Chapter 302: 159. Yet Another King -2 (Part Two)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
historical
Edited by RED
“His Majesty the Holy Emperor has arrived-!”
“Roar and cheer forth! We must not let the screeches of the undead reach the ears of the citizens!”
Both the Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse, and the First Imperial Prince Luan Olfolse, shouted out at their men.
The royal guards in charge of defending the Imperial Palace now stood in orderly rank and file up on the outer walls. They nocked arrows and bolts coated in holy water.
Ballista bolts with gleaming tips made of silver took aim at their targets.
“Lift them up! Hurry!”
Several symbols of the Theocratic Empire, emitting gentle rays of light that resembled the Chinese character for ‘wood’, were installed in various spots along the outer walls.
Priests were praying, while the Magicians were chanting their spells.
Crown Imperial Prince White shifted his gaze away from them and to his front, outside the wall.
He could see fifty thousand undead, spread out across a wide area and rushing towards the city, with many vampires mixed in among them.
White loudly roared out, “Fire!”
The ballista bolts of silver, arrows coated in holy water, and various magic spells were launched indiscriminately.
The approaching undead were instantly extinguished without a trace.
Lengthy trails of fire guided by the magic spells landed on the ground and exploded, yet two Progenitors leapt out from the explosions unscathed. “We shall open up a path!”
These two Duke-class vampires quickly discarded their human facades. One of them was called Duke Agares, who boasted a lower half resembling a crocodile, while his upper torso looked like an old man. He slammed his palm down on the ground.
The earth below rumbled and began splitting apart.
Cracks ran up on the sturdy outer wall and the soldiers standing on top staggered unsteadily.
“Ku-ooooooh!” the other Duke howled out. This creature possessed the gigantic head of a lion, yet there was no torso. Five beastly limbs sprouted out from the head like a windmill. This vampire’s name was Duke Buer.
He rolled along on the ground, and everywhere he rolled past was gouged out and caught on fire.
His body crashed straight into the sturdy wall, causing it to rock even more, yet the structure didn’t come down.
The two Dukes became flustered. “How can this be? Why didn’t it break down?!”
To think that the outer walls surrounding the Theocratic Empire’s capital were this sturdy!
They stared at the part of the outer wall with cracks running on it. They then noticed runic letters containing silver and Eltera powder engraved in the cracks.
“...Defensive runes?”
“Sheer insanity! Does this mean they cast this sort of magic on the entirety of the outer walls?!”
It was at that moment that the Vampire King riding on the Cerberus entered the fray.
The Paladins up on the outer walls cried out, “Target that creature!”
“It’s the Vampire King!”
The ballista bolts and arrows descended on the three-headed hellhound, but before they could reach their target, the Vampire King held his spear up. Droplets of blood rapidly formed on the weapon’s surface.
He swung the spear, sending out a wave of spear light that utterly obliterated the platform on top of the outer wall.
“...!”
The Paladins flinched nastily and stared at their comrades who had been blown apart to death.
-Ku-aaaaaahk!- The dead knights turned into ghouls and began pouncing on their former comrades immediately.
“We will break through!” the Vampire King commanded while tugging at the reins of the Cerberus.
The three-headed monster slammed its entire body against the cracked outer wall. The structure rocked before collapsing in a heap.
But right at that moment, a huge stone sword flew out from beyond the collapsed portion of the wall. The edge of the blade brushed past one of the cheeks of the Cerberus.
The Vampire King raised his head, and the other vampires rushing towards the outer walls all flinched and stopped in their tracks. They imitated their king and also raised their heads to look up.
“...But, we never heard about something like that existing before?!”
They could see that, beyond the collapsed outer wall, there was now a gigantic goddess statue at least twenty metres tall. In its right hand was a stone sword, while its left was carrying Kelt Olfolse, who himself was wielding a large warhammer.
The eyes of the Vampire King under the bandages grew wider. “Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse.”
“Vampire King Vlandmir.”
These two absolute beings glared at each other as grins spread on their lips.
Their madness-filled glares locked on each other as their weapons took aim. The biggest hindrances to each of their goals were now standing right before their eyes.
“To think that I’d get the chance to cut off the head of the Holy Emperor so soon.”
“I’ll tear your skull off and show it to my grandkids later!”
Cerberus charged forward. The goddess statue also pounced towards its target, while Kelt leapt from the statue’s hand and took a mighty swing with his warhammer.
The Vampire King deftly wielded his spear to deflect the incoming hammer.
Meanwhile, the goddess statue took a step back, pulled out the shield mounted on its back, and slammed it against Cerberus’s head with incredible force. The head in the middle groaned in pain, while the other two on the left and right tried to bite the statue.
