Chapter 62
Nysia frowned. She had never heard of humans living in the Frostlands.
The region was almost entirely uninhabited, and the nearest human settlement was Mondale, the fortified border city where she and her companion were stationed. Since the approaching aura belonged to a fellow human, some of her caution eased.
"Could the Academy have sent someone without telling us?" the male knight wondered aloud, then dismissed the idea a moment later. "No. Those old scholars wouldn't drag themselves all the way out here for something like this. Maybe it's someone from the Sanctum."
Whoever the newcomer was, they were only Veteran-ranked. Outside the dungeon, the Royal Knights carried the authority of the Stormcrown Empire and held absolute power over the surrounding region. They could simply question the newcomers once they emerged.
Both knights reached the same conclusion: until they knew where their fellow humans stood, there was no reason to attack them.
The Veteran auras closed in fast.
"They're coming," Nysia warned.
The Portal flashed, and three figures burst through almost simultaneously before crashing into the snow.
Freezing air filled Lilith's lungs and scoured the lingering haze from her mind. She surveyed her surroundings at once—somewhere in the Frostlands. Fine snow still drifted from the sky, but the terrain looked nothing like the region where they had entered.
The heart of the Frostlands?
Giles and White Hart had landed nearby, but Lilith's first priority was understanding their position. Behind them loomed the enormous Portal, its surface rippling with pale-blue light, and two human warriors stood waiting on either side of it.
This was clearly the dungeon's exit.
As for the two humans guarding it—one glance was all Lilith needed before her pupils tightened.
She couldn't sense their Ranks.
Both were Elite-ranked, and unlike the exhausted native leaders inside the dungeon, these two were in perfect condition.
Every instinct Lilith had screamed danger. She grabbed Giles and fled without hesitation.
White Hart saw the same problem. The instant Lilith bolted, she launched herself in the opposite direction without wasting a second.
"Wait, you—"
Nysia barely got the words out before all three Veterans were fleeing at full speed.
"What was that about?"
Their panic was unmistakable. They acted as though something terrifying were chasing them through the Portal.
A moment later, Nysia sensed several Elite-ranked auras approaching from the other side, and everything made sense. She let the fleeing figures go and readied herself for battle. Her companion did the same.
The Goblin Archpriest emerged next, landing solidly in the snow. Before he could search for Lilith, he found two human warriors blocking his path.
"Hand over the relic," the male knight ordered, stepping forward.
The Goblin before him was merely a pseudo-Elite, and his strength had collapsed now that the ritual formation no longer supported him. Neither Royal Knight considered him a serious threat. Nysia advanced as well, adding her pressure to her companion's.
The Archpriest's eyes narrowed. "Royal Knights?"
He grasped the misunderstanding immediately.
"The dragon claw is with those human brats who just escaped. They stole it from me!"
Before he finished speaking, two more figures burst through the Portal. Lucian and the Goblin Chieftain landed almost side by side, both sweeping their gazes across the snowy plain.
"Where are those rats?" the Goblin Chieftain roared.
Then both noticed the Royal Knights standing in their way.
"Why are you blocking us?" Lucian snapped. "You want the relic too, don't you? Those humans have it! Stop wasting time and catch them!"
He pointed toward Lilith's retreating figure. The Frostlands stretched out as one endless open plain—Lilith had a head start, but she and Giles were still clearly visible in the distance.
The two knights traded wary glances. Several Elite-ranked factions had fought over the relic, only for a handful of Veterans to snatch it at the last moment? The claim sounded absurd.
Yet the Goblin Archpriest and the Vampire leader had given the same account. Neither could have predicted that Royal Knights would be waiting outside the Portal, which meant they couldn't have coordinated the story in advance.
They were probably telling the truth.
The knights still couldn't trust them completely. The escaping humans had split in two directions, and there was no way to know which group actually carried the relic. They weighed the situation for only a heartbeat before deciding.
"We split up," the male knight said, and immediately took off after White Hart.
Nysia turned and raced after Lilith and Giles.
The moment the Royal Knights moved, Lucian and the two Goblin leaders followed. Until someone escaped with the dragon claw, every one of them still had a chance at it.
Five Elite-ranked pursuers fanned out across the Frostlands. The whole delay had lasted little more than ten seconds. At their full speed, running down a handful of Veteran-ranked Lords should have been effortless.
Fenrir and Rimefang emerged from the Portal only after the others had already begun the chase. Fenrir was drenched in blood and barely staying on his feet, but he didn't hesitate. He fled in the same direction as White Hart, because that route led toward the Werewolves' homeland.
Rimefang followed at once.
Unlike the others, Fenrir no longer cared about the dragon claw.
He knew his chance at it was gone; his only goal now was survival.
And Rimefang cared just as little about the relic.
He still wanted Fenrir dead, and he had no intention of wasting what might be his last opportunity to end their feud.
...
Inside the dungeon, the conflict raged on even after the Elite-ranked leaders departed. The soldiers of all four races kept fighting as though none of them knew how to stop.
The remaining Goblins led the assault, backed by the Frost Sabertooths, pressing forward with the clear intent of exterminating every Werewolf and Vampire left behind.
Both enemy factions had already suffered catastrophic losses; only a few of Lilith's Vampiric Undead still held their ground, and even they couldn't survive indefinitely against such overwhelming numbers.
But the Veteran-ranked Vampire among them had seen Lilith enter the dungeon. He had watched her steal the dragon claw and sensed the unmistakable presence of undead nearby.
That was all the confirmation he needed. They hadn't lost yet.
Under his guidance, the undead army Lilith had raised while destroying the Beastkin Alliance soon reached the lower chamber. Hundreds of undead poured onto the battlefield.
In an instant, the one-sided slaughter became an evenly matched war.