Chapter 496: I Am the Thorn of the Sacred Remains!
Ten minutes ago, inside the L15 armored airship's cargo bay.
Morin stood before the observation window. He watched the blood-red city below while tracking the system map. The two synced in his mind to form a massive, real-time tactical map.
The siege forces had largely secured the outer districts of Bucharest.
On the system map, a blue zone representing the Saxon army wrapped around the city. It kept pressing inward, compressing the red dots representing the vampires into an increasingly smaller area.
Occasional stray red dots popped up in the secured outer zones, only to be quickly swallowed by the surrounding sea of blue dots.
These were stragglers crawling out of the sewers.
Morin had ordered the assault troops to seal the sewer exits on the city's outskirts as they advanced. They blocked most of them.
But Bucharest's sewer system was built for a capital city. A few hidden exits inevitably slipped through.
It didn't matter. The Blood Servants leaking through couldn't make any waves in the secured zones.
The occasional explosions and flamethrower bursts echoing through the outer streets were just Saxon soldiers clearing out enemies popping up from behind them.
What truly made Morin frown was the situation deeper inside the city. As the perimeter shrank, the vampires' operating space decreased, but their density spiked.
Any unit pushing further in would face far denser resistance.
The vampires also redeployed faster. With less ground to cover, their reinforcement distances shortened.
The system map showed that whenever a Saxon unit tried to launch a new assault, red dots from the surrounding areas quickly converged on their position.
Several infantry regiments of the 48th Corps hit a brick wall under these conditions. Their advance ground to a halt.
The artillery outside the city kept working, firing even harder than during the initial bombardment.
Guided by airships and observation balloons, shells rained into the city center, but the effects were limited.
Morin couldn't blame the slow progress. The command staff expected this.
No matter how elite the Saxon Army was in Europa, they were still flesh and blood.
They faced potentially over a hundred thousand vampire creatures inside the city. Most were low-tier Blood Servants, but the sheer numbers were overwhelming.
These Blood Servants felt no fatigue and feared no death. They kept charging even with a blown-off arm.
No human army could fight this battle easily.
"They've done well enough."
Morin concluded. The core mission of these troops wasn't to breach the city center anyway.
They were there to draw the vampires' attention and relieve pressure on the Church's assault team.
In that regard, they executed the mission perfectly.
As for Cleric Cristiano's group...
Morin shifted his gaze to a small cluster of friendly unit cards pushing rapidly toward the city center on the system map.
The strike team, composed of thirty Holy See Paladins and elite instruction unit soldiers, had fought their way to within eight hundred meters of the Old Royal Palace's main gate.
They hadn't stopped moving since they entered the city.
Morin couldn't see the live feed from the airship, but the system map told the whole story.
The Paladins' trail formed a straight line down the street. They never detoured or retreated against the tide of vampires; they simply carved a path in blood.
About twenty minutes ago, the strike team faced direct fire from multiple artillery pieces at an intersection.
Converted Romanian artillerymen hauled field guns into bizarre, hard-to-reach spots and fired from brutal angles.
Ordinary troops would seek cover and wait for support, or flank the artillery's firing arcs.
The Church team chose a third option.
Morin watched three individual units break away from the main strike team and move rapidly down a parallel alley on the system map.
He estimated their speed at roughly twice that of a normal human's full sprint.
And they were doing this in heavy armor...
The three dots plunged directly into the vampire artillery positions. Less than forty seconds later, the direct-fire guns fell silent.
"These macho men... are truly hardcore."
Morin sighed genuinely. The team sent by the Holy See was far more combat-capable than he imagined.
At least when it came to fighting vampires, these Paladins were even more efficient than the Thunder Warriors.
After all, the Thunder Warriors lacked the natural elemental counters and spells the Church possessed against vampires.
Morin turned, walked to the cargo bay wall, pulled the bell cord next to the brass speaking tube, and shouted: "Lieutenant Colonel Andreas, contact L16. Tell Ludwig and his men to prepare to drop."
