Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 177: It Has Begun

It was midnight on the fourth stage of the tutorial, and only the moon bathed the land in its pale glow. In the middle of the savanna, a colossal base loomed toward the sky. Multiple walls surrounded it, the tallest over thirty meters high, covered in intricate blue runes that pulsed faintly in the dark. Scattered across the walls stood towers, each armed with powerful defensive weaponry.

Below, people hurried through the streets, hauling munitions to the towers and fortifications. Atop the walls, countless magic circles glowed, each one guarded by a mage standing ready for the inevitable battle. Above the base, eight massive skyships hovered, their dark silhouettes cutting against the night sky. Smaller vessels swarmed around them like vultures, their decks brimming with fighters, weapons drawn, eyes locked onto the horizon, all waiting for the coming war.

On the tallest tower, a solitary figure stood against the wind. A black hood, embroidered with crimson runes, cast deep shadows over his face. His mask gleamed in the moonlight, and his robe billowed in the night breeze. Thalion stared into the distance, where an ocean of undead beasts gathered, preparing for their assault.

It had taken the undead longer to assemble than Thalion had expected. Nearly a full day had passed since his escape from the vampires in the jungle. He had spent that time forging his body under the gravity array, honing his soul, and sharpening his focus. Now, he was ready.

The fighters within the base were just as tense. The air was thick with anticipation, so heavy it was almost tangible. Thalion clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay still. He wanted to fly over there right now and tear them apart, but he had to wait for them to make the first move.

A silent command rippled through the undead army, and in an instant, they charged. Screeches and roars filled the air as the ground trembled beneath them. Their combined aura pressed against the walls like a suffocating tide. Thalion’s eyes narrowed as he watched the vampires hold back, staying behind their army, unwilling to risk getting caught in the first wave of defenses.

As the undead horde rushed closer, the sky lit up. From the skyships and walls, a rain of destruction descended upon the battlefield. The first wave of undead was annihilated in an instant, bodies turned to ash and shattered bone, yet they didn’t stop. They kept coming, unflinching, unafraid.

Thalion considered ordering his people to burn the fallen, denying the vampires their blood, but that blood belonged to him. And besides, he was confident. Even with their overwhelming numbers, the vampires wouldn’t break his defenses. Then something happened that he hadn’t foreseen.

In the distance, massive insect swarms erupted from the jungle, soaring through the sky at terrifying speed. The fighters aboard the skyships reacted instantly, shifting their attacks and preparing for an aerial battle. Among the insects, dark figures spread their black, leathery wings, maneuvering behind the swarm—the vampires. So that was their plan.

He didn’t react. Let them try. The skyships and fighters could handle the vampires and their pests. He had more important matters to attend to. "Can you feel their blood?" His voice whispered through the link, coiling into the consciousness of the Sanguine Thorn. "So many undead… and even better… the vampires. Imagine ripping the blood from their bodies, feeling their essence flood into us. Imagine the power."

The response came instantly. "Blood… blood…" The Thorn’s hunger throbbed in his mind, thick with madness and unrelenting bloodlust. Exactly what he needed. This time, he wouldn’t just fight. He had to leave an impression.

While he had spent his time training, the influence of Jim had grown over the past day. Thalion’s gaze flickered downward. Jim stood on one of the lower towers, surrounded by over thirty people, their power flowing into him. Kaldrek was doing the same, with twenty more followers connected by white tendrils of energy, forming an intricate web. It reminded Thalion of the termites he had once fought. It was the same way the small ones had empowered the colossal ones. Jim and Amalia had offered to empower him as well, but he had refused. Why would he need an array of worshippers when he had the Sanguine Thorn?

All around the base, the walls were under fierce attack. The undead pressed forward relentlessly, undaunted by death, yet none had breached the defenses. The firepower of the base was simply too overwhelming. Body parts were scattered across the battlefield, limbs torn from bodies, gore painting the ground, yet the undead never screamed. They didn’t fear pain. They didn’t hesitate. They just kept coming.

Slowly but surely, they were closing the distance, but this base was far from defenseless. Atop the walls, elite fighters stood ready, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It didn’t take long. The first warriors leaped down, their bodies enhanced by the power of Jim’s followers. They moved with grace, every step calculated, every strike lethal.

