Kingdom's Bloodline, page 88
"No." Chris' expression became solemn.
"He was afraid that if we continued fighting, you would…
"Be killed by me."
Hestad was momentarily stunned. He then opened his bloody mouth and laughed loudly with his abnormally robust True Form voice. "Kill me? How? With your special Corrosive Power?"
He lifted up his palm that was covered with Chris' blood. "Your strongly acidic blood… is very effective in dealing with others. But unfortunately, it can never corrode my True Form Armor.
"This is an absolute fool-proof defense!"
Chris was restrained by Hestad. He did not reply and only laughed.
A cold chill suddenly ran down Hestad's spine
'What is going on?
'What cards does he have in his hands exactly?'
Nonetheless, Hestad still clenched his fist and aimed at Chris' head.
A few hundred years of army life made Hestad Corleone decide not to hesitate over his old affection towards his comrade. He was prepared to completely take Chris' life.
…
How long was zero point one seconds?
Thales would tell you that it was long enough for him to close his eyes and roar one single word!
And so, the moment when Katerina, whose killing intent was clear and obvious disappeared, the transmigrator closed his eyes and yelled, "Covendier!"
Wind rushed by his face.
Thales squeezed his eyes shut as breathed harshly.
"Ha… Ha…"
He opened his eyes a little.
Katerina's black and scary sharp claws could be seen an inch away from his face.
"What did you say?" Katerina narrowed her enchanting, beautiful eyes as she slowly spoke.
'I-I managed to escape from this disaster.'
Thales was panting uncontrollably as he asked in nervousness, "Was it Covendier?! Was it Zayen Covendier who told you the news that Serena was in the fleet of carriages?"
"You know quite a lot." Katerina snorted lightly as she spread out her sharp claws. "In that case, you should be dead even more."
Thales saw his own life flash before his eyes and he felt his skin crawl. He could not manage to care about his intonation as he immediately blurted out the words he had just finished thinking about. He did so in one breath, fluently, and without any pauses in between.
"Surely he did not tell you that this fleet is actually an important diplomat group from Constellation this fleet is heading to Eckstedt and within this group there is Constellation's only heir after you kill me you will get yourself into a huge pile of problems am I right?!"
After Thales finished blurting out these words in one single breath, he continued to pant. He was drenched in sweat as he collapsed and sat down.
Katerina widened her purple eyes, implying that she was shaken!
"Jadestar Royal Family… heir… was it not… twelve years ago…" she mumbled to herself, but immediately figured out something.
The Night Queen slowly retracted her sharp claws.
*Clap!*
*Clap!*
*Clap!*
A round of applause could be heard beside them.
"As expected of my ally." Serena, who had been watching for a long time was clapping with enthusiasm. She was smiling happily. "However, Prince Thales, how are you so sure that she is not specifically here to kill you?"
Katerina's eyes once again became solemn as she turned to the young-looking Serena.
"In order to ensure my safety, from the second day of the journey onwards, I no longer wore the Nine-Pointed Star insignia or emblem. Oh, by the way, you can find a Nine-Pointed Star brooch in the left pocket of my shirt." Thales sighed.
Katerina took out the brooch from his pocket and immediately furrowed her brows together.
"As for this… queen, she never revealed any intention of killing somebody. What she said was, 'Kill them all'. Even the start of the war was incited by you, Serena." Thales smiled bitterly as he said, "I just figured it out… All twenty of you, a team of elites with supreme abilities, whose identities are considered sensitive information, travelled across the sea to be here. Without local forces and support, how could you easily get across the border? The only Constellation noble who has connections with the Corleone Family and is able to provide ships that belong in the family…
"Can only be the Covendiers."
Katerina slowly exhaled when she listened to his words. She looked at the Nine-Pointed Star brooch in her hand with her icy gaze. "Damn you, Covendier.
"The friendship between the Corleone and Covendier Family, Blood Fangs and Tricolor Iris Flowers ends here," she slowly said.
Thales finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed like his life was temporarily secured before this strong and powerful queen.
Katerina held the brooch tightly in her palm and muttered, "The people from the Covendier Family only told us that the traitor of the Corleone Family was currently in the carriage fleet up north. They only said that it was Constellation's supply transportation fleet to the Northern Territory, but never mentioned that it was the second prince's diplomat group… It seemed like they did this on purpose.
"After we got off the ship, we stayed in their encampment the entire time. We do not even know that Constellation has gotten a new heir."
Thales' expression changed as he said angrily, "That was such a huge matter that the whole of Constellation knew about it, down to the very last detail! Why did you not check and confirm the matter on your own?!"
However, Katerina did not reply him. She just turned her head sideways and moved her gaze away from him.
'Eh?'
Thales was confused for a moment. 'She seems a bit… embarrassed?'
"They have no way to confirm this!" Serena was laughing beside them. "Katerina's forces and supporters were all in the Sacred Blood Army. She is one hundred percent a Military Queen!
"Chris was in charge of the Corleone Family and Covendier's interactions, the spies in the Western Peninsula as well as communication channels in the Western Peninsula… But, when he suddenly betrayed her and switched to my side…"
Under Katerina's grim expression, Serena spread her hands happily.
