Book 9: Chapter 58: Dead End

Before Liv and the White Giant arrived, the battle inside HELLSING Manor remained balanced. The Knights of the Round Table and the Vampire were equally matched. Though the Holy Crown of Thorns suppressed Alucard, victory couldn’t be achieved quickly.

To kill Alucard, the Holy Crown of Thorns needed to pierce his heart. Given the Vampire’s combat experience, such a mistake was almost impossible unless his body suffered major damage.

Meanwhile, the Vampire struggled to kill Lancelot either. The Knight of the Round Table wasn’t Father Anderson. Over a thousand years had fused the Holy Crown of Thorns completely into his body. In some ways, the Knight seemed less human than the Vampire—more like a sacred relic housing an Artifact Spirit.

Crushing Lancelot’s heart like with Anderson couldn’t kill him now. Only weapons powerful enough to turn him to ash would work.

In another part of the manor, Qin Lun’s strength fell short against Captain America with S-warrior support. He held his ground temporarily using Demon Transformation.

Despite the stalemate among the four combatants, Qin Lun was undoubtedly the weakest link. The Iceflame Demon’s attacks could harm the others, but its defenses paled in comparison.

Alucard and Lancelot aside, even Captain America remained hard to kill instantly thanks to his vibranium shield and S-warrior armor. In this situation, the White Giant’s arrival gave the battle-experienced Captain America an opening.

The chance vanished in an instant. Steve Rogers’ body reacted instinctively even before his mind processed it. The armor on the S-warrior’s back slid apart like mercury, ejecting Captain America outward.

Steve lunged right while the S-warrior charged left, trapping Qin Lun alongside the White Giant approaching from behind. Their triangular formation blocked every escape path.

For the first time, Qin Lun felt events slipping from his control. Thick dread choked his heart.

His eyes sharpened. Adrenaline sent his pulse racing wildly. Heat surged from his lower abdomen, nearly making him wet himself.

Facing imminent death, Qin Lun’s combat instinct overpowered his careful planning. He spun sideways instinctively, extending his left hand toward the White Giant.

Crack! Crisp sounds erupted. Pristine frost spread toward the White Giant’s feet, coating the ground in tiny, razor-sharp ice spikes.

Strangely, fiber-like vines grew seamlessly from within the spikes. They swayed gently like dandelions dancing in wind.

This was Qin Lun’s debut use of the Hunter class skill—Thorn Trap!

Sensing Captain America’s attack, the White Giant roared understandingly and charged Qin Lun recklessly, ignoring ice spikes piercing his feet.

But each crushed spike freed those wind-dancing vines. They thickened rapidly, winding up the giant’s calves. Though he ripped some apart, his charge slowed until a final roar signaled his imprisonment. He’d have to handle this botanical nuisance first.

Using both the Iceflame Demon’s frost talent and Thorn Trap against the White Giant, Qin Lun extended his Glove of Sacrifice-wearing right hand toward Captain America. A beautiful spark burst into life just an inch from his palm.

The spark ballooned instantly from pinprick to basketball size. Colors shifted from orange to blinding white. Air rippled visibly from extreme heat.

Boom! Unable to endure the swelling heat himself despite his frost gifts, Qin Lun swung his arm violently. A fountain of fire erupted from his palm—the final Magic Scroll stored in his Glove of Sacrifice: Inferno Burst.

Faced with this onslaught, Steve flinched. His shield snapped reflexively before him.

Clang! An overwhelming force struck the shield, hurling him backward into distant rubble. Dust plumed skyward.

Steve kipped up in shock. Smoke curled from his shield’s now glowing-red surface. Decades-old vibranium would’ve melted had the flames lasted another second.

Blocking both White Giant and Captain America left Qin Lun no time to counter the S-warrior’s blow. Pain lanced through his back as he was violently flung away before he could even brace himself.

The Iceflame Demon’s massive form skipped across the ruined earth like a stone over water, landing hard and scrambling upright awkwardly.

“Machines are still just machines!” Qin Lun silently celebrated, reading combat logs in his Death Notice. Though the S-warrior aimed for his heart, the injury proved minor.

His transformed body boasted higher Constitution and Protection. Add Earth Drake Leather Armor and Frost Aura’s passive defense—his shredded back was only flesh deep. Neither heart nor mobility suffered damage.

“You okay?” A sandstorm coalesced before Qin Lun into humanoid form: the newly arrived Queen of Sandstorm. Simultaneously, Grant materialized beside them, forming a united front.

“Gerthard!” Roaring, the White Giant ripped free from Thorn Trap and surged toward Qin Lun. But his lunge halted abruptly as both Captain America and the emerging Little Red Riding Hood seized him.

“Steve! Let me go!” he thundered, struggling against their grips.

“Too late.” Captain America shook his head calmly, sighing as he pointed skyward.

Distant black dots approached rapidly a kilometer away. Superhuman vision easily decoded the insignias: Millennium Bug choppers coming for Qin Lun’s extraction.

“Shoot them down with S-warrior!” Leo glared furiously at Captain America.

“No,” Steve murmured softly, nodding toward the hostage in Grant’s hand. “We fight any longer, Mira dies. Liv confirmed it’s Miss Mira. We can’t risk that.”

Ice water seemed to douse Leo’s rage. Fury froze into despair.

“Return Mira, and you leave!” Liv choked through grief, glaring at Grant. White-haired and shrunken Black Queen laid in Joker’s grip. Only Mira’s faintly rising chest stopped Liv from losing control.

Qin Lun and Grant exchanged smiles cold as steel, sending chills down their adversaries’ spines.

Qin Lun glanced toward the other fight. Alucard and Lancelot still clashed furiously. But Knights defended the Sister Lili crouched behind them, lowering his aggression to renew the stalemate.

