Chapter 149 ¹⁴⁹Duel At Zenithar

?Carmilla moved first.

?No warnings. No extra threats. Just a light wave of her hand, like shooing away an insect.

?She raised her right hand, and the blood across the entire corridor responded. Blood from the instructors’ corpses, from the fallen students, from the damp stone floor. It all levitated and condensed into dozens of crimson spears.

?Swoosh!

?The spears shot forward from all directions.

?Ethan didn’t retreat. He raised a hand, and a freezing chill swept through the corridor.

?"[Black Ice]."

?A wall of black ice erupted in front of him. The first spear struck it and froze on impact. The second, third, and fourth followed. They all turned into red crystals before shattering to pieces.

?Crash!

?Shards of frozen blood scattered across the floor.

?Carmilla’s red eyes narrowed.

?"Ice?" She tilted her head. "You’re no ice mage. Your blood is a mix of several different things."

?"And you talk too much," Ethan replied flatly.

?Carmilla’s smile widened. Her fangs glinted.

?"I’m starting to like you."

?Then, she vanished.

?Not literally. She was simply too fast for the eye to track. Ethan sensed claws swiping from his left and tilted his body by a hair’s breadth. The pitch-black nails tore through the edge of his coat.

?Ethan swung his elbow in a vicious counter. Carmilla was already gone.

?Fast. And she isn’t even serious yet.

?Behind the pillars, the lesser vampires hissed, but not a single one dared to step forward. They were waiting for orders.

?"Fall back," Carmilla ordered without looking away. "This boy is mine."

?Isolde sensed the movement behind the pillars before she even saw it.

?"On the left!"

?A dozen lesser vampires leaped out from the rubble, crawling rapidly along the walls and ceilings. Their blazing red eyes were locked straight onto the incapacitated Cornelius.

?Isolde stepped forward and stomped her foot against the stone.

?A three-meter-tall wall of black ice jutted from the floor, shielding Cornelius behind it. The first vampire slammed into the ice and fell back, frozen stiff.

?One vampire, larger than the rest with arms twice the normal size, battered the wall. Fissures spiderwebbed across the icy surface. Isolde furrowed her brow.

?"They aren’t all fodder."

?She thrust a black ice spear straight into the brute’s throat, twisting it ruthlessly.

?"Miya! Now!"

?Isolde hated playing the rearguard. For her entire life, the Archmage had stood on the front lines. But tonight, she understood: some battles were no longer hers to fight.

?Miya was already kneeling beside Cornelius. A warm, dark golden-purple light ignited in her palms, flowing directly into the deep gash on the Sage’s arm.

?"Hang in there," Miya whispered. Her voice trembled, but her hands were perfectly steady.

?"The students..." Cornelius muttered, his eyes squeezed shut.

?"His breathing is getting shallower," Miya whispered anxiously.

?"Keep at it," Isolde commanded without looking back.

?Three vampires lunged from the flank. Isolde raised a hand, and black ice spears impaled their chests simultaneously. She retracted the spears, spun around, and skewered another one dropping from the ceiling.

?"Miya, behind you!"

?Miya whipped her head around. Without thinking, she hurled an orb of light at the pouncing vampire. The creature shrieked as it was instantly incinerated into ash.

?Miya stared at her own hands, stunned.

?"Don’t space out," Isolde said coldly. "Keep healing."

?Carmilla clenched her fist.

?"This wall once held the strongest mage for a full day," she declared. "[Blood Prison]."

?Blood surged from the entire corridor, rising to form a three-meter-high wall that completely boxed Ethan in from all sides. The prison sealed shut, compressing inward, trying to suffocate him.

?"I don’t need a day," Ethan replied.

?He raised his palm.

?"[Crimson Sin Fire]."

?Dark red flames erupted from his body, licking across the entire surface of the blood wall. The ancient paintings along the corridor caught fire. The blood hissed. Evaporated. In an instant, the prison vanished, reduced to a red mist dispersing into the air.

