Chapter 185: Ch-185: Duke Hilbert Hall
In the blink of an eye, both appeared inside the castle and were surprised to find a corridor with two giant undead hippos roaring loudly.
They immediately turned their heads toward them. Victor narrowed his eyes before raising his hand, and two black lightning serpents struck both undead in the head, rendering them lifeless as they fell to the ground.
"This is... the undead creature that Eleanor mentioned?" Rina asked with a pale face at the sight of the creatures inside the castle.
"Let’s find the Duke and your sister," said Victor, walking forward.
Rina nodded as she closely followed behind him.
"Miss Rina, is it really you?" a maid appeared, trembling with fear.
"You... are you okay? Where is everyone?" Rina asked as she recognized the maid.
"Yes, I managed to survive, but the rest of them were not so lucky, as they have been killed and turned into undead," the maid said fearfully before muttering, "Everyone is currently hiding in the auditorium, while many of the residents are still scattered and hiding, like me, throughout the castle."
"What about the leader of the undead and Duke Brightflame?" Victor suddenly chimed in from the side.
The maid looked at Victor. Normally, she would have been shocked to see a man standing in such close proximity to Rina.
"I don’t know. I haven’t seen them for a while. They are probably not in the castle," the maid said.
"Let’s go to the auditorium first," Victor said while looking at Rina, who nodded.
"You are right," Rina agreed.
"I saw the undead ahead. They’re trying to get into the auditorium. There’s a group of more than a dozen of them! Miss Rina, please be careful. It’s extremely dangerous," the maid warned.
"I understand. You stay alert and hide," she ordered, and the maid nodded while clutching her skirt.
Victor moved quickly, easily killing any monster he encountered before beginning to release his Army of Darkness.
"Find where they’re coming from and kill any monster roaming the corridors, understood?" Victor commanded his darkness wolf army. "And I also want you to protect all the residents you encounter. None of them must get hurt; all of them must be saved."
He turned and continued forward as more than fifty darkness wolves quickly spread through all the castle’s passageways, forming dark streaks across the ground as they ran.
When he reached the front of the Great Hall, he found a small group of soldiers who had gone ahead and were exterminating all the undead.
"These darkness soldiers are really useful and powerful," Rina could not help but praise.
Victor smiled and said, "I aim to please."
Inside the auditorium, the atmosphere was tense. The residents trembled, and the soldiers stared at the door as they gripped their swords tightly in their hands.
"Prepare yourselves!" Eleanor, who had taken charge of the troops, ordered.
She, along with all the commanders, kept her eyes fixed on the door, which was being battered constantly by the undead trying to break it down, aware of the large number of humans inside.
Everyone was trembling. It had not been an easy night since the Duke had been injured by a sneak attack.
"L-Let me... let me fight."
A hoarse voice echoed through the auditorium as everyone turned and gave a complicated look toward Duke Hilbert Hall, who had lost an arm in the battle.
"Father, please rest. I have already informed Sister, and she should have already arrived at the Hall Duchy by now, and she is bringing reinforcements," Eleanor said, but inwardly she was also anxious and cursing as she looked at the door.
’My dear sister, where the hell are you? How long is it going to take? Hurry up, or you will find only the undead versions of your sister and father.’
"Hmph, what can a baron do where the Hall Duchy failed?" Hilbert snorted, as he did not think a barony could help them. Maybe if it were a Duke’s family, they could succeed, so he had no hope for the reinforcements. Still, he hoped they would come, as he would rather use them as a meat shield to allow his daughters and the royal knights to escape.
Eleanor rolled her eyes and did not bother correcting his thoughts, as she believed her father would be dumbfounded when he saw Victor’s strength. She fixed her gaze on the door again.
Bang! Bang!
The door shook violently, the undead trying to force it open, until suddenly everything went silent. No sound, no more impacts. Still, the atmosphere was thick with tension, everyone waiting for the moment the creatures would return.
Click.
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes widened when they heard the door’s lock open from the other side.
"What?! They’re opening it!" a resident screamed in despair.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Eleanor urged and then thought of something.
