Chapter 163: Gambled and Lost

Chapter 163: Gambled and Lost

I smiled as I spun the pair of blades in my grasper arms and channelled power to my claws. I could see the group of angels flying high above me to the east. But they had no idea I had a flyer several hundred meters above them watching them. I designed special flyers that could climb higher than any angel. My idea was simple when you were a spy you would try to climb as high as possible and from what Mahaila has said the angels could climb higher than any other humanoid.

So the logic was simple, when you were always the highest one in the sky, why would you ever look up?

They wanted a show and that was exactly what I would give them. The five raven-like beasts all screeched and I sensed a slew of magical effects radiate out. I sensed [Petrification], [Instant Death], [Madness] and [Stun].

If those things screamed in the middle of any human army it would take out most of the soldiers in one fell swoop.

Hostile effects were detected, all effects resisted

Threat level, inconsequential

Proceed with combat

The voice in my head rang out letting me know their scream attack did absolutely nothing to me. I brandished my weapons and charged forward, my massive frame ploughed right through the line of undead blocking my path. Their frail bodies broke under my charge, I didn’t even have to attack. I just moved through the lines like I was crossing a grassy field.

Some of the Blood Knights fired spells at me but thanks to my improved armour, their spells just bounced off. I had my soldiers capture any vampires they could before this battle started and I was using their genome to create a body that was even stronger than before. Thanks to the vampire’s regenerative abilities my body’s ability to regenerate was even more powerful than before.

The lead Raven rushed towards me, and I raised my pair of Focii blades before slashing at it. The Raven blocked my slash with its magic-enhanced wings, but the blades ended up cutting deep gashes into it.

Then I did the standard slash in the Draconian style, and the blade flashed. The strike cut cleanly into the chest of the Raven staggered back a large wound now on its chest. I saw another Raven approach from my right flank, I did a quick winding thrust with the blade and the Raven backed off slightly as it dodged the point of the crackling Focii blade.

In the meantime, I raised my blade and thrust it right into the chest of the Raven. Then I withdrew it and with a simple flick of my wrist, for a quick follow-up attack. I delivered a deep slash to the Raven’s head. The good thing about Focii blades was that you didn’t need to worry about edge alignment. Just contact alone would do damage.

The Raven staggered back it’s limb twitching as the damaged brain struggled to process the magical strings keeping its body up. I opened my maw and torched the Raven as I backpedalled trying to prevent myself from being surrounded by the other Ravens. My fire took rather quickly since it was laced with curses and magic jamming, easily able to overwhelm their defences. In truth I didn’t even need to fight in melee but I’m only doing it because it’s fun.

Plus it has been a while since I fought an opponent about as large as me. I could tell these creatures were weaker than me. I was unlikely they would even trigger my [Metabolic Frenzy]. Also, this stage was also a reveal to the angels. The fact that I couldn’t change my body has been irking me for some time. I am a creature of change and yet I am stuck in this static form. So I came up with a solution that would allow me to change some parts. It was a bit obtuse and crude but then again the solution was also designed to make it look like the solution the Eternal Mother made had to create some interesting workarounds for me.

I watched as two more of the Ravens approached and switched out my Focii blades to a new design I made. This time a long hilt appeared in one hand and I grasped it with both hands. Then a large red blade appeared, it was bigger than the previous pair. Unlike the previous set which had this simple long laser blade, this one was a broad blade that looked almost like a holographic cleaver. If the past pair of swords were Focii blades, this one was a Focii Greatsword.

I brandished my blade as the Ravens charged me. I darted to the side and delivered a hard slash to one of the Ravens. Like the last time the Raven tried to raise its enchanted wings to block the attack. However, this time the blade cut right through severing its limbs and the blade sank into the Raven’s chest. I ripped the blade free and then with a quick slash I hacked off the head of the Raven.

When the other Raven tried to get closer I ducked off the side again dodging one of its downward swings and then I swung my sword horizontally. The swing ended up cutting the Raven in two at the waist and both halves fell to the ground.

The Eternal Mother’s hives were already extremely dangerous, Ariel could only imagine what they could do when commanded by the Great Beast.

“This is concerning.” one of her guards muttered.

Ariel turned her head to look at the Silver Maiden and saw her glowing eyes narrowed as she gazed at the Great Beast. Ariel looked back down and saw the Great Beast slash with one of his new blades and it cut one of the Ravens in two. He dashed to the other one and impaled it with both blades. She heard him let out a booming laugh as he pulled the Raven apart and both halves went tumbling into the Vampire’s formation.

“The Great Beast has definately been adapted to handle the vampires.” another guard muttered.

“Yes he is far too resistant to their attacks. But then again this is the Eternal Mother’s territory. The vampires have bordered the desert for a long time it would make sense for him to be given such adaptation.” Ariel said and both of her guards let out a light murmur of assent.

“But in that vein, the Firstborn were always wary of us who managed to live in an entirely separate realm. What is far away is hard to control.” one of her guards said.

“Yes we must expect that the Great Beast has many adaptation tailored to counter us.” Ariel replied.

“The divine council will need to convene again.” one of her guards muttered wearily.

Ariel internally grimaced at those words. The Divine Council would always bicker during those meetings. The two factions would often argue on the best course of action and decisions may take years to execute. Somehow Ariel thinks the Great Beast and the Empress will not take years to decide on a course of action...

Then she heard the Great Beasts loud booming voice echo out.

I’m giving you one hour to surrender before I kill all of you

Surrender and serve me

Or die!

Ariel’s blood turned to ice when she heard that. She mentally kicked herself for not seeing this coming. The entire plan was that the Averlonian Empire and the Vampire Courts would deplete each other in this war. The last thing Heaven wanted was for these two to work together. But now that she thought about it something like the Great Beast would see little difference between a human and a vampire.

“By the divine...” one of her guards muttered in horror as the entire battle stilled. The cease-fire had been ordered and the negotiations would soon begin...

It was clear now, to Ariel. They have severely miscalculated this situation. Rather than weakening the Great Beast they may have just served an army of the dead to him on a silver platter.

We need to report this...