VBNWDW - Chapter 94
Chapter 94
As the night grew still, the capital of the Heracles Kingdom fell quiet.
A black-robed figure, who had been waiting for a long time, emerged from a corner. Space warped for an instant, and they vanished, reappearing inside the city walls.
Yueqing cautiously scanned her surroundings. After confirming no one was around, she continued forward. Hampered by the seal, she could no longer act as recklessly as before.
She pressed on, heading toward the very center. Although she didn't know her destination, the dragon could sense an extremely dense concentration of light elements somewhere in the palace, a beacon in the dark that was impossible to ignore.
But to the dragon's surprise, the place wasn't a palace or a room, but a garden. And it wasn't much of a garden, either; with only a few flowers, it resembled a dense jungle. The verdant treetops rose above the high walls, stirred into a wave by the wind.
A squad of guards patrolled along the high wall. Servants walked past with light steps, their heads bowed low, as if a man-eating beast lurked within.
A thoughtful glint flashed in Yueqing's eyes. The next second, she took advantage of a gap in the patrol and appeared directly inside.
Before she even had a chance to hide, Yueqing felt herself step on something strangely hard. She instinctively looked down.
A fractured skull lay in the thick grass. Its empty eye sockets stared upward, its jaw shattered, as if it were looking at Yueqing, roaring in ferocious anger.
Not only that, but the air was thick with the heavy stench of blood, so strong that even someone with a stuffy nose could smell it clearly.
Looking around, she saw that the plants were all unusually lush. Even the grass under her feet grew past her ankles, to say nothing of the other trees.
From further away, the sound of angry shouting carried over. The grating, duck-like voice of someone whose voice was breaking was highly recognizable as it shrieked in fury: "...Didn't you say the god would help us! Where is he! Is he waiting for the entire Heracles Kingdom to be destroyed before he makes a move?"
"Are you people treating me like a fool? The Roy Kingdom has already captured several of my cities! All you give me is some useless blessing and tell me to order my army to sneak around to Anthelia! They've been lying in wait for so long without making a single move."
"All we can do is watch as the Roy army attacks us bit by bit!"
The other person's voice was calm and steady, making it harder to hear clearly, but one could guess it was some sort of placating remark.
However, the first speaker, far from being soothed, grew even more frantic. "I don't want to hear this nonsense!"
"You promised that if we declared war on the Roy Kingdom, the Lord God of Light would intervene, deal with that dragon and the Roy army, and allow the Heracles Kingdom to become his followers. But what about now!"
"The God of Nature has already abandoned us, and now the God of Light wants to use us too…"
"Nestorius!"
He was cut off by a loud shout before he could finish. The other person continued, "The Lord God of Light will not abandon any of his believers, nor will he spare anyone who betrays him."
"His Lordship is only holding back because of the Dragon Clan's presence. He cannot act directly and has been waiting for the right opportunity. Look, didn't the Atl Kingdom find their chance?"
The other person temporarily suppressed his anger and said sarcastically, "The Atl Kingdom isn't going to change its faith. Why shouldn't the Lord God of Light take care of his own believers first?"
"As soon as the opportunity arises, His Lordship will surely act."
Yueqing frowned deeply. This short exchange revealed a great deal of information.
She had heard the name Nestorius before. He was the current king of the Heracles Kingdom, having inherited the throne before coming of age. He was said to be frail and sickly, rarely leaving his castle. However, unlike the royal family of Roy, his power had not been usurped; on the contrary, he wielded immense authority.
The person he was speaking with was a believer of the God of Light. For some reason, the Heracles Kingdom had been abandoned by the God of Nature and had no choice but to turn to the God of Light.
Yueqing glanced down at the skull. The reason didn't seem hard to guess. She wanted to continue listening, but she heard a wary shout.
"Who's there!"
She snapped back to her senses as a bolt of light magic shot toward her, a killing blow launched before her identity was even confirmed.
"A Great Magister?"
Based on the converging elements, Yueqing immediately judged her opponent's strength, and her expression turned grave.
