Chapter 214: The Fortress Erupts

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: The Fortress Erupts

One of the elders — Malik — stared at Lucian from his rooftop. His crimson eyes narrowed. He had been at the academy siege. He had stood beside Seth when the walls fell.

Malik’s eyes widened. "It’s him," he hissed. "The boy from the academy. The one the Du Mauriers call the prophecy child."

The other elders turned. Zafira and Rasheed’s eyes narrowed. Apophis looked down at Lucian, studying him with fresh intensity.

Gideon raised his hand. Whoosh. The invisibility spell dissolved. Forty-nine cultivators materialized simultaneously on every ridge, rooftop, and vantage point surrounding the fortress courtyard. Their combined aura pressed down like a physical weight. Thrum. Forty-nine Grand Core and Core Realm presences, weapons drawn, mana blazing.

Lucian raised his hand. Light mana gathered above the fortress. Multiple light spears materialized in the sky. Each one three meters long, glowing with searing radiance, aimed at the courtyard below. Thrum. Thrum. Thrum.

The vampires looked up. Their crimson eyes reflected the blazing light.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

Apophis reacted first. The Vice Patriarch’s voice cracked across the courtyard like a whip. "ALL FIGHTERS — FORMATION! DEFEND THE FORTRESS! KILL EVERY FUCKING LAST ONE OF THEM!"

The five Mid Grand Core vampires mobilized instantly. Tap. Tap. Tap. They fanned out across the courtyard in combat formations. The ten Early Grand Core vampires followed, their fangs bared, their auras erupting. Thrum. Thrum.

The human collaborators — the mortal servants who served the vampires for coin or fear — scattered. Thump. Thump. Thump. Dozens of them fled into the deeper tunnels, screaming. Aaaah! Their masters didn’t spare them a glance.

The fortress transformed into a warzone in seconds.

The ten Early Grand Core Knights dropped from the ridges simultaneously. Whoosh. Whoosh. They engaged the ten Early Grand Core vampires in the courtyard. The clashes were immediate and brutal.

CLANG! CRASH! BOOM!

The first exchange made the power disparity painfully apparent. The vampires were faster, stronger. Their bodies healed in real-time. A human Knight swung a B-Rank longsword. Clang! The vampire caught the blade with bare hands. Screeeech. Metal ground against palm. The vampire’s grip tightened as the sword shattered. Crack. The vampire’s claws raked across the Knight’s chest. Slash. Blood sprayed.

"AAGH—!"

The Knight stumbled backward. His teammate intervened — a fire user launching a concentrated blast. FWOOOM! The vampire dodged with blinding speed, appearing behind the fire user. Claws descended. Slash. The Knight’s arm was torn off at the shoulder. RIP. Blood arced through the air.

"GET BACK! FALL BACK!"

The Knights were forced into pairs and trios — two or three humans coordinating against a single vampire just to survive. Clang! Crash! Bang! The courtyard echoed with the sounds of combat. Bodies fell — human and vampire alike.

The five Mid Grand Core Knights engaged the five Mid Grand Core vampires. These fights were more balanced — the human cultivators had more experience and better technique and weapons — but the vampires still held the physical advantage.

Linnea Frost moved like a specter through the battlefield. Her A-Rank Sound Manipulation was devastating against creatures with enhanced hearing. She raised both hands. Mana gathered between her palms.

SCREEEEEEE!

A concentrated sonic wave erupted from her palms. The vampire she targeted — a Mid Grand Core fighter clutched her ears. Hiss. Her eardrums ruptured as blood poured from his ears. His spatial awareness collapsed. He staggered. Stumble.

Another Mid Grand Core Knight exploited the opening. A water spear pierced the disoriented vampire’s thigh. SHHHK. The vampire roared. Rooooar! He retaliated blindly — blood blades slashing in every direction. FWISH. FWISH. A Knight dodged. Another wasn’t so lucky — a blood blade caught his shoulder. Slash. He cried out but held his ground.

Linnea fired another sonic blast. SCREEEE. The vampire’s concentration shattered. Three Knights converged. Combined attacks struck simultaneously. BOOM. CRASH. SLASH. The vampire fell.

Deep beneath the fortress, the Core Realm assassins worked in silence.

They moved through the underground tunnels in teams of three. Their orders were clear: clear the tunnels, eliminate vampire guards, secure any human captives.

They found the blood farm on the third sublevel.

The walls were lined with iron chains. And from those chains hung humans. Eighty-three of them. Men. Women. Children. Their bodies were emaciated. Tubes were connected to their necks, slowly draining blood into collection vats.

The assassins didn’t hesitate.

They cut the chains. The humans collapsed — too weak to stand or speak. They had been here for months. They had forgotten what freedom looked like.

"Get them out," the lead assassin ordered. "Medical team to the third sublevel. Now."

Core Realm vampire guards charged from the adjacent corridor.

The assassins met them head-on. SLASH. STAB. BLOCK. A poisoned blade pierced the first vampire’s heart. SHHHK.Thud. A wire garrote separated the second’s head from his body. Twang.Crack. The third and fourth were overwhelmed by combined assaults — ice spikes through the chest, fire blasts to the face.

Meanwhile,

Gideon Vance descended from the outcrop.

BOOOOOM!

His Peak Grand Core aura crashed into the courtyard like a meteor.

Gideon targeted Elder Iskandar.

