Chapter 201: 107. Lomania -2 (Part Two)

“Well then. Taste them to your heart’s content. After all, we have over two hundred thousand livestocks here!”

The Vampires shuddered from sheer excitement at Raiden’s words.

“Light up the flames, and howl out!”

Soon, ‘it’ would reverberate everywhere.

“Let them know what true fear is!”

…’It’ being the screams of the livestocks, the sounds of their ardent wish to be liberated from the torturous pain through death!

“Drink their warm blood, and enjoy biting into their fresh meat!”

And also, the roar of the noble and great army of Vampires too!

“Kkiiiiiiaaaaaak-!”

The Vampires gathered demonic energy and summoned the undead.

The ground beneath broke open as zombies, ghouls, giant zombies, dullahans, and even Death Knights rose up into the open air.

They pushed themselves out from the dirt below and raised their heads high.

More zombies responded to the gathering demonic energy and began crawling out from the distant forest, while the lycans rushed out of the darkness of the night to follow the Vampires.

Their numbers continued to increase.

At first, one thousand.

…

…

Then, three thousand.

…

…

Eventually, five thousand.

They howled and screeched out loudly while rushing forward.

All so that they could devour the tasty prey, and eliminate the members of the Imperial Family that had ruthlessly suppressed them and hunted them until now!

“Go forth-!”

They all rushed towards Lomania.

**

The capital of the Lome Kingdom had been plunged into chaos.

An order came from the royal palace, and it said to ‘prepare for the invasion of Vampires’.

And so, a city-wide evacuation order had been issued to all civilians.

But not too long after the order had been delivered, a whole bunch of existences with burning crimson eyes began showing up from the distant darkness outside the city.

Their numbers alone seemed to breach the five-thousand mark.

This horde split apart into five groups, each with one thousand individuals, and were marching towards the city from seemingly all directions.

Charlotte watched this spectacle unfold while standing on top of the city’s outer wall.

She muttered grimly to herself, “Even if it’s his highness, he won’t be able to stop them all.”

Back when the Vampire Count showed up in Ronia, it had been commanding over twenty thousand undead, but that army was mostly made up of the lowest-tier zombies while their rush was concentrated on one spot.

Defeating them was all possible thanks to the presences of various other Priests as well as the convicts who were already heavily-drilled in the art of defensive battles.

However, the story was different this time.

The undead horde this time ranged from low-tier zombies to even mid- to high-tier creatures. Lomania was also mostly filled with regular soldiers who had never encountered, let alone fight, a Vampire before.

Finally, the Seventh Imperial Prince would have no way of defending against the undead army if they split into five groups with one thousand individuals each which attacked from different directions.

Soon, the capital city of the Lome Kingdom would turn into the city of death.

Charlotte issued her new order, “All members of the Heavenly Army, retreat. We shall head back to the royal palace. Do not forget to evacuate the civilians along the way.”

When the Paladins began making their moves, the Lome soldiers watching on hurriedly lodged their complaints.

“Hold on! What do you expect us to do if the Theocratic Empire’s forces withdraw from here?!”

A captain leading one of Lome’s knight orders shouted out, but Charlotte replied in a calm but cold voice, instead. “Even if we’re the Heavenly Army, our strength will not be enough to stop them here. However, the story will change if we’re back in the royal palace.”

It would be different in the royal palace?

The knight order captain became puzzled by that statement and asked her. “What do you mean by that, ma’am?”

“If you wish to save your citizens, then…” Charlotte replied, “Stop the undead with everything you have, survive, and then make your way back to the royal palace.”

“…?”

“If you do, his highness will resolve everything.”

“What kind of a nonsensical…”

The knight order captain stopped his sentence mid-way after he stared into Charlotte’s eyes.

Despite the march of the undead army numbering in the thousands, there was not a single hint of fear in her eyes.

No, the light in her eyes was actually filled with an unshakeable determination, and that in turn prompted the captain to shut his mouth altogether.

That was absolute faith on display.

She said that the Imperial Prince would somehow resolve this situation.

Goodness… how could anyone realistically believe and follow some young boy in a situation like this?

The knight order captain gritted his teeth.

The Lome soldiers approached him in the meantime.