In the early stages, humans were indeed weaker than magical beasts; there were countless cases of junior mages being chased down by first-tier beasts. But the further one progressed, the smaller the beasts' advantage became, to the point where humans could even challenge beasts of a higher tier.
Normally, Yueqing wouldn't have cared, but now her opponent was a notch stronger than her…
With a flick of her wrist, Yueqing conjured a sixth-tier wind spell, and an invisible, transparent wall materialized before her.
Without pausing, she summoned another wind-based defensive spell in quick succession.
Fortunately, her opponent hadn't used their full strength in this probing attack. The blade of light struck, shattering both layers of defense. Nearby tree trunks snapped and the lawn was torn up, revealing that it wasn't just the skull at Yueqing's feet—the further in one looked, the more skeletons littered the ground.
Most conspicuous of all was a pool of blood, which rippled from the shockwave. Once uncovered, its unbearably foul stench spread through the air.
Seeing the black-robed Yueqing, the two men inside wore grave and vicious expressions.
The middle-aged man attacked again. This time, his incantation was noticeably longer. No matter who was outside or how much they had heard, he was determined to silence them.
The king with the duck-like voice retreated to the side, his face pale and the circles under his eyes dark. The elemental surge knocked him to the ground.
The light elements converged into a ten-meter greatsword. As the middle-aged man raised his staff and brought it down, it was as if an unseen hand wielded the sword, cleaving downward at incredible speed.
The mere shockwave forced the guards outside the wall back dozens of steps, their faces filled with panic.
As the primary target, the pressure on Yueqing was immense.
But she wasn't flustered. After a moment of thought, she decided not to reveal her identity just yet.
With a flip of her hand, a seventh-tier scroll appeared in her palm. This was from a stash Yueqing had prepared for Her Majesty the Queen in a moment of boredom. She never expected to use it herself before she could give it to the queen.
The scroll was forcefully torn. A fierce wind rose around her, and a translucent longbow suddenly appeared in Yueqing's hands. As she gripped the string, an arrow of the same color materialized on the bow.
She took a step back with her left foot, her black robe lifting for a moment before settling. Her gilded eyes were calm and steady. When she released the string, the wind arrow shot toward the holy sword, carrying an invisible ripple of power.
The descending holy sword did not slow, swinging to meet the arrow head-on.
Boom!
The arrow and sword collided with a tremendous crash. Without watching the result, Yueqing raised her bow and drew the string again, nocking another arrow.
The holy sword's speed seemed undiminished, but a crack had appeared on its blade, spreading rapidly.
The middle-aged man's expression was grim. He gripped his staff tightly and began chanting again.
Yueqing fired seven arrows in rapid succession, each aimed at the same spot. The knuckles of her drawing hand were turning purple from the strain.
Bang! Bang!
The final arrow caught up to the tail of the second-to-last one. The two arrows struck the crack one after another, and the holy sword instantly shattered. Its body broke into fragments that rained down like a shower of deadly pear blossom needles.
Yueqing quickly summoned a wind shield to envelop herself. The ordinary people outside the wall were not so lucky; those struck by the fragments died instantly, their flesh torn and bones shattered.
The wind shield shuddered repeatedly under the impacts. The surroundings were a complete wreck. Blood from the pool splattered everywhere, mixing with broken trees, shattered branches, and scattered bones. The wails of those who were hit but not killed filled the air. For a moment, it was as if one were looking at a projection of the underworld—and the one who had caused all this was a mage of holy light.
"Go!"
The arcane incantation finally ceased. An orb of light in the air, radiating terrifying pressure, smashed down like a giant meteor.
Yueqing instinctively took another step back, but she felt vines sprouting rapidly from the ground, twining around her ankles.
It was Nestorius, who had been sitting on the ground. Though his personality was gloomy and volatile, he was capable of using his head.
If word got out that the God of Nature had punished the Heracles Kingdom and refused their faith because he had used blood sacrifices to increase his power, the country would surely fall into turmoil, and his throne would be in jeopardy.
With his deal with the God of Light so close to fruition, how could he stand by and watch Yueqing escape? Even if he couldn't defeat her, he had to do his best to stop her.
