Chapter 546: Overwhelming

Inside the command room, Michael Wood's expression turned extremely grave. He ceased fire, attempting to switch to non-metallic bullets under Victor Maxim's cover.

The Noah's King before them, Elrome Gimel, was a prince among the blood clans and a count in the Black Demon Empire. Not only was he a great lord with nearly 500,000 square kilometers of land and millions of troops in the dark world, but in the light world he had once been a formidable presence, leading the blood clans in a twenty-year struggle against the federal government, with his drug business covering the entire state of Florida. It was only after he was targeted by the CIA's 'God-Hunting Unit' that he fled to the dark world, becoming a substantive count of the Bloodwing Grand Duchy.

The titles of the Black Demon Empire were of extremely high value; even a count was far more powerful than an ordinary blood clan prince.

To become a count lord of this nation, the rank of high demigod was the minimum requirement. But if a high demigod did not master one or two divine powers, they were destined to be unable to hold their position as a substantive count.

And this Prince Elrome Gimel's metal divine power was especially restrictive to archers like them.

But before they could finish changing their magazines, Victor Maxim had already suffered a heavy blow. Behind Elrome Gimel, two blood shadows suddenly surged forth, reaching the demigod shield warrior's front at a speed far exceeding their reaction. As the two blood-red figures swung their pale claws, the command center instantly fell into a frozen state.

However, this sudden demigod-level attack was still defended by Victor Maxim. The giant shield in his hand did not move, but the source armor activated by this 'quasi-divine armament' was exceptionally solid. Even after withstanding the full-force strikes of these two blood clan demigods, he only retreated a few steps.

Then, just as the two blood-colored shadows prepared to press their advantage, two white beams shot through the void from afar, directly penetrating the dozens of meters of soil and alloy steel plates outside the command center, striking them.

The figures of these two blood clan demigods instantly froze, unable to move on the spot.

That was the 'Heteromorph Petrification Spell'—a twenty-sixth-level demigod-rank spell cast by two fifth-rank legendary mages, Alex Granger and Douglas Duncan, with the aid of a magic tower!

Following closely, six deep green beams struck from various angles. This time it was 'Elemental Chaos'; the two legendary mages almost simultaneously chose to first dispel the holy artifact equipment on the two demigods.

Victor Maxim had no time to focus on the situation of these two opponents; he sensed a deadly chill behind him—it should be a powerful vampire with a demigod-level shadow profession, possessing enough strength to pierce through any part of his body with a single knife.

By the time Maxim noticed this person, the latter had already arrived less than three meters behind him. This meant the demigod shield warrior had less than one-thirtieth of a second to react. His solution was to deliver an elbow strike directly behind him. With a loud 'boom', Maxim's right arm was pierced by a dagger, while the other was forced back more than twenty steps.

This person's strength was actually not inferior to Maxim, who was a shield warrior with mountain giant bloodline!

Maxim himself was not surprised; vampires, as undead creatures similar to bloodline mages, generally relied on refining their own bloodline to advance in rank. If they had additional professions beyond their bloodline, it often greatly increased their power.

The blood clan's strength was inherently great, not inferior to his half-baked mountain giant bloodline. Coupled with the enhancement from the demigod shadow profession, this person's strength was definitely among the top tier of all demigod powerhouses.

He even suspected that this person also possessed divine power. After all, those who achieved success in dual professions were invariably blood clan members with exceptionally outstanding talent.

But just as Maxim was on high alert, danger struck from his front. The Noah's King Elrome Gimel pointed a finger from afar, and Maxim's body was suddenly sent flying. The immense force transmitted from the shield slammed his body directly into the wall behind.

"As expected of a humanoid weapon produced by the KGB, your combat skills and improvement abilities are impeccable. Unfortunately—"

Elrome Gimel's words abruptly stopped. A small hand extended from the void, pulling the demigod shadow's figure into the void before he could sever Victor Maxim's head.

At the same time, Michael Wood, Eliza, and the other surviving staff officers in the underground command center also escaped imminent death. After a dizzying spatial shift, they found themselves on the surface.

