Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence Chapter 753 - 419: Madness (Part 3)

Kael’s laughter abruptly vanished from his face.

In the blink of an eye, the creature had already repositioned itself.

The sound of air being ripped apart erupted at close proximity, and the form of 3373 morphed into a shadowy gray blur, its claws slashing directly towards the throat.

"Get out of here!" Kael bellowed, forcefully unleashing the fighting energy surging within him.

Gray fighting energy flared around him, encasing his body like a rough, protective shell.

He thrust his sword forward in a horizontal slash, the blade meeting the vicious claws head-on.

"Clang—!"

A piercing, metallic screech echoed through the entire hall.

3373 was violently rent from shoulder to abdomen by this sword strike, its scales and flesh torn asunder. The creature’s body was sent hurtling through the air, impacting heavily against the perimeter of the blood pool.

Kael stumbled, managing to regain his footing, his chest heaving with exertion.

"Did you see that clearly?" he yelled hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot, "I am your master!"

3373 lay sprawled on the ground, its massive body twitching slightly, yet it remained alive.

The mangled form writhed within the pool of blood, its slit pupils still fixated with fierce intensity on Kael.

Unseen by Kael, more figures were rapidly converging on their position.

Fully formed creatures sprang from all around; nascent Dragon Blood Youths surged wildly from their iron cages.

They paid no heed to the corpses of their own kind or the impacts their bodies made against each other, driven solely by a most primal directive.

Kill.

Tear apart.

The first youth lunged forward, only to have its neck severed by Kael in a single, swift motion.

The second managed to grab his cloak, but was violently flung away by Kael's unleashed fighting energy.

The third, the fourth...

Individual strength became meaningless against the sheer overwhelming numbers.

Sharp claws ripped through Kael’s armor, and fangs sank deep into his shoulders and arms.

Kael’s fighting energy dissipated rapidly under the incessant onslaught, forcing him to start retreating.

"I am Raymond!" he roared, his voice already distorted, "I am..."

His cries were swallowed by the din.

3373 moved once more, its broken body propelled upwards in an unbelievable surge, its arms wrapping tightly around Kael, pulling him deep into the monstrous horde.

Claws, fangs, and contorted limbs struck him from all sides simultaneously.

The sound of flesh being torn apart was relentless.

Kael’s form quickly disappeared beneath the surging black shadows, leaving behind only fragmented screams and the sickening thud of breaking bones.

When the monsters finally dispersed, a mangled heap of flesh was all that remained before the control console.

Kael Remont had met his end at the hands of the grotesque creatures his own father had engineered.

Yet, his death did not quell the unfolding chaos; rather, it acted as a ruptured dam, unleashing a torrent.

After a brief moment of stillness, the monsters’ attention diverted from the bloody remains, beginning to search for new targets.

And these targets were not located in the ascending passageway.

The closest sounds, the closest scents, were emanating from within the hall itself.

The researchers, clad in their alchemical robes, who had been diligently operating valves and recording data moments before, finally grasped the horrifying reality of the situation.

They scrambled back, turned, and fled; some stumbled and fell near the blood pool, while others attempted to conceal themselves beneath the control console.

Their efforts were futile.

The first Alchemist was easily knocked to the ground by a half-formed youth.

Claws ripped through the fabric of the robe, plunging directly into the abdominal cavity. The youth lowered its head, tearing at the still-twitching innards with its teeth, emitting a satisfied, guttural growl.

On the other side of the hall, two researchers were simultaneously pinned down by a fully formed creature.

Its articulated limbs held their bodies fast, scales grating against the floor as it moved.

In the subsequent instant, their neck bones were snapped with a sound as crisp as thin twigs breaking.

Here, there was no room for animosity, no hesitation.

These abominations showed no discrimination based on master, command, or social standing.

Within their crude and limited consciousness, only a single criterion existed: whether something obstructed their path.

The screams of the Alchemists were swiftly overwhelmed by the monstrous roars.

Blood flowed into the pool along the intricate patterns of the talisman array, staining the surface with darkening crimson ripples.

The Dragon Blood Youths stepped over the fallen bodies, moving with an indifference akin to traversing mere obstacles.

When the last researcher breathed their final, agonizing breath, the hall was left with only the heavy, rhythmic thrumming of the pump.

The ground-level monsters unleashed their roars, surging upwards through the passageway.

Gray Rock City and all its inhabitants were now facing their true, ultimate apocalypse.