Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 204: The First Wave

"Ah, not again! Please, have mercy!"

Serene's cries echoed through the dimly lit chamber, her newly regenerated eyes brimming with tears. Thalion barely spared her a glance. He had been working tirelessly for four days now, perfecting his method. Adjusting a vampiress's eyes to his power had turned out to be far more complex than he had initially anticipated.

This was his thirty-second attempt.

He had learned much in the process, but at a cost. The repeated use of his essence blood had begun to take its toll, leaving him slightly weakened. He wasn’t in immediate danger of depleting his reserves, but the strain was becoming an annoyance. Fighting in his human form was still possible, but if this continued, he might be forced to rely on the crippled Eclipsari.

Reports from Kaldrek and Maike painted a grim picture. The undead and vampire forces were amassing, poised to strike at any moment. But despite the looming threat, Thalion was on the verge of success. He could feel it.

The challenge lay in the sheer power coursing through his blood. The vampiric eyes simply couldn’t withstand it. Each time he tried to bind them to his soul, they shattered, unable to contain the overwhelming force. But he had finally found a solution—one that required patience. He had started reinforcing the eyes gradually, imbuing them with his power in slow, controlled phases. The key was stability. He had been too hasty before, underestimating the delicate balance needed to keep the eyes intact.

Serene, meanwhile, had long since broken.

Days spent immobilized within the ritual pillar, subjected to relentless torment, had shattered her mind. Nearly ten times a day, her eyes had been carved out, only for them to regenerate and be taken again. Now, at the mere sight of the runic spoon, she began to scream and beg.

Thalion paid her no mind.

Her suffering was irrelevant. If anything, it strengthened the black pillar. Not by much—not nearly enough to make a real difference—but still, it was a welcomed effect.

With practiced precision, he cut into her eye sockets once more. The vampiress thrashed against the pillar’s restraints, her screams raw and desperate. Tears mixed with blood as her vision was ripped away yet again. Once the empty sockets gaped back at him, he plunged the spiked orbs inside, preventing the natural regeneration process.

Under normal circumstances, she would have passed out from the sheer agony. But the pillar’s curse denied her even that reprieve.

Ignoring her sobs, Thalion stepped away, his attention shifting to the altar, now drenched in crimson.

The freshly harvested eyes glistened slick and gelatinous in his palm. He detested the texture, but it was a necessary step toward power.

Rolling up his right sleeve, he slit open a vein, allowing thick, black-red essence blood to drip into the carved basin of the altar. A faint hum of energy pulsed through the air as his lifeblood mingled with the dark magic that fueled the ritual.

The final step.

He placed the vampiric eyes into the altar’s basin and began infusing them with his power. The process would take hours—long, grueling hours. But it had to be done. He only hoped that, in the meantime, those above would hold the line.

<--

"They're coming! Form ranks! And someone tell me—why in the bloody hell aren’t our defensive weapons firing?!"

Kaldrek’s voice thundered across the fortress walls. Below him, a swarm of undead surged forward, their grotesque forms shambling with relentless hunger.

Above, the sky split with beams of concentrated sunlight, aimed directly at the horde. The magical solar rings had been activated—powerful weapons designed to incinerate the undead on contact.

But the vampires were ready.

In a blur of motion, they ascended into the sky, their dark forms streaking through the clouds. Before the rings could reach full power, the vampires tore them apart, shattering the mechanisms in a display of ruthless efficiency.

The sunbeams never fired.

With nothing left to slow them down, the undead charged.

Kaldrek’s jaw tightened. It was an entire undead zoo—from tiny, scuttling lizards to towering, reanimated behemoths resembling prehistoric monsters.

And they were all coming for the walls.

Then, finally, the fortress’s defensive weapons roared to life.

Catapults launched alchemical explosives, their payloads bursting into fiery infernos upon impact. Ballistae locked onto the larger undead, their massive bolts piercing through rotting flesh and brittle bone, sending monstrous abominations crashing to the ground.

Moments later, the archers and mages joined the assault.

Arrows rained down like a deadly storm, while blasts of fire, ice, and lightning tore through the enemy ranks. The battlefield was awash in chaos—undead bodies ripped apart, flesh burned to ash, bones shattered into dust.

For now, things were going well.

But Kaldrek knew better.

"This is just the first wave."

The undead never stopped. They would keep coming, endlessly, until the vampires themselves entered the fray.

Screams, battle cries, and the deafening boom of explosions filled the air. Kaldrek had done all he could from here. He shot a glance at Maike, then nodded. Without hesitation, he leapt from the tower, heading straight for the wall’s frontline.

For now, the defenders still held firm. The undead that reached the walls were obliterated within moments. But with each passing second, the endless tide pressed closer.