To Yueqing, however, these were weak and clumsy little tricks. She let out a cold snort, and the vines were utterly annihilated.
Instantly, the orb condensed from light elements was right above her head.
Another scroll. A seventh-tier light shield appeared before her.
The meteor crashed down. The light shield dimmed instantly. Although it didn't break, the force of the impact gouged a semicircular crater in the ground below, a testament to the spell's terrifying power.
The next second, Yueqing, who had been on the defensive, began to chant. A fierce wind rose from where she stood, roaring as it swept up broken wood and dirt, and charged toward her opponent.
Because of the earlier probing attacks, the middle-aged man had mistakenly assumed Yueqing was slightly weaker than him, only able to resist because of her numerous scrolls.
Thus, he grew careless. He tapped his staff on the ground, and a defensive spell appeared.
Seeing this, a faint smile touched Yueqing's lips, but it froze the very next second.
The suppressed poison finally bared its fangs, taking advantage of the battle to quietly corrode the seal.
Meanwhile, the light mage across from her began chanting once more.
"Holy Retribution!"
As the final word of the incantation fell, the black-robed figure suddenly pulled out a scroll. The space around her shifted subtly for an instant.
The light mage noticed immediately and shouted, "They're trying to escape! Stop them!"
A cage of light and a field of vines appeared simultaneously. One descended from above while the other entangled Yueqing's legs. At the same time, Holy Retribution, the signature attack of a Great Magister, finally fell.
A blinding light instantly engulfed an area of over ten meters. The pool of blood evaporated in an instant, walls crumbled, and people died. Even those outside the distant city walls could see the flash as the ground began to shake.
Three breaths later, the light mage rushed forward, waving away the dust, intending to see if the person inside had survived. But to his surprise, using the cover of the ash-filled air, Yueqing suddenly appeared at his side, a dagger plunging forcefully toward his abdomen.
In his panic, he didn't even have time to block, relying purely on instinct to dodge to the side.
His widened pupils reflected the tattered black robe. The dagger instantly pierced his side, and blood gushed out.
The next second, the dagger was withdrawn. The scroll she had been holding was unfurled, and space instantly warped as the black-robed figure vanished.
"After her! She's injured too, she can't have gone far!" he roared, his hand unable to stanch the flow of blood from his side.
It all happened in a flash. Nestorius, standing nearby, only caught a glimpse of the black robe rising and falling before the person was gone.
He immediately shouted, "Guards! Guards! Go after her!"
Meanwhile, Yueqing had already appeared outside the city walls. The dragon, having taken the blow with her formidable physique, was instantly drained of all color, her face as pale as paper. She raised a hand to her mouth and let out a few muffled coughs. When she opened her palm, it was filled with dark red blood, with a small clot faintly visible within.
But that wasn't the worst of it. The poison in her body began to tear at her ferociously, as if retaliating for its recent confinement with a desperate madness.
Though Yueqing didn't faint like Metis had, she wasn't much better off. She turned to look back and saw soldiers on horseback already in pursuit.
She gritted her teeth. No longer needing to rely on scrolls, she tore open space with one hand and appeared a hundred miles away. She repeated this process several times.
As her remaining elemental power dwindled, the poison grew ever more rampant.
"Lord Yueqing!"
Just as her consciousness was fading and the pain became unbearable, she finally teleported into the Roy army's camp.
Ivo, who had been waiting anxiously, rushed to catch her. Yueqing leaned completely against her, lacking even the strength to stand. She forced her eyes open, trying to speak, but was wracked by several more bloody coughs.
"Atl… Heracles… and the God of Light have allied…"
"Talia and the others… were defeated…"
Barely piecing the words together, Yueqing's vision turned gray, and a constant ringing filled her ears. With her last ounce of willpower, she pushed on, "Tell Her Majesty… there are enemy troops hiding in Anthelia… be careful…"
Those few short sentences were enough to soak Ivo's mage robes red.
Ivo nodded frantically. Just as she was about to urge her to get treatment, she saw Yueqing's body stiffen. Her pupils contracted violently, and a hoarse voice seethed with boundless rage, "How dare you!"
