The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 355 - 249: The Wine of Victory

Chapter 355: Chapter 249: The Wine of Victory

Anna felt like her hooves were about to crack.

The monster behind her was becoming more terrifying, and its powerful Spiritual Energy was so oppressive that she could hardly breathe.

The strength of this Fallen Fire Guardian surpassed everyone’s imagination. A Strong Monster was Trolian’s biggest threat under normal circumstances, and although it was only at the Primary Rank, it was still the strongest monster Anna had encountered so far.

Unlike her sisters, although she possessed one of the seven characteristics, "Magic Awakening" (Liberation), her growth was too slow, and her Awakened State was only that of a relatively weak Centaur.

Her sisters had already become pillars of the Royal City, while she was still just a regular member of a secretive branch.

During her growth, too many people were disappointed in her. Falling from a highly anticipated prodigy to a silent mediocrity was very painful. That sense of disparity, that wordlessness, pity, sympathy, ridicule, and schadenfreude were enough to kill.

She had suffered and strived, and eventually compromised, accepting that she was mediocre, but she still believed she was useful.

Like now!

Anna’s four hooves swerved, and her body turned sideways—a beautiful 180-degree drainage ditch drift once again threw off the gray-robed monster.

The Star Longsword stabbed the air again, and the violent Spiritual Energy split the entire street in two.

Monsters that had transformed from ancient human warriors were the most difficult to deal with; their strong combat instincts meant their actual combat abilities exceeded those of most monsters of the same rank.

"Are you ready, Rod?" Anna called out loudly.

The gray-robed monster continued its relentless pursuit. Its longsword, bright as stars and full of violent Spiritual Energy, demonstrated the power of the Star Sword. Just a touch of its sword light could tear a person to shreds.

"Almost!"

"That’s what you said a quarter of an hour ago!"

"This time it’s for real!"

"You said it was real last time too."

"Shut up! Blink now, get on top!"

Anna’s front hooves abruptly paused, swinging her body like a windmill to dodge, as the gray-robed monster plunged down, its sword piercing the ground.

With a loud bang, the ground collapsed, and all the buildings within a radius of a hundred steps toppled into the pit.

Anna quickly jumped away; her entire body was drenched in sweat and her hooves felt slightly soft—a sign of exhaustion. Her Awakened State was becoming unstable, and her strength was almost drained.

Yet, the monster was still full of energy.

"Rod, do you think we will fail?"

"No."

"Do you think... I’m useful?"

Surprised, Rod replied, "How could you be useless?" Turning his head, he glanced again, and the massive consumption of Spiritual Energy instantly drained his reserves, triggering his fiftieth "Awakening."

Anna beneath him seemed a bit faster, pulling away slightly, allowing Rod a few extra glances. The frequent use of Soul Harvest on the same target greatly increased its Spiritual Energy consumption, but it also greatly weakened the opponent’s certain resistance. The feedback made him feel the success rate was rapidly increasing.

"There’s hope! Hang in there, Anna!"

The horse beneath him was sweating profusely, still running desperately. The numerous buildings of the old town helped her. Like a sprite of the wind, she leaped through streets, squares, and dried fountains, eluding the gray-robed monster that was much stronger than them.

After the seventieth "Awakening," Rod felt as if he had broken through some kind of limit, the monster’s spirit had become extremely fragile, and the success rate of soul harvest had greatly increased.

The grey-robed monster sensed a lethal threat, its spiritual energy became even more violent, pressing down behind them like the eye of a moving storm.

The eightieth "Awakening."

Rod clearly felt Anna’s muscles spasming, yet she kept on running wildly, at this point they were merely acting on some kind of momentum, knowing that once they stopped, they would never be able to stand up again.

The ninetieth "Awakening."

Rod’s eyes were nearly splitting apart; one "Awakening" could no longer sustain the consumption of a soul harvest, the overuse of spiritual energy caused him extreme mental agony.

The one hundred and seventh "Awakening."

Rod’s pupils dilated drastically, his whites filled with blood vessels, blood trickled from the corners of his eyes, spiritual energy surged like thorns bursting from the soul, and the rending pain nearly made him faint.

But he still glared at the grey-robed monster and accurately initiated a soul harvest.

This time, there was no sensation of failure; an invisible scythe fell from the void, chopping off the monster’s spirit, and an even more intangible force turned it into a wisp of black thread that entered Rod’s body.

"[A very strong soul]"

The grey-robed monster collapsed helplessly from mid-air, falling to the ground like a clump of dust, the light on the Star Longsword dimmed, as the storm-like spiritual energy quietly dissipated, resembling the sudden cessation of a downpour.

Anna, still running beneath him, heard Rod weakly say, "Stop running."

Anna didn’t stop, she seemed to have lost all consciousness, with only the obsession to run remaining.

Rod smacked the centaur’s hindquarters hard and shouted, "Stop running, the monster is already dead! My eggs are almost ground to dust!"

It was then that Anna seemed to wake from a dream and muttered, "Dead... dead?"

Rod shouted back, "Yes! Dead! As dead as it gets! Stop now, I’m really afraid you’ll run yourself to death!"

With a thunderous crash, the centaur fell sideways to the ground, tossing Rod onto the earth, pinning one of his feet under her.

"Ow! Anna, you’re hurting me!"

Anna turned a deaf ear, instead breaking into sobs.

"I... we did it, we killed a strong monster, mom and dad can you see this... I did it, I’m useless, but I’m useful, I really am useful..."

She wept uncontrollably, crying loudly, completely forgetting that Rod was still pinned beneath her.

Unable to struggle free, Rod could only pull out a military one-time Spirit Crow Messenger, scribble down the good news of victory, squeeze out a bit of spiritual energy, and the white Spirit Crow Messenger flew off into the sky.