“What should we do, sir?”

“…They are professionals when it comes to hunting Vampires down. We don’t have any choice but to trust their judgement.”

By now, the Vampires had already surrounded the city. Meaning, the Paladins wouldn’t be able to escape from here anyways.

However, they must’ve had something to believe in.

That’s why…

“My family has been defending this royal capital, Lomania, for generations.”

The captain who had served the kingdom of Lome’s royal family all his life understood that at the very least, he needed to do this one thing.

“Give it your all and defend against the undead!” He loudly yelled out. “Buy as much time as possible, and prepare to evacuate to the royal palace!”

The soldiers quickly got to work after receiving his orders. While doing that, they also glanced at the city behind them.

That was where their families, friends, and precious loved ones were staying.

That was their home. Where their roots laid. The place they couldn’t abandon or forsake.

They simply could not permit these ‘monsters’ to devour this place up without them putting up any resistance whatsoever.

“Protect our hometown! Defend our precious families and friends! We are the swords and the shields of this kingdom! We are the knights of Lome, the kingdom of brave knights!”

The gathered soldiers raised their spears and swords. The archers clenched their teeth while nocking and taking aim with their bows and arrows.

“Do not let those monsters look down on us!”

The soldiers all roared out in sync.

Around the same time, First Prince Barus and his younger brother, Second Prince Derian, were watching this scene play out while standing on one of the royal palace’s balconies.

Strength abandoned their legs and they faltered to the floor.

“The Vampires are invading us…”

“Raiden, that bastard has betrayed the royal family!”

Barus despaired while Derian became enraged.

The number of combatants making up the regular army stationed in the capital was about seven thousand and five hundred in total. And none of them were unskilled amateurs, either.

Indeed, they were the elite soldiers and knights who had tempered their skills within the cauldrons of various battlefields.

However, it was still too much of an ask for them to stand up against the Vampires. That’s because they were about to fight against the ‘immortal’ army.

There was also the fact that the soldiers dying at the hands of the Vampires would only end up bolstering the number of the undead army.

Luan Olfolse stared briefly at the two forlorn-looking princes before shifting his gaze back to the city streets below.

Two hundred thousand citizens were desperately rushing towards the royal palace to escape from the undead.

However, not all of them would make it in time. That’s how quick the Vampires were. That’s how starving they were, too.

“Soon, this city will turn into hell.”

Luan angrily clenched his fists. The Vampires that he hated so much would soon arrive here, yet he felt a sense of powerlessness after realising that he couldn’t do anything about this situation.

“Yes, the city will turn into hell, but…”

Luan turned his head at that voice.

He spotted Allen walking out into the balcony. He leaned against the balcony’s railing and began scanning the rest of the royal palace. It was as if he was trying to take rough measurements of the structure’s overall dimensions.

“…But that’s not going to happen to this palace, at least.”

“Are you saying that you can stop them?”

Even if the Heavenly Army was here, and even if Allen was strong enough to kill Aslan’s king Rahamma, it was still unknown whether or not he could deal with the ever-growing number of Vampires.

“Yes, it’s actually quite doable.” Allen stared at the distant undead army approaching the city and furrowed his brows. “It might get too close for comfort, though.”

It was at that moment that Luan saw it.

He saw that many skeleton mages had been stationed in various parts of the royal palace.

These holy undead creatures were offering their prayers while tightly gripping onto their staves. And as they prayed, more and more divinity gradually gathered around them, and golden-hued rune letters started engraving themselves nearby.

Luan witnessed all that and shifted his gaze back to Allen. “…What are you going to do this time?”

“This city will turn into hell where Vampires roam free. However…” Allen pointed to the ground below. More correctly, at the palace he was standing on. “However, this palace will be the exact opposite.”

“When you say the exact opposite…?”

Allen replied with a meaningful smile on his face. “It will become the holy ground that those bastards fear the most. Most importantly, if this event was the handiwork of that dragon slayer, then…”

The Seventh Imperial Prince’s eyes narrowed to slits just then.

“…Then, we should give him a grand welcome befitting all the hard work he put in, don’t you agree?”

Allen’s Aztal rune reacted to his call and began glowing in a brilliant golden hue.

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