Chương 284: Chapter 267: Good Job Crimson Garden Part 2

The progress was staggering. Compared to Kael and his men, who had clawed their way forward inch by inch, stopping constantly to burn mist or heal injuries, Thalion's approach was effortless. Behind him, the soldiers marched almost casually. A few mages and archers launched spells over his shoulder to support him, but it was barely necessary.

Any undead that survived the first moments within the garden either collapsed on their own or were punctured by vines that slithered into their eyes and mouths if their skin proved too tough. Thalion barely needed to lift a finger as the Crimson Virethorn reveled in its perfect environment. Like a spider that had spun its web in the heart of a locust swarm, it fed with unrelenting hunger. For hundreds of meters, it devoured every undead creature in its path.

However, eventually, the witch realized that her power was no longer flowing into her army. She abruptly ceased the ritual, cutting off the blood magic that had fueled her creations. Though mildly irritating, the change didn't significantly affect the situation. The undead had still received their initial boost upon arriving in the tunnels, but without the constant flow of magic, the advantage waned. More pressing was the arrival of new enemies, vampires.

They weren't particularly strong, but their tactics were more refined than the mindless undead. They launched blood-based attacks, which Thalion absorbed with ease. When those failed, they switched to physical projectiles, arrows tipped with enchanted bone. But Thalion, walking calmly through the carnage, summoned a translucent mana barrier before him. The arrows shattered against it, sparks and shards dancing in the air like dying stars.

Even when they managed to fracture the barrier, Thalion discovered something new, he could heal it mid-combat. A surge of mana directed at the cracks restored the shimmering wall. It was a technique he had never needed before. In most fights, the barrier was a quick shield for a single blow, not a wall to be maintained over time. The vampires had little chance to charge their attacks. Thalion's archers loosed volley after volley, keeping the enemy pinned and disoriented.

Without access to traditional spellcraft, most of the vampires had nothing else to fall back on. Their blood magic, once deadly, was nearly useless against Thalion. The realization triggered something within him, an understanding of the true nature of the Sanguine Thorn, and why Tenebrice, the First Vampire, was feared even by his own kin. The Crimson Virethorn, Thalion now realized, had been designed not just to kill the living but to devour the undead. Especially vampires.

The plant had been forged to dominate the very bloodlines it now consumed. It made sense. Vampires had the most refined, most potent blood. A weapon that turned them into prey would naturally ascend to the pinnacle of blood magic. It was ironic, even poetic. Thalion wondered if vampirekind had once made a pact not to prey upon their own. He remembered the trope from Earth's old vampire films, and strangely, it seemed to hold true here as well.

If Tenebrice was weakened, the others might already be plotting his downfall. They surely knew what the Sanguine Thorn was truly meant for. As he descended deeper into the tunnels, following his living garden of death, his thoughts grew heavier. The Virethorn pulsed beneath his ribs, ecstatic and greedy as it drank hundreds of liters of blood. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Eventually, they reached a vast subterranean chamber, the final threshold.

The last of the undead had been wiped out. Now only vampires remained. The space was colossal—more than a hundred meters tall and just as wide, shaped like a perfect cube. Red mist coiled through the air like writhing serpents. On the far side stood a single corridor, where the witch, her wyvern, and the red-skinned orc waited. Behind them, just barely visible, was the beginning of the final pillar. This was the last chamber before the true end. Hundreds of vampires filled the space, forming layered defenses.

Their blood magic shimmered in their palms, but Thalion could already tell they had miscalculated. At range, those spells would be little more than sparks against his will. One vampire, more creative than the rest, hurled a traditional fireball at the Crimson Garden. It splashed harmlessly across the vines. Its orange flames turning an unnatural crimson red as Thalion's divine passive extended to his summoned domain. But this was different. He couldn't simply walk forward anymore.

In the corridor, enemies came from one direction. Here, they would attack from all sides. The vampires had constructed wooden towers along the chamber walls, giving them elevated firing positions and cover. The coming battle would not be easy and the vampires would not run. Thalion stood just within the corridor, behind his mana shield, considering his next move. He turned to his people.

"We're close. One final push. On my signal, we flood the chamber and eliminate every vampire inside. Kael's healers will remain here—anyone wounded falls back to this corridor for treatment. Any..." He never finished the sentence. An overwhelming aura surged into the corridor like a crashing tide, pressing down on them with suffocating weight. Thalion turned, eyes narrowing.

A figure entered from the shadows, a vampiress draped in blood-red silk, her presence eclipsing even the undead wyvern, the red orc, and the witch who flanked her. It was the same vampiress who had attacked his base at the start of Stage Five. At her mere arrival, the Crimson Virethorn recoiled. The garden, once rampant and wild, shrank back like a frightened beast. Thalion's eyes widened as he felt it, not the vampiress herself, but the plant under her heart. That was the true threat.

He couldn't see it, but its aura enveloped the chamber like a hungry curse. Whatever lived inside her was older, deeper, stronger. Compared to it, the Crimson Virethorn was a sapling in a forest of titans.

"New plan," Thalion shouted, his voice sharp and controlled.

"I take the vampiress. Kargul, Evelyn, Josh, Jack, you handle the witch, the orc, and the wyvern. Everyone else, handle the standard vampires. No hesitation. No mercy. We kill everything." He met the vampiress's eyes, and at the same time, he called out inwardly to the Virethorn.

"Yo, don't you dare back down now. I'm not losing to her and you're not making me look weak. Think of how she'll taste once we rip that plant out of her heart." His message was saturated with bloodlust and unshakable will. For a moment, there was only silence. Then, deep inside his chest, a heat flared like a second sun. The Crimson Virethorn stirred, not with fear but rage. It understood. There was no retreat. No surrender. It was all or nothing.