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RUMBLE!
The ground trembled as piles of stones and rubble from a giant mountain collapse exploded, sending massive boulders flying away, falling over the nearby forest and flattening dozens of trees and other living beings.
A giant black claw emerged from beneath the ground, tearing apart the hard stone of the mountain, helping someone crawl out of an assured death. If it weren't for the fact that he was an incredibly powerful being, once an Apex entity of the Realm of Obscuritas, he would not have survived.
"At long last…!"
As his entire body stepped out of the underground, it was fully revealed beneath the moonlight. Bathed in this light with his eyes closed, his black and red, metallic, insectoid body was revealed, mostly humanoid in appearance.
He had long legs and arms, with slight muscle visible within them, sharp, long, insectoid claws, and a handsome humanoid face with pale white skin and long black hair, lightly covered by his insectoid exoskeleton armor, which formed a natural armored helmet around his head.
He had four arms, each with four long, serrated claws made to tear flesh apart with ease and devour it with his sharp fangs.
A long abdomen behind his back resembled the sharp tail of a scorpion, overflowing with deadly venom.
His eyes opened at that moment, revealing pitch-black irises with hundreds of small lenses, helping him see the entire world and every color in fine detail.
"I have finally crawled out of that accursed mountain… One week, one week was all it took, and yet it felt like an eternity!"
As the King of the Neburias Kingdom screamed, his Aura erupted, overflowing with immense quantities of corrupted Arcana, influenced by his own negative emotions.
His eyes glanced into the distance at the City of Elderbridge, which he wanted to destroy as his first step toward annihilating the Empire of Iron Blood. It was still standing.
"I unleashed my greatest army against them, and even then, I was unable to destroy them… I awaited thousands of years for my revival, and even now, I am denied my just revenge! But I will have it now. All of you damned Vampires will PAY for what you did! The Empire you created in MY territory shall end, Iron-Blooded Emperor!"
With a furious roar, the King of the Neburias Kingdom expanded his Aura. The ground around him trembled as black Arcana and Magic mixed into the earth. Gigantic golems emerged from the mountain's rubble, one after another, by the hundreds, each easily over ten meters tall.
Made of the mountain's hard stone and imbued with black and purple crystals of crystallized corrupted Arcana, these beings overflowed with power.
He had previously employed them in the first invasion, but they proved insufficient against the defenders of Elderbridge City, especially with his other forces…
"All of my soldiers, all of my generals were slain. Now I remain alone. You, who carry their souls, are my honored soldiers, golems! You may be made of stone and crystal, but you carry the souls of my brave soldiers. Make sure to unleash hell upon these vampires! Show them the righteous wrath of the Neburians!"
As the King roared, the golems raised their gigantic stone arms, roaring and groaning in unison as well. The King smiled viciously, laughing.
"Judgement, Zergeous, Leferteti, my Generals, your Souls are Bound to me. Although I cannot fully revive you, I shall shape the strongest bodies out of this mountain's ore for you!"
The King raised his claws, and the souls of his strongest generals—previous raid bosses—merged together, rapidly combining into something massive beneath his feet.
TRUUUM!
From beneath the ground, a larger golem than the rest emerged, over one hundred meters tall, resembling a massive Mountain Dragon covered in colorful crystals. Its red eyes shone brightly, overflowing with immense power, carrying the King atop its massive head.
The three souls of his generals were fused into this massive monstrosity, giant enough to crush the entire city under its claws. It marched slowly, but with each step, the world trembled.
"March! Crush it all! And once we've destroyed that city, the remains shall become new citizens! The Neburias Kingdom never dies as long as its King remains!"
The sole reason Neburians were so different from each other, aside from their external appearance, was because the truth of their origins was unique.
Neburians were only born from their King, who could create Parasites that he imbued into living beings that could not resist or into recently deceased living beings, transforming them.
The parasite would take the host and merge with it, using their energy and power to grow and expand. Exoskeleton and insectoid features would emerge over the vessel's body, even though their original body shape, appearance, strength, and abilities remained.
Their brains would be fully devoured and replaced by the Neburian Parasitoid, their past life memories only becoming information for the new life to take over…
This was why they had so many shapes, from a giant with four arms to a massive serpentine dragon, a gigantic spider-like creature, centipedes, and more.
But now that they were all wiped out, the King of the Neburias Kingdom had to improvise. Utilizing his incredible power over the Element of Earth and his near-limitless Arcana, he wielded the very stone he was crushed under and shaped it into his new army.
Using the Souls of his Soldiers and Generals, bound to him through their creation, he manifested a gigantic army—one that he believed was good enough to flatten everything in its wake before he could secure more "materials" for the further expansion and revival of his Kingdom.
"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAH! It sure does feel good to finally bathe under the moonlight! Watch closely, Moon Goddesses, as I crush the Vampires and offer their blood and souls to you, my beloved muses!"
As he laughed while spreading his arms, expecting their divine blessing over his righteous fury, he received no response.
Perhaps in the past, they would have been allied with him, but now, the goddesses desired to protect other people, not someone stuck in the past, unable to move on!
"I'll make sure to regain your trust! I shall offer you the Emperor's head, but I will begin with his son first, of course… That little bastard owes me a rematch."
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