Chapter 36 – Night Falls; Blood King Strikes

A loud explosion and blood-curdling howls echoed through the middle of the night as Maximus jumped out of his bed. “So, it begins.” he frowned and quickly put on his armor.

He summoned Embi, who buzzed cheerfully as it activated its blessing.

“Hey, buddy, we’re going to fight. Take care of yourself, okay? You too, Sprout!” Maximus said quickly as he left his room, leading Silex outside and breaking into a run toward the gates.

On the way, he met up with Felix and Oscar, who were rushing as well. “Our damn luck, huh, Oscar?” Felix sighed, trying to keep pace.

“Story of my life, mate!” Oscar muttered, sprinting beside him.

***

The group arrived at the city gates, where a large number of participants had already assembled. Maximus shifted into his lupine legs and jumped onto the empty spot on the city walls, only to see the fields of Scorching Lily already up in flames and wolves circling, trying to find a way through.

Those beasts are intelligent… They actually activated all the flowers before anyone got hurt. What in the seven realms is this? Maximus frowned as he noticed behind the dozens of smaller wolves a massive beast standing tall, towering, and staring menacingly toward them.

“It’s the king. We are screwed now!” Someone screamed.

So, that is the Blood King… Now that is a beast worthy of being called a king. Maximus stared for a moment longer before lunging over the walls and grabbing the vine he had prepared earlier.

He held onto it and stayed low, waiting for his opportunity just as a howl rippled through the burning fields.

A thick red membrane enveloped the wolf before it rippled outward like a wave of blood, extinguishing the fires and even detonating what remained of the lilies.

With a final, aggressive roar, blood-red winds of mana exploded from his maw and scattered what little remained of the flames.

Seeing this, his pack howled and charged toward the village. Dozens of crimson-furred wolves surged forward, their eyes blood-red and filled with unrestrained rage.

Maximus remained calm and waited, and just as the wolves passed a good distance from the Lily fields, they suddenly started to fall through the ground. With fearful squeals, they fell into deep, spiked holes and ditches filled with poisonous water, and as they did, a flash of light burst from Maximus’s location as Static Surge activated, sending violent currents of electricity through the vines and electrocuting the wolves.

They cried out as they took severe damage, but it wasn’t strong enough to kill any instantly, only to snare them for a while as the poison seeped deep within.

What remained of the wolves, around thirty or so, began spitting globs of coagulated blood, collapsing the underground traps before slowly advancing.

They noticed Maximus and snarled before spitting thin, piercing beams of blood mana in his direction.

Maximus activated Barkskin and jumped back onto the city walls, hiding behind the stone as he crouched, frowning. “Well, that didn’t work as planned.” Franko sat next to him as the walls trembled.

“They are more intelligent than I predicted,” Maximus said, frowning deeper. “Let’s try the bombs. If that fails… I fear we might be in serious trouble.” Maximus sighed and waited for the attacks to subside.

A few minutes passed before the wolves stopped their ranged attacks and rushed toward the walls. When they were in range, Franko screamed, “Whoever was assigned the bombs, throw them now!”

Participants rose, pouring mana into the poisonous vials Maximus had prepared, and hurled them at the wolves.

Even before the bombs could land, they detonated in clouds of black smoke and fire, covering the entire field in suffocating darkness.

As the poisonous smoke spread across the battlefield, the sounds of choking and agonized coughing began to fill the night. With the fading screams, the darkness slowly thinned, revealing a field littered with dead wolves.

With most of his pack either dead or trapped in the pits, the Blood King howled and lunged forward, moving like a living shadow before landing amid his fallen pack. He cried out three times, and then mana enveloped his form, sprouting bloody tentacles that slithered outward and stabbed into the corpses of the wolves.

Maximus rose, his eyes widened. “It cannot be…” He muttered as the smaller wolves suddenly twitched and rose, their wounds closing as if nothing had happened.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“It’s reviving them. What the fuck?!” Franko shouted, his hand twitching around his rifle.

“I’m afraid it’s worse than that,” Maximus said quietly as he observed the scene through his World Sense.

Before him, the world of darkness lit up. He saw fire mana and numina still seeping through the ground where the lilies had burned before, blue water mana and numina flowing beneath the surface, crackling with electricity, and through it all, an oppressive, almost living mass of blood mana covering everything like an enormous octopus centered around the Blood King.

Countless chains linked the smaller wolves to King’s form, feeding them mana and numina, and what Maximus noticed, which made this even more terrifying, was that they contained absolutely no spirit energy, meaning they were not alive… and probably had not been for a long while.

“I think these wolves are part of his ability. He is either controlling dead wolves or creating new ones. As long as he lives, we won’t be able to win this,” Maximus said coldly, making Franko grind his teeth.

“Well… shit then…” He muttered before barking orders. “If we want to survive, we need to go all out. Melee classes, prepare to descend in five minutes. Ranged and healers, take the walls. Everyone, focus on the big bastard!” Franko shouted as he leaned his rifle on the wall, aiming at the Blood King before unleashing a laser-like beam with a loud, buzzing roar.