Noah rushed outside with Edith. The castle grounds looked darker than when he first arrived. He looked at the sky to see a storm brewing. It was like Michael brought a storm everywhere he went. The reason for the storm was the energy radiation from Michael. It ssed with nature itself. The soldier poised to defend the castle with their lives. However, Ghost seed not to give a damn about the soldiers. Noah took a closer look at Ghost to see he was carrying two bodies. Since he was so far in the sky, Noah couldn't recognize the bodies.
A few representatives of Thusia dared to fly toward Ghost to negotiate.
"Ghost," a golden-haired man led the group. His body jerked when Ghost threw the bodies up in the sky and dashed at him.
"Where is Booth?" asked Ghost. The killing intent radiating from his tone made the golden-haired man tremble.
"If you don't answer , I will kill you and your family and throw their bodies in the sewer. That's a promise," Michael asked. His voice was cold. The man felt a chill running down his spine. Michael didn't even have to sue the fear toxin as the man already looked terrified.
"He…he went to…Valeria,"
"Good,"
Noah thought Ghost would let the man go. On the contrary, the mont the man answered Ghost truthfully, he snapped the man's neck and threw the body at the three n hovering in the sky behind him. They were stunned by the death of their colleague. Before they could do anything, Noah saw a wind blade cutting their bodies in halves.
"He wasn't playing anymore," Noah heard Andreas.
Noah tried to shoot toward the sky to stop Ghost from taking more lives. To his surprise, Andreas stopped his body from doing so.
"We don't know enough about Ghost, and you are not ready to fight a Half Immortal," Andreas growled. At that ti, Ghost disappeared into the clouds. He caught the bodies he threw in the sky in mid-way.
"We need to go to Valeria," Edith said. She panicked. Although she had seen Ghost murder people, his tone was strange. He seed really mad.
"I'll go there. You go to Diamond valley, get Xanali and find a way to evacuate everyone in the capital and Valeria," Noah ordered Edith. With a flick of his wrist, he took out a teleportation scroll.
"Take this. It will get you to Diamond valley," Noah gave the scroll to Edith. Without wasting any ti, Noah shot toward the sky like an arrow from a bow. He flew in Ghost's direction, leaving a light trail.
As he was leaving the capital, a group of holy guards from the church approached the castle. Finally, the Holy Church received the recording where the Blood Prince admitted working with King Maxim. Leaving the capital, Michael head straight toward the duchy of Valeria. It was ti to end Booth's pathetic life.
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Duchy of Valeria, previously known as Burnia, was a beautiful countryside with hills and lush green fertile land. The terrain was littered with small ponds, lakes, and majestic rivers. Ever since Booth beca the duke of Valeria, he transford it into a powerhouse with tourism, businesses, and farming. In a few months under his rule, the duchy of Valeria beca a tourist destination. King Maxim nad the duchy after his wife, Valeria, because when he first visited the place, he was srized by its natural beauty. It reminded him of the first ti he laid his eyes on Valeria. Most of the population of Valeria was concentrated around the castle on top of a hill.
On the hill, there were two castles. One was recently built by Booth, and the other belonged to the royal family of Itholan. From either castle, one could see the entire Valeria and the adjacent duchy, Diamond valley. Unlike Booth's castle, the castle of the Itholan royal family had six strong, round towers built on various tactical spots for an ideal defense. They were connected by reinforced, heavy walls made of yellow stone. Refined windows were scattered generously across the walls in an asymtric pattern, along with symtric holes for archers and artillery.
A great gate with broad tal doors, a draw bridge, and strong defenses protected the castle grounds. Almost all the citizens of Valeria lived surrounding the castle. Hence, small buildings, houses, and other structures populated the grounds outside the castle walls. This castle had clearly stood the test of ti; the walls' rocks were aged, and vines and plants grew inside the cracks. Several builders were working on renovating the castle.
Booth's castle was atleast double the size of this castle. Inside this smaller castle, Queen Valeria headed for her room, following General Booth. To her surprise, he was in his famous battle armor forged from the scales of a royal dragon. The armor had a flat top helm, half a pointed face guard, and two pointed openings for the eyes. Attached to the forehead area was a longhorn. The shoulders were rounded, tall, and enormous. They were decorated with a wolf's head on each side. The rest of the armor was made from many layers of smaller scales of a crimson-red dragon. It covered the entire front and back side, but the attachnt straps left the sides under the arms exposed.
