Tide doesn’t affect he crystals’ world energy reserves, and they can keep fueling an array even after a Doom Tide. ’These guys were smart enough to set their daughter as the first priority and themselves as the second. The mana crystals never stopped powering that safe-thingy and the stasis fields. ’It prolonged their lives of just a few seconds, but it’s still quite a feat. Speaking of feats, where are our Upyrs? We brought dozens of them with us, yet we are doing everything ourselves. ’I swear that if those ungrateful curs defected us now that they don’t need any more blood infusions, I’m going to make them regret ever-’ Night took her communication amulet out of her pocket dimension, discovering that many contact runes were missing. ’They’re all dead?’ "Step away from them, Narchat, and I’ll kill you." A silvery figure stepped through a hole in the wall, her steps producing no sound despite the heavy armor she wore and the great sword she wielded. "Don’t you mean, or I’ll kill you?" Orpal gave the Queen a mocking bow. "I know you are just a clone, scum." Sylpha replied. "And I’m going to kill you, no matter what you do. The only variable is how much you’ll suffer. I also know that the real Narchat will suffer your wounds as well. "So, here’s my offer." She never stopped advancing, and for some reason Orpal couldn’t avert his eyes from her. "Kneel, offer me your neck, and I’ll finish this in one blow. Otherwise, this is going to be long and pleasant. For me." "As a Royal to another, I suggest you reconsider." Orpal’s spear crackled with Life Maelstrom as he pointed it at Brinja. "Take one more step and I’ll kill everyone in this room. Your Saefel Set may be powerful, Queen Sylpha, but you’re weak. "You are not even a true Awakened human, whereas I’m an Awakened Divine B-" "Please!" Sylpha sneered and took one step. One step that brought her in front of Orpal and the tip of her blade millimeters away from the prism in his chest. "You’re but a self-appointed king. Something that any child and buffoon can do. I earned my crown!" The Dead King quickly adjusted his grip on Thorn and blocked the blow, but the impact sent him flying against the wall. ’What?’ Shock more than pain froze him as the violence of the impact squeezed the air out of his lungs. ’How did she get here? The nearest Warp Gate is hundreds of kilometers away, and the attack started a few minutes ago.’ Contrary to what the general public knew, the late Mirim Distar had a private Warp Gate built inside her mansion. Yet she used it only in case of emergency and relied on the Gate of the Mage Association for everything else. She had done it to keep the existence of the Gate and her activities as the lord commander of the Queen’s Corpse a secret. Brinja had maintained the façade, allowing Queen Sylpha to arrive the moment the alarm had resounded. She had stepped inside the Distar Household before Orpal and had taken care of clearing the field from any unknown variables before making her entrance. "Sorry for the wait, kid." Sylpha turned her back on Orpal like he wasn’t even there. "I didn’t expect to find so many Upyrs. You did a good job holding out on your own." "I wasn’t alone." Brinja accepted Sylpha’s hand to get up, and the mere touch restored her armor and healed her wounds. "I would have never made it without Ainz." "Headmaster Distar." The Queen nodded to him and helped him to stand as well. "I’ve admired your work on my way here. You’ve slain quite a few of those poor excuses of a Divine Beast. "You’ve done your part. Get your family to safety and leave the rest to me."

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