Chapter 215: Last Stand

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Last Stand

Lucian stood on the rocky outcrop, his crimson eyes tracking every movement on the battlefield. Clara and Mickey stood beside him.

Lucian assessed each engagement with a cold expression.

Gideon vs Iskandar.

Serena vs Rasheed.

Darius and Linnea vs Apophis in a stalemate. Apophis was too fast. His Shadow Serpent attacks were relentless, and his Late Grand Core vampire speed exceeded both their reaction times.

Malik. Being harassed by ranged attacks but not enough to defeat him.

Zafira. The biggest problem. His beasts were causing casualties among the Core Realm Knights. Three already dead. More falling every minute.

Lucian made his decisions in seconds.

"Clara." He didn’t look at her. "Help Darius and Linnea capture Apophis."

Clara nodded. "On it."

"Mickey." Lucian turned to him. "Assist the Knights fighting Malik."

Mickey grinned, cracking his neck. Pop. "Copy that."

Flick. Fwoooosh. Clara dropped from the outcrop, her silver hair streaming behind her. Mickey followed — wind mana carrying him downward like a falling leaf with teeth.

Lucian stood alone on the outcrop. He looked up at Zafira’s tower. The old vampire stood with his eyes closed, arms crossed, mental commands pulsing outward. Beasts continued to pour from the kennels. Screech. Roar. Hiss.

Lucian stepped off the edge of the outcrop.

The Ring of the Void Walker pulsed. Thrum. His foot touched empty air as he floated as if an invisible platform existed beneath him. He walked forward, descending slowly toward Zafira’s tower.

Zafira’s eyes snapped open.

The old vampire’s crimson gaze locked onto Lucian. His lips curled. "Just an early grand core brat."

Lucian didn’t respond.

Zafira’s hand moved. A mental command pulsed. Thrum. Ten desert hawks — C-Rank beasts with razor wings — launched from nearby roosts. Screech. Screech. They dove at Lucian in formation, wings spread, talons extended.

Lucian didn’t flinch. He raised one hand. Blood Manipulation activated. Squelch. Ten Blood Needles materialized in the air before him.

FWISH. FWISH. FWISH.

The birds dropped from the sky simultaneously. Thud. Thud. Thud. Ten bodies fell like stones.

Five sand scorpions charged from the tower base. Click. Click. Click. Their stingers dripped venom. Hiss. Lucian created a Blood Spear and hurled it. PEW! The spear impaled two scorpions at once — pinning them together through their segmented bodies. SHHHK. The remaining three scorpions lunged. Lucian raised his hand. A Light Blade materialized. SLASH. All three were bisected in a single stroke. Squelch. Thud. Thud.

Zafira’s eyes widened. His expression shifted as he immediately sent more beasts creating a swarm. Thirty beasts charging from every direction.

Lucian activated Devouring Void.

Fwooooosh.

A pool of darkness spread beneath his feet as he walked through the air. The ten-meter radius of absolute blackness consumed everything that entered it. The wolves that lunged — their mana cohesion dissolved. Hiss. They collapsed mid-leap, lifeless. Thud. The lizards that crawled — their life force drained in seconds. Thud. Thud. The hawks that dove — they entered the darkness and never emerged. Thud.

One after another. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thirty beasts became thirty husks. The swarm became a rain of empty shells falling from the sky.

Zafira stared. His face drained of color. Decades of taming, training and bonding. Each beast was a companion — a weapon forged through years of patience and care. Destroyed in seconds.

His expression shifted from calculation to rage.

"You..." Zafira snarled through clenched fangs. "You forced my hand, boy."

He reached into his storage ring. A dark vial appeared — small, pulsing with sinister energy so dense that the air around it warped.

Zafira uncorked it. Pop.

Dark mist erupted. Fshhhhhh. The mist spiraled upward from the vial, expanding rapidly — taking shape. Wings. Scales. Claws. Teeth. A form that hadn’t been seen on Earth in centuries materialized above the fortress.

A Dark Wyvern.

ROOOOAAAAR!

The beast was enormous — thirty meters from nose to tail, with a wingspan that blotted out the desert sky. Its scales were black as midnight, shimmering with dark mana. Its eyes burned crimson — feral, ancient, and hungry. Venom dripped from its fangs. Hiss. Drip. Shadow mana radiated from its body in waves. Thrum. Thrum.

The pressure was suffocating. Late B-Rank. A beast capable of fighting a Peak Grand Core master.

The entire battlefield froze. Both vampires and humans stared upward. Even Gideon and Iskandar paused their clash, their eyes drawn to the massive beast circling above.

Lucian’s Primordial Sight activated. The beast’s status materialized before his eyes.