Back in the palace of Heracles.
Nestorius was cursing loudly, "You can't even stop one heavily injured person! What are you good for!"
"A bunch of useless trash!"
The light mage sat beside him with a grim expression, his hand still pressed against his bandaged wound. His eyes darted about before he finally said in a cold voice, "We'll have to move the plan up."
Nestorius turned his head in surprise, only to see him crush a gemstone that radiated an aura of light.
In the city of Anthelia, brilliant sunlight scattered down, as peaceful as any other day.
In the empty room specially cleared out for the dragon whelp, Mo Wen stood in full armor, sword in hand, her staff placed where she could grab it at a moment's notice. Although nothing had gone wrong these past few days, she maintained a high level of alertness.
The Purple Cloud Eagle, however, was bored out of its mind. It sat nearby, preening the fake feathers it had glued on, and complained, "Why are you being so careful? What race in this world would dare to oppose the Dragon Clan? They're famous for being overprotective of their young."
It glanced at the stubborn little knight and added, "Why are you so obstinate? If someone really dares to come and steal the dragon egg, I'll sign a master-servant contract with you."
"How could anyone dare to target a dragon egg…"
Annoyed, Mo Wen kicked at the bird. "Just stand guard properly and stop messing with that pile of fake feathers."
If they fell off, the bald bird would start wailing again, pestering her to help glue them back on. It was incredibly annoying.
Mo Wen couldn't help but frown, once again feeling disdain for her contract partner.
Suddenly, Mo Wen's heart began to pound uncontrollably, and a cold sweat broke out on her back—an instinctive reaction to the approach of death.
The Purple Cloud Eagle sensed it too. It shot to its feet and whipped its head toward the window, the glued-on feathers standing on end.
They didn't even have a chance to speak. The attackers had been lying in wait for who knows how long, striking the moment the order was given.
Several bolts of light magic, the strongest at the seventh tier and the weakest at the sixth, shot toward them with thunderous force. The thick walls seemed to melt away, collapsing into the room.
All their vigilance was for naught. Only at the most critical moment did the Purple Cloud Eagle turn and spread its wings, shielding Mo Wen and the dragon egg beneath them. The lightning that appeared around it was instantly crushed by the light elements.
BOOM!!!
The entire city of Anthelia shook. The lake at the magic academy churned with waves like the sea, and newly grown leaves fell from the trees to the ground.
In the council hall not far away, Metis shot to her feet, her gaze fixed on the castle across from her.
Half of the castle had been blown away. Furnishings and masonry clattered as they fell.
The one person, one dragon egg, and one eagle that had fallen to the bottom could no longer be described as merely disheveled.
The Purple Cloud Eagle's entire back was charred black, emitting white smoke and a foul, burnt smell. Mo Wen, who had been protected beneath it, was not much better off. Most of her armor was shattered, and her body was covered in blood, the sources of her injuries unclear.
The only one in better condition was the dragon egg she held in her arms. It was slightly scorched but completely undamaged.
The sound of footsteps on rubble grew louder as people ran toward them.
Mo Wen, most of her bones broken, somehow managed to cling to a sliver of consciousness and force her eyes half-open. Her hand instinctively grabbed a brick beside her.
A group of people in white robes appeared, their expressions a mixture of terror and urgency. They roughly flipped the Purple Cloud Eagle over and reached for the dragon egg.
Mo Wen, not yet fully conscious, acted purely on instinct. She raised the brick and threw it at one of them with all her might, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
The brick struck bone, and the man cried out in pain. A flash of hatred crossed his eyes. He picked up a piece of rubble and smashed it viciously against Mo Wen's head.
Mo Wen let out a muffled grunt. A large hole was instantly torn in her head, and blood gushed out.
"Forget her! Let's go!" someone else urged anxiously.
There was no time for revenge. The man forcefully broke Mo Wen's hands, which were clutching the dragon egg, snatched it, and ran.
But they were still too slow. The summons of the partner contract brought the black dragon to the skies above Anthelia in an instant.
A roar of absolute fury suddenly erupted, echoing across the entire plain.
"Run!"
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