"Copy that, Colonel Morin."
Andreas replied promptly, and Morin refocused on the system map.
At their current pace, Cleric Cristiano's group would hit the palace gates in a few minutes.
Then, he would lead the Thunder Warriors in a direct airdrop into the palace, Ludwig's Armored Knights would provide heavy fire support, and they would strike from three directions...
This decapitation strike should go smoothly—
Morin's train of thought snapped.
On the system map, the special unit cards that had remained stationary inside the Old Royal Palace suddenly started moving.
These unit cards looked completely different from the ordinary vampire dots.
Their icons were larger, bordered with unique trims to highlight their special status. Each card bore a symbol Morin recognized—the icon for a "Heavy Unit."
Usually, this symbol meant the unit was reinforced by Armored Knights...
[Blood Dragon Knights].
Morin quickly pulled up the relevant system intel.
This was an elite force Ferdinand I rebuilt using the power of the "Blood River." Their origins traced back to Vlad III's royal guard over four hundred years ago.
Staring at the four diamond-shaped icons that were noticeably larger than the rest, Morin strode to the observation window, grabbed high-powered binoculars from the equipment rack, and aimed at the Old Royal Palace.
Through the lenses, he saw armored Blood Thralls appearing in the plaza before the main gate, alongside four massive figures moving rapidly.
Those four things maintained the basic silhouette of an Armored Knight—nearly six-meter-tall bipedal constructs with thick limbs and heavy torsos.
But instead of standard metallic paint, their surfaces were covered in dark red muscle tissue.
Writhing flesh replaced the missing mechanical joints. Irregular bone protrusions sprouted from their shoulders and backs.
"Flesh Constructs..."
Morin lowered the binoculars, his expression turning grave.
Around these four monsters, humanoid units clad in blood-red armor rapidly deployed into formation. A massive tide of Blood Servants trailed behind them.
The entire force headed straight toward Cleric Cristiano's position. Moments later, the two sides engaged.
Just as Morin wondered if those macho clerics had the means to fight Armored Knights, his portable magitech communicator buzzed.
The flashing runic light signaled a request from Sub-unit 3.
The L15 and L16 had brought a new batch of communicators. Patricia had allegedly stayed up all night upgrading the system so the main unit could pair with more sub-units simultaneously.
What a good girl...
Before the operation, Morin paired 18 sub-units with his main device and distributed them.
Unit 1 went to Kleist at the Kampfgruppe command post. Unit 2 went to Lieutenant General Marwitz's 48th Corps headquarters. Unit 3 went to Cleric Cristiano.
The rest were assigned to Klaus, Ludwig, and other units.
People with magical affinity like Cristiano, Klaus, and Ludwig could establish two-way communication with Morin.
Upon connecting with Unit 3, a cacophony of gunfire and explosions erupted from the receiver. Cristiano's voice pushed through the noise.
"Colonel Morin—"
A loud boom cut him off, followed by the screech of grinding metal and a creature's agonizing howl.
"—the enemy's elites are out!"
Cristiano's voice came in spurts, interspersed with heavy panting. If Morin guessed correctly, the macho man was fighting vampire units while talking to him.
"Four large targets suspected to be flesh golems or constructs. Over 50 High-Tier Vampires... including targets suspected to be the legendary 'Blood Dragon Knights', plus a horde of Blood Servants! They're all coming right at us!"
More metal clashing, a low growl from Cristiano, and the sound of something being cleaved in half.
"Our 'bait' strategy worked, Colonel Morin! We drew out the enemy's main force!"
Morin's heartbeat quickened.
"Now is the perfect time for you to drop in and execute the decapitation strike!"
Cristiano's voice cleared up for a second, as if he found a specific opening to deliver the message.
"The palace guards have been drawn out to deal with us. Only the vampire boss and a small escort should be left inside!"
Morin paused.
"Your Excellency Cleric Cristiano, are you that comfortable letting me jump in alone?"