"Void Night Sovereign Delphinia Ederick!"

Elrome Gimel's eyes narrowed, looking toward the high sky above. Then he let out a furious roar, causing gravel to fall and all surrounding metals to screech.

Using the alloy steel plates on the dome as weapons, the 'Noah's King' effortlessly tore a huge hole through the thirty-meter-thick soil layer above. Then, rising from the buried underground command center, he floated up to a hundred zhang in the air.

When Elrome Gimel's figure appeared on the surface, the anti-aircraft guns around immediately spewed fire at him. However, all the bullets were frozen in midair, unable to approach within a hundred meters of Elrome Gimel.

Delphinia stood beside Maxim, her face as cold as ice: "Where is Hazel? Where is Uhtred Demacia? I can't sense them?"

As she spoke, she pointed her staff at Elrome Gimel.

The 'Banishment' spell, amplified by Delphinia's unique ability, instantly created layers of spatial rifts around the 'Noah's King' and the other blood clan demigods.

"The boss doesn't intend for them to act this time."

Victor Maxim replied succinctly: "Especially Mr. Demacia; his condition hasn't fully recovered. Rather than throwing him into battle now, it's better to keep this trump card hidden. The boss believes that we are enough."

He kept his eyes fixed on Elrome Gimel's state, but in less than a second, Maxim's face grew even more serious.

Delphinia's banishment had no effect; a hidden force in the void was counteracting her spatial abilities.

That should be another demigod skilled in spatial magic, though slightly inferior to Delphinia, it was enough to prevent the 'Noah's King' and others from being banished.

A name instinctively flashed through Victor Maxim's mind.

Currently, only three blood clan members had such abilities, and the one who might appear here now was only that demigod from the Camarilla.

"Bang!"

Maxim's 'Benedict Holy Shield' suddenly rang out, this time to protect Delphinia. The demigod shadow had somehow arrived beside them, just a hair's breadth away from piercing the Void Night Sovereign's throat.

The latter instantly reacted, using another 'Blink' to take Maxim three kilometers away.

Her spatial magic was exceptionally powerful; though she couldn't banish Elrome Gimel and his group, she could still move freely within dozens of kilometers. Delphinia even had the spare energy to look after Michael Wood and the others, teleporting them to a safe distance.

During this time, the 'Noah's King' swung his staff several times, but his powerful demigod spells failed to land on Delphinia and Maxim. The latter always managed to blink away in time, escaping his mental lock.

This gradually caused a hint of displeasure to appear on Elrome Gimel's face.

"You are like a rat, Ms. Ederick. This is unworthy of your kingly name!"

He stopped chasing the two figures and instead turned his gaze to the battlefield below: "Unwilling to fight head-on? That's not for you to decide."

Elrome Gimel extended his pale hand and clenched it tightly.

Centered on him, the entire battlefield with a diameter of a hundred kilometers suddenly emitted a deafening 'hum', causing the human soldiers fighting in the trenches to frown. Those near large metal structures like artillery and armored vehicles had blood oozing from their ears and expressions of pain.

"Metal Divine Power!"

Fifteen kilometers away, Michael Wood, heading to the备用 command center, changed expression again. He knew that the 'Noah's King' was using his divine power to affect all metals on the battlefield—automatic rifles, machine guns, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, bullets, etc.—all within the scope of Elrome Gimel's divine power.

Fortunately, all human metal weapons had been designed in ancient times to withstand various metal divine powers. Their magical energy arrays contained runic structures to prevent such influence.

Thus, their weapons would not fail in the short term and could still fire at full capacity. However, the slightly trembling gun barrels drastically reduced the soldiers' accuracy; the piercing metal screech could interfere with their minds, senses, and attention, even causing internal injuries.

But this was just the beginning. A more fatal situation occurred seven seconds later: Michael Wood felt his blood begin to circulate uncontrollably faster.

Though the change was extremely slight, it did not escape Michael's keen perception. He immediately covered his entire body with his biological armor and donned a set of exoskeleton armor to suppress the abnormal movement inside.

"Intermediate Blood Divine Power! This guy—"

Eliza Targaryen's pretty face had turned as pale as a vampire's.

