Chapter 537
Three days after Emir arrived at the Frozen Keep, the humans started mobilizing their strongest forces and preparing to leave . There are approximatively a thousand living humans in the fortress and less than a tenth had enough power to defend against the angels .
As pert Elias" plan, each party had its own task with the hardest one falling on the Archmage parasite, who showed no objection . The remaining parasites were also going to leave Riarravar for good, part of the deal the Calypso Parasite made with Sol"dhin .
Fortunately, there weren"t many parasites, numbering less than a hundred, however, there are a few of them who are exceptionally strong .
Of course, before the appointed day, Arthur didn"t forget to pay a secretive visit to Emir, who very much welcomed him . The two thoroughly discussed their cooperation and how they"ll proceed .
Despite the notoriety of the Calypso parasites, Emir was quite friendly and cooperative after confirming that Arthur was his kin . He was curious about the mutation which changed Arthur"s race but he didn"t pry too deep and was satisfied by a vague answer . Furthermore, his focus laid on the spiritual prison and the shrewd humans, who, from what he said, will definitely try something in the middle of the battle .
As he"ll be busy destroying the prison sealing Timos" soul, Emir requested Arthur to pay close attention to Sol"dhin and make sure the parasites do not suffer too much .
Their talk lasted for less than twenty minutes before left the room like a ghost, returning to his chamber .
"Hm?"
Arthur frowned as he saw Lucy caressing her abdomen, lost in a daze, not even noticing his appearance . He pretended to see nothing and lightly coughed, causing the silver-haired woman"s body to twitch and face him, her expression that of serenity .
"How did it go?" She asked the smiling Arthur, who sat next to her and briefly talked about his conversation with the Archmage .
"Everything is in order . Let us finish our preparation too . "
He took out a complex medium-sized machine and put it in the ground before he got to work . Lucy sat next to him every time he signaled her, she spilled some blood on the noisy machine, which absorbed the red liquid like a hungry beast, it even made disgusting slurping noises .
This thing is a unique bullet-making machine created by Arthur using his knowledge and the Lost Magic . It is capable of converting almost everything into suitable bullets for Lonely Moon, the silver revolver .
With the addition of the Devil Arm, the backlash of the gun became negligible, moreover, the arm even boosted Lucy"s storage capacity . Right now, Arthur is in the process of making a special kind of bullet, one that can kill anyone, including an immortal and old being like the Shogun .
Even without the System, Arthur could tell that Sol"dhin is unimaginably power which why he threw away the thoughts of confronting him head-on . Of course, it"s not necessary to fight him but he and Lucy must always take precautions .
After pumping Nether Energy for five continuous hours and sacrificing two Blood Essences, one from him and one from Lucy, the expected result came out of the machine . It was named "The Slaying Bullet", which had the same color as Lonely Moon . It was inexplicably heavy and had several vein-like red lines on its tip .
"So… it ends tomorrow?"
She looked at him with an unreadable expression before leaning her head on his shoulder and letting out a sigh . Arthur wrapped his arm around her and enjoyed this moment of peacefulness where only the two of them existed . He purged all the negative thoughts and closed his eyes, choosing to answer her with silence .
He rubbed his finger on the jet black storage ring, hoping to not use the mysterious sword given by Timos . Although it was extremely powerful, it"s still a very dangerous thing that can kill him if used wrongly .
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The usually quiet keep is eerier than usual as humans and parasites stood a distance away from each other, both standing behind the keep, on the broken long bridge leading to the faraway prison . Apart from the prepared fighting forces, all the rest s.h.i.+vered in the cold as they stared at their experts with hopeful eyes .
The vanguard was composed of three parties, the first one was the Shogun, proudly standing at the center and wearing a purple chest piece . At his right was an unknown couple, one was wearing a long black robe and the other was a silver-haired woman with a green dress, however, she didn"t seem bothered by the pa.s.sing cold breeze .
The last party was a lone figure wearing a robe that matched his hair, he floated a few inches above the ground while raising his wand . The bridge that supposed to be broken was slowly yet surely being reconstructed as magical rubbles started forming a steady path toward the other side .
In a matter of seconds, a new bridge was formed, creating a s.p.a.cious path leading to the enemy . A small group of humans and parasites started marching, their weapons raised and their fighting spirits ignited . Arthur and Lucy walked at a slow pace, following behind the serious shogun whose hand was placed on his unsheathed blade . The Archmage was the last as his body floated behind this small army, his eyes fixated on the silhouettes of the prison, from which numerous flying humanoids appeared .
The flying shadows grew closer until their appearance could clearly be seen, a pair of white feathery wings and a holy aura enveloping them . They wielded long spears and had faces that slightly resembled humans though they were totally expressionless .
There was also one more enemy to be wary of, they had larger builds and were made of white stone . They are known as gargoyles, usually, creatures of darkness but these ones are different, mutated after absorbing too much light . Their appearance was similar to stone statues but their glowing red eyes and unsettling growling confirmed that they are indeed living beings .
The three main parties didn"t move even when the enemy attack, it was the small army that jumped in the air and resisted the attacks . Amongst them, Arthur noticed a young female parasite accompanied by a few of her kin, moreover, there seemed to be a handsome young man wielding a glowing sword and wearing a flashy protective armor . He was none other than Vyncent, who has shaved his beard and tidied his greasy long hair, this caused his appearance to became much pleasing to the eye .
"When we"re two hundred feet away from the prison, the first guardian will appear, it"ll be your turn then . "
Without looking back, Emir spoke to Arthur and Lucy, his wand emanating a blue radiance which shot toward the prison, which was actually a large white sphere enveloping a green blob of light .
The Shogun, the couple, and Emir advanced forward without any hindrance from the angels or gargoyles, their speed wasn"t fast but remained consistent . Around ten minutes later, when the battle started heating up between the creatures of light and the small army, the first guardian finally made its appearance .
Like the ones fighting behind, the guardian was a large white gargoyle that wielded an axe-like weapon . It sprung from the abyss down below and blocked the path of the Shogun and the rest .
Before it could attack the a.s.sailants, two shadows leapt at it, each from one direction . A series of violent explosions caused its ma.s.sive body to take a few steps back then, as it swept its spear to get rid of the source of the explosion, its hand was frozen in mind-air, covered by a thick layer of ice .
The gargoyle roared and glared at Lucy, whose Yin ability immobilized the guardian"s whole arm . Its two glowing red eyes shot out two beams which were faster than Lucy"s reaction . Fortunately, she managed to activate her Time ability, creating a blue sphere around her, which, when hit by the two beams, caused them to become much slower hence allowing her to step to the side .
This, however, was only the beginning of the guardian"s counterattack as it kept shooting thick red beams from its eyes . The beams were following Lucy, whose figure became illusory as she jumped from one place to another .
"Let"s move forward . "
The Shogun, who was lost in a trance, snapped out of it when he heard Emir"s voice . As he saw the couple fighting, he let out a sigh and clenched the hilt of his sword, inwardly wanting to fight them . As for the Calypso Parasite, he didn"t even glance at the couple as his eyes locked on the white sphere, unleas.h.i.+ng vast amounts of power from all sides in an attempt to pulverize it . After a few unsuccessful tries, the Archmage chuckled and whispered to himself:
"I knew that such foolish tries won"t work but it didn"t hurt to try . "
Then he held the wand with his two hands and somehow elongated it, transforming it into a long staff . He pointed the staff at the abyss down below, causing the winds to rage and the artificial bridge to shake . A dragon"s cry could be heard from down below, it was so wild and ear-deafening that it caused many of the angels and gargoyles to lose their will and helplessly fall into the primordial darkness .