A short laugh came through the comms, followed by a shotgun blast and a burst of light machine gun fire.
"Colonel Morin, did you think I gave you the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 just because you happen to be a spellcaster?"
Cristiano's tone carried absolute certainty.
"When you took that Holy Sword, it didn't reject you... That says it all."
"The 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 only acknowledges those truly worthy to wield it. Its acknowledgment means your strength... is at least on par with mine."
Morin opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
"And you're a traditional spellcaster. Your spell versatility gives you a much better edge against High-Tier Vampires than we have!"
An explosion interrupted Cristiano again. When the noise died down, he continued: "Trust that Holy Sword, Colonel Morin! Its power against these dark creatures will far exceed your expectations!"
"We will break through this blockade as fast as we can and regroup with you inside... but until then, you have to seize this window!"
"Even if you can't kill him in one strike, cripple the vampire boss! Heavy injuries will cause the 'Blood River's' power to fluctuate, affecting every vampire in the city!"
Morin took a deep breath.
"Understood, Cleric... Armored Knight airdrop support is arriving shortly. Don't fight the heavy units head-on!"
"Copy! May the Lord protect you, Colonel Morin!"
The connection cut off.
Morin pocketed the communicator, turned, and strode to the brass speaking tube in the cargo bay.
"Lieutenant Colonel Andreas!"
"Here!"
"Full speed ahead toward the Old Royal Palace. Prepare for a concentrated bombing run on the palace grounds!"
"Decapitation strike enters the final phase!"
"Copy that! L15 moving at full speed!"
The airship's engine roar pitched up as it accelerated.
Feeling the g-force, the Thunder Warriors in the cargo bay looked up.
Morin turned to face them.
"Klaus, prepare to deploy... I'll jump first. You follow."
Klaus looked at Morin through his visor slit and nodded.
"Understood, Colonel."
Morin returned to the observation window. The L15 rapidly closed in on the airspace above the Old Royal Palace. The dark-red flesh-covered complex below grew closer and clearer.
The deck doors at the bottom of the L15's cargo bay slowly opened. The weapon turrets beneath the airship adjusted their aim.
Andreas clearly mobilized all available firepower. The 20mm autocannons spearheaded the ground assault, laying down suppressive fire on the targets around the Old Royal Palace.
Autocannon shells tore through the flesh-covered courtyard, kicking up chunks of dark red debris.
To Morin, the scene looked like some obscure AC-130 ground attack video game from his past life. Very stress-relieving.
At the other end of the cargo bay, the soldiers dragged massive piles of explosive satchels to the drop edge.
Standard satchels, special satchels packed with prefabricated silver shrapnel, and the silver-thermite bombs the clerics rushed to produce over the last two days were neatly stacked.
"Prepare to drop!"
"Ignite!"
The soldiers gave it their all, lighting fuses and hurling explosive satchels out of the cargo bay one after another.
From Morin's perspective, the black packages trailed smoking fuses as they plummeted toward the dark-red complex below.
Then—
Boom! Boom! BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Continuous explosions turned the Old Royal Palace courtyard into a sea of fire.
Blast waves from standard satchels ripped away the flesh tissue covering the ground. Silver shrapnel scattered through the blasts, shredding the surrounding Blood Servants.
The silver-thermite bombs were even more terrifying. The 2500-degree heat created incandescent incineration zones at the impact points. Any vampire creature caught in the blast turned to ash instantly.
Kicked-up dust and firelight obscured most of the palace grounds, making it nearly impossible to see from the air.
On the system map, the red dots inside the Old Royal Palace did decrease. The bombs eradicated the low-tier Blood Servants and Blood Thralls caught in direct hits.
But the largest red icon deep inside the palace and the elite vampires surrounding it remained largely unaffected.
Ferdinand I was clearly still alive... as expected.
If one bombing run could solve the problem, the war wouldn't have dragged on to this point.
