Chương 712: The King and the Princess

[You have acquired the Profession Skill: Tree of Mother Freya (Legendary)] It'll be completely useless here in the event, but it's an investment for later.

"Charlie being here makes this place way less miserable," Artemis said.

"I was stuck alone with these two, listening to them argue about plants and ancient civilizations that didn't even leave behind hot statues." Cadmus's visor blinked.

"Hot statues?"

"You barely left any statues of your people lying around, so I'm guessing sexy statues weren't a thing either."

"My people did not have a single physical form. We were not as organic as you are. But there are many memory crystals. Some contain records of beautiful songs or poems, all preserved by the individual who created them."

"Wow. Amazing. Thrilling. Shakespeare, poems, and songs. Did your alien people leave behind anything actually wild?" Cadmus seemed to process that for a moment.

"Hmm... there must be stories of knights challenging krakens on grand quests."

"I meant wild as in sex."

"Sexual?" The robot's voice came out almost offended.

"My people did not treat sex like irrational beasts chasing biological pleasure."

"Hey!" Luke complained.

"We found joy in being with the one we loved for life and building a family."

"That's beautiful," Charlie said.

"If there's family, there's reproduction. If there's reproduction, there's sex," Artemis said.

"And if you were a king, Cadmus, how many women did you have?"

"Women? You mean females, correct?"

"Yeah, females. I'm trying to convince Luke here that a king should have a whole lineup of them."

"No, he shouldn't," Luke said.

"That's just your perverted brain talking. A man should have one woman. For life."

"I agree with Luke Moon," Cadmus said solemnly.

"One should love only one other being, forever and always. That is what you call true romance."

"What?" Artemis sounded both shocked and disappointed.

"You were a king and only had one wife? Man, you sucked at being king."

"Thanks for agreeing with me, Cadmus," Luke said.

"You're all cowards," Artemis snapped.

"A real romantic wouldn't leave a single female behind. He'd take them all and bust his ass loving them equally."

"Hmm..." Cadmus seemed to consider that with far more seriousness than such nonsense deserved.

"That does not seem right to me. A knight's devotion belongs to one princess alone."

"Well said, Cadmus. And a female knight should stay by her prince," Charlie said.

"Thank you, Lady Charlie." Charlie looked at him curiously.

"And were you married?"

"Yes. I was."

"How did you ask your princess to marry you?"

"Oh..." For the first time, the robot's voice seemed to falter a little. Almost embarrassed.

"Let us say... I was not the one who made the first move." Luke raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Let us say... it took me a while to realize my friend had feelings for me."

"Well, well," Artemis said, starting to laugh.

"We've got two dense idiots here. What a pair. Where's Franky? That guy's the worst. He obviously likes Luke's family, but keeps pretending he doesn't."

Angie flew high above the clouds, dragging Luke behind her by a chain. The wind was so strong it swallowed almost every sound, forcing them to shout or speak through thought.

"I've never tried flying this high before," she said, looking down. Luke looked too. From up there, the artificial island looked impossibly small, a jagged patch in the middle of the sea, wrapped in clouds and shadow.

"It almost feels like I'm on a plane," he replied. They were testing faster ways to move him around. If the final challenge involved a race or any kind of fast movement, this might save them time. When they began descending, he saw the island's artificial forest opening into dark paths that led toward an abandoned castle. They had already explored that place before. It had been empty.

But tonight, small lights dotted several points across the archipelago: torches, campfires, and signs of movement where there had only been silence before. By the time they landed on the ship, they already had a good starting point.

"Finding the Count should be easier now," Angie said. As she entered the cabin area, Luke watched her interface, open to the evolution of her [Light Cleric] class. [Cleric of the Radiant Dawn]: There are those who pray to the light, and there are those who become its vessel. The Cleric of the Radiant Dawn is born when devotion stops being mere faith and becomes absolute purpose. As an angel, her soul has always been close to radiance, but now that light blooms into something greater.

Her sacred mana becomes purer and more intense, capable of healing allies, raising radiant barriers, and purifying corruption with the strength of dawn. But her light is not born from kindness alone. It is born from devotion, protection, and obsession. To her, her master is the center around which her faith burns. Every miracle, every blessing, and every judgment is offered as proof of that devotion. The Cleric of the Radiant Dawn stands between healer and executioner, between angel and omen.

To her allies, she is salvation with wings. To her enemies, she is the last sunrise they will ever see. And if anyone threatens the one she venerates most, her light will cease to be a blessing. It will become judgment. (Attribute Bonus per level: +35 Wisdom, +28 Willpower, +23 Intelligence, +19 Vitality, +14 Perception, +12 Toughness, +9 Endurance, +30 Free Points..) Luke wasn't going to judge Angie's or Charlie's class evolution choices. Each of them knew what they were doing with their own powers.