?Four blueprints he had just purchased at the altar. Carmilla was his first test subject.

?Carmilla stood frozen. For the first time tonight, the smile vanished from her face.

?"What are you?"

?Ethan didn’t answer. He dashed forward.

?Carmilla took a step back and threw her arms wide.

?"[Blood Moon’s Requiem]."

?The blood scattered across the entire second floor levitated, swirling and expanding to form a colossal crimson hurricane roaring down the corridor. Stone pillars violently shook. Torches were snuffed out one by one.

?The tempest slammed into Ethan from all sides.

?Ethan gritted his teeth.

?"[Crimson Gold Beast]."

?A reddish-gold aura exploded from his body. His muscles coiled taut; his skin hardened like steel. Every drop of blood that struck him ricocheted uselessly.

?His bones creaked. This storm was heavier than he anticipated. Every single drop felt like a blunt-force impact.

?But he didn’t stop.

?He marched forward.

?One step. Two steps. The tempest shrieked around him, but it couldn’t hold him back.

?"Your storm is loud," Ethan said quietly. "But that’s all it is."

?Carmilla took another step back. Her eyes widened.

?"Impossible..."

?Ethan raised his right hand.

?Reddish-black Sin Mana and the glow of [Crimson Radiance] spiraled in his palm, entwining before condensing into a pulsating, golden-black orb of energy.

?Ethan gauged the distance. Five steps. The storm would close the gap behind Carmilla in two seconds. More than enough.

?Carmilla saw it, but realized the danger a second too late.

?The orb shot forward, tearing through the blood storm like a hot knife through fabric, and slammed directly into Carmilla’s chest.

?BOOOM!

?The explosion rocked the entire second floor. The windows at the end of the hall shattered simultaneously. Carmilla was blasted backward, crashing into a stone pillar hard enough to crack the masonry.

?The blood storm collapsed. A brief crimson rain showered the corridor before fading into nothingness.

?Ethan’s breathing grew heavy. His Sin Mana had been drained by almost a third in mere minutes. But he didn’t let it show.

?Carmilla slumped to the floor. Blood trickled from her mouth and nose. On her chest, a gaping golden-black scorch mark sizzled, trailing thin wisps of smoke.

?She coughed, trying to force herself up. Her knees trembled violently.

?Peak S-Rank, and she survived that hit. Good, Ethan thought. That means she’s strong enough to be planted.

?Ethan closed the distance.

?Carmilla dug her pitch-black claws into the stone floor.

?The blood from the corridor was drawn toward her, forming a small vortex around her body. She was trying to escape.

?Ethan raised Velcrasia. The dark red whip throbbed in his grip like a living vein.

?Why are you stopping, My Lord? Asmodeus whispered.

?Ethan held the whip mid-air.

?"I need her alive."

?Fufufu... The Seed will root deeper if she’s on death’s door.

?Are you going soft, My Lord?

?"I’m being efficient."

?Fufufu... A sound excuse.

?Ethan lowered Velcrasia.

?"Go," he told Carmilla. "Tell your Queen: I’ve made my move."

?Carmilla stared at him, her crimson eyes growing dim. She couldn’t understand why she was still breathing.

?Ethan crouched down and pressed his hand against her chest, right over the golden-black scorch mark.

?Sin Mana seeped from his fingertips, phasing right through Carmilla’s skin. Something small, cold, and incredibly dark lodged itself deep within her core. The seed assimilated into her blood silently, like a single drop of ink falling into dark water.

?Carmilla flinched, completely oblivious to what had just happened.

?Her body dissolved into a mist of blood and phased out through the shattered window.

?That Seed will sprout slowly, Asmodeus whispered. A few weeks of doubt. A few months, and she’ll be entirely yours—or perhaps even sooner.

?"Good," Ethan replied. "She’ll be an unwitting sleeper agent."

?Ethan stood up and turned around.

?Isolde ripped her ice spear out of the last lesser vampire. The ice wall shielding Cornelius was still standing, though severely cracked in several places.