"Katerina became blind and deaf to every bit of information about Constellation."
Thales suddenly came to a realization. "That was why you chose to take refuge in Constellation."
He immediately thought of something as he turned towards Katerina.
"Queen Katerina," he used honorifics as he spoke, "Zayen… I am referring to Duke Covendier… When did he reveal Serena's whereabouts to you?"
Katerina stared coldly at him. After a while, she opened her mouth and said, "We just reached the Western Peninsula more than a week ago and went into Eternal Star City six days ago.
"Covendier informed us that he found traces of Corleone's traitor at noon four days ago." Katerina's face was clouded with gloom, but her appearance that would provoke tender affection from people made her look like an adorable beauty who was currently sulking.
"Their proviso was: In order to not leak any information and thereby tarnish Iris Flowers' reputation...
"We had to kill everyone who travelled alongside Serena.
"We had to ensure that not a single person was kept alive, whether they be children or the elderly."
Serena's whole frame shuddered. "Ah, if I had known earlier that you made this promise, I would not have gone through such trouble…" However, she immediately came to a realization. "But then, if that supreme class woman is here, you would probably have no way to kill him either."
Thales lowered his head and sighed.
When did the Duke of Iris Flowers begin to have a desire to kill him?
Even if he acted at this point and was able to draw a clear line with the Corleone Family after this incident, he would still leave some traces behind. This would cause more troubles in the future, would it not?
'Zayen… why did he make this clearly stupid decision?
'After he tried getting answers from me with a few words during the morning we met, his attitude suddenly became extremely odd —now that I think about it, he was trying to find Serena's whereabouts. Also, he brought along…'
Thales' eyes lit up.
"It is that old soldier, right?" Thales lifted his head and slowly asked.
"Probably, without his knowledge, some sort of tracking device had been planted on him.
"You do not need to chase after our fleet because Zayen knew that Genard would do his very best to follow me. As for you, you only had to follow this old soldier.
"You were very far away from me, so no matter how many scouts and sentries my soldiers arranged, they still could not sense your presence.
"So long as you kept away from the Central Territory and the suzerain of the fortress, whom you could possibly run into every few days, and enter the desolate birch forest," Thales sighed as he concluded, "you could start attacking."
Katerina's eyes lit up.
"For a mortal creature, you are very intelligent, and you have quick response, especially for a mortal creature your age."
"Right, I thought so too." Serena was beaming when she cut into the conversation. However, Katerina and Thales glared at her with an angry gaze at the same time.
Serena shrugged helplessly and revealed her tiny fangs. "Alright, since I did not accomplish my goal, I have to take matters into my own hands."
The next moment, Serena's small hands transformed into red sharp claws as she bared her fangs and pounced on Thales swiftly!
Thales shuddered, but both of his hands were tied, so he could only kick the snowy ground with all of his strength to move backwards.
*Dong!*
The snow exploded and scattered into the air!
The frosty cold snow crashed into Thales' face, and the prickly sensation made him shut his eyes.
Thales opened his eyes and saw that Serena's tiny red claws were just a few feet away in front of him.
But this time, she was held back tightly by Katerina.
"Since just now, you were making every possible effort to lure me into killing him," Katerina said coldly, "Do you still have the delusion of seizing the throne in your heart even though you are already in such a situation?"
The tiny Serena grinned. "What, can I not do so?
"I am the number one candidate to inherit the throne compared to you, number two. I am still a place above you!"
"Very well," Katerina raised her other hand and said dryly, "Since I already do not have any hopes of catching you alive anymore...
"I should directly change my rank into number one!" Katerina shouted furiously, and her sharp claws went straight for Serena's heart!
As for Rolana, who was standing beside Serena, she was staring coldly at the situation. There was no sign showing that she intended to interfere with things.
Nonetheless, at the very next moment, an incident that made Thales extremely shocked and confused happened.
The torso of the young-looking Serena torso visibly inflated as if she had suddenly grown up and all of her clothing tore apart. She transformed into a curvy and sensual looking, coquettishly beautiful woman. She was almost as tall as Katerina. Her red eyes and silver hair were incomparably enticing.
At this moment, this coquettish beauty had an enchanting smile on her face. She held onto Katerina's pure white sharp claws effortlessly!
Katerina bared her fangs and roared angrily as she thrust her other set of claws towards Serena!
However, it was as if the coquettish beauty had also predicted her attack, and Serena held onto Katerina's hand tightly!
"Your strength is still so weak, crybaby." The coquettish beauty was shaking with laughter like a sprig with trembling blossoms.
Thales was suddenly jolted!
"Ugly-faced woman," Katerina said with her voice filled with anger and hatred, "you natural born deceiver!"
"You… When did you recover your actual strength?!" Thales looked at the coquettish beauty with red eyes and silver hair as he cried out in surprise.
"This is impossible! You-you only sucked my blood twice!
Under Katerina's solemn gaze, the grown-up version of Serena, who was naked and showed no signs of embarrassment, blinked her bewitching eyes and gave him an alluring smile. "Oh, about that… your blood is quite nutritious."