Then, in the distance, something shifted.

A dark swarm rose from the battlefield, ascending into the sky. At first glance, it looked like a mass of insects, writhing and shifting in unnatural patterns. But Kaldrek’s sharp eyes picked out something far more dangerous.

Vampires.

They were hidden within the swarm, their bodies shrouded in red mist—the same mist that now seeped downward, slowly sinking toward the battlefield.

And Kaldrek knew exactly what that meant.

"Damn it."

The real battle was about to begin.

The protective dome shielding the city wall held firm, repelling the toxic red mist that now hung thick and menacing in the air. Within its embrace, the defenders stood safe from aerial assaults. But beyond the dome’s reach, things were far more precarious.

The red mist was a deadly poison, lethal to any living being it touched. Healers hurried from fighter to fighter, their magic and medicine the only barriers between survival and a swift, agonizing death. High above, mages conjured gale-force winds, dispersing the venomous haze before it could fully settle. So far, their efforts held strong—but the real challenge would come once the larger beasts fell. Their decaying corpses would release an even denser cloud of the noxious mist, making it far harder to clear.

Meanwhile, the battleships unleashed their firepower, tearing through the insect swarm with ease. But the vampires posed a different kind of threat—one that couldn’t simply be blasted away.

They moved like shadows, darting through the air with inhuman speed, their attacks precise and relentless. The warships' shimmering blue shields held against physical assaults, but they were useless against the vampires’ most insidious weapon: their eyes.

A single glance—just a fraction of a second—was all it took.

Vampiric mind attacks struck like lightning, sending some crew members crashing unconscious to the deck. Healers rushed to their sides, working frantically to pull them back into the fight. Strangely, the vampires themselves seemed momentarily disoriented after using the ability, as if caught in some kind of flashback. But the effect lasted barely a second, allowing them to dodge incoming attacks with effortless grace.

Even when hit, they recovered almost instantly, their unnatural regeneration working at an alarming rate. They fed from the battlefield itself, siphoning the blood of nearby undead—even those still fighting. If they had dedicated healers among them, they had yet to reveal themselves, but it hardly mattered. Their resilience was monstrous.

On the ground, the battle shifted once more.

The vampires had begun their full-scale assault much earlier than expected.

Kaldrek swallowed hard, gripping his weapon tighter as he braced for the clash to come.

<--

From atop the wall, Evelyn watched the carnage unfold.

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Below, the battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos—colossal undead monstrosities, some towering over ten meters, waded through the sea of smaller abominations. Their presence alone was enough to send tremors through the earth.

These creatures, Evelyn knew, were undoubtedly the work of the Blood Witch Cathrin. But of the witch herself, there was no sign.

Evelyn had rapidly grown in power. She now wielded nearly as many offensive abilities as defensive ones. But for now, she held back. Revealing her true strength especially the abilities granted by her connection to the Spider Queen, was a risk she wasn’t willing to take just yet. Her patron had been clear: always keep your enemies guessing. Let them underestimate you, until it was too late.

Not that it would make much of a difference in this moment.

The vampires surrounding the base were no ordinary foes. She wasn’t sure if even entering the fray was the right choice. These vampires were lethal.

Only Thalion could truly rival their strongest warriors.

The vampiress they had captured was already an unbelievable threat, and yet even her aura paled in comparison to some of the presences lingering within the undead horde.

For now, the base held strong.

The defensive weaponry was proving its worth, obliterating wave after wave of enemies with terrifying efficiency. Fire, ice, lightning—the air shimmered with magical devastation, tearing through undead like wheat before the scythe.

Then, everything changed in an instant.

A massive swarm of undead insects rose into the air, heading straight for the skyships.

Evelyn’s sharp eyes caught movement in the distance. A crimson wyvern, its scales slick with a sickly red mist, circled above the treetops. Upon its back sat the red orc, the same brute who had started the blockade around Kael's base.

Even from this distance, she felt its aura, a pulsing force of twisted power.

That thing was no ordinary beast.

And worse—it reeked of Cathrin’s influence.

Meanwhile, the vampires began their next offensive.

Dark figures streaked across the sky, launching blood-forged projectiles at the fortress walls. The blue shields protecting them flared under the impact, holding—for now. But Evelyn knew that the moment they failed, the battle would take a dire turn.

Suddenly, several gunners manning the defensive weapons collapsed where they stood, struck down by another wave of mental attacks. Without hesitation, Evelyn moved, channeling healing energy into their fallen forms. One by one, the fighters staggered back to their feet, barely recovering before returning to the fray.

"Should we go and help them?"

Josh’s voice pulled her from her focus. He stood nearby, still in human form, his eyes fixed on the battle below. On the ground, the first melee fighters had begun vaulting over the walls, engaging the undead in direct combat as they pushed too close.

