Chapter 174 – True Despair

It hurts…

 Who are they? They are not the darklings, so why did they attack us?

Kail… leave, son….

The Patriarch’s eyes starting to slowly close. He saw his eldest son struggling in order to save him, but the Patriarch knew that they would kill him before Kail could break free.

If not for the Deity tiered artifact used by the enemy, they would not be in this pitiful state, unable to use their soul power. For a Heavenly stage expert, soul power was even more important than essence itself.

“CALRON!”

The Patriarch’s eyes fluttered once he heard that name.

What is that child doing here!?

He did not want Calron to die here, as he was the future of the clan.

The scion of the Raizel clan.

Leave…

The Patriarch thought desperately, wishing he was powerful enough to stop all of their enemies.

He had lost too much blood, and if it continued, he would be forcefully reverted back into his human form, and once that happened with the weapons still pierced into him, he would definitely die. 

I’m tired…

The Patriarch’s consciousness began to fade away.

*SCREEEEEEE*

A familiar screech echoed in the hall, startling the Patriarch out of his reverie.

…………………………………..

KILL!

That was the only thought coursing through Calron’s mind, as he flew up in the air and charged straight at the man with his leg pressed against the Patriarch’s neck.

The robed figures were taken aback by the abrupt screech, but they soon recovered once they gauged Calron’s cultivation level. Besides, compared to the Patriarch’s ma.s.sive size, Calron’s beast form was smaller and skinnier. 

Dozens of ice arrows hailed at Calron as one of the enemies launched a swift attack on him.

Thinking that it would scare the Vajra stage beast, the robed figures resumed their work on the larger bird.

You’ll regret it.

Calron summoned the Azure Lightning, and violent bolts of blue lightning wrapped around his scaly body, boosting his speed to the extent of instant teleportation!

*SCREEEEEE*

His claws grasped the head of the robed figure standing on the Patriarch’s neck and crushed the skull to a pulp. Calron’s teleportation caught them unaware, and one of them paid the price for it.

Asra and the others gasped in fright when they saw Calron suddenly shape-shift and soon after that, watch him easily smash the skull of an enemy.

On the other hand, Roran tackled one of the enemies fighting Kail and began savagely pummeling his crimson fists into the robed figure. Just like Calron’s opponent, the robed figure facing Roran was taken by surprise and he could not bring out his soul power in time to stop the teen from attacking him.

“What the h.e.l.l is going on here!?”

Resir’s eyes widened in shock, seeing the two youths gaining the upper hand against Saint stage experts. One of them was at the peak of Vajra stage, but the other one was only at the second rank of Vajra stage and still managing to drive back his enemy.

“Attack!”

Mirane’s father roared and charged towards the other tower lords to aid them. Erten trailed behind his father, his dual flaming scimitars spinning within his hands.

“Linda, take Rain with you to help uncle Kail. Harol and I will back up Calron.”

Asra commanded in an urgent voice. Calron was fighting four of them by himself and since the surprise attack was already executed, no one would fall for it again.

Linda and Rain quickly nodded and darted towards Roran.

“Don’t be rash and protect yourself, Harol.”

Asra turned to the other boy and warned him, before sprinting in Calron’s direction.

“Hey, I am always careful.”

Harol complained while running behind Asra. Bolts of golden lightning surged around his body, a pure force capable of absolute annihilation.

It was because Harol trained in the path of elemental destruction.

………………………….

“You should not have done that.”

One of the robed figures threatened Calron, as he swiftly moved in front of the teen and swung his sword at his opponent’s wing.

“I’ll stop him, so go for his heart!”

Another robed figure conveyed at the back, and Calron felt a foreign soul power trying to take control over his body.

*SCREEEEEEEE*

Calron let out an earth-shattering cry and activated the Divine Perception to block the soul attack. A current of Azure Lightning coursed outside his scales and wings, as Calron once again teleported towards the robed figure with the sword and tried to grab him with his claws.

Kugh!

Calron suppressed the globule of blood inside his throat. He did not have enough time to recover since he last used the Azure Lightning and the Divine Perception at the same, so his internal organs were beginning to fail.

If he continued like this, then Calron knew that he would be risking death.

“H-how did he block it!?”

The other robed figure shouted in an astonished voice seeing his soul power being forced back by a Vajra stage cultivator.

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice, beast.”

The swordsman chuckled, trapping Calron’s claws between his sword. Without giving Calron the time to retreat, he used his essence and coalesced a thick block of rock encasing the claws.

I don’t go for the same trick twice as well.

