Chapter 4021: Gloves Are Off (Part 2)

The stasis field surrounding the Distar Household kept Frost Soul out, allowing everyone inside the mansion’s walls to use magic freely.

That and the hidden Warp Gate of the Distar Household, bringing Ainz and the Professors of the Black Griffon to Derios the moment the alarm resounded, provided the city with reinforcements and medical supplies.

Wounded soldiers and helpless mages entered the Distar Household and left it with their bodies healed, a small arsenal of alchemical tools, and with several spells at their fingertips.

’We can drive the Upyrs back, but how many innocents will die before the battle is over?’ Brinja looked at the pillars of smoke rising from all over Derios. ’What about next time? What if Meln sends hundreds of Upyrs instead of a few dozen?’

***

Distar Marquisate, Lustria County, city of Lutia.

Hundreds of Upyrs attacked Orpal’s birthplace, and the Horseman led the charge.

He saw how much Lutia had grown in his absence and knew that it had happened not because of him, but in spite of him.

’I ruined Leech’s reputation and showed these worms my true power back when I exposed his dirty little secrets at the Heavenly Wolf restaurant. Yet these ungrateful bastards still crawl at Leech’s feet. They even worship him like a god!’

The sight of the temple of the All-Father enraged Orpal most of all. The giant statues of Lith’s known four forms seemed to mock him, their sheen surface a testament to the devotion that the people paid to him without even being asked.

’That should be my temple! Those statues should depict me!’ The thought that none of his followers showed him a fraction of the admiration the Lutians had for Lith almost drove Orpal mad with fury.

The ’almost’ disappeared when he noticed Trion’s majestic statue. The sculptures of the Four Generals were smaller than the All-Father’s, but still carved from polished stones and depicted with a heroic bearing.

"Where is your god now, you pathetic maggots?" Orpal screamed in outrage as he smashed the statues with a colossal spear comprised of several black prisms. "Where is Leech? He’s far away and uncaring like all the so-called gods.

"I’m here, instead, and you will all kneel before me!"

After he was done with the statues, Orpal lunged at the temple. The prisms coating Thorn amplified the destructive power of the spear, razing the temple of the All-Father to the ground in a matter of seconds.

"Kill them all!" The Vurdalak roared. "Destroy everything, starting with the blacksmith’s house. Bring me Zekell Proudhammer’s head on a pike!"

"Lith, where in the gods’ names are you?" Zekell pressed the contact rune like a madman, but a thick layer of hoarfrost covered his contact amulet, jamming it. "Sirma, we need to-"

One Upyr stomped on the blacksmith’s house from the front and another from the back, flattening it.

"What about the old man’s head?" A Treant-Upyr asked. "Didn’t we just squash it?"

"We would have done it anyway." A Naga-Upyr replied. "Look."

He tried lifting a corpse from the middle of the street, but it was crushed under the pressure of his massive fingers.

"Just bring the Dead King the head of an old man. It’s not like he will notice the difference."

Lutia had no walls and was only guarded by a small contingent of the army. Most mages of the local branch of the Association were low-level clerks, tasked with distributing the Tablets and keeping records of the trial run.

Once Frost Soul sealed the Warp Gate, the Association didn’t stand a chance and lasted only for a few seconds after the attack began.

Orpal had struck the Distar region first, preferring to alert the rest of the Kingdom rather than risking the Royals might send someone capable of spoiling his plans to Lutia.

’Gods, I’m an idiot.’ The Dead King thought when he returned to his senses. ’I’ve wasted too much time crushing an insignificant pile of stones. What if my real target has already escaped?’

Due to Frost Soul surrounding Lutia, Orpal couldn’t use Life Vision, Moonlight, or life-sensing arrays, leaving him only his regular sight to look for his prey.

"Stay on guard! I’m sure that Leech has prepared something. Do not approach his house. That’s an order!" The Dead King’s words would have confused the Lutians, if only they could stop for a moment and listen to him.

The Lutians were too busy running for their lives to care about what Orpal did or said.

Otherwise, they would have questioned why he had started the attack from the city, and no Upyr had been sent past its borders.

’Crazy bastard.’ Jorl was one of the few who knew the answer to such questions. ’But a crazy bastard with a good plan. I can’t believe he came up with it on his own.’

’I must say, I’m enjoying this much more than I should.’ Night hadn’t stopped laughing since the moment the attack on the Blood Desert had started. ’It’s been too long since the last time I had so much fun.

’In the eternal boredom of my existence, watching the weak squirm under my foot is the only pleasure that never gets old. The face of every one of these humans twists in fear and despair in a unique way.

’They are akin to snowflakes in a storm. So pretty yet so ephemeral!’

’And the best has yet to come.’ Orpal left the ruins of the temple, reaching the farmlands with a single flap of his wings.

The three squads of the Queen’s corpse that protected Lutia even in Lith’s absence were too busy saving people to try and stop him. Without their magic and reinforcements, they were just fifteen well-armed and trained soldiers against living gods.

The kings of the Trawn Woods and their magical beast subjects prepared for the worst, ready to attack from under the cover of the arrays shrouding Lith’s home.

Much to their surprise, the Vurdalak gave the Verhen Household a wide berth and shrank to the size of a tall human. Orpal had come to take his revenge on Lutia, but there were people who mattered to him much more than a bunch of buildings and strangers.

He landed in front of Bromann’s house like a meteor, opening a crater in the ground and producing a shockwave strong enough to shatter the glass windows.

"I’ve never forgotten about you, Rizel." Orpal’s fanged mouth curled up in a disgusted grimace at the sight of the simple yet comfortable stone cottage. "How could I? You are the first person to have ever betrayed me!"

He kicked the door open, sending it flying off its hinges and crashing against the wall. The Vurdalak clicked his tongue, disappointed that no one had gotten hurt.

"It’s because of you that my parents disowned me." Orpal walked through the door slowly, savoring the fear he could smell on Rizel, Bromann, and Lisa. "You claimed to be my friend, yet you didn’t hesitate one second to rat me out to save your sorry ass after you failed your simple assignment.

"If sixteen years ago you just followed my instructions and limited yourself and your stupid friends to teach Leech a lesson, none of this would have happened."

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