Chapter 374: Horror
The others he continued to hit with the broken sword in his hand as he kept beating the wiggling masses of flesh, the weapon slowly crumbling into pieces with every strike.
But this only angered the beast even more. It thought with arrogance that its arms would be enough to crush Zyren. Yes, Zyren was powerful—but it had been alive for centuries, surviving and molding a Zygon army long before Zyren was born.
It had seen the previous wars and lived through them, and it refused to believe that it needed to fully transform to kill a vampire king. Furiously, it blasted at the walls, prepared to bury all of them under the gravel if that was what it took.
Zyren, understanding its intention instantly, realized that the place wasn’t safe for Aira to remain. He bent down to pick her up, lifting her into his arms before jumping out through the window with her.
Zyren hadn’t even landed properly on the ground when loud tremors passed through the earth, deep growls following right after. That was only followed by an even greater explosion as the entire second floor of the castle seemed to break apart and explode outward.
A monster—one that Aira found difficult to even comprehend—jumped down, obstructing their entire view of the sky.
It was more than three times the size of the one Zyren had fought during the day. Massively huge. Just as ugly. Its skin was black as coal, and thick scales covered every inch of its body.
Tentacles were attached to almost every part of it, and unlike before, their numbers had increased. They wiggled everywhere, wrecking havoc without direction.
Guards and maids who had previously retired were woken by the noise. They stepped out to see what was happening—only to run away just as fast the moment they caught sight of it.
Even the vampire lords simply held onto their swords without daring to move closer, standing rooted to the spot.
"What is that monstrosity?" Clara gasped, her eyes widening in utter shock.
Her expression mirrored Faldo and Gregory’s as they stood on the roof of the inn they lived in, clearly able to see the monster from there.
King Jared, on the other hand, merely chuckled with a satisfied expression on his face.
"...That is clearly Zyren’s death!" he proudly announced with a smug grin that would have made anyone think he had orchestrated the entire thing.
Clara, however, was worried. If Zyren couldn’t defeat whatever monster that was, then it meant the rest of them would have no choice but to be governed and enslaved by monsters.
But clearly, Jared didn’t consider that. All he seemed to care about was Zyren experiencing even more pain than he already had. The pleasure of imagining Zyren’s downfall was evident on his face.
"Let’s go!" he suddenly said, raising his cloak over his head, preparing to jump down. "...We need a closer look!"
He jumped without waiting to see if they would follow and began running immediately.
Clara hesitated for only a split second before pulling her hood over her head and jumping down as well, not surprised to hear footsteps behind her as she dashed after Jared.
Please let Zyren be strong enough, she thought desperately.
Especially since the beast she saw was something she didn’t think Zyren could defeat—not if it had the same crazy regeneration ability and speed that all Zygon beasts possessed.
Aira couldn’t stop the slight trembling of her entire body as she raised her gaze to look at the humongous monster in front of them that Zyren was battling.
Protecting her was proving to be difficult. Zyren was moving fast, preventing its tentacles from touching him, even as those same tentacles destroyed everything in their path.
It was loud and horrific to watch.
Zyren abandoned the sword in his hands—which had already broken into useless pieces—and dashed forward, using his fists instead. Tentacles broke apart under his blows, but barely had a hole appeared when it instantly began to heal.
It was horrific to look at.
Aira hurriedly got to her feet, realizing that she needed to distance herself from the beast so that Zyren wouldn’t have to completely focus on protecting her.
But she had just gotten to her feet and turned around when she froze.
Clay and Lady Vivian stood behind her.
Vivian had mostly healed but still looked pale. Both of them wore cold expressions—especially Vivian, who looked like she would like nothing more than to swallow her whole.
"Clay!" Aira gasped, her heart beating loud enough to ring in her ears.
She was fully aware that with Zyren’s attention elsewhere, if she got hurt, she would die.
But Clay simply shook his head and backed away, pushing Vivian slightly behind him as he spoke.
"...If you don’t say anything, there’s no reason why I should kill you!"
Aira stared at him in complete shock, a frown flickering across her face as she heard him.
Ignoring the lords who rushed to her side, she focused only on Clay, failing to comprehend why he hadn’t attacked her yet—why he hadn’t killed her, especially since he was a Zygon beast.
"Why?" she asked, her expression hardening into one of utter anger and hatred. In her mind, the Zygon had killed the original Clay.
Clay merely shook his head.
"...If the leader wins, then you’ll die regardless," he said with a shrug, his face completely blank. "...If Zyren wins, then I will die."
He said it calmly, in a way that showed that neither result bothered him much—almost like nothing truly mattered.
"Lady Vivian is under my control. If anyone attacks me, I will make her explode," he added in a tone so genuine that it left no room for doubt.
Aira believed him instantly.
A frown settled on her face just as Clay’s body suddenly stiffened.
A look of horror descended on his face.
He gasped.
Aira’s back was turned to whatever had spooked him, but she felt sweat drench her back as the air behind her shifted.
