Ascension of the Nephilim

Chapter 55 - To Tie Up Loose Ends

Kyros forced the dying knights to take a bite at his arm and drink his blood even as he was human.

The blood that Kyros gave to them was a lot of blood. And as the curse of the Undead flowed through them, a mysterious change occurred. The blood of Kyros enhanced the curse, and it transformed into a previously unseen form of power.

Just like the Vampires next to them, they were becoming something more.

Kyros was allowing these three to feed more blood from them, and their bodies' recovery became more evident.

Mardock was shocked at what he saw.

"What is this?!"

"Mardock. It's a good thing they didn't follow you..." Stoph glared at Mardock and called out in First Word.

"Stoph... You used your powers?!"

"I had to! This boy is far more powerful than you think!" Stoph questioned angrily.

Mardock didn't answer.

"How many of our golems do you think died?"

"With those Lizard spawns? There was Char Black Lizard among them! We would have lost thirty or so, golems!"

"Wrong! Not a single one died!" Stoph argued back.

"What?! Impossible! The Lizardmen at the start would have killed some of our men! Their arrows could pierce through Clay Golems!"

"That is why we were wrong! Our ways of fighting are very, very inferior! I have seen just how strong the Golems are in our battle! We didn't lose a single one! The Iron Golems were at the front. The archers were unable to kill them or penetrate their armor! With that, we were able to close the gap!"

"Why would you put the Iron Golems in front! That would waste their life source! And they would be fighting Dark Lizards or Swamp Man-Gator!"

"The boy found a way to get behind the enemy lines and used an attack that caused the Man-Gators to lose their footing! He then disrupted the archers and allowed the rest of the Golems to attack since the Man-Gators were being killed! We killed all Man-Gators and killed more than thirty Lizardmen!"

"At the cost of the Life force of the Iron Golems?"

"Are you stupid?" Kyros couldn't take it in.

"Which is more expensive? Creating more Clay Golems or restoring the life force of the Iron golems?"

"Restoring the life force? That's impossible!"

"No. He did it to some of our Iron Golems. It was minimal, and the restored life force was already depleted by the end of the battle. But he can. Given enough time, he could restore all the Iron Golems, including my energy." Stoph interrupted.

"Heh. I don't need time. I have the means to recover everyone's energy! It won't take time. It will be almost immediate!" Kyros laughed.

"You do?" Stoph was amazed.

"Yes. But since this Mardock plotted to kill my family, not one bit of that power will be given to him or his division!" Kyros vowed.

"Kill us?" Scarlet asked.

"That's why my Uncle didn't want you to go down. This golem may have offered an escape, but his golems down there would have attacked you! If Uncle didn't have Warriors Instinct, this idiot golem would have killed you!" Kyros shouted.

Stoph's expression turned ugly. He was afraid that Kyros would find out.

"You brat dare curse me?!" Mardock shouted.

Kyros retrieved the Blood Blade and bit down on it. After absorbing the blood, Kyros threw the blade, which stabbed easily on one of the open wounds of another dead lizard. He then retrieved the Earth Core.

"Stoph. Come over here." Kyros ordered.

Stoph approached without hesitation.

Kyros channeled the Earth energy and bestowed it on Stoph.

Both Stoph and Mardock could sense the power of Earth being sent to Stoph and refueled Stoph.

"What?!" Mardock couldn't believe it. He laughed at the claims of Stoph but seeing as how the Earth Energy infused with Stoph proved that the boy could indeed do what he claimed to. The boy also appeared to be devoid of strength after losing so much blood. He then thought that if the boy had recovered, he could do more than this.

Kyros retrieved the Blood Blade and drank more blood.

"So what? That little recovery rate is a hundred times slower than our Life Birthing Earth Core! It would take forever for you to recover enough mana just to-"

Another round of Earthen Energy was bestowed on Stoph.

Mardock was shocked.

"Stoph, begin bringing the dead lizards back to your base. We don't know when the lizards will be sending their reinforcements here. Also, help carry my men. I wish to have another audience with your king."

"Impudent!' Mardock roared once more.

"Mardock! This boy has the power to control the darkness! I've seen him summon shadows! He has means and magic that we never knew!"

"That's right, Mardock. I have magic and power beyond your understanding. I will tell you this. My value will quickly surpass yours. And when that happens, I will ask your king to execute you to compensate for nearly killing my family!" Kyros vowed.

"Die!" Mardock raged and attacked.

But suddenly, Stoph stood in between and blocked the blow.

Several Iron Golems also rushed in and surrounded Kyros as they glared at Mardock.

"You choose to ally with a stranger over me?"

"No. I choose to ally with the hope of our city over the foolishness of one senile golem!" Stoph defended adamantly.

Mardock glared angrily at Stoph and began to retreat.

"We shall see what the king thinks of this fool!" Mardock laughed.

"Newt!"

Kyros insulted Mardock in First Word. He had no other insults, but in anger, he shouted the N-word hoping to irritate Mardock.

