Chapter 4018: Tough Choices (Part 1) The Cursed Element flooded Nuron’s body from every side while the temperature around the Firbolg dropped over one hundred degrees in a split second. Surprise and actual cold froze Nuron in place, so that when Lith’s attack came, the Upyr had no way to defend himself. Lith struck where he knew the Root was, in the left hip, killing Nuron on the spot. ’I can’t afford to capture him alive and waste time interrogating him.’ Lith thought as he bolted down to help Tista. ’There might be other Upyrs in ambush, and if one of them rescued that Fae and brought him to the oasis, he would have healed himself and rejoined the fight in an instant.’ *** Griffon Kingdom, at the same time. People all across the land screamed for help while entire villages were trampled over by a single Upyr, while most cities faced the fury of squads of ten corrupted Divine Beasts. Ten corrupted Divine Beasts who flattened buildings like sand castles, sealed the Warp Gates with their Frost Soul, and slaughtered dozens of humans with a single sweep of their colossal limbs. Only alchemical tools were unaffected by the Upyrs’ bloodline ability since the spells alchemical tools contained had been cast a long time ago and then stored inside the frame of their vessel. Yet tier three spells were of little use against such titans. The soldiers and the alchemists could slow down the advance of the Upyrs and rescue the wounded and those trapped under the debris of the broken buildings, but that was their limit. "You’ll regret pissing me off!" Parmegianno Haug noticed the ongoing attack on the city of Zantia only when one of his patrons walked out of his Travelling Tavern and broke the Hushing spell that isolated the establishment from the noise of the outside world. "I’ll call the Council and- Drat!" His amulet wasn’t working, and neither were those of everyone else within Frost Soul’s area of effect. "Dryna, use those pretty wings of yours and get away enough to alert everyone. "And I mean everyone. Leave no rune uncalled." "On it, boss." The cute blonde barmaid said while shapeshifting into her real form, that of a gold-scaled Wyvern. "If this isn’t the time for the Council emergency summon, I don’t know what it is." She took flight, moving away from Zantia while maintaining a low altitude to escape detection until her communication amulet worked again. "Ladies and gentlemen, who is with me?" The bartender’s request was met by murmurs, no one dared look at him. "Seriously? Do you really want to stand there and do nothing while our host city is destroyed?" "Those are Divine Beasts, Haug." A Dryad said. "Why should we risk our lives for nothing?" A Scorpicore asked. "They are big, and we are small." A human shrugged. "Also, those Upyrs all have at least a deep violet core, whereas most of us are stuck at the bright blue, if not at an even weaker core. There’s nothing we can do." "Not with that attitude!" Haug grumbled. "Come, my disciples. Let’s show these cowards how..." Most of those who worked at the Traveling Tavern were Awakened youths that Haug had rescued and taken in as his disciples. He didn’t like to be a mentor much, but the position granted him the authority to protect the Awakened youths from their respective families. He was their teacher, their parent, and their employer. All the more reason why his voice trailed off when he noticed that not one of his apprentices had stepped out of the Tavern. "Sorry, boss." A strikingly cute girl said. "It’s not that I’m afraid of death. I’m absolutely terrified." "How much are you going to pay me if I come out of this alive?" A handsome youth asked while crossing his arms. "Because unless we are talking about a permanent and significant raise, I’m not risking my life on a waiter’s wage." "Even if I were an Awakened, I wouldn’t fight those monsters even if you gifted me the Tavern." Zelima, a non-Awakened cook, said. "You ungrateful brats! Aside from Zelima, of course." Haug yelled in outrage. "I-" A storm of fire lit the sky as bright as day, engulfing the Upyrs. The Divine Beasts screamed in pain due to their black hide offering them no protection against the bite of Origin Flames. A murder of Wyverns dived in the wake of the mystical flames and hit the Upyrs with fangs, talons, tails, and spells. The Divine Beasts were much bigger, but also much fewer in number, and none of them had the Wyverns’ bright violet core. "Don’t worry, Elder Haug. I’ll take care of this." Ghirslak, the Patriarch of the Wyvern bloodline, circled above the Travelling Tavern with the members of his honor guard. "You two, protect these cowardly mice. "Everyone else, with me. Let’s show those imposters that no child of Leegaain is afraid of a fake Divine Beast!" Ghirslak roared his challenge and bolted forward. He killed one Upyr by biting his neck and flooding his blood with acidic venom. The honor guard killed another just as fast, but only because they conjured a Silverwing’s Annihilation. The two Wyverns that Ghirslak had left behind looked at the Upyrs in hatred, their spike-ending tails quivering in ill-repressed desire to fight. Then they turned to the Awakened they were tasked to protect, and their eyes became full of contempt. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞 "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Haug said as the murder of Wyverns flew out of the Frost Soul, breathed the Origin Flames in, and unleashed them while diving back into the fray. "I’m not going to lie, boss." The cute girl said. "As long as I don’t have to fight the army of the Dead King, the Wyverns can call me however they want." "I’m back, boss!" Dryna landed in front of Haug without bothering to hide her surprise at finding him still there. "Are we going to fight or not?" "Of course we are!" Haug replied. "Excellent work, Dryna." ’Thanks, but I didn’t do much.’ She said via a mind link as he mounted on her back. ’The Council already knew of the attack when I pressed the emergency rune. Otherwise, Patriarch Ghirslak would have never gotten here so quickly.’ ’I’m glad to hear those old farts are actually taking this threat seriously.’ Haug Spirit Blinked the incoming spells against the Upyrs, allowing the young Wyvern to fly in a straight line. ’How did they know?’ ’The Royals warned them.’ Dryna bit an Achilles’ tendon off, toppling a corrupted Divine Beast. The Upyr lost her balance and then her life to a murder of Wyverns that buried her under their talons and Origin Flames. ’Battles like this are taking place all over the Kingdom, and no one wants the Dead King to gain a foothold in the Kingdom and become a second Thrud.’ ’That’s a bit dramatic.’ Haug replied while neutralizing a tier five Spirit Spell with an emerald barrier. ’Narchat is nothing like Thrud.’ ’You’re right. He’s worse.’ Dryna’s words left her mentor flabbergasted. ’The Mad Queen only had a little over thirty Divine Beasts at her command, whereas the Dead King has deployed over two thousand Upyrs across the Kingdom for this attack. ’There’s no telling if this is his full army or if he has more Upyrs in reserve.’