Blood divine power is a branch of water divine power, capable of affecting the blood and tissue fluids of any organism.

And the 'Noah's King's' divine power could even affect someone like her, whose actual profession level had reached fifteen, let alone the ordinary soldiers of the Rising Sun Group.

If they couldn't stop him quickly, in just another minute, the Rising Sun Group's artillery positions would be completely annihilated. This would also lead to the total collapse of their nearly 100,000 troops stationed here under the assault of the undead army!

"Still afraid to come out?"

Elrome Gimel looked contemptuously at the 'Void Night Sovereign' Delphinia Ederick, who was flickering through various void layers and the astral plane.

"It seems this war can already be concluded."

The 'Noah's King's' power continued to rise. Directly below him, many soldiers hiding in the trenches had flushed faces, distended blood vessels, and racing hearts. Especially their carotid arteries, which grew increasingly swollen, as if they might burst at any moment.

But before that happened, a steel figure riding a twenty-two-meter-long shadowflame dragon suddenly appeared in the sky opposite Elrome Gimel.

"You speak too soon, Count Noah! You want a head-on fight? I'll keep you company—"

With the clearly youthful voice, a beam of black and white light shot from the 'Yin-Yang Life-Death Mirror' in the steel figure's hand, blasting toward Elrome Gimel.

The latter's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints. The blood-colored coat on his body surged up, transforming into a ring of blood energy around him at a distance of one meter, blocking Li Mochen's 'North-South Life-Death Divine Light'.

But this did not stop the black-and-white beam for long; it was not true light but a manifestation of the divine powers of life and death.

The 'North-South Life-Death Divine Light' soon penetrated the blood energy ring, but just before it touched Elrome Gimel's body, it suddenly dissipated and vanished.

This was because the 'Yin-Yang Life-Death Mirror' itself had a problem; the metal inside the artifact had undergone some abnormal changes, preventing the 'North-South Life-Death Divine Light' from being properly activated.

Elrome Gimel's metal divine power was even affecting Li Mochen's 'Light Demon No. 8', causing it to tremble violently.

"Andre Li Wieldenstein?"

The 'Noah's King's' eyes once again showed a contemptuous smile: "A brat whose profession level is only at the outlaw level, do you think you can defeat me with this toy made by Anthony, some insignificant external objects? Can you despise all undead?"

Elrome Gimel's voice suddenly rose, and the surging aura and blood energy around him caused the 'Yin-Yang Life-Death Mirror' to emit a sharp screech, with even a few cracks appearing on its surface.

"If that's the case, then you have underestimated our blood clan! Underestimated demigods! You haven't truly mastered the divine power of life and death, kid!"

...

Meanwhile, outside the Roche Canyon battlefield, countless eyes were observing the battle through various means.

Among them was the still-present General George Matiola in the manor where a banquet had just been held. He was in the study, peering at the battlefield through a crystal ball belonging to a magical advisor of the Violet family.

When Li Mochen's 'North-South Life-Death Divine Light' dissipated and cracks appeared on the mirror, a faint smile curled at the corner of General Matiola's lips.

"I want to know, where is Conshuri now?"

"He has returned to the Wieldenstein Manor, General."

In this study, besides George Matiola himself and the black-robed magical advisor, there was clearly no one else.

But when he asked this question, a hoarse voice immediately answered: "We are monitoring their movements. Including his armed forces leader Goudra, demigod mage Faust, and those twin stars."

"Twin stars? Have their identities been confirmed?"

"No. It remains a secret. However, if Conshuri intends to aid his grandson, these two may be the most suitable candidates. I can guarantee that once they enter the battlefield, the identities of the twin stars will no longer be a secret."

"I hope so!"

General Matiola's spirits lifted: "I am looking forward to it."

The discovery that the 'Yin-Yang Life-Death Mirror' had developed cracks was also noticed by Philip I and his two friends.

"Completely overwhelmed."

Alexandra Howard chuckled, withdrawing her gaze from a book that looked like a children's flipbook and was constantly turning pages.

