"Seven Alpha-level dark creatures… Seven…"
Delilah murmured quietly, shutting her eyes as she spoke.
Aside from Lorelia and Rockwell—who were stationed at the underground fissure—and counting herself, the horde's current Alpha-level fighters included Onyx, Rendall, Thundar, Lilith, Slagor, Lysinthia, Earthshaker, Thunderhawk, and the Twilight Viper Lysinthia recently brought back.
Altogether, Delilah had nine Alpha-level powerhouses at her disposal.
"Elders, there are way too many Alpha-level dark creatures attacking this time. We've got to thin them out to minimize the danger."
"And we also can't let them breach the city. So next, we'll need to…"
Delilah favored a divide-and-conquer approach, yet dealing a swift blow to multiple Alpha-level beings at once was no small feat. With so many of them on the opposing side, if you didn't send out fighters of equal rank to pin them down, any Alpha-level dark creature that slipped into the inner city could slaughter countless ordinary citizens.
Just as Delilah had laid out her plan and was about to let the troops catch their breath, another round of beastly roars echoed outside Blackstone City.
This time, the roars didn't come just once; they sounded again and again in rapid succession.
"Damn it, the dark creatures are on the move—sound the alarm!"
Trumpets wailed. The bloodline warriors who had just stepped off the wall rushed back into position.
In the darkness beyond the city, a massive wave of dark creatures charged forth like a flood, slamming into Blackstone City.
…
Void passage, where temptation lurked everywhere.
"Dear Orion, are you sure you won't reconsider?"
"As far as I know, once someone steps into the Legendary level, transcendent power starts affecting their bloodline, making it super hard to produce offspring!"
"I'm the Butterfly Mother. I have a special method that could very likely help you conceive a child. Don't you want to give it a try?"
Orion's brow twitched in response, though not because Sophia's offer had swayed him. What stirred his emotions was that mention of a bloodline starting to be influenced by transcendent power.
He'd sensed something along those lines a while back.
The second time Orion encountered Lord Ariel's will projection, Ariel fired off a sphere of lightning meant to vaporize Orion's flesh in one strike. That was when the Curse of a Hundred Blossoms kicked in, resisting the will projection's lightning and even merging it into Orion's body.
After that, Orion's bloodline purity on his data panel had dropped instead of going up.
"So transcendent power really can affect my bloodline!"
Orion sighed inwardly, solving yet another riddle that had weighed on his mind.
The notion of supernatural forces diminishing his chances of having children did bother him. But thinking of Violet and that pink seed put his mind more at ease.
"Orion, you must know that tons of arch lords and even demigods end up having no children at all. Don't you want a powerful heir of your own?"
"You may not want it, but Sophia surely does, right?"
"Orion, will you fulfill Sophia's wish?"
Rumble!
What answered Sophia was a surge of supernatural lightning. A streak of crackling electricity swept through the void passage, obliterating the dark creatures sneaking in.
Orion reached out, grabbed two Alpha-level dark source crystals from among the remains, and swallowed them on the spot. Enjoy new stories from
Ever since he advanced to Legendary level, bigger, more troublesome crises had emerged. Orion couldn't raise his strength fast enough.
Sophia, who had been about to collect those dark source crystals for herself, frowned as she watched him take them.
"Only two dark source crystals, Orion. If you want more, I can give them to you."
Her voice turned gentle again, all soft and refined. Sadly, Orion paid her no heed.
…
Blackstone City. The battle had begun.
Unexpectedly, it was the sky that lit up first with the clash of blades—or in this case, talons and wings.
Even before the fight officially broke out, Thunderhawk Rayden's piercing cries rang out nonstop above Blackstone City. A flock of semi-transparent "invisible butterflies" appeared in the sky, only to be spotted by the keen-eyed Rayden.
Unfazed by a fight, Thunderhawk Rayden soared straight toward them.
This butterfly horde was led by an Alpha-level butterfly, bigger than the rest. With that one in command, the swarm flapped their wings in an attempt to surround and kill Rayden midair.
Fortunately, Rayden had brains as well as brawn. After launching several bolts of lightning, he switched course, luring the fight into range of the arrow tower.
With support from the arrow tower raining down on the butterfly swarm, Rayden's burden eased up considerably.
On the city wall, Delilah lifted her gaze, squinting at the aerial battle, then turned her attention to the arrow tower. Relief flooded her features. The arrow towers Orion had insisted on building were turning out to be the horde's protective umbrella.
They boasted formidable power and range. However, as soon as the arrow tower focused on aiding Thunderhawk in the sky, it wouldn't be able to handle the dark creatures flooding in on the ground.
After a moment of thought, Delilah gave her next order.
"Relay this to the Sentinel Corps—release every flying beast we have. Get them in the air and back Rayden up!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Delilah had a straightforward plan: once the broadskull ravens joined the fight in the sky, they'd free up the arrow tower to concentrate on pounding the monsters below. With the tower's explosive strikes, dark creatures on the ground would be knocked around and fall into confusion, and that confusion could be a life-saving window for the horde's bloodline warriors.
"There's a giant tentacle monster out there—leave it to me!"
Rendall pointed at the first massive tentacle monster to appear among the dark creatures, brimming with confidence.
"Support squad, keep an eye out. If no other dark creatures join the fight, move in as soon as you can so we can take it down quickly!"
Having said that, Rendall vaulted off the wall, whirling his spiked club like it was a tornado and charging straight for the giant tentacle monster.
At that same moment, an enormous Dark Fiends creature came bounding out of the shadows, leaping toward Blackstone City.
"I got dibs on that Dark Fiends!"
The instant Thundar spotted it, he felt a rush of excitement. Orion had given him a taming collar a while back, but as the cavalry commander, Thundar still lacked a mount that truly matched his own strength. Seeing this beast, he figured it was finally time to try that collar out and see if he could claim it.
With that, Thundar drew the massive two-handed sword strapped to his back and charged into the fray.