Born in Blood

Chapter 373 Skeletal Dragons

Alucard could freely travel under the sun.

As it turned out, sunlight didn't actually reduce him to ash, like it did to lower ranked vampires.

If that wasn't the case, the alliance didn't mean anything.

After all, what use was an alliance with someone who's greatest enemy was a bit of Vitamin D?

That being said, Liam didn't know if that was the case with all the other vampires, but it had to be.

Although Usan had requested 18,000 in support, those numbers could easily be altered to compensate for power differences.

One Rank 4 vampire was probably worth 250 acolytes or even more.

It all depended on what they could provide for the cause.

"So, how do you want to go about this, exactly?" Liam asked Usan.

He was referring to the attack on the Dual Empire, which was still ongoing.

"We can't just drop in the middle and hope everything works out," Liam said.

"Well," Usan said, scratching his beardless chin in thought, "the Dual Empire fights in unique ways."

"From what I know, the Emperor of Courage fights using just his body. And by extension, so does everyone in his empire."

"Which, by the way, consists of only men."

Well, that was strange.

But then again, the Dual Empire really took thematics to a new level.

Both their colors, societal ranking systems, and powers starkly contrasted with each other.

Even the names did!

"The Emperor of Fear is the complete opposite. All her forces are women, and they fight using… well, fear."

Liam pursed his lips pensively.

That was incredibly strange.

And this entire Dual Empire thing was weird.

Why start a war now?

Was a lover's quarrel really the reason for all of this?

It just seemed a bit… pitiful, in Liam's eyes.

Usan continued.

"Also, they use vile creatures called Abominations, which come in monstrous, inhuman forms."

Usan took a swig of ale.

Liam raised a brow.

He'd never heard of that term before.

"Abominations?" he asked.

Usan nodded firmly.

"Abominations," he repeated. "Birthed by the Empress of Fear herself."

Silence.

Liam raised a hand before Usan continued.

"Birthed?" Liam asked. "Like…"

Usan shrugged with a slight laugh. "You never know. Rumors are rumors, though."

Liam sighed.

Every day, the world was getting weirder.

"Either they're incredibly huge, or pathetically small," Usan said, his shadows merging together in the air to form a disgusting, vicious looking creature.

It was a mix between a centipede and a spider. It had the same number of eyes as it did legs.

"Think magical beast, but one made from nightmares."

"It's that bad?" Liam asked skeptically, his brow arched.

"It is," Usan confirmed.

"If it's just about fear, can't someone just… not be afraid?" Liam asked.

Usan shook his head.

"Not that simple. It's not about fear in a literal sense. You don't have to touch fire to feel its heat."

Liam hummed in understanding.

"It's sort of like that," Usan explained.

"Not to mention, it affects all six senses. Not only is it a physical thing, it's also mental."

"Though, if your mental fortitude is strong enough, you'd be able to resist most of its effects."

"Then again, this is all second-hand information. I haven't been there myself."

A short pause ensued.

Liam hummed to himself thoughtfully.

As he thought, fear was indeed an amazing weapon.

But the Empire of Fear had utilized it in a new form.

Abominations.

It had a nice ring to it.

"Not to mention, their lands are just as dangerous," Usan said. "Infused with Abominations and death traps."

"All gateways to both Empires are densely guarded by Rank 5's."

Liam nodded.

This wasn't going to be simple, unlike infiltrating the Korsan Lands.

In the first place, the reason that was so easy to do was because of the lack of security.

Which Alucard had promptly taken care of, anyway.

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there," Liam said.

Usan nodded. "Although it's not easy, if we kidnap a Dual Empire soldier, we could siphon him or her for info"

Siphon.

Neat way to say torture, Liam had to admit.

"Though, we'd have to do that with the vamps. This is no walk in the park," Usan said.

Liam was about to nod, when the sounds of wings flapping entered his ears.

"They're here," Usan said, heading outside.

Liam followed him to the cliff where the ocean met the island.

Unlike the Echorians, who resembled golden and silver dots over the horizon, the Korsans were just black.

Liam expected bats to be the method of transportation used by the vampires.

Plus, he expected at least a thousand of them.

Neither of the two predictions came true.

Skeletal Dragons.

Dragons, except consisting only of bone and ligaments, were flying towards the island at a deceptively fast speed.

There was no flesh or organs in or out of their skeletal frames.

Besides their bones having a glamorous sheen, their massive ribs and eye sockets were see-through.

Two crude horns protruded from the top of their pointy skulls.

Even their bony, almost spikey wings had no membrane!

Wherever they flew by, ocean waves raged tumultuously.

Liam raised his brows in amazement.

As far as magical beasts went, this was possibly the most amazing of them all.

Besides the Rank 6 sea creature Liam encountered, of course.

There were just a dozen of these Skeletal Dragons, with the biggest belonging to the Pashah himself.

The monolith of a creature spanned more than 16 meters horizontally, with streamline features and red, eye-less sockets.

Before long, shrieks and roars of amazement resounded within the island.

No one had seen something like that before.

It was as though they'd found out dogs can talk.

"Never seen that one before," Usan said, clearly just as amazed as Liam was.

"They've been hiding the good stuff," Liam answered. "Some sort of ancient magic?" he asked.

Usan shrugged blankly.

Neither of them knew.

"Hope they brought one for me," Usan laughed under his breath.

And soon enough, the dragons arrived at the island, perching atop Usan's giant pyramid one by one.