Since none of the three were magic mages, they could only observe the battlefield from a distance through this method. However, this artifact worked well; the pages, mimicking the principles of animation and film, rapidly flipped to display the scene in meticulous detail.

"I told you, you were too cautious, Philip. Each of the seven count lords of the Bloodwing Grand Duchy is a high-rank demigod wielding divine power. Any one of them is enough to contend with Conshuri and his grandson. Especially this Noah's King—his metal power is just the thing to suppress that kid."

"It seems the outcome is decided. His mistake was revealing this level of life-death divine power before becoming a true demigod or legend. I recall the last time the blood clan's Camarilla and Sabbat joined forces was twenty years ago. In the time since, they have killed each other, with at least seven thousand casualties."

Clara Konzern also lost interest, turning her gaze away from the book.

"But Howard, what Philip did was right. There's no need for us to offend the military. You must know that many high-ranking generals, including the current Secretary of Defense, have high hopes for his Rising Sun Group and Consulley."

"Unrealistic hopes!"

Howard snorted coldly, then stood up to his full height: "You lost this time, Philip. Remember to transfer the one hundred million gold shields you owe me into my account soon."

Philip I looked at him sidelong, "Where are you going? Linden?"

"Our truce ended long ago, didn't it?"

Alexandra Howard said bluntly: "A battle fought outside the dark world won't offend the military, will it? That Andre, he's already failed. Do we have to wait a whole month for Edmund to refine that artifact?"

"I won't stop you, but you might as well wait a little longer."

At this moment, Philip I's gaze was somewhat uneasy as he stared at the book: "Something's wrong, Alexandra. Haven't you noticed? That mirror, that magical artifact—it hasn't cracked. It seems to be healing."

Alexandra Howard's expression froze slightly, and he looked at the comic book again. The scene unfolding within made his heart sink cold.

At this moment, he bitterly regretted that none of his subordinates were magic consultants of high legendary rank, unable to see a clearer image.

"It seems so!"

Clara Kontseil's face, more delicate than a young girl's, had turned stiff and purple: "That guy, he resisted Elrome Gemichel's metal divine authority—"

At this moment, a terrifying thought simultaneously arose in the minds of the three people present.

Could it be—

"Only divine authority itself, or a power beyond it, can counter divine authority."

Far away at Stanford University, in the twenty-four-story magic tower, Vice President of the New Continent Magic Association, Ms. Christie Blythe, speculated with amazement: "His artifact is healing! In this form, I can only think of one possibility—metal divine authority—"

Before her, a wide-screen image like that in a movie theater displayed Rochelle Canyon.

Its clarity even surpassed the image that Michael Wood and Eliza had seen before the battle, tens of thousands of kilometers away.

"A very weak divine authority, but more than enough to counter that half-baked vampire prince. At least he won't be suppressed."

Bethell Einstein rested his chin on his hand, quietly watching the situation: "What has always limited him is only his mana. It seems he has succeeded—I mean that so-called 'external elixir.'"

"Then in this war, Andre will win, right?"

Ms. Christie Blythe sighed: "His life-and-death divine authority can indeed counter all undead. If these vampires haven't prepared other means to deal with it, then they are likely to suffer a crushing defeat. Those war maniacs in the military and those arms dealers will get what they want."

"I never thought there was any need to watch this battle. Watching a dragon lurking underwater toy with its prey?"

Einstein said indifferently: "But Blythe, tell me in detail, why George Mattiola?"

"The National Progress Association seems to have some scheme. Ms. Nanette Drew's Rising Sun Media Company may have touched their interests. Her pace is ambitious; she seems to intend to use capital operations to stand out from the five major television networks across America. The key is that this lady is likely to succeed. Once Rising Sun Media's subscribers reach fifty million, this TV network can firmly establish itself and achieve revenue balance. And as everyone knows, Ms. Nanette Drew's stance leans toward the Civic Party. However, there are also rumors that she was driven out of Abraham and nearly ruined precisely because of the power of the National Progress Association. Besides that, two of your opponents within the Magic Association have also made moves."