But something about Angie's choice felt a little... strange.

Luke was sprinting through a building when he leapt and slammed into a vampire holding a crossbow. The impact knocked the monster backward before it could fire. On the next rooftop over, a vampire mage raised his staff and hurled a dense cloud of dirt at him. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Luke activated his cloak mid-jump. The burst carried him to the mage's side, and his next strike broke the vampire's stance before killing him.

"Kill the horned one!" another vampire shouted. Five of them dropped around Luke and rushed him together. Swords cut through the air one after another, but he slipped between the blows, low and fast. With a kick, he sent one vampire flying off the building. Then he pushed off, leapt, and drove his horn into another vampire, dragging the monster forward until he crushed it against the wall. A moment later, Charlie appeared and struck the vampires still chasing him, clearing space with heavy blows.

Farther ahead, Angie was battling Count Drakar across the rooftops, the same vampire they had dealt with in the past, the one who used red flames. He had found a hideout in that part of the archipelago, guarded by his servants and protected by an annoying skill: a field of mist that smothered any perception of the outside world. Inside it, even sound died. Angie hit the mist like a battering ram and forced the vampire out. The Count skidded across the rooftops before standing, furious.

"I'm backing Angie up," Luke told Charlie.

"Me too." Luke arrived first and hit the Count from the side. Charlie dropped from above right after, using her teleport to appear in the vampire's blind spot and strike him before he could regain his balance. The three of them piled onto Drakar, giving him no room to breathe. Then the Count screamed. Something inside him changed. The mana around him twisted, and a Frenzy skill drove his speed to a brutal new level. He shot toward Luke, claws ready to tear him apart. Charlie stepped in front of him.

Her arms were covered in the power of [Steel Bastion], and when the Count's claws hit her, the sound was like metal scraping against metal. The blow did not get through. Luke rolled aside and dropped to another section of the building, leaving a knife behind. Charlie jumped after him. The next instant, the knife exploded and hurled the Count backward.

"Coward!" Drakar snarled.

"But I'm still right here," Luke said from the top of the building, firing [Shadow Balls] at him.

"Being protected!"

"As if you didn't have a little army protecting you."

"At least my army was made of men." The Count spat the words with contempt.

"You're being protected by two little girls. That makes you weak." Charlie and Angie both went dead serious. Luke looked at the Count.

"You really shouldn't have pissed them off." Angie activated [Lightning Valkyrie], and her blue clone appeared beside her. The two charged together while the Count retreated across the rooftops, barely dodging the [Light Balls] Angie fired at him.

"Running already?" she called as he leapt away. Charlie spread the wings of fire on her back. [Wings of Fire (Legendary)]: The heat of [Flame] burns deep within your being, fed by love and the fierce desire to protect the one at the center of your heart. That feeling surpasses ordinary limits, burning like an impossible fire until it finally escapes the body in the form of flame and ash. When this skill is activated, the user creates a pair of wings made of living fire and burning ash.

While active, these wings drastically increase her speed and agility, especially while her feet still touch the ground, making her movements faster, lighter, and more explosive. They also allow the user to fly a few meters above the ground, granting enough aerial mobility for pursuits, charges, repositioning, and overwhelming advances. However, maintaining this power requires considerable mana consumption, since feeding such intense flames demands constant energy.

These are not wings that carry her to the sky, but they are the fire that can guide her there. Charlie activated her armor skill too. A crimson breastplate formed from hardened blood appeared over her body before she launched herself at the Count with her fists. Luke watched the two fight Drakar with vicious intensity. The vampire was still dangerous, but now he looked less like a predator and more like a cornered animal. Then Angie decided to use her legendary Light Cleric skill.

[Radiant Wingguard (Legendary)]: The light that illuminates the heavens can be the sun... or it can be you. An exclusive skill for Light Clerics belonging to winged races, allowing luminous mana to cover their wings with yellow feathers made from the Light element itself. While active, this energy transforms the wings into sacred battle armor, shielding them like a radiant barrier and allowing them to block attacks with even greater effectiveness.

Any enemy who touches these wings is wounded by the concentrated light within them, as if they had brushed against a solar blade. The light also purifies the user's body, dispelling disease, curse, and exhaustion effects while strengthening their other light abilities. However, its true power awakens when the Cleric pours additional mana into the wings: the radiant feathers ignite with absolute brilliance and release an explosion over the surrounding area, burning nearby enemies with sacred energy.

