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Chapter 159
Chapter 159
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]
Chapter 159
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the heavens and earth.
Caspian's royal guards, who had been maintaining the barrier, were pushed back by the impact.
Still, as the Guards of the Poison Lord, they managed to withstand the blast.
Of course, the barrier shattered into countless fragments afterward.
“Ugh,” Caspian groaned, overcome by the toxic poison energy.
He was using a breathing technique to transform the poison into power, but it was no easy task.
The toxicity was a mix of oblivion and poison magic, making it even more formidable.
Even so, he showed no signs of pain.
Then, a faint voice reached his ears—.
“Save... me...”
A dying man's whisper.
He had been caught in Sandra’s explosion.
Groans echoed from all directions.
“My skin... it's melting!”
“I can’t see anything!”
“Hey! Is anyone there?”
“Aaaaargh!”
There were those who lost their sight.
People whose skin was dissolving in the poison.
And women screaming in despair.
The cacophony of anguish was overwhelming.
“If I hesitate, the damage will only grow worse,” Caspian resolved.
He hardened his heart, knowing that confronting the enemy half-heartedly could lead to even greater destruction in the city.
Despite the inevitable sacrifices, he decided to use powerful magic.
Magic formations appeared around both his wrists.
“It’s the Poison Lord’s Poison Wave! Everyone, get out of here!” the royal guard leader shouted loudly.
Caspian pressed his hands against the ground.
“Rot away into nothingness.”
Thud!
The earth trembled.
Poison energy surged from his hands, spreading across the ground in all directions.
The toxic wave swept through everything like an ocean tide.
The ruins of collapsed buildings dissolved in the poison.
But that wasn’t all.
Death Fiends, monsters, and even the priests of the House of the Sun—they all flailed as if drowning in the sea of poison.
“What is this?!”
“Why... why me?”
“I can’t escape! Somebody help me!”
Death Fiends melted and vanished in an instant, unaware of their own deaths.
Watching Caspian’s magic, Fifth Elder was horrified.
“Has the Poison Lord always been this powerful?”
He barely managed to hold off the toxic energy.
But he couldn’t let his guard down.
The poison seeped through the barrier he had created.
A moment of negligence could spell disaster.
“I need to retreat and regroup with the Solar Knights,” he decided.
Alone, he couldn’t stand against the Poison Lord.
But he believed that the Solar Knights’ commander could easily subdue him.
As he began casting teleportation magic to escape—
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
The Poison Lord’s voice boomed, filled with menace.
In an instant, he closed the distance to Fifth Elder.
The Poison Lord’s true strength lay in his toxic martial arts—
Close combat.
The Poison Lord’s technique involved infusing toxic poison energy into his fists and feet, delivering devastating blows.
When combined with close combat, this made him an exceptionally challenging opponent.
Even a mere graze would allow the poison to infiltrate his enemy, causing immediate intoxication.
BAM!
The Poison Lord’s fist shattered Fifth Elder’s protective barrier.
“Gah!” Fifth Elder gasped in shock.
Not only had his barrier been broken in an instant, but the poison seeped in through his breathing, weakening him further.
The Poison Lord didn’t give the Fifth Elder any time to recover or neutralize the toxin.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
His fists and feet struck Fifth Elder’s shoulders, abdomen, and legs in rapid succession.
“Ugh!”
Fifth Elder coughed up blood as he was hurled backward, crashing into the remains of a building.
Even as Fifth Elder tumbled into the rubble, the Poison Lord didn’t relent.
As Fifth Elder was about to hit the ground, the Poison Lord’s foot came down hard on his head.
CRACK!
“Argh!”
The blow was so forceful that the earth itself dented under the impact.
“Intruding on the Orchid Kingdom warrants a punishment of dismembering you piece by piece, but consider yourself lucky. I’ll grant you the mercy of a swift death,” the Poison Lord declared.
Just as he was about to crush Fifth Elder’s skull completely, he sensed multiple massive greatswords closing in on him.
BOOM!
---
* * *
A golden blade slammed into the ground, radiating an overwhelming pressure.
The newcomers were none other than the Destruction Knights, clad in full golden armor.
Thanks to their intervention, Fifth Elder narrowly escaped death.
“Are you all right, Fifth Elder?” one of them asked.
“Urgh… Thank you,” Fifth Elder groaned, regaining some composure.
“The Commander of the Solar Knights ordered us to assist you,” the knight explained.
“With you here, the Poison Lord’s reign of terror is over,” Fifth Elder replied, his voice filled with renewed hope.
Although slightly inferior to the Solar Knights, the Destruction Knights were immensely powerful.
They were the elite unit of the House of the Sun, known for their unmatched prowess.
When they mobilized, entire nations could be razed in just a day.
Their strength was legendary.
And they were 300 knights in the unit.
Each member was equivalent to a lower-level executioner, making them a truly fearsome force.
The word "Destruction" suited them perfectly.
Surrounding them were priests of Radience from the House of the Sun.
“Heh, Poison Lord, today you die where you stand,” Fifth Elder mocked, his laughter filled with glee.
Thanks to the oblivion energy, his crushed head began to regenerate.
“Let’s see if your powerful toxic poison martial arts can stand against us.”
Before Fifth Elder could finish his sentence, the Destruction Knights launched their attack.
Golden energy radiated from their greatswords as they charged at the Poison Lord.
BOOM!
Caspian blocked the oncoming greatsword with his toxic martial arts.
But his opponents numbered in the hundreds.
As soon as an attack was deflected, another knight stepped in to replace the previous one.
Even though Caspian was incredibly powerful, his adversaries were no ordinary foes—they were of lower executioner rank.
Three hundred warriors, each at the strength of a Beginner-Tier of 7-class.
