Chapter 260: The Undead Are Invincible |
Taste in music was a deeply personal thing.
Just because Ambrose thought it sounded awful didn't mean the piece truly was.
After all, if it could block three fatal blows, he'd gladly listen to it on repeat for the rest of his life.
Poet was pleased by his reaction and said, "While the effect doesn't stack, if you'd like to listen again, I could—"
"Next time, next time," Ambrose cut in decisively. "I'll be sure to fully appreciate your beautiful music later. For now, it's about time I go test my luck against those goddesses."
What a joke! Who would listen to that thing without a reward?
With that, Ambrose activated Mist Step and vanished from sight.
His departure marked the true beginning of the battle. Black Rose wasted no time. Turning to Gareth, she said, "The terrain here is too complex for large formations. Gareth, I'll need you to carve us a path."
Gareth yanked the reins of his eight-legged steed and laughed thunderously. "Just what I wanted!"
As Gareth advanced, a violent aura of darkness gathered before him, forming a massive whirlwind that crushed everything in its path.
Rock or brick, wall or pillar, nothing could withstand his charge.
The whirlwind, thirty meters wide, didn't just carve out a narrow alley. It blasted open a broad avenue.
Even the dullest, blindest drow would have noticed such chaos.
But the attack had come too suddenly. The scattered driders that appeared stood no chance. They were shredded instantly by the storm of darkness.
Gareth had long wanted to test how strong the Silvermoon Knight was, but the latter had died before there was a chance to do so.
Previously, he had held back against Ambrose's captured paladins, wary of killing them outright. Now, with no restraints, he charged at full power. Even brushing against him meant instant death.
He tore straight through the entire city, unstoppable.
Then, wheeling his mount around, he charged again from another direction, as if intent on obliterating the entire city.
But just as he prepared for another assault, a massive shadow rose from the ground.
It was a colossal black spider, several times larger than Gareth's already towering form.
The spider spat out a torrent of venom, attempting to halt him, but before it could reach him, a burst of green flames incinerated the attack midair.
A massive bone dragon swept low overhead, its tail smashing into the spider and tearing it apart instantly.
Gareth wasn't fighting alone. The cloaked Alabastra had been trailing him all along. With a single strike, she eliminated one of the drow's strongest assets.
This group of drow didn't have much strength to begin with; otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to guerrilla tactics against Black Rose's City of Mercury. The giant spider had been among their strongest assets, but even it could not compare to the might of a legendary undead.
Elsewhere, the same scene repeated. Following the path Gareth had opened, Black Rose's undead army surged forward like a tidal wave, flooding the city.
The drow had no means of resistance. High above the city, Poet had begun to strum his lyre.
The eerie, indescribable melody spread across the entire underground city. Every drow who heard it trembled uncontrollably, unable even to stand.
Even Black Rose felt a chill upon hearing it.
The music would even affect undead. It was only because Poet had tightly reined it in that her army remained unharmed.
She stared up at him and murmured, "If only that power could be used against Lyon…"
With the Elegiac Society fighting at full force, the destruction was overwhelming. There were tens of thousands of drow in the city, but within barely ten minutes, half had already fallen.
The battle was completely one-sided. No force could stop this undead tide.
This was the gap created by absolute power. Even Heki Stone, the weakest among them, was still a legendary vampire. To the drow, he was unstoppable. He shaped blood into dozens of razor-sharp blades, slicing apart everything around him. Fighting alongside such monsters felt incredible. Back in the desert, killing had never been this easy. Drow blood actually tasted quite good. Today, he would feast.
Another one feasting was the ghoul Yugasi.
The "Non-Vegetarian" of the Elegiac Society, he lived up to his name. He darted through the city like lightning. Any drow he caught lost a limb, an arm or leg ripped clean off.
Fresh flesh filled his long-empty stomach, offering fleeting satisfaction before an even stronger hunger returned.
Ghouls could never feel satiated. Their eternal hunger was a curse and their source of power.
Yugasi tore through the city, leaving a trail of mutilated corpses in his wake. His killing speed far surpassed Heki's.
Just as he was enjoying his feast, something caught his attention: a crimson drider. Unlike the usual gray-black coloration, this one was entirely red, with complex runes hovering in the air around it.
Yugasi stopped, eyeing it curiously. "What are you? Some kind of mutation?"
The drider showed no fear. Instead, it sneered. "You undead know nothing of divine power. I will grant you supreme pain, an offering to my goddess!"
Yugasi didn't understand a word. Unlike Ambrose, he wasn't much for reading. A goddess of pain? Who was that?
It didn't matter.
He lunged. Before the drider could react, one of its legs was torn off.
Yugasi chewed thoughtfully. Then his eyes widened. "Incredible… I've never tasted anything this delicious!"
The drider roared in fury. Crimson light surged from the wound, and a new leg rapidly regenerated.
Then it arched its swollen abdomen and sprayed out a mass of crimson webbing.
The threads were lined with tiny serrations. When sawed back and forth, they were capable of shredding a body apart instantly.
This was Levitra's blessing. Every attack would inflict unbearable suffering.
And whether it was the drider's own pain or its enemy's, that pain would be converted into power.
Yugasi's eyes lit up with excitement. He charged straight into the web. The razor threads sliced into him, covering his body in wounds, but he didn't care.
The drider, thinking it had trapped its opponent, relaxed. Then, its eyes widened as it gaped at the ghoul.
Why weren't the ghoul's movements affected even though he had been trapped by its web? Hold on—the ghoul was eating the web!
Yugasi tore apart the steel-like strands effortlessly. Though he was covered in cuts, Yugasi had only suffered superficial wounds. Ignoring his bleeding hands, Yugasi grabbed the threads and stuffed them into his mouth.
"So good… so fragrant! Drow, you smell amazing!"
In just a few bites, the entire web was gone. Then, drenched in blood, Yugasi lunged again.
This time, all eight of the drider's legs were torn off.
The drider collapsed helplessly as Yugasi stomped on its body, devouring the severed limbs greedily.
"Delicious, absolutely delicious!"
The drider couldn't understand what had happened. It had been blessed by a goddess. How could it lose to a mere ghoul?
Its wounds glowed again as new limbs regenerated. Pain surged through it, along with a fresh bout of strength. But each time a limb regenerated, Yugasi tore it off again and ate it.
He was keeping the drider alive on purpose so he could continue feasting.
The drider despaired. The goddess's blessing had become its greatest torment.
No matter how it struggled, no matter what dark magic it used, it was meaningless.
Yugasi craved the divine power of Levitra that the drider possessed. Anything infused with that power was food he could consume.
Thorn whips? Chewy.
Weakening curses? Spicy.
Eldritch Blasts? Refreshing.
……
Energy or matter, it made no difference. As long as it carried the goddess's power, Yugasi devoured it all. He seemed effectively immune to Levitra's pain. Eventually, the drider collapsed completely as its divine runes faded away.
Sensing the loss of that power, Yugasi frowned in annoyance. He bit off its head and swallowed it whole.
"Four goddesses… there should be more of their chosen roaming about. I want more."
With that, Yugasi plunged back into the darkness, hunting for his next divine meal.
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