Ms. Blythe explained as she watched: "Your contact with Andre has made them vigilant, teacher. So this is actually trouble we've brought him. I can't stop it; our influence with the President isn't enough to counter them. I think since he is the one you chose to replace Anthony, I don't need to stop it either. I can let them run headlong into Andre—"

But her voice stopped here, because the battle situation above Rochelle Canyon had begun to change, capturing all of this lady's attention.

At this moment, Elrome Gemichel's face was already oozing drops of 'cold sweat.'

Vampires don't sweat, so this was actually the blood energy within Elrome Gemichel's body burning out, turning into pure water vapor expelled from the body, then condensing into water droplets on his skin due to the cold external environment.

But at this moment, the color in the Noah King's eyes indeed contained shock, unease—and even a hint of fear. He had been staring fixedly at Li Mochen, watching the surface of the 'Yin-Yang Life-and-Death Mirror' heal bit by bit.

"I have never underestimated demigods, nor have I ever underestimated your vampire clan. But it seems Count Noah has underestimated me."

When the artifact in his hand was completely restored, Li Mochen fired another beam of black-and-white light.

The 'North-South Life-Extinguishing Divine Light' landed precisely on the demigod shadow, who had broken through Maxim's interception and come not far from him.

In an instant, the latter let out a wail, and most of his body disintegrated in one-thirtieth of a finger snap. The remaining part turned into a flowing blood river and fled into the distance.

But the black-and-white light beam Li Mochen fired followed closely, causing this vampire demigod, who possessed a weak 'blood divine authority,' to continue disintegrating and dissipating bit by bit.

Li Mochen smiled: "So now, start running! I give you ten seconds, scum!"

When Li Mochen's words fell, the remaining blood energy of that demigod shadow had completely turned to smoke, scattering in the gale caused by the blood-eyed maid Robert.

The 'North-South Life-Extinguishing Divine Light' began destroying the vampire's life essence directly. Even though this vampire demigod resisted desperately with his divine nature and divine fire, he could only delay for less than three seconds.

At this moment, the two vampire demigods who had been fighting against Li Mochen's two fifth-level legendary mages had already begun to flee when their companion was severely wounded. Their bodies scattered into millions of bats, then flew wildly into the distance without regard for consequences.

Even though Alex Granshaw and Douglas Duncan tried their best to restrain them with magic, they could hardly slow their speed. In the blink of an eye, they had flown thirty to forty kilometers away.

What should be abandoned was abandoned; what should be left behind was left behind—even if most of the 'bats' were destroyed by the two legendary mages' spells, they didn't care.

However, the 'Yin-Yang Life-and-Death Mirror' in Li Mochen's hand emitted a humming sound again. Two opposing yet interdependent strange fields began to spread outward.

In an instant, they covered a range of one hundred kilometers—this was the fieldization of divine authority power. Those tiny, dispersed bats could no longer resist. Thus, the black spots like dark clouds in the air were wiped out in an instant. Only a little over a thousand bats, retaining the original power of the two vampire demigods, survived. But they had to gather their bodies again to resist the spreading life-and-death divine authority.

Suffering the same fate were the undead fleeing from the artillery positions on the ground. Hundreds of thousands of vampires and vengeful spirits, even skeletal dragons, melted like snow in the sun. Under the changes and oscillations of 'life' and 'death,' their bodies turned to smoke bit by bit, their souls wailing in the pain of losing their anchor.

The accompanying mages on the magic towers immediately intensified their efforts, pouring holy water from above to purify the remaining undead souls. The soldiers of the Rising Sun Group also changed ammunition at this moment, spraying out countless white phosphorus incendiary bombs and holy light bullets as if they cost nothing, trying to cover the entire sky.

As a result, even the marquis-level vampires, who were top-tier outlaws, could not survive long nearby. Even if they could temporarily withstand Li Mochen's 'life-and-death interference,' they would suffer fatal blows under the pursuit of this massive barrage.

Just as Li Mochen had predicted, in less than thirty seconds, the many vampire elites here were cleared out. Only about thirty relatively powerful legendary-level vampires survived, but they were all on the verge of death, still facing pursuit from the Rising Sun Group's many legendary and quasi-legendary powerhouses.