?Miya was still kneeling, the glow in her hands beginning to fade.

?"Status?" Ethan asked.

?"The gash on his arm is deep, My Lord," Miya answered. "But I managed to stabilize him. It will take time to heal properly."

?"The thralls are wiped out," Isolde reported. "A few fled into the woods."

?"Let them," Ethan said. "They’ll report back. I want the Vampire Queen to know I’ve made my move."

?Cornelius opened his eyes. His sharp right eye locked onto Ethan, dried blood still flaking at the corner of his lips.

?"Have you read the records?"

?"I have."

?"The Queen cannot be killed," Cornelius whispered. "You must seal her."

?"I’m aware."

?"That seal demands a toll. See to it that you don’t live to regret it."

?Ethan fell silent for a moment.

?"I was the one who permitted you to enter that library," Cornelius continued softly. "If there is anyone to blame for what comes next, it is me."

?"Rest," Ethan said.

?Isolde cast a brief glance at his face. The hesitation she had seen in the library was completely gone, replaced by his chilling indifference once more. She wasn’t sure which version of him was more terrifying.

?Ethan stood tall. "Isolde, carry him. We’re going home."

?Isolde unclasped her travel cloak, wrapping it around Cornelius’s frail frame before lifting him carefully into her arms. Miya scrambled to her feet, gripping her medical bag.

?"My Lord," Miya asked tentatively, "what about the surviving students?"

?Ethan shifted his gaze to the end of the corridor.

?At the threshold of the Main Tower, several students stood with wide eyes. Terrified. Lost. A few wept silently. Miya looked at them, her eyes brimming with tears, before lowering her head.

?"Leave them," Ethan said. "They are not my concern."

?"Ethan." Isolde’s voice was sharp. "I am the Vice Headmaster of this institution. They are my students. I taught some of them myself."

?"I know."

?"And you’re just going to abandon them here?"

?"And if I stay here to babysit them, who will reach Valen first?"

?Isolde opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Her jaw tightened.

?"We are leaving," Ethan reiterated.

?Isolde stared at the students one last time. Then, she fell in step behind Ethan.

?Ethan strode toward the shattered window.

?Sin Mana seeped from his back. Azhyrael unfurled, the wings pitch-black at the roots and dripping crimson at the tips.

?"Get on."

?Isolde and Miya climbed onto his back. Isolde held Cornelius tightly against her, while Miya continued to channel [Crimson Radiance] into the Sage’s chest.

?Azhyrael beat its wings once.

?BOOM!

?They shot into the sky.

?The night wind battered Ethan’s face. Far below, Zenithar Academy shrank into the distance, fires still burning atop several towers.

?Behind him, Miya whispered to Cornelius, "Stay awake." The Sage’s trembling fingers weakly clutched the hem of Isolde’s cloak.

?The line from the scroll surfaced in Ethan’s mind once more. The bond you cherish most. He ruthlessly banished the thought.

?The Horned Crown tattoo on his chest throbbed erratically.

?Not from the fight. Not from exhaustion.

?It was something in Valen. Something that fundamentally shouldn’t be happening.

?"Elara..." he whispered.

?Azhyrael flapped even faster.

?From that altitude, Ethan spotted small blurs at the edge of the forest: the surviving lesser vampires fleeing northward. He let them go.

?Isolde looked back one last time. The stone spires had become mere silhouettes, and the students at the threshold were far too small to be seen.

?The dark forest stretched out endlessly beneath them. Isolde clinging to him, Miya holding on behind her, Cornelius cradled in Isolde’s arms. The tattoo on Ethan’s chest pounded harder and harder.

?This wasn’t just a premonition. It was a blood bond.

?The connection felt like it was thinning out. Like a thread stretched to its absolute breaking point. And at the end of that thread, there was an unfamiliar, warm pulse—one that belonged neither to his sister nor to anyone he had ever known.

?Elara.

?Ethan gritted his teeth and pushed himself to fly as fast as he physically could.