Chapter 93: The Breach

Despite Rafael's awareness of Anz's impending rebellion that night.

He had anticipated that the insurgent forces would be the Dawn City Cavalry. Yet, standing before Rafael and his companions, separated by the automatically activated protective array of the Lord's mansion, were none other than the Golden Lion Weber and his cohorts.

Upon realizing that Weber and his men were launching an assault on the Lord's mansion, Rafael and Beatrice resolved to swiftly conclude their confrontation with Anz and then turn their attention to eradicating Weber and his followers.

Although the Golden Lion Weber and the other patriarchs had also transcended the seventy-level mark, achieving Transcendental Awakening.

In the presence of Rafael and Beatrice, individuals like Weber, who had undergone an incomplete Transcendental Awakening, stood no chance; they would be annihilated in an instant.

The reason was simple: the Transcendental Awakening experienced by Weber and his ilk was fundamentally flawed. Within Dawn City, only the lineage of Rafael possessed the knowledge to achieve a complete Transcendental Awakening and attain mastery over the extraordinary realm.

Thus, as long as Anz was eliminated, everything else would fall into place.

However, Rafael and Beatrice had not anticipated that Anz was equally prepared.

In the face of the combined assault from the Lord and his wife, Anz swiftly retrieved a bottle of dark, blood-like potion from his storage device.

The moment this sinister potion appeared in Anz's hand, an almost tangible, dense aura of bloodlust filled the air.

Before Rafael and Beatrice could react.

Anz gulped the potion down with a single "glug."

Instantly, his already unnaturally pale skin grew even more ashen, his canines elongated, and his eyes turned a deep, ominous crimson.

With a tearing sound, Anz's robe ripped open, revealing a pair of bat-like wings spanning ten meters, emerging from hidden slits in his armor.

Under the now blood-red moonlight, Anz let out a thunderous roar, "Roar!"

In an instant, dark red sound waves emanated from Anz's mouth, rippling through the air.

Just as Anz downed the potion, Rafael's heavy sword ignited with a golden flame.

Rafael bellowed, "Golden Flame Slash!"

In the next moment, a sword aura nearly ten meters wide surged towards Anz in mid-air.

Along its path, the golden flames of the sword aura seemed almost alive, leaving behind burning afterimages in the air.

Perhaps it was due to their marital synergy, but the instant Rafael unleashed his skill, an elegant staff, seemingly crafted from crystalline crystal, appeared in Beatrice's hand, though it was unclear when she had summoned it.

Beatrice pointed her staff at Anz, and an intricate and lengthy incantation flowed from her lips as if played in fast-forward.

This was a unique racial ability of Beatrice's lineage: Rapid Casting.

With this equipment, Nina would be absolutely safe for the next half hour, provided she didn't suffer a significant amount of damage.

Only with this assurance could Beatrice allow her last remaining daughter to step into such peril.

Seeing the nearly unscathed Emerald Shield, a slight twitch appeared at the corner of Anz's eye. Breaking through this barrier would take an indeterminate amount of time, and facing the Lord and his wife, Anz was clearly at a disadvantage. It seemed evident that Anz was destined to lose.

However, a cunning plan quickly formed in Anz's mind.

Meanwhile, Rafael and Beatrice, filled with righteous fury, had already charged towards Anz, their nearly identical platinum transcendental realms bearing down on him.

With a swift flap of his large bat wings, Anz transformed into a gust of wind and vanished from sight.

At that moment, Anz's voice echoed in Rafael and Beatrice's ears: "Father, how ruthless can you be? Ignoring your little sister's beloved outside? It's the first time I've seen her care so much about a young man. If he dies, she'll be heartbroken."

Anz's words had no effect on Rafael and Beatrice, who dismissed them as mere background noise. Rafael, with eyes that mirrored Nina's golden irises, finally revealed his determination. "He's just a player. If he dies, he dies. The world is full of men with two legs," he said, his pupils vibrating rapidly in a fine but swift manner, attempting to locate Anz.

Nina, unaware of the invisible duel between the two, was immediately anxious upon hearing Anz's words.

Although part of the reason she had invited Jeremy that day was a desperate measure, she genuinely had feelings for him.

Beatrice, seemingly understanding Nina's turmoil, took the opportunity while her husband tangled with Anz to turn to her daughter. "Daughter, do not lose your composure. With so many people outside, that Jeremy is most certainly already dead."

In an instant, the light seemed to vanish from Nina's eyes, her once radiant golden irises growing dim.

Beatrice was right. Jeremy, a player who hadn't even reached level forty, no matter how skilled, could never stand against the likes of Golden Lion Weber and others outside the Lord's Manor.

Having reassured her daughter, Beatrice joined the fray. Anz gritted his teeth, his wings flapping furiously as his speed surged once more. "Catch me? In your dreams!"

...

Despite the thunderous explosion that followed, Rafael and Beatrice still failed to capture Anz.

Now, Anz's bat wings were reduced to just one, the other a bloodied skeleton of bones twitching spasmodically. His armor was tattered, and even one of his eyes had been gouged out, rendering him a pitiful sight.

Though Rafael and Beatrice were also battered and bruised, their condition was far better than Anz's. However, their expressions were entirely contrasting.

Rafael and Beatrice wore grave and even despairing looks, while Anz's ghastly face radiated sheer delight.

With a resounding "crack," the protective barrier of the Lord's Manor shattered completely. Outside the once-imposing walls, the Golden Lion Clan, the Black Goat Tribe, and the White Elephant Family—prominent figures in Dawn City—had surrounded the manor.

Amidst the dust and smoke, the once-proud Black Armored Cavalry, one of the two core forces of Dawn City and Rafael's pride, now had only a fraction of its members barely able to move. Their eyes, behind their visors, were fixed intently on the manor.

Suddenly, Rafael's expression turned peculiar. "Strange. Is this all the Golden Lions have left? Could my Lord's Manor Protective Array be that formidable?"

Having not paid close attention earlier, Rafael now noticed that something seemed off about the scene outside.