Li Mochen had already looked into the distance, gazing at Elrome Gemichel, who had fled over a hundred kilometers away.

"Lord Elrome, didn't you want to fight head-on? Why are you fleeing? But you're fleeing too slowly—"

At that moment, two black-and-white beams were emitted from the 'Yin-Yang Life-and-Death Mirror,' striking the two vampire demigods who had reassembled their bodies eighty-five kilometers away.

The latter had no strength left to resist and were directly annihilated into dust. They had exhausted all means but could not calm the conflict between life and death within their bodies, causing their blood energy to completely collapse. This also completely destroyed the foundation on which their divine nature and divine fire existed.

At this moment, Li Mochen, riding the dragon vein, plunged into a void rift and then appeared sixty kilometers away in the next instant.

The Hellfire Dragon's innate spell, Shadow Trail, now displayed a void-shuttling ability almost comparable to the 'Night Ruler.' This made 'Night Ruler' Delfinia Edric involuntarily raise her delicate eyebrows, and made 'Noah King' Elrome Gemichel's scalp tingle.

At this moment, his only chance of survival was to retreat into the interior of Rochelle Canyon. There was a complete magic array there that could grant them the power to resist this life-and-death divine authority.

But now, he was still one hundred and twenty kilometers away from the defensive positions they had built in Rochelle Canyon.

And that 'Lucky Andre' could reach him in less than a second.

This was all because of Delfinia. Perhaps somewhat annoyed by his earlier words, this woman frantically obstructed his retreat. She used all kinds of spatial spells and folded the void, so that after thirty seconds, he had only escaped a little over a hundred kilometers.

This didn't even allow him to break away from the Rising Sun Group's positions. Their long-range artillery deployed in the rear was as far as two hundred kilometers from the front line!

"Bastard!"

Elrome let out a low roar, realizing he could no longer escape. He stopped in midair and dispersed his body, turning into a massive blood river in the sky.

Sure enough, the next moment, Li Mochen's figure had already shuttled through a void rift and arrived twenty kilometers from his location.

But this Noah King showed no fear; his momentum surged again, blood flames filling the sky.

"Let's see if your life-and-death divine authority can kill me, Elrome Gemichel!"

When Li Mochen's 'North-South Life-Extinguishing Divine Light' struck the blood river, nearly three-tenths of its body disintegrated instantly.

But the remaining part of Elrome Gemichel withstood the black-and-white radiance.

At this moment, countless vampires on the ground were forcibly drawn over, their bodies turning into blood and merging into it.

The blood river also transformed at this moment, turning into a giant human head, its face exactly that of Elrome Gemichel. His huge pupils emitted a blood-red fluorescence, shining toward Li Mochen.

"This is the true essence of blood! Boil for me, Andre Lee Wieldenstein! Our battle has only just begun!"

Inside the Light Demon No. 8, Li Mochen felt his blood stirring.

This Noah King was concentrating all his power on him.

Li Mochen leaned back slightly, then connected with the 'Mana Array' that the Rising Sun Group had built along the entire front line at the mouth of Rochelle Canyon.

Then, the next moment, the corners of his mouth lifted.

"Unfortunately, this is my territory, Elrome Gemichel! You shouldn't have come here."

As these words were spoken, the giant blood head formed by Elrome Gemichel suddenly froze in midair.

Then, in the next instant, his massive blood energy dissolved in an instant, annihilated under the irradiation of the black-and-white radiance.

Meanwhile, outside the battlefield, General George Mattiola's face was completely frozen. Then he looked at his magic consultant with a pleading gaze.

"Is this... water divine authority?"

"Without a doubt!" The black-robed figure nodded: "Although it's a weak water divine authority, it's enough to offset part of Elrome Gemichel's divine authority. His strength is clearly enough to rival Anthony Braden."

Coincidentally, in another location in Atlanta, at Philip I's Hermit Villa.

Alexandra Howard sat somewhat dazedly on the sofa behind him: "I want to know how many divine authorities that guy actually wields?"