Chapter 554 - Wake Up!

New Chapter for the Highest Tier (June 2021)

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Vampire King Apollyon

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The bronze dragon's whole body was on fire, lighting up the night similar to Princess Sapphire's ball of light from the plant's life force —a replica of a small sun. 

Apollyon sucked in a quick breath as he admired Hephaestus's automaton.

The dragon was a gorgeous art made of metal, but it didn't look that good if one should face this monster before they died.

So, this was the God of Fire's magic in its purest form, huh?

He can make these metals come alive while the Goddess of the Underworld was to animate the dead souls and manipulate them to her will.

He might as well join if he wasn't mated with Luna.

This battle is a must-watch, but not in this view.

Apollyon was too near, and he might perish if the fire burned his heart or his brain. 

If it was only his half-sister who could only pull this kind of magic off out of all the Summer Faeries in this Court, Apollyon could tell that she might have inherited the power to carry this solar energy from her father, Hephaestus.

Of course, Hephaestus didn't become the god of Fire for nothing! 

It contained incredible power inside its machinations. That was why the blaze didn't melt its bronze armor.

Despite settling himself in a higher elevation than Xerxes, Princess Sapphire, and Hecate, who stood at the arbor with the dragon in front of them, Apollyon still had to clutch on the branches keep his balance as he glanced upon the dragon's head. 

Jerking his head back, his mouth fell open in amazement.  "Wow."

Its head was so huge that Apollyon could only see a side of its face and one side of its round ruby eyes emitting a strong, blinding red light.

How tall was it?

Apollyon could estimate the sleek creature's estimated height was thirty feet, towering over other ancient trees and fae-made structures around it.

The ground shook from the force of the winds as it flapped its mechanical wings and the wings made a 'claaaaang' sound as it flew heavenward to the dark sky.

Shoulders hunching over, Apollyon cringed inwardly when he heard the unpleasant sound and covered his ears.

It wouldn't make his ears bleed, but he could barely stand it because of his sensitive hearing.

The loud and long ringing noise sounded like a metal hitting another metal object. 

Apollyon's entire muscles tensed when he remembered that his wife was asleep in the observatory! He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he took that short time to regret his life choices.

Why did they come here in the first place to sleep in the observatory and played with the telescope to watch the stars?

No, Apollyon wasn't rueful about the new memories he made with his wife at the gazebo.

They were priceless to him.

The question was: why did the god and a goddess choose this location to pick a fight?And why were they fighting over Princess Sapphire at dawn?

If this was all about the ego to prove who was more powerful, they should have saved their energy until morning so that every Summer Faerie would see them destroy the  Monarch's property!

No one would dare blame Apollyon and Luna over this debacle if they weren't present here in the first place.

Will the noise wake Luna up as the roars reverberated throughout the expanse of the garden?

It must have disturbed the nocturnal animals lurking behind the trees, similar to him. 

There is no need to wonder and wait for another tragedy, similar to the wildfire at the Great Hall.

He had to move his wife to safety, especially when the God of Fire, the one and only culprit of the faerie immolation,  was near the vicinity.

Apollyon prayed everyone in the Summer Castle would wake up and find out what these powerful beings were up to when they see a huge dragon by their windows as hundreds of ghosts released from the shadows swirled around the area.

'God's Blood.' Wincing, Apollyon shook his head.  'Never mind that.'

The bronze dragon opened its mouth as a yellow-orange ball of fire similar to what Princess Sapphire held in her hand earlier came out of its throat. 

Hecate didn't give the automaton to breathe fire and destroy every living creature in the Hedge Maze Garden.

As she extended her left arm in front of her,  a magic bow materialized in her hand as she pulled back her other arm.

Clasping the thin string, she stretched the extremely long and sharp icy arrow with her hand, aimed it at the mouth of Hephaestus' dragon, and shoot it in a quick, precise movement.

The icy quiver Hecate shot successfully entered its throat and repressed the fire before it could do damage.

The dragon belatedly realized what it had done and closed its mouth.

The Goddess of the Underworld smirked when the magic arrow turned the dragon's bronze armor into blue ice, and they cracked into thousands of pieces. 

The souls and demons also helped with entering the automaton's internal parts for speedy destruction.

After that, Apollyon didn't know what happened next.

He realized this wasn't a show anymore.

This was real.

His eyebrows were drawn together as his gaze flitted back and forth to the Hephaestus and Hecate.

If he didn't get Luna out of here to keep her from harm, then it would be his fault the second time. He didn't care about anyone else. 

"Fuck it." Apollyon cursed and teleported back to Luna in the observatory in an instant. 

Let the Goddess of the Underworld deal with Hephaestus and save Princess Sapphire and Xerxes while he dealt with his sleeping beauty in the gazebo, which was unaware of what was happening around them. 

Only Apollyon could feel this urgency when his wife was dead to the world.

"Wife." Apollyon knelt beside the mattress as he shook her shoulders, so strong her head lolled from side to side. "You have to wake up."