Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

Chapter 2318: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [36]

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"Could we even use this to our advantage somehow? To buy time at least?" Larzak wondered.

"Can that even work, though?!" Pekora asked. "We’re against a Venerable...! Maybe escaping into Drake’s Divine Realm is our only chance at survival!"

"Can we even do that now?! Fuyu is the one controlling the portals, and she’s paralyzed, soul-paralyzed!" Charlotte said.

"Damn it! A battle it is then...!" Nadia said.

"Are you crazy?! We’ll die!" Mina said. "We’re against a Venerable! It’s a whole other level! It’s hopeless!"

"Mina! How can you say that?!" Nadia groaned. "We have to find a way somehow...! Maybe with Logi’s blessing...!"

"No, I cannot grant the blessing while I’m still weakened...!" Logi lamented. "I’m sorry, but this is... I’m useless...!"

"Don’t say that! We have to rally together somehow, with whatever we have!" Aegir said.

"You’re all forgetting someone, everyone... someone who is a Venerable and has grown even stronger in this dimension," Jord’s words resonated with the group as they panicked.

Then they saw her, soaring toward the Venerable of the Celestial Path.

Her eyes burned with a brilliant red glow. Crimson hair streamed behind her, caught in the winds stirred by her Aura.

Bat-like wings stretched wide across the sky. Black fur lined her arms, legs, and neck, resembling regal garments more than mere animal traits. She looked not just powerful, but noble, an aristocrat among monsters.

Her flowing dress, woven in black and red, billowed alongside her hair. Behind her, a complete Ascendancy Law surged, its energy swirling in hues of crimson and shadow.

She was the heir to the Vampire Venerable. The one chosen to be his successor, his vessel, his reborn body.

But she had defied that fate. Instead of surrendering, she seized his powers and, with the aid of Drake and the others, struck him down.

Above her head, a crown of blood energy took shape. It hovered, radiant and ominous.

Her pointed ears furred and bat-like, gave her a touch of charm. Yet her piercing gaze and stern expression, sharpened by an overwhelming thirst for blood, made it clear she was far more than adorable.

She carried the legacy of her ancestors. Born of flesh devoured and blood consumed, she was a predator of the night, a beast among beasts.

A Vampire Queen.

The only Vampire Queen in the world of Yggdrasil. Her power rivaled that of the ancient beings.

Ruby.

"Hoh? I thought he would come, and yet he sends you? What is he planning? Is he truly underestimating me that much?"

"...Drake is not here."

"Come again?"

"We all got lost, separated. I am being honest with you because I know you would discover the truth eventually anyway."

"I see... the ploy of whoever orchestrated this, I assume... Hmm."

"We don’t have to fight... if what you want is Drake, we can help you find him, and then both of you can battle..."

Ruby was certain that Drake could defeat him if he joined forces with the others...

Hence, she sought to bait him into searching for Drake alongside them, sparing everyone’s lives.

"Hmm, that’s tempting."

The Venerable considered it for a moment.

But then.

Tap.

He gently tapped the barrier, shattering it into countless glass-like fragments.

"I refuse to receive your help or ever cooperate with you, filth."

"Huh?!"

Ruby’s eyes widened as her strongest barrier vanished instantly.

"If you’re his friends, if you’re his family... I want to see his face when he learns they’re all dead... I will personally deliver you to him, in pieces."

"You’re... Are you even a Venerable?"

"I am... I am the Celestial Path Heavenly Venerable, the Successor, and the only mortal to have ever possessed Primordial God Blood in his veins."

"And yet you’re cruel, cold, and irrational... You’re nothing like what I believed Venerables were, especially one as revered as the Celestial Path Venerable..."

"Is that so? I had no idea the Vampires worshiped me. That’s... rather disheartening and, if I may be blunt, disgusting."

"Why?"

"Hmph...! Hahaha...!"

The Venerable suddenly laughed, his stern expression softening slightly as he spread his muscular arms.

"Are you really asking why? I know you’re just trying to buy time, but this is honestly ridiculous. Fine, I’ll tell you why. All races besides humans are repulsive. They do not deserve to live or exist and should have gone extinct long ago."

"Eh?"

"Humans were designed and created by the Primordial Gods. We are their direct descendants, destined to inherit their world. We are the rightful owners of all Yggdrasil!"

"What nonsense are you even talking about...?"

"Vampires like you are nothing but invasive species that shouldn’t even exist here! You were created from the Unique Skill of a Reincarnator, utterly alien beings..."

"..."

"And what’s more... Giants and Lizardmen? The spawn of Titans and Dragons. Elves, Dwarves, and Beast-kin? The spawn of Spirits. All of you are unworthy of being part of the new world... and must be eradicated."

"...You’re just insane."

"Insanity is subjective, as is morality. Humanity has suffered enough under the hands of the other races. I once led a crusade when I was alive, ensuring humanity’s future... and yet I awaken in the future, and now humanity is struggling to keep up again. The passage of time was too unforgiving. Everything I built had crumbled to dust by the time I was revived."

"So you’re going to start again? That’s your grand plan? I expected something better."

"It is the best plan. It ensures humanity’s bright future and eliminates all competition!"

"No, there’s a fatal flaw in that plan you haven’t realized yet."

"What? What fatal flaw could there ever be in—"

CRAAASH!

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, a gigantic blazing hammer struck the Venerable, sending him crashing through several rooms below!

To everyone’s surprise, a dwarf-like golem appeared before Ruby, its body still damaged, emitting sparks of green electricity.

Beside it stood a giant, blue-scale dragon, similar to Drake but not quite him—it was his older brother.

The young Vampire Queen had engaged the Venerable in conversation to buy time for reinforcements to arrive.

Even if the reinforcements were only two, they were formidable enough to have been worth it!

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