Just as Morin planned to drop in once the bombing subsided, the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 resting quietly in its scabbard on his back suddenly began to vibrate.
A golden light seeped from the scabbard's seams. It started as a faint glimmer but grew intense and blinding within seconds.
Morin instinctively reached for the hilt on his back. The moment his fingertips touched the grip, a voice echoed directly in his mind.
The voice was genderless and ageless, carrying an ancient, solemn texture.
"I sense... unforgivable evil..."
"Swordbearer... jump down, and purge this evil power!"
Morin instinctively glanced back at Klaus and the others. The Thunder Warriors clearly heard nothing, maintaining their standby postures.
So only he could hear it. Telepathic communication with the wielder... the system description mentioned this.
But didn't it "not wish to communicate" with me? What happened to playing hard to get? Why speak up now?
Morin tentatively replied in his mind: "Hold on, I'm organizing a—"
Jumping just because a sword told him to... wasn't that too reckless?
He planned to jump anyway, but he had to wait for the airship to finish bombing and confirm the landing zone was safe first—
The 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 seemed to sense Morin's hesitation.
After a few seconds of silence, the voice echoed again.
"I am the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】! Saint George wielded my edge to defend the weak in dire straits! Saint Louis swung my blade to purge heretics on the battlefield!"
Morin: "..."
"If you lack the courage to purge evil, why bear my body into the heart of this wicked maelstrom!"
The sword's tone was... how to put it... like a cranky senior veteran chewing out a rookie.
Morin stayed silent for a long moment. Finally, he squeezed out a reply in his mind that the Holy Sword might not even understand.
"Alright, you're the boss."
The 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 didn't respond. It either didn't understand or didn't care, but the golden light radiating from the blade flared even brighter, urging him on through action.
Morin took a deep breath and made his decision.
He returned to the brass tube and contacted the bridge: "Lieutenant Colonel Andreas, cease fire! Leave me a drop window!"
"Are you jumping now, Colonel Morin?"
"Yes. Execute the order!"
Morin turned to Klaus.
"I'll go down first to test the waters. You guys follow and provide support in a moment."
"Colonel, let us—"
"That's an order... Even if I run into trouble alone, I have ways to escape!"
Klaus shut his mouth.
Morin turned around, walked a few steps deeper into the cargo bay, stopped, and adjusted his gear.
Gold-plated double-barreled shotgun in his left hand. Chambers loaded with two silver buckshot shells.
Gold-plated pump-action shotgun in his right hand. Magazine full.
Two longswords crossed in an X on his back. The golden light from the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 grew so intense it almost bathed the entire cargo bay in gold.
Klaus and the Thunder Warriors saw it now. They didn't know what was happening, but the aura radiating from the Holy Sword filled everyone with a sense of exhilaration.
Morin felt a surge of hot blood in his chest.
Wielding a Holy Sword, leading battle brothers to face evil enemies—the scene before him felt like a childhood dream from his past life.
He suddenly felt that anyone with an ounce of hot blood couldn't resist the temptation to jump from the airship at this moment.
Morin didn't say another word. Once the gunfire and explosions below ceased, he started accelerating.
The distance inside the cargo bay was short, but for a body enhanced by the modification potion, it was enough to accelerate to a considerable speed.
His military boots clattered rapidly against the metal deck. The light from the cargo bay exit rapidly magnified in his vision. Finally, Morin pushed off the edge of the deck and launched himself out of the airship.
Cold wind instantly blasted his entire body. A sense of weightlessness rose as Mother Earth opened her arms to embrace him.
The moment he left the airship, the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 on his back seemed to approve of his action, suddenly erupting with a blinding, ultimate golden holy light.
The light didn't stay on the sword. It expanded outward with Morin at the center, transforming into rings of pale golden ripples that spread in all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Wherever the ripples passed, the blood-red pillar of light shrouding the Old Royal Palace shuddered violently! A shockwave spread outward from the point of impact, and the entire blood-colored dome trembled.