That was when the first vampire made its move. From the remains of the fallen undead, it gathered blood, shaping it into a massive crimson wave. With a flick of its hand, the blood surged forward, crashing toward the fighters below like a relentless tide. The battle had truly begun.

Other vampires joined in, launching blood spears over the crimson wave to strike those who tried to leap over it. One of the spears pierced Jim’s leg, another struck Kaldrek in the side, and two others died instantly as their heads were impaled. The entire base was under siege from all sides, but now the vampires had begun unleashing massive blood-based attacks on the defenders. They moved with terrifying speed between the ranks of undead, drawing power from the blood-soaked ground while effortlessly dodging every attack. From this distance, it didn’t seem like the defenders had any chance of killing a vampire, especially now that all the melee fighters had retreated back to the wall.

Meanwhile, the aerial battle was turning into a disaster. Thalion had assumed the insects wouldn’t pose a real threat to the skyships, but their sheer numbers proved otherwise. They swarmed in relentless waves, making it nearly impossible to clear them out. Worse, they provided perfect cover for the vampires, who moved like wraiths among them, slaughtering humans one by one. So far, the defenders had lost around fifty fighters, yet not a single vampire had fallen.

It was Thalion’s time to act. He had never been more ready to unleash absolute destruction upon his enemies. His entire body and the Sanguine Thorn thrummed in unison with the heartbeat of the Sanguine Archon. Power surged through his veins, growing stronger with every pulse. When it reached its peak, Thalion activated Mistform and shot toward the vampires hiding behind the undead horde.

As he soared over the battlefield, he felt a vampire attempting to manipulate the blood mist he had transformed into. It was a futile effort. Thalion’s control over his own blood was absolute, and the mere presence of the Sanguine Thorn was enough to shred the vampire’s will like a fragile piece of paper. Redirecting his descent, he plunged downward, shifting back into his human form just before impact.

The ground trembled as he landed, the force of his arrival plus tectonic slam, triggered a massive shockwave that sent nearby undead flying. When Thalion looked up, his gaze locked onto a familiar face. The vampire he had fought in the jungle. Now, black bat-like wings sprouted from his back, and his crimson eyes gleamed with fury. He seized the moment to launch a mental attack, but Thalion didn’t even notice. The Sanguine Heart’s relentless pulse drowned out everything, a war drum that filled him with overwhelming power, amplified further by the insatiable hunger of the Sanguine Thorn.

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Then, everything happened at once. Thalion pulled on the surrounding blood with all his might, deliberately suppressing the fear effect of his armor while keeping in mind that he needed at least one vampire alive. He still had theories to test, particularly regarding their eyes.

Kaldrek watched from the wall as a massive, blood-red flower bloomed around Thalion. The vampires, who had been untouchable just moments ago, suddenly found themselves powerless. Even their war formation, which had forced Kaldrek and the others to retreat, was meaningless against the monster standing in their midst. At first, Kaldrek had been worried about Thalion’s reckless charge, but then he saw the impact.

The initial shockwave had torn through the undead ranks, ripping apart those closest to him while sending others flying like leaves caught in a storm. The blood he had drawn from their shattered bodies coiled around him, forming the monstrous red flower. Even those standing over fifty meters away stumbled toward him, dragged forward by the sheer force of his pull.

As the crimson flower twisted and coalesced into a swirling hurricane of blood, Kaldrek could only think one thing: "Just how powerful is that man?"

Thalion struggled to keep the Sanguine Thorn from devouring the hurricane entirely. The vampires, desperate, fired concentrated blood spears at him, but each attack was effortlessly absorbed into the storm. Now, it was time for payback.

He rose to the top of the blood hurricane, over fifty meters above the ground, and began shaping the swirling mass into massive spikes and razor-sharp arcs. With a flick of his hand, he unleashed them upon the battlefield. The results were pure carnage.

Undead beasts were hurled through the air, their bodies torn apart the moment one of Thalion’s attacks struck them. The battlefield became a slaughterhouse, the hurricane shrinking rapidly as he consumed more and more blood. Controlling both the hurricane and fresh incoming blood at the same time was impossible, so he prioritized destruction.

