The Vesala Estate in the Capital.
Das and Visam also understood their Master's intent as they also prepared themselves for what was coming next.
On Duke Maxim's hand appeared a crystalline bottle that would be familiar to Randel and the members of the Crimson Blade.
It was the mysterious potion that was able to manipulate the wolves to transform into hell wolves!
With a sinister laugh, he raised the bottle up in the air and viciously threw it to the ground.
The red-colored liquid inside the crystalline container flowed freely on the ground. Its odorless scent was not able to cause an adverse effect to the humans around… but not with the wolves in the battleground.
Growl!!! Soon, they were shaken by the monstrous growl around the battlefield.
The sound of the wolves howl was not even as terrifying as the transformation that everyone witnessed. Upon smelling the scent from the crystalline bottle, the wolves began excessively salivating, like rabid dogs that could no longer recover their sanity.
Their eyes became a lot wider and reddish-purple veins appeared on their eyes, while the size of their bodies increased by several times.
If Randel and the bunch were here, they would immediately conclude that the hell wolves they have encountered in the Silver Dew Forest were a lot weaker than this one.
"Horrible people!" General Farauld finally remembered the reports he received from Leon regarding hell wolves and realized that the creatures were the product of the merciless experimentation with wolves and humans.
Seeing the aberration on General Farauld's face, a surge of pleasure came out from Duke Maxim's face. His laugh continued to resonate on the battlefield as the wolves continued to transform into terrifying creatures.
"Hahaha! Now you know fear! Everyone shall witness, this is the power of our family!" Duke Maxim boasted with pride.
With his hands raised, Das, Visam, the cursed knights, and the hell wolves began their merciless attacks on the knights from the opposing side.
"Roaaaar!!!" The hell wolves let out an angry roar and started to attack the knights from the Palace and the Temple.
Unlike the ones that were first encountered, the hell wolves in the Vesala estate were obviously more sentient than the former. They can recognize who they should attack and do not mistake their allies in their berserk state.
This posed a great threat to General Farauld's forces, because not only did they have to guard against the enemy using their curse power, they would have to deal with the rampaging wolves.
"First team! Fall back!"
"Team A over here!"
Nathan and Joab focused on regrouping their troops to think of a strategy to approach the perilous situation. But the knights were overwhelmed by the appearance of the berserking wolves and the cursed army who had also started to attack indiscriminately.
"Mages, stall the wolves for a bit!"
"Devourers, take down the wolves!"
"Summoners! Compensate for the forces by managing the cursed troops!"
Seeing that Joan and Nathan were having a hard time dealing with the upgraded mob, General Farauld tried to shake away Das, Visam, and Duke Maxim to give brief instructions to the young ones.
Hearing the General's words, the panicking knights started to organize themselves according to the formation that was given by their leaders.
With great difficulty, they were able to at least hold their ground and minimize the casualties on their side.
"Tsk, tsk, you really think that your instructions would help improve your situation? General, this is the end for you and your team." Duke Maxim started to also circulate his cursed power and charge General Farauld with all his might.
Das and Visam also joined the battle, not holding back the power they were keeping so well for years.
General Farauld did not falter but instead, put his mind in a calm and steady state as he observed the movements of the three opponents.
One of them was a talented swordsman and a caster and the other two of unknown abilities. He also went all out and used double swords to counter the trio.
Sounds of clashing weapons and occasional spell blasts almost made the roof of the once magnificent estate relax.
His movements were from the countless survival and battle experiences he had accumulated. He looked like he had eyes on his back and on his supposed blindspots whenever the trio would try to outsmart him with sneak attacks.
The trio could not help but feel a sense of fear towards the General who was obviously already in his fifties yet still fighting like he was in the prime of his youth. What's more, they were not even seeing signs of him getting exhausted from their nonstop coordinated attacks.
The General's unperturbed expression became a source of panic to Duke Maxim. The longer they kept this fight, the lesser the chances of taking the capital successfully. He had to think of a way to finish this well!
But how, there were already the three of them, the highest officers on the Vesala's side, and were already going all out in using their powers. There was no one in the cursed army whom he could call upon to help make the General fall…
Deeply contemplating while he was doing his best to fight the General, the Duke's peripheral vision managed to catch a glimpse of the hell wolves, who had significantly made the battle miserable for the enemy's side.
'Yes! Why did I not think of the hell wolves!' He thought. Without delaying any further he waved his hand and immediately directed three wolves to go and attack the General.
Soon everyone saw that the General was about to be attacked by the wolves and the trio from all sides! How was he going to survive this!
"Father!"
"General!"
Nathan and the rest of the knights tried to rush in the General's direction; however, the cursed army and the remaining hell wolves were already too much for them to handle.
If Randel who was almost in the S class was almost defeated by an incomplete hell wolf, what more would these knights be?
They were not even strong enough to stop one, how much more to go and rescue the General who was about to face three and another three curse users!
A great wave of panic and hopelessness showered Nathan, Joab, and the troops, they were about to see their very own General take the fall!
At the Imperial Palace, the attack also started to commence in seizing Empress Carolina.
However, unlike the seemingly prepared Vesala estate, the palace seemed to have been abandoned as they could not see any guard nor any presence of the enemies around.
"Could it be that the Empress managed to escape?" Emperor Valentin was immediately worried. The guards assigned to covertly watch the Empress Place had not even noticed the changes that happened in the palace.
Leon did not believe that this was the case, and so, with the Emperor's permission, they decided to trespass the palace and search for the Empress and her men. But they were utterly surprised by what they had discovered.
It was emptied!
There was not even a shadow of the Empress, not even the knights that had been personally issued by the Imperial Family!
Where did they all go?
This greatly confused the spies of the palace as well as the Emperor himself. It was also confirmed by Leon's troops that there was also no trace of the teleportation array activated within the vicinity. How was it possible for the Empress to disappear without anyone noticing?
"Are you looking for the people here in the palace?" Just as when Emperor Valentin issued another search order, a cold condescending voice rang from the entrance of the Empress Place.
He was standing leisurely watching the troops and the Emperor from his position like he was watching a circus performance.
"Callan…" Leon identified the person, he was once a notable champion who had his name written in the hall of conquerors on the Tournaments of the Knights. Now, he was just a traitor, a sinner of the Empire and the people.
"The Empress has long gone… and as for the knights you have installed in this place???" He held his hand up with his palm facing the sky.
In the dimly lit sky which was about to be colored by the bright sun, there appeared a dark sinister portal. It was like the dark night sky had been sectioned into a 5-meter diameter circle.
Then what made the Emperor, Leon, and the knights burn with rage was what they saw right after.
As Callan conjured the sinister portal, a crack appeared glowing in purple, then from the crack came the shower of bloodied armors and swords, knightly uniforms, and lastly, unrecognizable dried-up human corpses. It fell down at Callan's side, piling up like a little mountain almost as tall as he is.
"Heh… why are you looking at me like that? Are you not going to check if the people you look for are complete here?" He teased the angry crowd as his purple eyes glowed with freshly absorbed curse power.
Callan even let out a chuckle and finished his joke, "Ah, do not bother counting, I know they were all the knights you assigned in here, they were 44 in total!"