Almost everyone on the battlefield witnessed this scene.
Outside the Old Royal Palace's main gate, Cleric Cristiano, engaged in a fierce battle with elite vampires, smiled beneath his hound-faced helmet.
"Colonel Morin, the Holy Sword indeed chose the right person..."
A Paladin beside him parried an attack from a Blood Dragon Knight and took the opportunity to glance up at the golden meteor in the sky.
"Is that... the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】? Did it actually acknowledge Colonel Morin?!"
Cristiano didn't answer. Gripping the greatsword he had swapped to at some point, he ferociously cleaved the vampire before him.
"'The Saint walking the earth'... Pick up the pace! We must break through these guys as quickly as possible and get inside to support Colonel Morin!"
As he spoke, the L16 armored airship entered the nearby airspace. Cristiano looked up and saw three Armored Knights standing on the deployment racks in the open cargo bay beneath the airship.
In mid-air, feeling the power radiating from the Holy Sword on his back, Morin's nerves, previously taut from the high-speed freefall, instantly relaxed.
It was a strange feeling—pure tranquility.
Fear, tension, hesitation... all these emotions were filtered out by some warm power, leaving only a clear will to fight.
In this state, Morin quickly glanced at the system map, confirming the distribution of the remaining enemies inside the Old Royal Palace.
The bombing wiped out most of the fodder in the outer courtyard, but quite a few red dots remained inside the main building.
His altitude dropped rapidly. When Morin estimated he was at about 80 meters, he activated 【Feather Fall】.
Magic formed an invisible cushion field along the surface of his body. His rapidly plummeting body decelerated abruptly, as if caught by a giant, invisible hand from below.
60 meters.
40 meters.
20 meters.
Touchdown.
The moment Morin's feet hit the ground, he rolled forward, dissipating the remaining impact force.
Mid-roll, he tossed the gold-plated pump-action shotgun in his right hand into the air.
A pair of translucent blue hands materialized out of thin air, catching the weapon steadily. They deftly pulled the fore-end, chambering a round with a crisp "clack."
Ever since Morin developed the reloading assist function for 【Mage Hand】, his increasingly proficient control now allowed it to hold a gun and fire directly.
Morin finished his roll and dropped to one knee. The double-barreled shotgun in his left hand was already raised, the muzzle aimed at a black-robed figure forty meters away.
It was a surviving Blood Thrall. Clearly not having fully recovered from the bombing, it staggered to its feet from behind a pile of rubble.
"Bang!"
One barrel of the shotgun spat flames. The spreading silver buckshot struck the Blood Thrall's chest at extremely close range, blasting its entire upper body into a bloody mess.
The burning effect of the silver shot took hold immediately. The flesh beneath the black robes rapidly carbonized.
Morin didn't spare it another glance. He stood up and moved toward the palace's main building.
The 【Mage Hand】 hovering above his right shoulder followed closely. The translucent blue hands gripped the pump-action shotgun, its muzzle constantly tracking the flanks outside Morin's line of sight.
The courtyard was littered with bomb craters and rubble. The fleshy tissue that originally covered the ground was blown to pieces, wisps of smoke rising from the charred cross-sections.
The incineration zones created by the silver-thermite bombs were especially conspicuous. Several nearly vitrified craters marked the ground, their edges still radiating scorching heat.
But the palace terrain was relatively complex, and coupled with the vampires' resilient vitality, a portion of the enemies still survived.
Morin had just stepped over a crater when three Blood Servants darted out almost simultaneously from behind a half-collapsed wall to his front-left.
Their movements were much faster than the ones encountered in the outer city districts, and their flesh was thicker... The closer they were to the core of the "Blood River," the more nourishment these low-tier vampires received.
Morin raised the double-barreled shotgun with his right hand and pulled the trigger again.
"Bang!"
The silver buckshot blew the head off the leading Blood Servant directly. It didn't even require the buff of 【Magic Weapon】.