At first, the vampires hesitated, clearly stunned. Then, they rallied, unleashing a barrage of blood spears in a desperate attempt to bring him down. When that failed, they began regrouping. Now, over twenty vampires stood roughly a hundred meters away, watching, waiting for him to exhaust his power.

The air around Thalion howled like an enraged beast as he continued his relentless assault. The defenders on his side of the battlefield didn’t even need to fight anymore. He was single-handedly obliterating the undead army before them. Realizing this, the vampires began redirecting the remaining undead, pulling them away from him.

That was fine by Thalion. As he slowly descended from the hurricane, the swirling blood flowed toward him, consumed entirely by the Sanguine Thorn. The quality of the blood was low, barely nourishing the thorn, but it devoured it all nonetheless. Massive rivers of blood coiled toward him from the remains of his former hurricane, and as they merged into his being, Thalion prepared for what came next. The real battle was only just beginning.

While the Sanguine Thorn devoured the blood, Thalion made his way back to the ground and began walking toward the vampires. His heart pounded faster, his entire being and the Sanguine Thorn humming in unison. The vampires had the numbers, but that wouldn’t change a thing. Thalion was no longer the unpracticed warrior he had been back at Kael’s base.

It took effort to control his aura and prevent the fear effect of his armor from activating automatically. Neither he nor the vampires spoke. They simply blurred into action. The blade of the Blooded Templar materialized in his hand, and without hesitation, Thalion unleashed a massive crimson slash, pouring as much power into it as possible. The air cracked from the sheer force of the attack, and the vampires barely had time to react, scattering in a panic. Two weren’t fast enough and were bisected in an instant.

Thalion gave them no time to recover. He used a telekinetic dash to close the remaining distance.

"Is he fighting all those vampires by himself?!" a female mage beside Kaldrek screeched in panic.

Kaldrek understood her reaction, but he was certain of one thing: if there was anyone in this entire base they didn’t need to worry about, it was Thalion. He had no doubt that the vampires would meet the same swift end as everyone else who had dared to stand in his way.

Oddly enough, Kaldrek felt relaxed as the power of Jim’s followers continued to strengthen his body. Something felt off about it, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. For now, he had to focus on helping the other sides of the battle. Not all vampires had gone after Thalion. Many were still launching devastating blood spells at the walls on the opposite side of the city.

Kaldrek jumped onto one of the scouting vessels, which would take him to the other side in no time. The situation there looked dire. One of the walls had already been breached by a wallbreaker. Thankfully, there weren’t many dead humans, and Jim’s formations, designed to empower individual warriors had turned out to be a blessing. This allowed weaker fighters and even non-combatants to make a significant impact. Even when one of the empowered warriors was struck, they healed rapidly as long as the damage wasn’t to the head.

The vampires had no such support, but they didn’t need it. Their blood-based attacks were absolutely massive, and with the undead swarm now redirected to attack from another angle, the defenders were running out of resources. Some of the defensive weapons had already exhausted their ammunition from rapid firing. No one had expected such an overwhelming assault when they teleported here.

The situation was still under control but barely. Kaldrek leaped down from the wall, ready to engage in melee combat. The more he could do now, the fewer people would die.

He raised both of his longswords, one burning with fire, the other crackling with electricity. With a fluid motion, he swung them down, unleashing two slashes at the approaching undead. These were no ordinary creatures. They had clearly been of a higher variant before they were turned.

Even worse, red mist seeped from their bodies. The boost from Jim’s formation was strong enough to counteract its negative effects, but it still felt like breathing fire. The entire area before the wall was filled with the mist, which was the main reason the other fighters hadn’t jumped down for melee combat.

Kaldrek rushed forward, his longswords singing through the air as he cut down the undead with precision. His enhanced speed gave him an immense advantage. But from his vantage point, the enemy’s numbers seemed endless. He could hear powerful fireballs crashing into the oncoming horde, their explosions lighting up the battlefield.

More and more fireballs rained down. More and more mages from the other side had arrived to assist. Had Thalion already won? Or had they simply left him to fight the vampires alone?