Chapter 154: Lances Radiance Illuminates the World

Chapter 154: Lance's Radiance Illuminates the World

Inside the bedroom on the second floor, Princess Alexia sat on the edge of the bed. Her vacant eyes reflected boundless despair. She looked like a small bird held captive, awaiting its death.

Hearing the faint sounds drifting up from the lower level, she knew the vampire count had arrived. Before long, the vampire would slaughter everyone in the sanctuary and then come to the second floor to find her.

Suddenly, something compelled her to look toward the window. Through the ornate, carved frame, she saw the sky beginning to brighten. Alexia stirred. She walked slowly toward the window and gently pressed her palm against the cold glass.

Her haggard, astonished face was faintly reflected in the pane. Even from the second floor, she could feel the warm radiance spilling out from the ground floor. This light pierced through every window of the sanctuary, seemingly powerful enough to illuminate the entire courtyard and the surrounding forest!

The sky was deep and mysterious. On this night, it seemed to burn with a gentle flame. Her voice was faint yet resolute, like a prayer addressed to a savior who existed only in fantasy. "This light... it is...it is just like the true, blazing sun... Is this your power...?"

Alexia could no longer hide the emotion washing over her. For the first time, a thought began to take root: that every word Lance had spoken was the truth.

Even though common sense told the world that the sun could not rise at midnight, an instinct coursing through her very being told her that this light might truly possess the power to overwhelm the Blood Moon.

***

Meanwhile, back in the real world, all eyes were drawn to the massive outdoor screen at the center of the square. The radiance emanating from it bathed the night in a mesmerizing, iridescent glow.

The screen, now a brilliant, pure white, became the heart of the campus. It commanded the attention of the students and silenced their voices, leaving them to stare in hushed awe at the dazzling, crystalline display.

Students sat on the plaza steps, clutching warm drinks, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the giant screen. Their expressions were a mix of shock, surprise, bewilderment, and excitement.

They could easily recognize the card Lance was using. It was the Epic grade card, Glorious Virtue, that he had crafted during his card maker exam. It was capable of summoning a harmless mini-sun of extreme brightness to dazzle opponents; this effect intensified in enclosed spaces and weakened in open terrain.

However, not a single person had ever imagined it could truly mimic the actual sun, yet Count Palokas's shrill, agonized roar served as the ultimate confirmation. Glorious Virtue was effective against vampires. In fact, its impact was unparalleled!

Finally, a student spoke up, their voice filled with sheer disbelief, "How... how does the card, Glorious Virtue, possess the power of the sun?"

Even if Lance had imbued it with the form and attributes of the sun, it should have remained nothing more than an imitation. Unless... the materials used to craft the card shared an intrinsic connection to the sun itself!

"Could that Unnamed Light Elemental Stone have originated from the sun? But... how did Lance manage to figure that out?"

Though there was much they didn't understand, they knew one thing for certain. That familiar feeling was back, and everything had all come rushing back! The challengers were sounding the horn for a counterattack!

One student whooped, "Headmaster Lance! Teach that vampire count a lesson!"

Another screamed, "Show the vampires the full force of human wrath!"

Instantly, a thunderous roar of cheers and encouragement erupted across the plaza.

***

The sanctuary in the castle had now transformed into a hall of pure white, glass-like radiance. As if Lance could hear the cheers of his classmates back at Ikerite University, he murmured softly to himself, "I come from the human race, so I shall devote my utmost to it."

Meanwhile, not far from the banquet table where he was, Count Palokas's body had taken on a silvery-white sheen while bathed in a brilliant, incandescent glow. His already pale skin had become paper-thin, revealing the veins beneath. He looked fragile enough to shatter at the slightest touch.

"Take this punch!" The executioner strode heavily across the sanctuary's stone floor, each step striking Palokas's heart like the blow of an iron hammer. He swung his massive axe with ferocious power, cleaving the very air as it descended upon the count.

At the moment the axe fell, Palokas still couldn't open his eyes due to his agony. Relying purely on combat instinct, he strained every muscle to raise his arms in a desperate block.

Sparks flew amid a deafening clang of metal on metal. The vampire managed to defend against the axe through sheer physical resilience that befitted someone at Rank 7, yet he reeled like a small boat in a storm, staggering backward several paces.

Palokas roared in disbelief, "You despicable human!!!"

So this was what he called "a punch?!" The shameless axe-wielder was actually taking advantage of his blindness! The vampire's sleeves were in tatters. Two gruesome gashes marred his forearms, and his hands trembled with stinging pain.

Before Palokas could even move, the paladin's commanding, righteous voice rang out from behind him. "Now, face my sword, Count."

At some point, the paladin had moved to the opposite side of the vampire. Sunlight cast a golden sheen over his silver armor, and he gripped a longsword of holy light that seemed to illuminate the entire world. Each step of his rapid advance sounded like a rhythmic drumbeat, pounding heavily against Palokas's heart.

The sound of the sword tip dragging across the ground drew ever closer, bringing with it a crushing pressure, like seawater engulfing a ship. This kept Palokas on high alert amid the pitch-white brightness.

Yet, at some point, the paladin had discarded his sword and launched into a fierce charge. As the hilt clattered to the floor, the paladin's hands slammed viciously into Palokas’s temples, sending him reeling and nearly knocking him unconscious.

The male bodyguard stood in the corner like a phantom, his shortsword glinting coldly. Palokas felt his senses slipping. Before he could even recover his wits, he felt a deathly chill radiating from right in front of him.

He had no time to guess the nature of the incoming attack before the male bodyguard, gripping the shortsword with both hands, brought it crashing down with brutal force onto the crown of Palokas's head.

In the distance, the Poet of Boundless Love provided a running commentary for the trio's assault with her cheerful, melodious voice. "A blow that pierces the skull!"

She looked as though she were about to break into a dance. While waving her slender arms from behind the banquet table like a cheerleader, she shouted encouragement to the main fighters on the front lines.

"You disgusting succubus—!!! Don't let me get my hands on you!!!"

Palokas's bones began to creak under the barrage of such underhanded attacks. He was so furious he could die, yet he had no outlet for his rage! Flesh could not withstand the bite of the blade, and blood surged forth, churning like boiling water.