Chapter 31: The Undead Bloodfiends and Lynn's Skeleton Warriors
As he finished speaking, Count Korthess suddenly threw his arms wide.
The next second, a dense black fog enveloped the entire castle.
When the fog cleared, rows of mangled, puppet-like blood thralls appeared.
Drool dripped from their mouths, and their eyes glowed with a crimson light. They closed in on the three, like a horde of zombies.
Seeing this, Natasha and Steve immediately went on guard.
They opened fire, but as the silver bullets tore through the thralls' heads, the creatures didn't turn to dust. They just kept roaring, shuffling closer.
"What's going on?"
Natasha frowned, seeing this.
'They can't be killed?'
She had seen blood thralls before, but never like this.
It was Lynn who looked at the thralls, then shot a cold glance at Korthess. "You actually studied sorcery?"
"Sorcery?"
Hearing Lynn, Steve frowned. "You mean sorcerers... actually exist?"
"Ugh... I'm not even surprised at this point."
Natasha, tossing out an electrode disc, said, "Werewolves, vampires, aliens, even gods. I've seen them all. So sorcery? Doesn't surprise me a bit."
"Right now, I just want to know, Lynn, how do we kill these things?"
At Natasha's question, Lynn pulled fluorescent powder from his pocket and sprinkled it on the ground.
The moment the powder hit the floor, it automatically formed a hexagram.
"These aren't simple thralls. They're bloodfiends, born from a fusion of sorcery and the thralls themselves."
"They can't be killed. Not unless you take out the one controlling them—Count Korthess."
"Interesting."
Seeing Lynn's actions, Korthess didn't interrupt or attack.
He just let Lynn activate his Phantasm ability.
He was observing. He wanted to see what this "Death Sorcerer" was truly capable of.
And whether he could really brew the potion that would let vampires walk in the sun.
Hearing Lynn, Natasha spun and opened fire on Korthess.
But the next second, Korthess simply raised his hand, and the bullets stopped dead, a few inches from his body.
An invisible barrier had blocked the attack.
Korthess elegantly swirled the wine in his glass. "So, the last Death Sorcerer... what will you do now?"
"You're about to find out."
As Lynn spoke, the hexagram on the floor blazed with light.
The air in front of Lynn began to waver.
It was as if a powerful force was tearing space-time itself.
The tear widened, and soon, countless skeleton warriors, roaring, poured out, raising their bone swords and charging the zombie-like bloodfiends.
Seeing this, Steve's expression was one of shock. Natasha's eyes went wide.
She was truly stunned by the scene.
Especially as the skeletons and bloodfiends clashed. Both sides were undead.
Heads and limbs were lopped off, but both sides just kept fighting.
Natasha gasped, "My god, this is the power of a Death Sorcerer? And you told me you were just an ordinary apothecary?"
"Damn it, if you had this ability, why didn't you help during the Battle of New York?"
At her question, Lynn glanced at the bloodfiends, now fully engaged with his skeletons. "Saving the world is your job, superheroes. What's that got to do with a weak, ordinary NYPD detective like me?"
Lynn's words made Natasha roll her eyes.
She pulled another pistol from her thigh holster and fired a grappling line into the ceiling.
The next second, she grabbed Steve's arm and zipped them both up to the rafters.
The silver bombs by the entrance had already destroyed the UV lights they'd set.
Now, Natasha and Steve were high above the battle.
Korthess had nowhere left to run.
A round of applause echoed. Korthess clapped, looking at Lynn. "As expected of the legendary Death Sorcerer. Your methods and power are impressive."
"It seems... you are the partner I've been searching for."
With that, Korthess casually tossed the Blood-Gem to Lynn.
Lynn instinctively reached out and caught it. In that same instant, Korthess appeared in front of him like a ghost.
He grabbed Lynn's shoulder, his fangs lunging for Lynn's neck.
But Lynn's hand shot up, blocking the vampire's jaw. He drew a silver dagger from his belt and stabbed at Korthess's heart.
Korthess blurred, dodging the attack, and the two of them instantly engaged in close combat.
***
High above.
Steve and Natasha watched as Korthess attacked with blinding speed, only for Lynn to counter every single blow with even faster reflexes.
They tried to aim their guns to help...
...but they couldn't get a clear shot.
"SKREEE!!!"
A sharp, inhuman shriek echoed out. Instantly, Lynn, Steve, and Natasha felt their minds reel.
Using the sonic attack to distract them, Korthess grabbed Lynn and, without hesitation, flew straight up toward the castle ceiling.
"No, he's getting away!"
Steve, shaking off the stun, immediately opened fire to stop him.
But Korthess used Lynn's body as a shield!
Crash!
The glass ceiling of the castle shattered. Glass rained down as Korthess and Lynn vanished into the darkness above.
Seeing this, Natasha and Steve panicked.
'Lynn... was captured?'
'This was bad. Absolutely not.'
It didn't matter what the vampire wanted with Lynn.
They would not, under any circumstances, allow their friend to fall into the hands of vampires. The consequences were unthinkable.
They glanced down at the skeletons, still locked in battle with the bloodfiends, then smashed through a second-story window and leaped out.
"After him!"
As they landed, Steve gave the order, and the two of them sprinted down the underground tunnel.
Along the way, they saw all the UV lights they had placed were destroyed.
Natasha guessed Korthess must have had some way of destroying them the moment they entered the castle.
They chased them all the way to the surface, but by now, Lynn and Korthess were long gone.
Staring up at the dark sky, Natasha and Steve's faces were grim.
"No matter what, we have to get Lynn back."
Steve gripped his shield, his expression grave.
Beside him, Natasha pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
The moment it connected, she said, "Tony, we need your satellites. Now."
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