Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

The witch’s power seemed to have recovered considerably over the past few days. The flames of the blood-red candles around the Array flickered erratically. A cold Night Wind gathered from all directions, coalescing behind Hecate into three whole Air Giant Spirits that howled as they charged the Vampire Count.

”A belated fate? Hmph...” After confirming the person before him was indeed his wife, the Count calmed down instead. A Longsword wreathed in an ominous power fell into his palm. The wails of restless spirits could be faintly heard with every swing. ”You’re right. However, the one to greet that fate isn’t me—it’s you!”

”Let me use this sword to finish what should have been done long ago!”

”You brute! This is Mary’s body! Are you going to sacrifice her to that Witch Demon, too?!”

”I just want to make her whole again!” The Count transformed into a black and red phantom, crashing into the Air Giant Spirits with a colossal force that utterly belied his appearance!

”Ron!” The Count’s voice drifted faintly through the howling gales. ”Help me take down this hag! She lacks any noble bearing and will never allow you to continue existing!”

”At least I’m not a demon who’d kill his wife and abandon his daughter!” Hecate shouted in a low voice. ”Kid! Get rid of this menace!”

”Ron, what do we do?” Aive watched the feuding couple, who were evenly matched for the moment, a grim expression on her face. ’Good thing they’re not my parents,’ she muttered to herself. ’That would really suck...’

”I suggest we leave. Other than those Gargoyles, no one can stop us,” Victoria said, raising her Holy Emblem. The Undead on the Count’s domain had been simple farmers and artisans in life and didn’t know how to harm people after death. They all cleared a path under the holy radiance, scattering and fleeing. ”Silvia, let’s go together!”

The Vampire Mage stared fixedly at the endlessly battling Count and witch, forcing a single word through her teeth: ”No.”

”What?” The Priest looked at her companion in astonishment. ”Are you insane? This isn’t a fight we can get involved in! A single Air Giant Spirit is powerful enough!”

”But we don’t necessarily have to fight them,” the Vampire Descendant said, her blood-red eyes flecked with a strange pink. ”Aren’t there opponents here I can handle?”

”Silvia? You!” Ron looked into Silvia’s eyes and had a sudden realization. ”She’s been Charmed by that damn Vampire! Snap her out of it!”

”Too late!” Silvia laughed mockingly. A dozen Night Howling Hounds leaped from the Ethereal Plane, instantly disrupting Ron’s group’s formation. ”Did you really think I’d be completely defenseless against a group of strangers?! I’ve been subtly influencing your companion here for two weeks, all for this very moment!”

”I don’t know how you did it, but you’re the ones who woke up this old hag, aren’t you? Since you love digging up secrets so much, you can be buried with her!”

”Silvia! Catch the Walking Stick! From this day on, you are my only heir! This Walking Stick is my gift to you, my daughter!”

”Damn it, stop her!” Ron summoned a wave of cone-sharp cold air, forcing Silvia and some of the hounds back. Quest emerged from the shadows and leaped into the air, attempting to intercept the Walking Stick.

”Get the Walking Stick for me!” At Silvia’s command, a Night Howling Hound vanished from the material world. When it reappeared, it planted a foot on Quest’s head, using the Martial Monk as a springboard to leap up and snatch the Walking Stick in its jaws. It then vanished back into the Ethereal Plane, delivering the prize to its master’s hands!

The hounds were more excited and bloodthirsty than ever before. In the past, they had always felt their mistress wasn’t evil enough, but now, they were completely satisfied!

This was the evil master they wanted to follow!

”Dark...”

”Flame Strike Magic!” Silvia had just gotten her hands on the Walking Stick and hadn’t even had time to cast the unique Dark Magic it contained when a Holy Fire Pillar came whistling down from the heavens and slammed into her. The high-temperature burns didn’t do much to faze the Vampire Mage, but the Light Power, which tolerated not a single shred of evil, nearly scattered her very soul!

”Victoria! Are you trying to kill me?!” Silvia wretchedly transformed into a black mist to escape the range of the Flame Strike Magic. There was no exaggeration in her furious, panicked roar—she really could have been killed just now!

Even having escaped with her life, the Vampire Descendant was not in good shape. Her high-end formal dress had been burned into countless charred fragments. Since she wore nothing underneath, large patches of her skin were exposed, looking as smooth and delicate as a baby’s under the faint red moonlight.

From the Ghost Choir, which hadn’t yet managed to flee far, wolf whistles rang out again.

”Silvia! Snap out of it!” The Priest lowered her Hard Head Hammer, which was hot from the Casting, and looked at her best friend with an incredibly conflicted expression. ”Do you really want to end up the same as that Count?”

”What end?” The Dark Magic wrapped the wretched Mage up tightly, and her voice came from within. ”Just you watch! That witch is no match for him at all! He’s invincible here! You’d be better off submitting to him!”

”Bow to a junior? I won’t allow it,” Yelena said as her Thorn Chain pierced through the Dark Magic obscuring Silvia like a venomous snake. ”Even though I know you have no idea what you’re doing right now, I’m still very annoyed.”

”Just a mere lowlife, and you really think you can become a phoenix?” The tone of this Shadow Spirit, also from Richthofen, was hostile. ”Do you really think he’d be so kind as to give you everything—You dare bite me?!”

In the ineffectual darkness, the Shadow Spirit clutched her neck as trickles of blood flowed from the wound. Across from Yelena, Silvia, who had tasted the Shadow Spirit’s blood, crouched down and began to retch uncontrollably.

The Shadow Spirit floated lightly over to Silvia and snatched away her Magical Artifact. ”Just as I said when we first met—is my noble blood to your liking?”

”You two might be close, but I’m an outsider. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for me to kill you under these circumstances,” Yelena said, lightly wrapping her Thorn Chain around Silvia’s neck and several other vital points. ”Besides, in this darkness, they won’t know what happened, right?”

However, just as the Shadow Spirit was about to deliver the killing blow, the feeling of flesh against the Thorn Chain vanished. Silvia had actually escaped her bonds!

”How could—” The bewildered Shadow Spirit left the cover of the Dark Magic and immediately understood what had happened. Over there, the battle between the armed husband and wife had been decided. Hecate had only recently awakened, and this was the Count’s domain. The power she had initially unleashed in her emotional outburst was like a rootless plant; after several exchanges, she could no longer resist and had been pinned to the Array by the Count’s Magic Sword.

”If I didn’t have a use for you later, hmph...” The Count picked up the battered and bruised Silvia and placed her at his feet. ”Lost the Walking Stick? It doesn’t matter. Just rest here for a bit, because soon, none of this will matter anymore.”

The Vampire Count let out a sharp cry to the heavens. As the sound of flapping Gargoyle wings approached from the distance, Old Opal—the Big Stone Gargoyle whose lower body still hadn’t recovered—flew in, carrying a giant stone sword two sizes larger than the Grip of the Vast Wave. He respectfully presented the stone sword to his master.

”You really aren’t good neighbors,” the Count said, casually swinging the massive stone sword a couple of times. In his hands, it felt as light as if it were made of paper. ”I was originally preparing a banquet, but it seems that won’t be necessary now.”

”Come at me together! Let me show you what true power is before you die!”