Norton's voice was full of anger—though he still found it difficult to think of Annie as his fiancée, their time together had changed how he viewed the brave female knight. Perhaps without realizing it, Norton had started to consider Annie as someone who belonged to him. Now, with Annie in the line of danger, how could Norton remain calm?
There was another reason for Norton's anger. The battle was under control, unfolding as he had anticipated, and there was no need for Annie's reckless bravery. Her impulsive move could potentially disrupt the strategic setup and introduce unnecessary variables into the fight.
Despite his outburst, no one responded. Norton knew it wasn't the time to assign blame, so he simply huffed and turned his attention back to the battlefield, though with a growing sense of murderous intent in his heart.
"Mother..." Norton muttered softly, glancing at Lady Windsor for guidance before suggesting, "I think it might be a good idea to send another squad of knights to attack. We can slightly reduce our defense and dispatch a company of Blood Chalice Knights. Would that be feasible?"
"Norton, let me ask you something," Lady Windsor replied instead of agreeing or disagreeing, turning the question back to Norton, "If I refuse your suggestion, what would you do? Argue further, or run out there yourself to help her?"
Norton paused briefly before responding, "I won’t do that."
"Very good." Lady Windsor smiled approvingly. "You must remember, you are the Count of Kastan. As the ruler and military commander, nothing is more important than your own safety."
Meanwhile, Annie and her detachment of black knights found themselves trapped. The Strigoi rebels sent all their crypt fiends in her direction, along with skeletal forces vastly outnumbering her knights, bolstered by the Strigoi ghoul kings' supporting magic, limiting the knights' mobility and surrounding them in layers, launching relentless attacks.
It was reminiscent of a mock battle Norton had participated in with a cousin years ago at a July banquet.
Fortunately, a squad of Blood Chalice Knights appeared, breaking a hole in the encirclement to aid the beleaguered black knights. Seeing the opportunity, Annie quickly commanded her forces to break through and retreat.
As the black knights galloped away, several Strigoi ghoul kings howled in frustration. They lacked the resources to sustain such costly, highly trained troops. Their few bone cavalry were no match for the enemy, forcing them to watch helplessly as the opposition escaped.
Just as Norton breathed a sigh of relief, a bizarre screech echoed from the Strigoi ranks! The sound was unbearably piercing, compelling all who heard it to cover their ears. It cut through the noise of battle with ease. Then, dozens of shadows launched into the air from the rebel ranks, amplifying the noise further.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
This noise was as deadly as any weapon of mass destruction. The servants within the castle were the first victims, clutching their ears as blood streamed from their orifices, dead instantly. Next were the half-undead banshees, rendered dizzy and powerless. Thankfully, Kastan's main forces consisted of undead, immune to such noise, or the battle would have been lost.
"Why are the ghouls and crypt fiends unaffected?!" Norton exclaimed, confused, then noticed nearby ghoul corpses. Those creatures' ears bore nothing but bloody holes, their eardrums pierced. No wonder they were unaffected.
"It's the Nightfiends! They're desperate!" Lady Windsor said gravely, warning Norton. He nodded in agreement, shaking his sleeve as he grasped his staff firmly.
As the Nightfiends approached swiftly, their forms became visible in the moonlight. With grayish skin, knotted muscles, and mighty limbs, they resembled gigantic bats with massive wings, long tongues, and sharp-toothed mouths, coupled with chaotic, beastly eyes and grotesquely ugly heads. It was hard to imagine these colossal creatures, weighing over a ton, had once been small bats weighing less than five pounds.
Watching these monstrous beings approach, Norton lifted his staff. A series of ice arrows stored within launched rapidly, bombarding a Nightfiend that targeted him. The ice, as sharp as any divine weapon, mercilessly pierced the Nightfiend's body, shredding its wings and severing its head and limbs, turning it into a sieve.
"Did Triss give that to you?" Lady Windsor recognized the staff and inquired.
"Yes, it's a birthday gift from Teacher Triss last year," Norton confirmed.
"I didn't expect she would even give you that," Lady Windsor remarked as the remaining Nightfiends, the enemy's last reserves, were blasted apart by focused fire from the magic towers. Clapping her hands, she signaled for a counterattack.
Norton felt the winds of magic change around him, and Dekenhof Castle’s defensive barrier shifted. A squad of Wraith Riders on undead horses howled as they passed through walls, treating Dekenhof Castle's solid mithril walls as nonexistent barriers!
Clad in tattered black robes and wreathed in ghostly green flames, these warriors wielded long scythes, reaping the lives of ghouls and skeleton soldiers outside the castle. Their scythes passed through living ghouls as if they were phantoms, reducing them to sulfur-smelling ash. Against skeletons, the scythes acted like solid weapons, shattering bones with ease.
Each Wraith Rider acted like a harvesting machine, charging through the enemy, their bodies becoming incorporeal as they wove through the throng, crushing the ghouls' twisted souls to dust and reverting skeletal soldiers back to bone with scythe strokes. They swept all before them, whether living or undead!
The Wraith Riders were one of the Kastan family’s elite forces. The fifty-strong squad held a combat power comparable to that of a dragon!
As the Wraith Riders charged, the Strigoi ghoul kings cursed, trying in vain to halt the rampage. The riders moved too quickly, their targets darting unpredictably within the rebel ranks. Magical attacks risked hitting their own, leaving the ghoul kings helpless.
Some ghoul kings targeted by the Wraith Riders couldn’t escape death either. Almost devoid of magical equipment and living in extreme poverty, they had no means to fend off the Wraith Riders. The powerful survived; the weak perished.
With the rebel ranks in disarray, another company of Blood Chalice Knights emerged through the unidirectional teleportation magic circle, charging forward. Simultaneously, the outer gate crashed open, releasing a surge of tomb guardians and stone tomb ghouls to launch an all-out assault. From the rear, undead wails signaled the arrival of local troops and vampire noble reinforcements. With this, the battle’s outcome was no longer in doubt—the Kastan family would secure a complete victory.