Helicopters closing a kilometer felt instantaneous. Yet they hovered over the manor without landing, merely lowering rope ladders toward Qin Lun’s trio.

“Surrender Miss Mira!” Captain America growled. S-warrior sealed over him, both arms shifting into massive cannon muzzles aimed skyward.

Qin Lun nodded silently at Grant. Joker lifted Mira by her brittle neck, poised to toss her back.

The relief washing over opponents vanished as Qin Lun’s steel-cold laugh echoed through dust. “We don’t compromise with enemies. Kluge—kill her.”

Snap! Grant’s hand twisted sharply. Mira’s head pitched sideways at an unnatural angle. Her withered form twitched once before going still.

“Mira!! MISS MIRA!” Voices shattered the air. Heat surged into three brains, whites blinding their vision. When awareness returned—seconds felt like eternity—crimson veins spiderwebbed across bloodshot eyes.

BOOM! Captain America fired without hesitation. S-warrior barrels glowed violently as searing beams shredded three helicopters into fireballs.

“Hahaha!” Clutching Mira’s cube, Qin Lun laughed wildly. Beside him, Queen of Sandstorm dissolved into swirling silt, engulfing him and Grant.

“Leo, still disappointing. Can’t even protect one woman.” Qin Lun’s frigid gaze met the White Giant’s as he spat mocking venom.

Leo shuddered—yet his fury vanished into eerie stillness. He seized Captain America and Little Red Riding Hood Liv one-handed.

“Leo?! Stop!” Both captives gasped.

“Sorry, Captain. I hope you survive.” His voice grew unnervingly calm. “They won’t escape. Not while I breathe.”

Spasms tore through Leo’s body as ropes of veins surfaced like serpents beneath skin. Muscles bulged impossibly. Swinging both arms mightily, he hurled his companions skyward toward horizon-tiny safety.

Leo’s head snapped toward the shrinking sand tornado. Grinning savagely, his body inflated grotesquely like a horror-film balloon.

“Quicksand!” Grant scoffed, tearing a prepped Magic Scroll instantly.

“Monica—NOW!” Qin Lun roared.

Though astonished, Queen of Sandstorm reacted instinctively. Sand swallowed them, surging abruptly downward into earth’s dark depths.

“Grant!” They vanished underground, yet Qin Lun’s urgency remained claw-sharp.

“Yeah!” Grant’s form dissolved like molten wax, engulfing Qin Lun and the sandstorm’s core. It solidified instantly into a hardened, metallic sphere coated in purple-black chitin.

BOOOM! Excitement mingled with fear in Qin Lun as deafening noise crashed overhead. The very ground convulsed violently.

Darkness stole his senses before he could process anything. When consciousness trickled back, numbness imprisoned his limbs.

Eventually, pain returned—gnawing deep into marrow like armies of ants marching through bone. Excruciating itch wracked his body near unconsciousness.

Tap! Restored to slight mobility, Qin Lun shattered his dark prison. Carbonized leather fragments fell away, admitting agonizing light.

Blinding grittiness forced him to blink back tears mixed with blood—leaving crimson streaks on charred skin. Muddled sight revealed a three-meter-wide black sphere, smoking lightly, reeking of roasting flesh.

He’d emerged pre-demonization. Intact clothing disintegrated at touch before windborne dust carried it away. Equipment remained, but his skin shone lobster-red beneath shredded Nals World Leather Trench Coat. Flaking ashen patches floated off like paper butterflies.

Even crawling out exhausted him utterly. After forcing Philly Preserved Fruit and fatigue-relief elixir past a ruined throat, he croaked weakly: “Monica… Grant?”

“Gerthard…” A faint whisper surfaced from the sphere as sand-like matter slithered out, forming Queen of Sandstorm’s shut-eyed, fragile face.

“Don’t move.” Qin Lun forced himself up, draping his shredded trench coat over Monica’s granular body. Gritting teeth, he crawled back into the carbonized chaos, retrieving a fleshy object.

The ping-pong-ball-sized purple lump pulsed weakly—Grant’s core after shedding his viral shell. Qin Lun poured restoring solution over it before nestling it safely inside his armor. Unvanished Apostle gear meant Grant still lived; merely hibernating while healing.

“Almost took ourselves out.” Qin Lun surveyed the surroundings through blurry eyes, smiling wryly.

HELLSING Manor had vaporized. A crater hundreds of meters wide gaped below shifting ash clouds. Desert stretched where estates once stood. Crystallized terrain reflected scorching memory.

That first clash sparked Qin Lun’s analysis: Leo boosting strength and defense while overlooking nimbleness was illogical. A brilliant biochemist wouldn’t duel unprepared. Hidden trump card confirmed—high-tech bomb negating agility.

Knowing this, Qin Lun isolated Leo inside illusory clouds at HELLSING—denying detonation chances until witnesses gathered. Saving Black Queen Mira’s spark of life and taunting Leo served one true aim: forcing his ultimate suicidal charge.

Underestimating obsessed revenge was Qin Lun’s sole mistake. He assumed White Giant bolstered defenses against his own bomb’s blast. With Grant’s tanking, survival seemed feasible.

Keller’s brutal decades-old death forge-fired Leo into extinction-worthy vengeance. That “bomb” wasn’t conventional: a micro-nuclear device within him—final retribution at any cost.

Luck rescued them. Monica-sand dragging all underground seconds before detonation saved two lives Grant’s shell-shielding couldn’t. The surface hadn’t been survivable.

“Time to count gains.” Qin Lun scanned smoldering wreckage, one bloody eye cracking a victorious smirk.

Amid drifting ashes and blurred vision, he spotted a white cube near ground zero. White Giant Leo’s legacy.

“Others… must lie nearby.” Qin Lun squinted harder, searching gore-soaked debris.

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