Even Caspian couldn’t hold his ground against them all.
Splurt!
Blood splattered.
A wound had opened on Caspian’s body.
As the battle dragged on, his injuries multiplied.
Of course, his royal guards weren’t idle, but they were no match for the enemy.
Thud!
Some were pierced by greatswords, while others were chained by the priests’ magic.
The number of Caspian’s royal guards dwindled rapidly.
Enraged, Caspian prepared to cast another powerful spell.
“Not so fast.”
“Did you think we’d just stand by and let you cast magic?”
A colossal greatsword was thrust toward him at incredible speed, cornering him.
Still, Caspian was one of the top three among the Twelve Star Lords.
He managed to repel the Destruction Knights and began chanting his next spell.
“Toxic Bloom.”
Tiny particles seeped into the ground.
Moments later, dozens of trees burst forth from the earth.
As flowers bloomed on the trees, a sweet aroma filled the air.
Hiss...
Simultaneously, a green mist began to spread.
“It’s a poison mist!”
“Such a cheap trick!”
“Scatter before the mist reaches us!”
True to their elite status, the House of the Sun warriors quickly assessed the situation and retreated from the mist.
But the poison mist was merely a decoy.
The true danger lay in the toxic trees.
The branches moved, grabbing hold of the Destruction Knights by their ankles.
When they tried to sever the branches with their greatswords, the trees grew back thicker and more numerous.
Thwack!
Poison thorns tore effortlessly through their sturdy golden armor.
As the Destruction Knights struggled, the Radiant Priests sprang into action, casting healing magic.
In mere moments, their wounds closed, and the poison was purged by the priests’ powerful spells.
Fifth Elder watched the scene with a look of disbelief.
“Is this truly the strength of one of the top three of the Twelve Star Lords? The rumors underestimated him.”
Caspian’s strength was far greater than Fifth Elder had anticipated.
Frankly, he had believed that, aside from the First Lord, the other Twelve Lords could be dealt with by someone of Elder rank.
But he had been wrong.
It was an arrogant assumption.
To take Caspian down easily, someone of the Solar Knight Commander’s caliber would have to intervene.
Look at him.
He was holding his ground, fighting alone against the Destruction Knights and the priests of Radience.
He showed no signs of being overwhelmed.
"But in the end, he’s alone. He won’t be able to hold out long against such numbers."
And, as expected, Caspian began to show signs of fatigue.
“Heh, at last, the monster is beginning to fall,” Fifth Elder chuckled, waiting for the opportune moment.
He aimed to strike when Caspian became too exhausted to defend himself.
However, Fifth Elder’s plans were disrupted.
Out of nowhere, a swarm of bats appeared in his line of sight.
“What an ominous sight... bats, of all things?”
---
Meanwhile, Desdemona appeared beside Kane.
“Desdemona? How did you get here?”
“I answered the Blood Summon.”
“I didn’t summon you.”
“Your Blood Rune sent a signal to me.”
Even as Kane spoke, he continued firing mana arrows without pause.
“An enemy?”
“Perfect timing. Join the fight. You seem a lot stronger than before.”
“You’ve grown stronger, so I’ve grown accordingly.”
“Good to hear.”
“Are those humans our targets?”
Desdemona’s gaze fell on the humans who had not yet joined the battle.
“I’ll handle them. You need to assist on the inside.”
“The situation inside looks dire.”
“Our enemies are those opposing the Blood Rune.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Desdemona soared into the air and disappeared, followed by her subordinates.
When she arrived, she saw dozens of trees that had been cut down.
A group was overwhelming a lone figure.
After identifying her allies, she immediately intervened.
Without hesitation, she and her forces entered the poisonous mist.
To vampires, poison was nothing more than a light snack.
After all, bats naturally carried all kinds of diseases and pathogens.
Even the poison of one of the Twelve Star Lords had no effect on vampires.
When Desdemona extended her pale arm from beneath her cloak,
a massive wing of blood unfurled.
As she revealed her other arm, the second wing came into view, and the full glory of the Vampire Lord’s Blood Wings radiated power.
Liquid from the air began to rise toward the sky.
“A perfect day for obliteration,” she murmured.
As her words ended, a crimson vortex swept through the enemy ranks.
The Destruction Knights tried to cut through the vortex with their massive blades,
but instead of dispelling it, they were drawn into its furious spin.
“Arrghhh!”
And that was just the beginning.
From Desdemona’s hand emerged a whirlpool of blood.
Even the mighty Destruction Knights were shredded upon contact.
Other vampires, too, began to unleash blood magic just as potent as hers.
With the sudden arrival of the vampires, the battle descended into chaos.
“Huff… Huff… Is this Kane Rehinar’s… Huff… Blood Rune? At least they’re allies... Huff... but I never imagined vampires could be this powerful.”
The vampires that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere displayed overwhelming strength.
Based on known intelligence, even a Vampire Lord was believed to peak at 6th-Class.
Yet, here, the weakest among them were already in 6th-Class.
“At least I can catch my breath now.”
Where had Kane managed to forge ties with a race like this?
The thought piqued his curiosity about Kane’s true identity.
Kane the son of the Guardian Lord,
What kind of history did he share with these extraordinary beings?
Even in the heat of battle, such questions swirled in his mind.
But one thing was certain.
Kane was a steadfast ally to Orchid Kingdom.
“If this war ends and I’m still alive, I’ll owe Kane Rehinar my gratitude.”
If he survived, it would all be thanks to Kane, who stayed to fight alongside him.
“Alright… Time to move again. First, I’ll crush that bastard’s head.”
Caspian, who had taken a moment to gather himself, was back in action.
His target was Fifth Elder.
Such a man needed to be eliminated swiftly.
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]