Dark Wyvern

Rank: Late B-Rank

Abilities: Dark Flame Breath (A-Rank), Shadow Scale Armor (A-Rank), Blood Frenzy (Passive — grows stronger when it tastes blood)

Weaknesses: Underbelly scales are thinner. Wing joints are vulnerable. Susceptible to mental attacks — beast intelligence is primitive.

Zafira pointed at Lucian. His voice carried across the fortress with vampiric authority.

"Kill him."

The Dark Wyvern dove.

FWOOOOOSH!

The beast plummeted from the sky like a black meteor. Its jaws opened — wide enough to swallow a truck. Dark Flame Breath charged in its throat. A sphere of black fire formed.

FWOOOOOM!

The blast screamed toward Lucian — a torrent of dark fire that vaporized the air itself. The heat was immense. Stone melted. Sand turned to glass beneath it.

Lucian activated Devouring Void. Fwooooosh. A pool of darkness spread before him — a shield of absolute consumption. The dark flame struck the void. CRASH! The two forces collided. The Devouring Void absorbed part of the attack — draining the mana from the flames. Hiss. Fshhhh.

But the strain was immediate. Lucian felt his mana drain sharply. The Devouring Void consumed everything, including his own reserves. He cancelled it after two seconds. Fwooooosh. The darkness receded. The residual flame washed past him, scorching the air. Sizzle.

I can probably only use Devouring Void in a clash like this three times before it drains me completely, Lucian calculated.

The Dark Wyvern circled back. Its massive wings beat the air. FWOOM. FWOOM. It banked sharply, crimson eyes locked on Lucian. Its claws extended — each one the size of a man. It dove again.

The claws descended toward Lucian’s head. SWISH! The wind pressure alone cracked the invisible platform beneath his feet.

Light Steps. Flick. Lucian vanished. The claws tore through empty air. CRASH! Lucian reappeared above the wyvern’s back, clapping his hands together. Light mana concentrated and gathered around him.

A condensed Light Bolt fired. PEW! The bolt struck the wyvern’s back. Its Shadow Scale Armor activated — dark scales shimmered with defensive mana. CLANG! The bolt deflected, leaving only a scratch on the scales. Tink.

The wyvern roared in annoyance. ROOOAR! Its tail whipped around — a battering ram of scale and muscle. WHOOSH! Lucian dodged. Flick. The tail missed by inches, the wind pressure sending him tumbling through the air. Fwooooosh.

Lucian stabilized. Tap. His feet found air again. The Ring of the Void Walker held him steady. His crimson eyes narrowed.

Physical attacks won’t work. The Shadow Scale Armor is too durable. Devouring Void drains too much mana to use repeatedly. I need another approach.

An idea formed.

Lucian reached into the Beast Domain within his Sea of Consciousness. He pulled. Ven materialized beside him — the Crimson Manticore, Now at the early B-Rank, fully healed. Its scorpion tail dripped venom. Its lion body rippled with muscle. Its bat-like wings spread wide. Screech!

"Ven. Attack Zafira."

SCREECH! Ven launched toward the tower. Fwooooosh. Zafira’s eyes widened. He raised his hands — summoning two Early B-Rank beasts from his storage ring. A Sand Basilisk and a Shadow Condor. Both materialized in flashes of mana. Thrum. Thrum.

"Stop that thing!" Zafira commanded. Afterall, he didn’t have much combat experience.

The two beasts intercepted Ven. CRASH! Ven clashed with the Basilisk — venom tail against venom fangs. Hiss. Hiss. CLASH! The Condor dove from above. Screech! Ven took hits from both — claw marks across its flank. Slash. Blood sprayed. Ven crashed into the tower wall. BOOM!

The wyvern circled, preparing another Dark Flame Breath. Glow. Hiss. Black fire gathered in its throat.

Lucian clapped his hands together. Light mana surged. Light Judgement — but this time, he infused it with Devouring mana. The two energies mixed — radiance and void. The beam that materialized was white with a black core.

FWOOOOOM!

The infused Light Judgement screamed across the sky. The Dark Wyvern fired its Dark Flame Breath simultaneously. FWOOOOOM! The two attacks collided mid-air. BOOOOOM! The explosion was deafening. Shockwaves rippled across the fortress. CRASH! Rumble! Buildings crumbled.

But the infused Light Judgement punched through. The dark flame split. The beam struck the Dark Wyvern’s left side — piercing through the thinner scales between its ribs. SHHHHK! The beast shrieked. SCREEEECH!Aaaagh! Dark blood sprayed from the wound. Splatter. The wyvern tumbled through the air .