Chapter 88: Awakening (One) |
Supreme class battles do not have sluggish rhythms and scattered force like supra class and ordinary class battles. More often than not, supra class battles and ordinary class battles would look terrifying, but in reality, they would waste a large amount of their strength and stamina.
In contrast, almost everyone in supreme class were fearsome existences who had full control over their powers and can use them flexibly in any way they wanted. Therefore, battles between them were often timed to perfection, simple, and straightforward. Time and effort were saved, and these battles were also highly efficient and very fatal.
For them, if one party slipped up even slightly in terms of control, it was very common for the other party to reverse the situation and gain the upper hand in the blink of an eye.
Like now…
Hestad expressionlessly pressed Chris onto the ground. His right claws were tightly clenched, and his strength slowly increased along with the contraction of his terrifying True Form muscles. It was aimed towards Chris' hideous head.
Chris laughed softly.
"Old friend, whether I am fighting by your side, or as your enemy, both of them would be my honor," Hestad said plainly.
In the next moment, he threw a punch with tremendous force!
Unstoppable.
It only took zero-point-five seconds from the time the punch fell from the air to the time it touched the tip of Chris' nose.
Within these zero-point-five seconds, Chris' abruptly revealed his fangs and he roared furiously!
The skeletal wings on his back shot out from the snow-covered ground. The sharp thorns on the tip of the wings went straight for Hestad's eyes.
It was a futile struggle.
Hestad—having experienced many battles—snorted lightly in his heart. With his most familiar battle instincts, he quickly twisted his strong body, then relaxed his left hand which was restraining Chris, and his right fist continued travelling downwards!
Chris seized the moment when Hestad relaxed his left hand to pound his fists on the ground. His heavily injured body shot up and charged back towards Hestad.
Hestad's horrifying right fist grazed past Chris' hideous left cheek and left ear. The strong breeze mercilessly shaved off skin and flesh, shaving off a piece of horrendous, black flesh and blood.
*Boom!*
Hestad's fist landed on the ground. Snow flew everywhere.
The heavily injured Chris had half his face scraped off. Howling, he used the force provided as he charged backwards, and bent his arm to use his elbows to hit Hestad's armored chest with all his strength!
Hestad calmly watched his old friend's counterattack. He blocked Chris' arms with his chest. The muscles on his waist and legs flexed while his skeletal wings spread open to maintain his balance.
He absorbed part of the impact and shifted another part of the impact to other parts of his body. He managed to negate Chris' attack after sliding backwards on the snow-covered ground for only two inches.
Chris flapped his bony wings frantically, but he could no longer make Hestad move back at all.
"The struggles of a trapped beast," the huge Hestad said coldly.
Before Chris could react, Hestad roared furiously. Clenching both his claws, he suddenly exerted force towards the middle of his arms. Chris' head was planted on Hestad's chest. Hestad's powerful fists—which possessed astonishing momentum—went straight towards Chris' head from both sides.
Chris reacted extremely quickly by immediately extending his elbows upwards and blocking Hestad's arms. With a burst of strength, he moved his head before Hestad's fists could touch his head.
Under Chris' interference, Hestad's fists missed the latter's head by a few millimeters.
The pair of fists with spurs on them crashed into each other two inches behind Chris' head!
*Boom!*
The huge, explosive sound even made Chris—who had just avoided disaster—deaf for a second. Fortunately, he had the powerful regenerative abilities of Blood Clansmen who were in their True Form. In the blink of an eye, his body adjusted its blood flow and concentrated in his brain, healing his damaged ears.
However, the battle had yet to end. Hestad did not care at all that he had missed an opportunity to kill his opponent. He immediately pulled back his arms, restraining Chris to his bosom!
"Do you prefer to die like this?" Hestad asked coldly. In the blink of an eye, the muscles in his arms contracted with great strength! His terrifying arms bound Chris' upper body tightly, restraining him tighter and tighter. "After I shatter the bones in your entire body, I will mercifully dig your heart out."
*Snap! Snap!*
The sound of bones snapping inch by inch resounded.
Chris howled in pain, but he could not free himself from Hestad's deadly embrace. Hestad laughed out loud and hugged Chris tightly, as if he was embracing a battle companion.
Just like how they embraced each other without any ill feelings after achieving victory in an arduous battle when they were younger.
However, the glorious past had disappeared without a trace forever.
*Snap!* Chris' bones were still fragmenting piece by piece.
"Before you die, beg for forgiveness from His Majesty!" Hestad's arms drew tighter and tighter!
At this moment, Chris, who was in extreme pain, shot him a smile with great difficulty. "Time is… up…" he said in pain.
Hestad was stunned. 'What time?'
He did not want to waste time. He prepared to continue exerting force with his arms, intending to squash Chris into pieces in his bosom. But then, Hestad realized in shock that the force of his arms… was becoming weaker and weaker?
'What's going on? Why is my energy… disappearing?'
Hestad started to lose feeling in his arms. He furrowed his brows tightly and released Chris without hesitation.