Mardock gave a strange and confused look before descending down the small tunnel.

"Scarlet... How is everyone?" Kyros asked Scarlet.

"They are recovering!" Scarlet happily declared.

"The curse of the Vampire is taking effect. The blood I gave them stabilized their condition. I can feel my blood circulating in them. It's keeping the heart and mind alive and not moving elsewhere. As expected of the Fallen Fang ability." Kyros was relieved.

"I don't understand, Lord Kyros."

"They're safe. Though their bodies are badly wounded, the flow of blood that came from me is now focusing on keeping the body and the mind alive. This gives us time to head to the Temple and heal them." Kyros gave a broad explanation.

"How did you feel their blood flow?" Calaminus couldn't help but ask.

"I gained that ability when the Fanged Fallen awakened. I can feel my lifeblood being absorbed and nurturing the vampires and even these Knights. How else did you think I managed to command Avary from here as to what directions he should take?" Kyros asked.

It was only then that Calaminus recalled Avary. He checked the map, and Avary was already near the Temple!

"The Coven! Of course! Their lives are now linked to yours! Amazing. The Fanged Fallen's powers are not to be underestimated!"

"Treat me as someone who has the power similar to that of vampires. But even stronger. Vampire Lords can easily manipulate blood just as how the Blood Blade clan was able to forge their signature weapon." Kyros smiled.

"Stoph. Please bring us all back." Kyros finally asked Stoph after confirming that the knights were not dying.

"As you wish." Stoph obediently followed and gently carried the group.

"Also, bring me the same way we came in. I want to take a few bodies for myself."

Stoph agreed. He had noticed Kyros's strange ability to cause the bodies of lizards to disappear.

Stoph carried Kyros, and the Iron Golems carried the allies, and the group began to move back.

Outside, the other golems had already begun to transport the dead bodies of the lizards.

Meanwhile...

In the dark and abandoned Nephilim Sealing Temple...

The strange darkness that pervaded the Temple and it was constantly healing the severely wounded Vampire.

The Vampire had no limbs to walk or even crawl a few hours ago. But the darkness was so potent that it was allowing this Vampire to recover and managed to restore parts of his limbs.

"Do I leave now...? Or do I wait?" The Vampire asked himself.

The Vampire was Zid Blood Blade. When the team was teleported away, he remained, and the entire Temple suddenly released strange dark magic that began to heal him.

The silence of the cave remained, and he was hesitating on whether to leave or stay.

"That brat and his men were taken somewhere... But will they return? I must report to my family this Temple!" Zid Blood Blade vowed.

The workings of Fate were cruel. Aside from teleporting Kyros and his family elsewhere, Kyros's advantage and preparations would soon become pointless. Once Zid Blood Blade leaves this place, the Steele family would find itself at odds with a vampire clan. Such was the cruelty in limiting the success of Kyros.

Fate allowed Kyros to succeed, only to take everything away.

"This Temple clearly has a strange power. If we gain access to this... then we can win the favor of the Eldrich!" Zid sneered.

He then turned towards his legs and watched them being healed.

"I must concentrate and channel the dark energy that my body is absorbing to my legs. I have to get out here!" Zid closed his eyes.

SLASH!

"AHHHH!" Zid suddenly felt pain as the legs that recovered were destroyed.

As he opened his eyes, a small figure cloaked in darkness was there. 

The sword stabbed down on Zid's throat.

"Zid Blood Blade! You struggled quite a bit! To think you almost fled from me! It's a pity that you will die now. The Scarlet Sword will be next! Soon, all Vampires will fear the terror of my Master! Cracky Batcheeks the Naked Offender!" The dark figure laughed.

"And to you, Prime Bonder of the Blood Blade, wash your neck! Your atrocities will soon be repaid! The Knights of Perragrim will kill you and enslave your women! You will regret serving the Eldrich! Hahahaha!" With a swift motion, the dark being slashed upwards and slew Zid Blood Blade.

The dark figure waited several seconds and began to walk away.

"Lord Kyros. I did everything. Now, all that's left is to meet Lord Branze, and I would have completed my mission!" Avary began to move with great haste. He followed all of Kyros's instructions.

All of a sudden, an eerie feeling came to him, and Avary stumbled.

A few seconds later, Avary stood up once more.

"What was that?" Avary frowned. 

A split second later, he knew there was no time, and he began to head towards the entrance of the cave to meet with Branze Steele.

Back near the Golem city, the vampires and the unconscious knights trembled.

Scarlet and Gregory stumbled from their march.

"What was that?" Gregory exclaimed.

"Relax, Gregory. That was Fate." Kyros smiled. He was waiting for Fate to target him.

"Fate?" Gregory was confused. As a being of darkness, he could sense a strange disturbance in the air. It was as if the claws of death were after him.

"Looks like Avary has finally tied up the last loose end. How's that Fate?" Kyros laughed.