The Witch Hunter System
chapter-698

While Emperor Varan felt saddened by the unprecedented death toll, he also felt a little fortunate. Perhaps due to the Armstrong family's great destiny, the imperial palace did not get caught in the blood sacrificial zone.

That said, only his empress wife stayed in the imperial palace.

His daughters spent all their time at the Martial Hall, and the Armstrong family's branch members all moved to a place called Dragon Palace.

On the other hand, Bellor Ravesk of Duke Gamliel's faction and Lord Nuvemze of Duke Zohar's faction were not so fortunate. Their territories were all located in the blood sacrificial zone.

In other words, their entire families were wiped out—reduced to withered skins and bones.

"Arghhh—!!! Why did something like this happen? Why?!" Lord Nuvemze roared in anguish and sorrow as he lost everything. "What kind of heartless fiend would sacrifice so many lives!?"

"Cease your tears, Lord Nuvemze. You can grieve after you avenge your loss. This is the clear work of a devil… No human would do this…" Duke Zohar consoled with a pale look, feeling his scalps tingle with cold shivers.

In mere minutes, such a large piece of the Imperial Capital was reduced to a land of death.

Nevertheless, they have a bigger problem now.

…

Imperial Capital, Black Mountain

The enormous blood-crimson light zone had long attracted everyone's attention with its first appearance. The martial warriors gathered around the Black Mountain were no exception.

Crack…

Vaan's body moved slightly, and the shell of dry blood crumbled apart like fragile rocks, exposing his true figure underneath without any disguise. However, no one noticed him, nor did he pay them any attention – they were all looking toward the blood-crimson sky.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Many warriors felt their hearts beating loud and erratically as they sensed unfathomable darkness and evil hidden within the blood-crimson sky.

Meanwhile, as blood energy continued to channel into the sky through the pillars of blood-crimson light, tremendous changes began to take place in the affected region.

The sun waned, the sky darkened, the white clouds spread, and the black clouds emerged from within, replacing the original white clouds.

On a sunny day, a fraction of the Imperial Capital was shrouded in the darkness of the night within mere moments. And from within that darkness, unbelievable sightings could be discovered.

The entire veil of blood-crimson light trembled, and a red moon appeared, illuminating the dark sky with its cascading, gloomy, crimson moonlight.

Soon, an ancient floating castle shrouded in clouds of black bats reflected on the other side of the crimson moonlight. It looked like a mere illusion, a trick on the eye. However, this mere illusion was only as thin as the veil of crimson moonlight existing between it and the rest of the world.

On the surface, cold winds blew, distorting space as sophisticated gothic-style homes briefly replaced the existing stone buildings in the Imperial Capital. Intermittent changes to the scenery continued like a flickering candlelight in the night – ghostly quiet, weak, and yet, people couldn't take their eyes off it.

At the same time, within this blood-sacrificial zone, the original thin traces of mana suddenly became aplenty and boundless like Gehenna itself—No, the boundless mana actually came from Gehenna.

Furthermore, the affected region became dominant with the Gehenna Laws!

Just when everyone thought and believed the intermittent changes of sceneries within the blood-sacrificial zone were fake, clouds of black bats suddenly flew out of the crimson veil.

Chaos quickly descended on the Imperial Capital as the black bats preyed on the helpless commoners. Terrified screams resounded wherever the clouds of black bats went, followed by trails of drained corpses in their wake.

"Vampiric Demon Bats! And there's so many of them!" a terrified man exclaimed as he fled in horror.

However, the terrified man didn't make it very far before a group of Vampiric Demon Bats reached him, only leaving after they turned him into a bloodless corpse.

"Draw your swords and steel your hearts, proud warriors of the Great Ratholos Empire! The darkest days of our nation have descended upon us! However, we will neither run nor go down without a fight!" Emperor Varan roared with his treasured sword raised.

"Don't let fear dull your blades and cloud your minds! Before you stand the greatest challenges in your lives! Can you hear it? The screams of our people? Now is the time when they need you most! If you don't have the courage, then find it!"

"Prove to me that you are truly proud warriors of this land! We will eradicate these blood-sucking fiends and save our people!!"

Following Emperor Varan's warcry, the warriors behind him roared at the top of their lungs and beat their chests in unison, letting their blood boil and numb their fears.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, Duke Zohar charged ahead of everyone else before turning his head back in laughter, "Hahaha! Brothers, I'll be going first! The glory of first kill will be mine!"

"Hahaha, do you think I will just let you out-perform me, Brother Zohar?! I don't give a damn about your glory of first kill! The glory of most kills will be mine!" Duke Gamliel followed without hesitation.

Seeing the two Dukes charged ahead fearlessly, the rest of their factions also charged after them.

Just half a day ago, they were still at odds with each other. But when duty called, they didn't hesitate to work together to overcome the greater threat.

"Death to the demons!" the incited warrior started roaring.

Meanwhile, Emperor Varan shook his head with a slight smile, feeling proud to be the emperor of such fearless warriors.

Shortly after, Emperor Varan turned to Kuvat's group.

"Venerable Dragons, that Old Villain still lives, and there is nothing I want to do more than to tear him apart. However, the city needs me. May I entrust the task of finishing him off to your group?"

"Naturally," Kuvat answered without hesitation, adding, "Our god tasked us to assist your empire in eliminating the Delarosa Household. How can we leave before we see its completion?"

"Thank you! If we live through this, I'll be sure to show you and your god my highest regard and gratitude!" Emperor Varan solemnly promised before departing with the rest of his men.