More than a defense, these wings are a living fortress of light. When they open, they protect. When they shine, they judge. Receives increased power based on Wisdom, Willpower, and Intelligence. Charlie pulled back at exactly the right moment. Angie came in like a bullet, tearing through the air. Two of her four wings were covered in bright yellow feathers made of condensed light. When her spear impaled the Count, the radiance around her exploded. Drakar screamed as he was thrown away.

His body burned, not with fire, but with light mana that ate away at his strength.

"You filthy bitch..." the Count snarled, trying to stand. Now he was visibly weaker. To him, Angie was like the sun. Just standing before her, before the glow of her wings, seemed to corrode his strength.

"You're lucky..." Drakar spat blood.

"Lucky you have that damn power." Angie smiled. It was not a kind smile. It was vicious.

"I could've stomped you wearing a different pair of boots, cockroach."

"Cockroa—" The spear struck the Count before he could finish. Electricity exploded through the vampire's body. Angie's Class [Storm Valkyrie] reached Level 110! [Angie has unlocked a new class skill] [Angie has reached Level 108! Archangel (Rank D)] (+16 to all attributes, +40 Free Points.) Your class [Shadow Phantom Reaper] has reached Level 109!

(+30 Lethality, +24 Agility, +23 Perception, +22 Intelligence, +18 Wisdom, +13 Willpower, +10 Dexterity, +20 Free Points) Your second class [Arcane Spellcaster] has reached Level 103! (+40 Intelligence, +31 Wisdom, +22 Perception, +19 Willpower, +10 Agility, +8 Dexterity, +7 Vitality, +25 Free Points.) Charlotte Vespertilio's Class [Royal Blood Knight] reached Level 106! Charlotte Vespertilio's 2nd Class [Black Ember Ascendant] reached Level 103! [Charlotte Vespertilio has reached Level 102! Vampire (Rank D)]"I guess the Count had a point," Luke said, looking at the results.

"They did most of the work."

"That's what you get for hanging around hot, powerful women, man," Artemis said. When Luke approached Angie and Charlie, he saw that both of them were fine. A few minor injuries, but nothing worrying.

"That mist must've been one of the Count's legendary skills," he commented. The trio left the area soon after. Drakar was a Count, but not one serving Damian. Even so, they had decided to deal with him. They had crossed paths with him before, and leaving a vampire of that level loose felt like asking for trouble later.

"The Vampire Hunters' church should give us some kind of award," Luke said. He had placed the Count's head in a box and stored it inside his pocket dimension. If necessary, he could use it as proof that he was cooperating with humanity.

"Interesting, my lord," Angie said, studying her interface.

"Three of the five skills available to me are legendary." [Wind Valkyrie's Fury (Legendary)]: The Valkyrie summons a layer of wind around her body, forming an invisible and violent armor that responds directly to her concentration and fury. The more intense her focus becomes, the fiercer the gale surrounding her grows. While active, this protection reduces the impact of incoming attacks, increases her combat speed, and coats her movements in blades of air, causing her strikes to carry cutting and piercing effects.

Every advance becomes faster, every attack more lethal, and every movement seems guided by the storm itself. When the skill is about to end, the winds around the Valkyrie dissipate and converge into her weapon, concentrating all remaining force into one final powerful blow. [Aquatic Breathing (Common)]: The Storm Valkyrie adapts her body to the domain of water, gaining the ability to breathe naturally underwater.

While this skill is active, she can remain submerged without losing breath, allowing exploration, combat, and movement in aquatic environments without relying on air from the surface. [Lightning Verdict (Legendary)]: The Valkyrie channels the power of Lightning and Light Spear, charging her spear with electricity before aiming it at a target.

The instant the weapon marks its destination, a bolt of lightning descends from the heavens and strikes the indicated area, electrocuting the main target and releasing discharges capable of injuring nearby enemies. If the target survives the impact, it remains temporarily affected by the residual energy of the thunder, suffering Slowness or Paralysis effects. It is not merely a bolt of electricity. It is a sentence handed down from the sky.

[Gale Spiral (Rare)]: The Valkyrie spins her spear at high speed, causing the weapon to absorb and concentrate the power of the wind around it. During the skill, the spear becomes faster, lighter, and more aggressive, allowing deadlier attacks, deeper thrusts, and stronger impacts. Each spin feeds the next blow, transforming the weapon into an axis of cutting pressure capable of breaking defenses and amplifying the Valkyrie's offensive force.

[Sharkbite Lance (Legendary)]: Using the power of water, the Valkyrie strengthens her spear attacks with the predatory ferocity of sharks. While active, each thrust, advance, or strike with the spear is wrapped in the shape of a shark made of water, lunging with the attack as if biting into the enemy. The water does not merely follow the weapon. It hunts with it. Every strike becomes a liquid bite, adding impact, pressure, and brutality to the Valkyrie's attacks.