Every time the huge monster and the goddess statue did something, their surroundings were destroyed.
“We seem to have run into a rather troublesome existence.”
“Please don’t even mention it. It feels like there are just no peaceful days in this place.”
Oscal the Sword King and Cardinal Raphael quipped to each other while glaring at the crumbled section of the outer wall. A ‘blacksmith’ with a hulking physique, a vampire ranked as a Grand Duke, was walking into the city through the open gap.
This creature was easily over two metres tall, and its whole body was crimson in color. A pair of horns adorned its head. Its right hand held a hammer one might see in a smithy, and in its left was a pair of tongs.
Although his weapons seemed a bit crude, the demonic energy leaking out from this creature was completely on another level compared to every other vampire Oscal or Raphael had fought against before.
“And who you two might be?” Grand Duke Ivaldi glared at the duo of the Sword King and the Cardinal.
“I’m Oscal Baldur.”
“Raphael Astoria.”
Ivaldi was taken aback by the replies of the two humans before him, but that state lasted only for a few seconds as a creepy grin formed on the vampire’s lips. “I wonder. What kind of a masterpiece will I get to create if I use the blood of you two?”
——
At the same time...
Crown Imperial Prince White and First Imperial Prince Luan were standing on top of the outer wall, frowning deeply. But that was because a pair of monsters, Duke-class no less, were blocking their path.
“Luan, you think you can deal with one?” White asked his son.
Luan could only tut unhappily. “I’m not a monster like my younger brother, father. Maybe if I trained diligently for the next ten years or so, then yes, it might be possible. But it’s a bit of a stretch right now.”
“Hahaha! I guess you’re right. In that case, I’ll leave command of the troops to you.”
Luan worriedly looked at his father. “Can you emerge victorious?”
“Obviously... not. But just who am I? I’m one of the best at fleeing, don’t you remember? If it gets too much, I’ll escape, so don’t you worry, son.”
“...I shall pray for your good fortune.”
“You too, Luan.”
Luan stepped back, while White confronted the two Duke-class vampires with his sword drawn.
Fifteen thousand troops currently stationed in Laurensis versus fifty thousand members of Army of Blood...
The war between the two forces finally got underway.
**
Meanwhile, somewhere in the basement of the Imperial Palace...
Duke Kirum used the confusion of the war and infiltrated the Imperial Palace under the guise of a regular human being.
He had another task to carry out at the moment.
‘The majority of the imperial forces are focused on the battle outside. It’s now or never, in other words!’ While thinking that, Kirum swallowed drily out of sheer nervousness.
His heart was pounding madly away, dreading the idea of the Imperial Family members suddenly sneak attacking him out of nowhere.
‘I will not be able to sneak in here unless it’s now!’
The corpses of members of the Order of the Golden Cross, charged with the security of the palace, were strewn about in front of the vampire. However, there was still a survivor, leaning against a wall, and his eyes were dull and glazed.
Kirum grabbed the throat of this member of the Golden Cross and demanded, “I’ll ask you again politely. Where is he?!”
“...Ah, ah, ah...” The Golden Cross Paladin’s body convulsed. Just as his lips parted and some words threatened to leak out, “...For the glory of His Majesty...”
He tried to bite his tongue, but Kirum quickly blocked the attempt with his finger.
The vampire’s expression contorted in displeasure. To think that this human tried to commit suicide, instead!
Things could not be delayed any longer. Kirum discarded his human facade and revealed his lengthy arms and even longer legs.
He reverted back to looking like a bizarre clown with an emaciated body. He leaned in closer and whispered into the ear of the Golden Cross Paladin like some kind of a devil, “I asked you, where is he! Answer me, livestock!”
He now spoke in Spirit Speech.
Kirum possessed the ability to seduce humans and brainwash them into doing his bidding. Even then, this Golden Cross Paladin didn’t want to tell him what he wanted to hear.
‘What a bunch of stubborn bastards!’
Just how deep their devotion and loyalty ran, anyway?!
Kirum’s expression displayed how fed up he was right now, but he still shouted at the Paladin nevertheless, “Out with it! Where is...!”
Right at that moment, the eardrums of the Paladin burst apart and blood began pouring out from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. “...Underground... f-forty... fourth floor... location...” The Golden Cross Paladin opened his mouth and muttered his last words, “That’s where... Second... Prince Ruppel...”
Kirum released the Paladin at the end of the sentence. The lifeless body sagged against the wall as a creepy grin floated up on the vampire clown’s face.
And so, it was now time to make preparations to welcome back the Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.
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