Chapter 4494: Proof of Strength (Part 2)

"Now, instead, we’re about to make good on our promise. We are going to wipe out an entire branch of the Night Court. Their victory over the Master’s Organization will be further testament to our strength.

"Young and ambitious Awakened from all over Mogar will come to us, looking for the invincible power of the Vurdalak. Our ranks will swell, and once we have an army of disciplined Upyrs, we’ll be unstoppable."

’I would agree on everything, if not for one crucial detail.’ Jorl thought, clutching his chest where the corrupted life force of the Vurdalak still tried to devour the Griffon side. ’Night’s grandiose plan requires an overwhelming victory, and we have yet to fight.

’If we lose, the number of new recruits will decrease even further, and our losses will be so great that we won’t be able to make a comeback anytime soon. The only silver lining in all this is that Orpal agreed not to send me to Bornar.

’He knows that if someone recognizes me, the Griffons will come running and his plan will fail. I doubt he and Night consider me more than a sacrificial pawn, but at least this proves they recognize my value as a general.’

Orpal had indeed kept Jorl by his side to employ the Griffon’s tactical acumen. Night was no strategist, and with their military strength at an all-time low, the Horseman couldn’t afford pointless deaths in her ranks.

"Kill the humans and raze the city to the ground!" Night yelled from her Chosen’s mouth. "Leave nothing for those parasites to feed upon! Don’t chase them if they run. Let them live in poverty until they die of starvation.

"Let their death be long and humiliating! Let everyone know that a swift demise is mercy to those who stand against the Dead King!"

"Hi, there!" Cyrra’s Warp Steps appeared where Night could see it with Life Vision, but too far away to reach her before the Banshee stepped through the dimensional opening. "Let me give your latest puppet a welcome gift!"

Cyrra threw her glaive with all of her considerable strength. Blood Tear was true to its name, and the crimson aura surrounding the glaive as it bolted through the sky took the form of a drop, its power focused on the Adamant blade.

The Chosen raised his crystal spear to block it, but he was too slow. Blood Tear cut the Upyr asunder and performed a U-turn to return to its master.

"Thank you. It was a lovely gift." Orpal laughed as black crystals knit the two halves of the clone together at a speed visible to the naked eye. "Here’s mine!"

A lunge of the crystal spear released a Wailing Wind the size of a pillar. Thorn was embedded at the core of the giant spear, and generated harrowing wails along with a blast of darkness, as if it carried the mournful souls of its victims.

Wailing Wind was too fast for Cyrra to dodge and too big to Blink away from it. She managed to avoid the brunt of the hit, but she was shot off the sky and crashed against the ground anyway.

"I’m surprised you left the safety of your fortress to defend a bunch of mortals, undead rat." Orpal said. "Don’t tell me you had a change of heart and discovered compassion."

"That would require I had a heart to begin with." Cyrra’s Nightend armor had neutralized part of the darkness energy, and her blood core had already healed her wounds. "I’m surprised you found someone stupid enough to become your Chosen."

"You haven’t noticed yet?" Orpal laughed as if he had just heard an amazing joke. "I’m wearing an undead like you, whore. The first of many."

"What?" That piece of news took Cyrra by surprise, but didn’t slow her down.

She took to the sky again and charged at her enemy at the head of her lieutenants in a wedge formation.

"Have you forgotten?" Orpal’s smile went ear to ear. "You undead are artificial. Not born, but created. I used Necromancy to raise the best specimens among you and had them accept my prism while they still considered me their father!

"Sure, they start weak, but they become strong quickly if their maker is a Divine Beast and feeds them with plenty of his life force. Brilliant idea, isn’t it?"

"You degenerate scum!" Cyrra’s face twisted in a disgusted grimace, and so did her allies’.

There were few things the Night Court wouldn’t do, but harming newborns was among them. Unless one was a White Lady, of course.

Just like babies, a newborn undead animated by Necromancy was a clean slate, with no memory or knowledge of their own. They depended on their maker for everything and trusted them blindly due to the spark of light magic they inherited.

"Why so angry?" Orpal laughed. "It wasn’t I who told the world how to manufacture the different races of your kind. I just put to use what your precious Red Mother taught to us all. If you have a problem with it, take it to her!"

At his signal, a 5-man squad of Upyrs moved to intercept the undead. They released the thick, sickly aura of Frost Soul and relied solely on their wings and air fusion to fly.

"No mercy!" Cyrra stopped in her tracks while the rest of her lieutenants threw themselves into the lion’s maw. "Make those bastards regret the day they sided with Narchat!"

"How brave of you-" Orpal’s mockery died on his fangs as the incoming undead released a brilliant red aura.

The six Blood Warlocks and Witches had taken their time absorbing as much world energy as they could, and released it in the form of six Blood Tides. The crimson domes expanded in every direction, overlapping until they fused into a massive sphere.

The violence of the impact blasted the Upyrs away and cleansed the air of the Frost Soul. On top of that, it left Bornar devoid of world energy, making elemental spells and bloodline abilities useless.

"Second squad, attack!" A cloud of Chiropterans swarmed the still-confused Upyr ranks, followed by other undead who didn’t need magic to fly.

Their claws cut deep into the depowered equipment of the Corrupted Divine Beasts, but the gap in mass and size left the Upyrs with little more than scratches. A few vampires tried to drink the Upyrs’ black blood to recover their strength, but it poisoned them.

The Vurdalak blood spread like cancer, robbing the vampires of their vigor and making them plummet until they purged it from their system.

"Don’t drink their blood." A gasping vampire said amid barfs. "Don’t feed on the Upyrs. Don’t touch them except for killing them. They are not undead or Abominations. They are a disease."

"Damn! I was counting on sucking them dry." Cyrra cursed. "Divine Beasts are supposed to be an acceptable meal for all undead races. Change of plans! Retreat! All forces, retreat to the first line of defenses!"

"What about the humans?" A Dread Knight asked. "There is no Bornar without them, and without a city, there’s no point having a branch here."

"That’s none of our business." The High General replied. "We held the Upyrs back long enough. Let those bleeding hearts of the Dawn Court take care of the rest."