The Peak Grand Core vampire stood on the central building’s rooftop. His body was already dissolving. Ssssss. His S-Rank Shadow Serpent activated. His form became indistinct — half-solid, half-shadow.

Iskandar smirked. "A Peak Grand Core human. How rare."

Gideon didn’t speak. He moved. BOOM. The ground cratered beneath his feet as he launched forward. His fists — coated in Gravitational Compression — glowed with dense golden mana. He threw a punch at Iskandar’s dissolving form.

CRASH!

The blow struck the rooftop where Iskandar had stood. The entire building imploded. Rumble.

But Iskandar was gone.

He reformed behind Gideon. Ssssss. Shadow serpents launched from his arms — dark, serpentine constructs made of condensed shadow mana. They hissed through the air. Hiss. Hiss. Hiss. Each one was capable of draining mana, causing damage and suppressing regeneration on contact.

Gideon created a gravity field around himself — a ten-meter sphere of compressed space. THRUUM. The shadow serpents entered the field and were crushed flat. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. They disintegrated into harmless shadow particles.

Iskandar’s smirk faded.

Serena Holst engaged Elder Rasheed on the eastern side of the courtyard. Her icy blue eyes locked onto the sand manipulator as he raised both hands.

Fshhhhhh! Sand surged from every crack in the stone — tons of it — forming blades, spears, and bullets simultaneously. A barrage of sand weapons screamed toward Serena.

Serena raised one hand. THRUUM. Absolute Zero activated. A wave of impossible cold erupted from her palm. The sand froze mid-air. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. The sand blades, spears, and bullets crystallized into ice as they hung suspended. They hung in the air for a moment before shattering. Tink. Tink. Tink.

Rasheed’s eyes widened. He pulled fresh sand from the underground bedrock itself. The courtyard trembled. Rumble. The ground split. Sand erupted from below like geysers. Fshhhh. Fshhhh.

Their clash created a localized ice-and-sand storm. Fwooooosh. Frozen sand particles whipped through the air, cutting everything they touched. Slice. Slice.

Darius Thorne and Linnea Frost moved to capture Apophis. The Vice Patriarch stood his ground on the western rooftop, his aura blazing. Thrum. Late Grand Core pressure rolled outward.

Apophis fired first. SSSSSS. Shadow Serpent constructs launched from his arms. The serpents twisted through the air with lethal precision. Hiss. Hiss.

Darius raised both hands. "Earth Fortress!" RUMBLE. Massive stone walls erupted from the rooftop, reinforced with mana. The shadow serpents struck the walls. CRASH. CRACK. The first layer crumbled. The second held. Hiss. The serpents coiled around the stone, trying to find gaps.

Linnea fired. SCREEEE. A concentrated sonic blast struck Apophis directly. His concentration wavered. The serpents faltered — losing cohesion for a moment. Darius exploited the opening, raising stone pillars to trap Apophis’s legs. RUMBLE.

But Apophis was fast.He dissolved into shadow, reappearing ten meters away. His claws raked through the air where Darius’s head had been a moment before. Slash. The stone pillar behind Darius was sliced cleanly in half. CRACK.

Apophis chuckled arrogantly. "You’ll need to be faster than that, humans."

Elder Malik descended into the courtyard like a plague.

His body radiated toxic green energy. Sizzle. Sizzle. The air around him hissed and popped as his venom corroded the very atmosphere. He targeted the nearest group of Early Grand Core Knights — four of them who had just brought down a vampire together.

Malik punched through their Earth Barrier. CRASH! The stone dissolved on contact — his A-Rank Venom Body corroding the mana structure itself. Hiss. Sizzle. The barrier crumbled like wet sand.

One Knight took a glancing hit to the shoulder. Sizzle. His skin turned green instantly. Numbness spread down his arm. The venom ate through his mana circulation. He screamed. Aaaagh!

"HEALER! NOW!"

A healer rushed forward — a Peak Core Realm woman with B-Rank Restoration. She pumped purification mana into the Knight’s system. Thrum. The green discoloration receded slowly. The venom was suppressed but not eliminated.

The other Knights fell back. They couldn’t fight Malik in close quarters. His venom dissolved stone, metal, and flesh on contact. They harassed him with ranged attacks. Malik tanked them all, his venom body neutralizing the attacks on contact. Sizzle. Hiss.

Elder Zafira did not engage directly.

He stood on the highest tower — the scrying chamber — his eyes closed in concentration. His S-Rank Beast Taming was fully active. Mental commands pulsed outward in every direction. Thrum. Thrum. Thrum.

The sky above the fortress darkened.

Screech. Screech. Roar.

Dozens of tamed beasts poured from underground kennels beneath the fortress. Desert hawks with razor wings. Sand scorpions the size of horses. Venomous lizards with corrosive saliva. Shadow wolves with fangs that dripped darkness. They swarmed the courtyard, the rooftops, the tunnels.

The Core Realm Knights were overwhelmed.

A shadow wolf lunged at a Peak Core Knight. Crunch. Its fangs sank into his shoulder. He screamed. Aaaagh! Another wolf pounced from behind. Crash. He went down. Three more wolves descended. Crunch. Rip. Scream.

A sand scorpion’s stinger pierced a Knight’s heart. SHHHK. The venom killed him in seconds. H

Three Core Realm Knights dead in the first minute. The beasts were not individually powerful — mostly C and D-Rank — but their numbers were devastating. Fifty beasts. Sixty. More pouring from the tunnels every second.

The Knights fought back desperately.

The fortress had become a slaughterhouse.