’Could it be...?’
And as the door opened, what they saw was a sea of dead undead, with a person standing before the slain monsters, entering alongside a shadow wolf and another red-haired woman.
"Elder Sister!" Eleanor exclaimed, sighing in relief at the sight of her.
"Father!"
Rina’s eyes fixed on the Duke, and her face turned pale when she felt her father’s life force rapidly draining away.
Victor also followed behind as he felt hundreds of pairs of eyes trained on him, full of suspicion and doubt.
"Who is he?" Hilbert asked while looking at Victor.
"My name is Victor Silvernum, Duke Hall," Victor said in a polite tone.
"Oh, you are the Warlock I have been hearing about."
Hilbert’s eyes widened as he recognized him, but before he could say anything—
"Cough! Cough!"
Splurt!
Hilbert coughed out a large amount of blood, and his consciousness began to blur.
"Father, are you alright?" Rina screamed.
"We need a powerful healing item, or else..." Eleanor said through gritted teeth.
Victor looked through his inventory, and his eyes lit up when he saw an item.
[Item: Slime Fruit]
[Rank: Epic]
[Description: A fruit produced from the feces of a very powerful beast which possesses great healing properties. It can directly heal a person who is on the brink of death and even regenerate limbs. The only downside of this fruit is that it is extremely unpalatable and tastes like literal shit.]
"I have an item that can heal him," Victor suddenly said, causing both sisters to turn and look at him.
"Wait, really?" Rina’s eyes lit up when she heard this and asked.
"Hmm." Victor hummed as a fruit materialized in his palm.
When the fruit appeared in his hand, Victor’s face turned green due to the foul stench coming from it, and even the girls took a few steps back as their expressions turned grim.
Hilbert, who was barely hanging onto consciousness, had the ugliest expression on his face as he looked at the fruit in horror. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked weakly,
"Are you telling me that if I eat this fruit, I will be healed?"
"Yes, exactly. You are smart," Victor nodded.
"Smart my ass! Why don’t you just kill me?" Hilbert cried out with wide eyes as he looked at the fruit.
"Uh..."
Victor scratched his nose, feeling embarrassed, but he really had no other option.
"Father, if it can heal you, you should consume it. Don’t forget those bastards are still alive," Eleanor crossed her arms and reminded him.
"Ugh, fine."
Hilbert agreed reluctantly and pinched his nose as he took the fruit from Victor’s hand.
"Huff..."
He took a deep breath and moved the fruit toward his lips before taking a reluctant bite.
Crunch.
As soon as he bit into the fruit, his face turned a shade of purple.
"Blergh!"
He made a gagging sound and was about to spit out the fruit, but his eyes widened when he saw Eleanor and Rina staring at him. He immediately clamped his mouth shut and forced himself to swallow the fruit.
"You..."
Hilbert could not believe that one day he would be force-fed something that tasted like shit by his own daughters.
Rina looked awkward under his gaze and said encouragingly,
"Father, you can’t spit it out. To heal, you need to eat it."
"Fine, fine."
Hilbert grumbled and took a second bite, having to use all of his willpower not to retch.
For the next few minutes, a bizarre scene unfolded of the Duke eating the fruit with a purple face and tears in his eyes, while his daughters occasionally forced him to continue eating.
Thud.
As soon as he finished eating the fruit, he immediately fell to the ground headfirst and fainted.
"He fainted," Rina said with her mouth hanging open.
"How bad was the taste to make him cry and faint?" Eleanor looked at Victor and asked in an incredulous voice.
"It should be bad, really bad, as it tastes like literal shit... but look, the positive effects are already showing," Victor said as he pointed toward Hilbert, whose complexion had started to brighten. His surface injuries began to heal, and the severed arm was covered by a white radiance.
"You two stay here. I will go start clearing the castle first," Victor said.
"Wait, I will go with you," Rina said as she hurried toward Victor.
Seeing this, Eleanor was a bit shocked. It was the first time she had seen her sister be so eager to follow a man
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