——

Periphery.

The noise from within had ceased for a while now, and the violent fluctuations in spiritual energy had also disappeared. Everyone felt anxious, as it suggested two possibilities.

One, their commander had achieved victory.

Two, the monster had killed its opponent and returned to calm.

Everyone silently prayed for the former possibility in their hearts.

Rod’s former teammates continuously recounted his past amazing feats, bolstering their confidence.

Among them, Reslin, Karamon, and Egger were the core characters. Their stories were the most numerous, the richest in detail, and rang the truest when heard.

"...He has never failed, even a genius like me is ashamed in front of him. The only thing I can be proud of is having more girlfriends than he does..."

A white spirit crow flew in, and in an instant, all eyes turned to it. Caramon, who had just been the center of attention, was suddenly ignored by everyone.

The spirit crow flew in front of Molly and transformed into a flash of silver light, bending and twisting in the air, forming two large characters.

"Victory."

In a moment, a huge cheer shot up to the sky.

Even Molly, usually so stern and ice-cold, showed a smile, albeit a fleeting one, which greatly surprised those who knew her. The legendary ice queen Molly, actually smiling?

Aunt Youse leapt to her feet and charged towards the restricted area.

"My little Rod! You must hang in there, big sister Youse is on her way!"

The crowd rushed in after her.

Molly transformed into a mist and moved nimbly through the crowd, quickly arriving at the front of the group.

All along the way, the signs of battle in the area were startling, with collapsed ground, riven roads, and fallen houses everywhere.

When everyone finally found the commander, to their surprise, they discovered him lying on the ground embracing a girl, her wet bosom indicating she had cried a storm in his arms.

Both of them lay motionless, exhausted from an intense battle, and had fallen asleep just like that.

Everyone stopped breathing except for Karamon, who cried out in pain:

"Not again? And Anna had already agreed to have dinner with me..."

At that moment, Avi found the Star Sword not far away and also unearthed a fiery red seed from the ashes.

A faint, fiery light circulated around the seed, occasionally visible.

"It’s a Fire Spark of the Guardian Fire!"

She held up the seed and shouted loudly.

"It’s the Fire Spark! We can ignite the Guardian Fire of Star Town!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then a sea of cheers like a tidal wave resonated throughout Star Town.

----

----

Royal City.

Upper City.

For the first time, Manolo Bana was gathering so many dissenters.

They were all people who would suffer from the King’s new policies and Trolian’s expansion, eagerly hoping for the Star Town expedition to return in abject defeat. This, they believed, would prove that darkness was invincible, expansion was suicide, and the only way for humanity to survive was to cower in corners of the Dead Ash Mountain Range. Any attempt to leave the mountains was surely to invite annihilation.

However, the development of Star Town was causing them great concern. The greedy merchants of Mahara had secured contracts for their logistical supplies, leaving the dissenters with no opportunity to interfere. Furthermore, a group had emerged in the Royal City that was openly advocating for Star Town’s inevitable victory and calling for warriors to voluntarily request transfer to Star Town to expand human territories.

The leader was a clever and difficult-to-handle hunter named Avi. Several attempts to eliminate him had failed, and they were frequently arrested by the Internal Affairs Court instead.

A string of bad news made many restless, but as one of the publicly recognized leaders of the dissenters, Manolo Bana called them together at this time to announce a piece of exceptionally good news.

"Through Sagus’s method of prophecy, I have learned that there lies within the depths of Star Town a very powerful monster, one whose strength is of a gravely serious threat level."

Everyone present almost couldn’t believe their ears.

The Royal City categorized the strength of a monster or a group of monsters based on the scale of threat they posed, starting from minor threats to major threats, with a total of nine levels.

Grave threats were the third level, just below the most severe threats.

If the description added the word "vicious," it indicated additional complications, such as being undead, resurrecting, from the Black Domain, berserk, among other troubles.

A dissenter asked, "What is the total combat level of the expeditionary force?"

"Approximately 5,000, with no high-rank combatants. They are negligible in the face of a grave threat."

"Right, at least a monster of strong primary rank. Without third-level combatants, they’ll be slaughtered like the cattle of Black Bull Village."

A dissenter hesitated, "So, are we not..."

"Exactly, victory is ours!"

"Hahaha, serves them right!"

"Yes, this thousand-mile basin is our homeland. The dark is rife with dangers; to venture out is to court destruction."

"Lord Gula, is your prophecy reliable?"

Manolo Bana revealed a mysterious smile.

"Absolutely reliable. It is a prophecy of fate, and cannot possibly be wrong."

The hall burst into a chorus of laughter.

"Excellent! I’m going to invest heavily in expanding my food workshop. The Sigve Workshop should no longer be controlled by the Royal City. Anyone who can’t afford food deserves to die!"

"Hahaha, exactly! The more the King forbids us, the more determined we are to do it."

"Servant, bring the wine, the good Samwell Red from the cellar."

In the lively atmosphere, the sweet Samwell Red overflowed from the crystal tower on the dining table, reflecting a multitude of colors in the firelight.

The dissenters clinked glasses, drinking merrily.

The gathering turned into a feast, with everyone in high spirits. Manolo Bana was particularly smug, knowing that his prestige would soar after such an accurate prophecy, strengthening his influence when implementing future plans.

It was at this moment that a spirit crow messenger flew into the dining room and transformed into a message of silver script in front of Manolo Bana.

"The Guardian Fire of Star Town has been lit, monsters within the town have been eradicated, and the Fallen transformed by the high-ranking Fire Priest of the Starry Kingdom has been killed."

The dining room suddenly fell silent as if shrouded by the Silent Domain.

With a clink! Manolo Bana’s glass fell to the ground, shards soaked in the blood-red wine, making them even more glittering.