Simultaneously, the shotgun controlled by 【Mage Hand】 opened fire.
"Bang! Bang!"
The silver pellets from two consecutive shots formed a deadly spread, obliterating the remaining two Blood Servants from the waist up.
Morin reloaded as he moved swiftly toward the main building.
He moved very fast. His modified physical attributes allowed his speed, even fully armed, to easily and vastly exceed a normal human's sprint, turning him into a blur.
The Blood Thralls' reactions weren't slow, but they seemed unable to keep up with the rhythm in front of Morin.
A Blood Thrall darted out from a side corridor, wielding a rifle with a fixed bayonet, attempting a close-quarters thrust.
Morin sidestepped the bayonet, and slammed the stock of the shotgun in his left hand directly into its temple.
The blow sent the Blood Thrall flying horizontally, crashing into a stone pillar nearby.
Before it could stand up, the shotgun controlled by 【Mage Hand】 was already aimed at its head.
"Bang!"
After reporting his situation to Klaus, Morin continued pushing toward the main building. He stepped over charred rubble and smoking fleshy remains, now about thirty meters from the entrance of the Old Royal Palace's main structure.
At this time, Klaus and the others sequentially jumped from the armored airship and began decelerating with the help of 【Feather Fall】.
On the system map, vampire units could be seen moving rapidly toward him from inside the gatehouse.
Soon, seven or eight Blood Thralls wearing Romanian military uniforms charged out, gripping rifles and sabers.
The scarlet hue in their pupils was more intense than the vampires on the outskirts. Their movements were more coordinated, and they deployed into formation with clear tactical intent.
Immediately following, gunfire erupted.
Three Blood Thralls fired simultaneously. But Morin's body reacted through anticipation even before they fired. The neural reflex speed enhanced by the modification potion allowed him to execute evasive maneuvers the instant the bullets left the muzzles.
One bullet grazed past his shoulder. The other two were blocked by 【Mage Armor】. The translucent blue force field flashed twice at the impact points, completely neutralizing the kinetic energy.
Without breaking stride, Morin raised the double-barreled shotgun in his left hand.
"Bang!"
The chest of the nearest gun-wielding Blood Thrall was blown to pieces!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The shotgun controlled by 【Mage Hand】 fired continuously, forcing the charging Blood Thralls to change their routes and breaking their formation.
Realizing Morin had protective spells, the Blood Thralls abandoned shooting. Taking advantage of the moment both of Morin's shotguns were reloading, they charged him collectively.
They were fast, their sabers even coated in a layer of dark-red blood aura.
Right then, the voice from the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 on Morin's back transmitted again.
This time, only two words.
"Use me."
Hearing this, Morin grinned. He slung the double-barreled shotgun onto his back, reached behind with both hands to grip the hilts of the two longswords, and cast 【Magic Weapon】 on the silver sword.
The instant they were drawn, a blue and a golden light respectively enveloped Morin's left and right sides. The 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】 was completely wrapped in a dazzling golden flame along its blade.
That light wasn't just a simple illumination effect. Morin clearly felt a scorching, pure power transmit from the hilt to his palm, spreading up his arm and through his entire body.
He could also perceive the current state of the 【Thorn of the Sacred Remains】...
IT was very excited.
In turn, the sword-wielding Morin grew excited as well. He stepped directly forward and unleashed a gorgeous dual-sword slash.
Two sword lights of different colors flashed out, effortlessly cleaving the lunging Blood Thralls in half. The cutting sensation was so light Morin found it incredible.
The cleaved Blood Thralls didn't even spray blood. The flesh at the wounds withered and carbonized at a speed visible to the naked eye, burned by the golden flames.
At this moment, Morin finally understood what Cleric Cristiano meant by "its power will far exceed your expectations."
Laughing like a child, he charged into the Blood Thrall formation. While the gold-plated pump-action shotgun hovering above him fired continuously, the sword light in his hands flashed brilliantly.
"Have you guys ever seen Starburst Stream?!!!"