Calron’s eyes glowed with a mysterious light, and his steely beak snapped around the swordsman’s neck.

*crunch*

The rock encasing his claws gradually disintegrated into dust once the swordsman’s heart stopped beating.

“You’ll pay for that, you freak!”

The robed figure with the spear screamed, hurling his weapon at Calron’s back. However, the rock around Calron’s claws had not wholly disintegrated, so he could not properly evade the incoming strike.

*SCREEEE*

Calron moaned with pain, the spearhead digging deep into his back, between the pair of metallic wings.

“Hahaha!”

The robed figure cackled with joy and sprinted towards Calron to finish him off.

However, just as he reached the golden bird and was about to push the spear even further inside Calron’s body, a firm hand pulled the robed figure back.

“You forgot about me.”

Avor’s deep voice resounded, causing the opponent’s mind to go cold. Avor’s soul power had already penetrated the enemy, preventing him from moving.

The moment that Avor launched a kick at the enemy, he felt a dense rope coiling around his body, restraining his movement.

It was the last remaining robed figure who had previously bound the Patriarch’s claws. He had joined the fight from a distance once he saw his companion being oppressed.

Taking advantage of Avor’s distraction, the enemy broke free of the soul power and kicked Avor in the face.

“Puh!”

Avor felt the air from his chest being expelled.

“Kill him!”

Right then, Asra’s voice thundered in the vicinity as he and Harol viciously attacked the robed figure controlling the elemental rope, thus letting Avor escape from its binding.

Swiftly taking the spear out of Calron’s back, Avor aimed it towards the robed figure’s neck and penetrated the skin with sheer physical force. Spurts of blood burst from the severed arteries while the enemy slowly tumbled to the ground.

Asra and Harol easily finished off the last enemy with their combined strength and went to the Patriarch to check on his injuries.

…………………………………….

“Thank you, Avor.”

Calron rasped, his arm around the stoic blonde man’s shoulder as the latter supported him to stand up.

A big open wound was visible on Calron’s back from the spear, but the Blood Legacy’s regenerative ability was already starting to close the wound up. He had reverted back into his human form as Calron no longer had the energy to maintain his beast form.

“cough… cough!”

Calron suddenly bent down and retched blood on the floor.

“Are you alright?”

Avor asked with a slightly worried tone.

“cough… I am fine.”

Calron wiped away the traces of blood from his mouth and stood back up.

His body was breaking down from the inside, and even the Blood Legacy could not heal it fast enough.

“Patriarch!”

Asra and Harol surrounded the Patriarch’s now human body and inspected it for any injuries. There were multiple stab wounds spanning his skin, but the Patriarch was still breathing albeit unconscious, so he should recover after some rest.

“Calron! Are you hurt?”

Harol was the first one to notice Calron and Avor walking towards them. Seeing the teen walk shakily, Harol thought that his friend was gravely injured.

“I’m fine, Harol. How’s the Patriarch?”

Calron inquired, but he already knew that the old man was safe. If he was in any danger, then both Harol and Asra’s mood would be starkly different.

“Fortunately, you saved him in time.”

Asra looked up at Calron and warmly smiled at the newest member of their clan. 

“I don’t know how they did it, but we won the battle, Calron.”

Harol interjected their conversation by pointing at the other tower lords’ fights. With the help of Resir, Erten’s father and the others, the tower lords were able to push back the enemies and collectively defeat them.

Even the two robed figures that Kail and Roran were fighting, were soon killed once Linda and Rain entered the clash.

It was finally over.

I can rest now.

Calron thought with relief, glad that everyone was safe and that the conflict was concluded. The tower lords all gathered the survivors and began healing the ones who were injured. Moreover, they did not forget to thank the brave teens who came to their aid in the most critical of situations.

The atmosphere in the main hall was filled with joy and victory.

“Hahaha, I think that you forgot someone for this celebration of yours.”

A nefarious and silky voice echoed in the hall, and moments later, a dull thud sounded out on the floor.

“Oh my G.o.d! It’s the King!”

One of the teens cried out, recognizing the king’s face through all the blood on his face. 

What!?

Throughout the whole bloodshed, Calron had not even realized that the king was absent amongst the tower lords.

“It was an entertaining fight, but the show has got to end now.”

Zarvel’s voice bounced off the walls, as the sound of wings flapping could be heard above them. Gales of wind brushed past everyone on the floor when Zarvel landed, and they saw the gigantic dark-purple creature tower over them.

“Let me show you what true despair is.”

A draconic roar thundered, as Zarvel released the aura of a peak Heavenly stage expert.