"Why am I here and not with Victoria?" asked Queen Valeria.
"This is the safest place you can be, your royal highness," said Booth.
"Why is that?" asked Valeria.
"Because this is my domain," Booth said. He didn't dare to say he has the spirit child in his castle as a protective asure against Ghost. Because Lailah was with them, Booth had to bring them to this castle instead of his own. He was ordered to keep Queen Valeria safe until King Maxim Barnes completed his heavenly tribulation. If Booth was at the capital, Ghost might attack them outright, interrupting the heavenly tribulation. Therefore, Victoria planned to keep Ghost as far as possible from the capital.
Victoria guarded the fact Maxim Barnes would trigger the heavenly tribulation in a few hours with her life. Only Booth and a few closest mbers of King Maxim Barnes knew about this. Even Michael thought it would take a few days to trigger the heavenly tribulation. Eventually, Booth, Lailah, and Queen Valeria reached the room designated for her.
Lailah could sense countless runes around the room. But she doubted they would keep Queen Valeria safe if Ghost decided to kill her. After seeing the anger in his eyes, she was unsure whether he would let Valeria live. Anyone else might forgive Valeria and only kill Victoria and Maxim Barnes but not Ghost.
The cozy room had one large bed with comfy red blankets. The fireplace burnt, radiating the needed warmth to fight the coldness in the air. Lailah could hear the howling wind and notice the snowfall getting worsen by the second through the window. Judging by the look of the weather, anyone could tell a storm was not far.
"Booth," Queen Valeria looked Booth in his eyes. For the first ti, Valeria saw a hint of uneasiness in his eyes. Not that Booth worried about his life but Victoria's and her family's. He was strong but not strong enough to take on a Half Immortal.
"Are you worried?" asked Queen Valeria. She knew Booth from little. They practically grew up together. So it wouldn't be an understatent to say Booth was kinda Valeria's best friend. Deep down, she blad herself for turning a once innocent, sweet little boy into a killing machine. If she hadn't introduced Booth to Maxim Barnes, Booth would have lived his life in peace and never would have destroyed the sanctuary under the order of Maxim Barnes.
"Your highness. Why would I be worried?" Booth shook his head.
Lailah was not in the mood to see the two of them whine. As far as she was concerned, they were just facing karma. She walked toward the window. The people of Valeria were still here. Apparently, Booth rejected the idea of evacuating his people as it would show a sign of weakness. Until now, Victoria or Booth didn't think Ghost would be ruthless enough to harm innocent citizens. In Booth's mind, these people were like a protective shield for him. Neither of them knew how utterly wrong they were.
"Nothing will happen to you or anyone as long as I am here, your royal highness," said Booth.
"We just need a few more hours. After his majesty cos out of his heavenly tribulation, he will take care of Ghost himself,"
"Don't be too sure," thought Lailah, still looking at the city outside.
"Ghost is not a fool. He knows interrupting the heavenly tribulation is the best way to ensure his victory," Lailah said to herself.
"Who is with Victoria?" Queen Valeria was worried sick about her daughter. After all, Victoria was Ghost's main target.
Suddenly, they all heard a rumbling noise in the sky. Lailah looked at the sky to see several flying ships on the horizon. Valeria and Booth joined Lailah at the windows. Booth could vaguely see the symbol of Guardian Guild on the sails.
"The Guardians," Queen Valeria looked a bit relieved to see the guardians finally making their appearance. At this point, she could take any backup she receives. The flying ships slowly sailed toward the castle. Lailah could count twelve ships. However, they didn't seem like they were built for war. Instead, these ships were built to carry large amounts of cargo.
To be honest, Lailah was surprised to see the guardian ships. It was not a secret the guardians were financially in crippled state due to their affair with the vampires. Since they had sent these ships despite their political feuds among themselves, Lailah could tell soone powerful and influential has involved in this.
Mutrad stood on one of the ships. He was in Thusia to capture the Dark Lord as he received a piece of news that the Dark Lord would make his appearance in Thusia from an anonymous source. Since Mutrad had no other clues to follow, he had no choice but to co to Thusia. On his way, he noticed the destruction caused by Ghost at Diamond Valley. He almost turned the entire duchy into ruins.
"Go down and evacuate the people as soon as you can!" Mutrad turned his gaze over to the red-haired girl on the ship next to him. She managed to put together a team to save the people in a short amount of ti. Mutrad was surprised to see a non-crooked guardian in the guild.
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