The loud cheers of joy & worship filled the battlefield as soon as this Vampire Lord showed up.
Although over three thousand of the soldiers had died just from a single wave of attacks from this First Stage Saint Rank magician, the sudden last moment shield of swords made by the clan leader saved the lives of the remaining 7 thousand soldiers.
Even 8 warships that could kill 30 thousand enemies on their own failed to kill & defend against this one mage. If not for their leader showing up in nick of time, many more would've died; even more brutally at that.
"To think that you of all people were colluding with our enemies and betrayed the clan. I'm truly disappointed in you, Sir Kereberos.
You were there when all the founding clans came together and fought against the Imperial Army. You yourself led thousands of soldiers in that war. But now.." spoke Ismatrazel who was flying two hundred meters above the ground.
"You've become the very thing you swore to destroy."
Spoke the vampire clan leader, shaking his head in disappointment.
Although they were located approximately 4 Kilometers away from each other, not only the mage but every single person present in the 10 kilometers radius could clearly hear his domineering voice.
The Fourth Stage Saint Rank Swordsman was on a completely different league than the former. Even his calmly spoken words had a completely different intensity to them.
The simple words that were amplified using the World Energy had an indescribable force & authority that could not be described.
"What do you know… You and your father ruled over the clan for 2 centuries now. Your rule will only ruin us and we vampires will grow weaker if you keep prohibiting us to kill humans and others for blood. We must use these livestocks as they were meant to be.
We are natural predators & rulers. We're meant to hunt & rule like kings!" declared Kereberos, the elderly vampire mage as if a fanatic was giving their speech full of self-proclaimed doctrine.
"So that was it? Is that your reason to betray the clan by selling off my son, one of the candidates for the clan leader's position to our enemies? What would you even achieve by betraying your own to those who only want our demise?" asked Ismatrazel.
"You should know that our entire species was once prosecuted and hunted in this very empire because many of our predecessors killed indiscriminately and as a result, we were boycotted by the entire empire 400 years ago.
From being the public enemy to now becoming the leader of one of the strongest factions of the entire empire.. Do you know how hard it was for our ancestors to keep our species alive?
If not for my father.. Our clan would have regressed to bottom of the power structure after the loss we suffered a century ago.
And now we already have a system where we buy fresh human blood and everyone gets their fill for the month.
Unlike the vampires of the other empires, we're not bloodthirsty monsters." elaborated the vampire clan leader.
"Hah! Spoken just like your father. I've spent 2 centuries serving the clan and I know for sure.. We've become far weaker compared to our predecessors. And you father and son duo have a big part in it." scoffed off the old mage.
"Sir Kereberos.. As my senior and someone who served the clan for this long.. I ask you to come with me peacefully.
Sir Belmont, your elder brother was also my teacher before he fell in the Great War. So I ask you to surrender.
Because if I am forced to use even the slightest of my strength.. Given the difference between our levels; I can't guarantee that you will survive." said the Vampire Lord.
[[Author : Reference Art for Ismatrazel Mor Vandereich, the Vampire Clan Leader given in chapter comments. Check it out.]]
Only now did the thousands of soldiers understand that why was their mighty and absolute leader was talking with the fallen elder than just directly forcing him to concede.
The orders from the Faction Council were to apprehend this elder and the vampire lord wasn't afraid of not having enough strength.. But rather being too strong that he might accidentally kill the elderly mage.
"If you think I will surrender without a fight.. Then you're gravely mistaken." spoke the old mage and waved his staff. 5 different artifacts suddenly appeared in front of the mage and the source of mana started channeling to the staff that was the medium of casting the devastating spells and elemental attacks.
Just from the heavy pressure exerted by these spells alone. It could be felt that all strength & intensity behind these attacks was being amplified by 5 to 6 times.
The normal soldiers and the operators who stood on the ground and in the remaining warships were completely rooted on the spot despite being 5 Kilometers away from the source. To them.. It didn't feel like some Saints were fighting, rather it felt like some Gods were now getting ready for a fistfight.
The majority of the soldiers finally understood why Saint Rank fighters were prohibited from fighting in a populated area as agreed by all the factions in the empire under a pact made over a hundred years ago after the Great War.
Just the normal attacks from these beings were enough to kill thousands of soldiers and citizens.. The amount of destruction these people could cause was completely unfathomable.
One by one, dozens of defensive barriers came into existence and completely encapsulated 2 kilometer radius from where the Elder Mage floated in the air.
At the same time, all those archaic and tall magic formations started flying in a single direction.. In the direction of the clan leader who still flew in the air with a carefree attitude.
One by one, these formations queued up and aimed at the Clan Leader as the vampire mage was citing magic spells and stacking all these different elemental spells.
The most destructive spells started coalescing with each other and formed a harmony.
The frozen soldiers in the ground were completely awestruck. Kereberos was doing something that they only heard in myths.
He was fusing different elements together including the ones that were considered to be incompatible with each other.
"So this is the extent of World Energy…" spoke a young human male who stood amongst a group that was watching this battlefield on projection artifacts and was currently in a warship 15 Kilometers away from the battlefield.
When the elemental attacks finally fused, a shrill cry filled the entire battlefield as the combined spell of these elements was finally ready to attack Clan Leader.
"Die!" shouted Kereberos as he shot the combined attack and a large and bright red beam full of world energy was charged in the direction of the vampire lord.
BBOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!
An ear-deafening explosion that formed a mushroom-shaped cloud as if a nuclear bomb exploded in this battlefield resounded in the 10 kilometers area was heard.
The soldier battalions far away felt the ground shattering and thousands of them fell on the ground from the tremors alone. Even the flying warships lost their balance from the shockwaves and sonic booms that were nothing but just the aftereffect of the explosion.
As for the main site.. Half of the forested area was now completely wiped out of existence and there were no trees or rocks. And the deep hole that a half a kilometer in height was formed.
If the previous attacks from the warships were completely unmatched... Then this combined attack by the mage proved to be five times more effective than before.
"Imbecile.. Did he really think that I didn't have enough cards in my inventory?" spoke the mage as he reveled in his victory as there wasn't even a trace of sand left where his spell landed.
The thousands of soldiers gasped in disbelief, many unable to process that their almighty clan leader was simply obliterated into nothingness.
As the cloud of explosion finally started fading after 3 minutes.. A tyrannical voice filled the 10 kilometers of the surroundings and gave shivers to everyone present in the vicinity.
"Are you done playing?" asked a majestic and kingly persona whose face was finally revealed to the onlookers.
The same place where the heaven-shaking explosion happened... A tall and mature vampire hovered in the air, simply using his palm that stopped the devastating magic spell.
Forget killing the vampire lord.. The combined spell that incinerated everything in the 10 kilometers vicinity hadn't even scratched his palm as the clan leader of the Vandereich clan stood like Neo stopping the bullets in the air just like the Matrix movie.
Thousands of soldiers and the vampire mage were left awestruck and completely baffled as soon as the vampire lord's voice confirmed that the Fourth Stage saint rank swordsman was still alive and kicking.. Completely unfazed by the spell made with world energy that was enough to kill 50 thousand people in a single shot.
"How.. It's impossible! That spell was more than enough to kill a Fifth Stage saint!!" exclaimed the elderly mage in disbelief, unable to accept the harsh reality.
"Oh, is that what you think happens when you rise in ranks as a Saint, sir Kereberos? Let me enlighten you then. By logic, I should be 3 times stronger than you given the gap in our ranks. But in reality..." said the Vampire Lord as he stopped in his words before continuing in a domineering and ghastly voice.
"I am 15 times stronger than you!"
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