"No." Jack’s voice was steady, measured. His eyes remained locked on the battlefield, cold and predatory. "We need to be at full power when the real fight begins. And we need to be ready to help Master Thalion."

Josh turned to him, frowning.

"What is it with you? Normally, you weren’t this calculating or at least, you didn’t seem like it. And why do you keep calling him ‘Master Thalion’?"

Jack’s expression didn’t waver.

"Thalion is an Eclipsari." He said it as if it were the most obvious truth in the world. "That means he’s absurdly powerful. The price for an item like the one we used to get our forms? For an Eclipsari, it would be in the trillions."

Josh blinked.

"Trillions? That's impossible to gather in the tutorial."

Jack didn’t argue.

Because they both knew, Thalion wasn’t like them.

He was something else entirely.

And when he finally joined the battle…

The true fight would begin.

"He must have gone above and beyond to reach this level of power. Also, I like the guy—his snake form looks pretty damn cool," Jack said, a grin creeping onto his face as his excitement grew.

Josh hummed in thought. "Hmm, true. Thinking back, you’ve been pretty obsessed with him from the start. In the end, that’s what led us to these forms—after all, you were the one who dumped everything into that giant squid you couldn’t even control," he murmured.

Josh smirked and added. "You know what? I’ll just stick with your logic. It worked out pretty well so far."

Jack leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "I think we need to prove ourselves worthy to be his disciples. Slaying one of the strong vampires should do the trick."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Then just wait until the poor bloodsuckers are worn out and snack them, not smash them," he said with a smirk, glancing toward Kargul.

The orc didn’t react. He remained silent, staring into the distance, deep in thought. His gaze was fixed on something—something big, circling just above the treetops.

"Just stay close so we can back each other up," Evelyn added with a nod, her own eyes locked on the ominous figure soaring above the trees.

Josh frowned. "Okay, what’s with you two? Why are you both staring at that wyvern like it just insulted your ancestors?" His voice carried a note of concern—he had never seen them this tense before.

Evelyn’s jaw tightened. "It’s not just the wyvern," she muttered. "It’s the orc riding it. We’ve fought him before. But now… he’s stronger. Much stronger. And he’s guarding something. The way he and the wyvern keep looking down—it’s like they’re waiting for something to happen."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Okay… but is he really that powerful? I mean, what’s the big deal?"

Evelyn exhaled sharply. "The last time, we only defeated him because a group of mages, empowered by magic circles, helped us. Now? He’s grown significantly stronger. And his warbeast… it’s far beyond what we expected."

Josh and Jack exchanged a glance before turning their attention back to the orc on the wyvern, their expressions shifting as they tried to assess his strength.

After a moment, Josh shrugged. "I don’t think you should be so negative. Yeah, he’s powerful but so are we. I think we can take him down."

Jack nodded in agreement.

Kargul, however, growled low in his throat. "It’s not just him. There are more orcs hiding in that jungle. And I want to smash them all," he snarled, clenching his fist.

For the first time, Vorlok looked up, his massive form shifting. The giant floating turtle, which had until now hovered lazily behind them, suddenly seemed… alert. Normally, its gaze held nothing but a gluttonous hunger, but now there was something else. A tension. A change.

It had sensed it too.

Evelyn gritted her teeth. "We can’t attack now. There are too many strong vampires. If they back him up, we’re dead."

Then, everything shifted.

The entire battlefield changed in an instant.

A pillar of red light shot into the sky from the exact spot the wyvern had been circling. The blood-red glow bathed the jungle canopy in an ominous hue.

Josh tensed. "What the hell is going on down there?" He voiced the question all of them were thinking.

Until now, the battle outside the walls had been one-sided. Most of the warriors, empowered by blessings, tore through the undead with ease. The vampires still held back, watching and waiting.

Then, a shockwave of crimson energy erupted from the jungle.

The ground cracked and pulsed, veins of glowing red light snaking outward at impossible speed. Every undead they touched shuddered, then roared, their auras surging with newfound power.

Some grew in size, their eyes burning with an unholy crimson glow. The red mist thickened, swirling around them like a living entity.

A moment later, they exploded into motion, charging at the fortress with unnatural speed.

Strikes that would have killed them before now barely slowed them down. Their bodies, once brittle, now absorbed attacks with terrifying resilience. And their regeneration… it had multiplied tenfold.

The first human fighters fell within seconds.

Josh’s breath caught in his throat. "Holy shit! What the hell is that?!"

Evelyn’s fists clenched. When she spoke, her voice was laced with pure, unrestrained hatred.

"It has to be Cathrin, the Blood Witch."

Her gaze burned as she stared toward the source of the crimson veins.

She had finally made her move.