Building A Carnal Empire In The Fantasy World-Chapter 27: Kill Them All! II

"You dare attack me in my own home?" he snarled at Commander Aldric. "Do you know who I am?"

"A slaver," Aldric replied, advancing slowly. His own aura rose to meet Varnell’s, and the air between them began to distort. "A flesh trader. A corruptor of souls. A sinner whose body is bound to be placed on a stake for cleansing."

"I am a Count of the realm! I have connections in the capital! I have the protection of the realm! No one can harm a high rank official without the decree of the king. Not even the church!"

"Was," Aldric corrected, ignoring the latter part of his words. "Past tense."

Count Varnell’s face twisted with rage. He raised his hands, and fire erupted around him. Not ordinary flames, but the white-hot fire of Soul Vein cultivation. The temperature in the room spiked, and several wooden booths began to smoke.

"Then I’ll burn you all to ash!"

He launched a column of fire straight at Aldric. The flames were hot enough to melt steel, bright enough to hurt the eyes. Any normal soldier would have been reduced to cinders in seconds.

But Aldric wasn’t normal.

The commander raised his shield, and holy light blazed from the sacred flame symbol on its surface. The divine radiance met Varnell’s fire and held it back, creating a wall of conflicting energies between them.

"Sacred flame versus unholy fire," Aldric said, his voice calm despite the inferno raging around him. "Let’s see which burns brighter."

The battle between the two Soul Vein warriors shook the entire room. Where their powers met, the air itself seemed to tear. Cracks appeared in the stone walls. The remaining lanterns exploded from the heat, plunging parts of the room into flickering shadow.

Around them, the slaughter continued.

Two of Varnell’s remaining guards attacked a group of acquisitors. These soldiers were better than the first—their coordination was perfect, their Spirit Circle cultivation allowing them to move like dancers of death.

One guard wielded twin curved swords that left trails of shadow energy in the air. He spun between three acquisitors, his blades cutting through armor and flesh with equal ease. One soldier fell with his throat opened. Another collapsed clutching his severed arm.

But the third acquisitor managed to get his chain around the guard’s ankle. He yanked hard, sending the shadow warrior stumbling.

Before the guard could recover, a flame knight’s massive sword came down like a falling tree.

The guard tried to block with both his curved blades. The weapons shattered like glass against the flame knight’s consecrated steel.

The heavy sword continued downward, splitting the guard from skull to sternum.

The last two guards made their stand near the stage where Velara had displayed her human merchandise.

The auctioneer herself was nowhere to be seen—she had vanished with the ’goods’ at the first sign of trouble, probably through some hidden exit.

These final defenders were the strongest of Varnell’s personal guard. Both had reached the peak of Spirit Circle Realm, just one step below their master’s power. They fought with the desperation of men who knew they were going to die.

The first guard carried a massive war hammer that crackled with earth energy. Each swing left craters in the stone floor.

When he brought it down on a flame knight’s shield, the impact sent shockwaves through the room. The knight staggered but held his ground.

"Earth magic!" the knight called out. "I need support!"

Two acquisitors moved to flank the hammer-wielder, but he was ready for them. A sweeping blow from his weapon caught one soldier in the ribs, lifting him off his feet and sending him crashing into the wall. The man’s armor crumpled like paper, and blood poured from his mouth.

The second guard fought with a spear that seemed to bend reality around it. Space magic—very rare and dangerous. His thrusts appeared to come from impossible angles, the spear tip emerging from thin air to strike at his enemies’ backs.

An acquisitor cried out as the spear punched through his shoulder blade from behind, even though the guard was standing in front of him.

Another soldier spun around, confused, as the weapon materialized beside his head.

But even peak Spirit Circle cultivation had its limits.

Commander Aldric, still locked in his battle with Count Varnell, barked an order. "Flame formation! Purge the heretics!"

The remaining flame knights moved with practiced precision. They formed a circle around the two guards, their consecrated swords beginning to glow with holy fire.

The space magic spear strikes became less accurate as the divine energy interfered with the guard’s power.

The hammer-wielder tried to break through the circle, but three massive swords met his weapon in perfect timing. The consecrated steel shattered his earth magic, and the hammer split in half.

Without his weapon, the guard lasted exactly three seconds before multiple blades found their mark.

The space mage fought longer, his spear dancing through air ripples as he tried to find an opening. But the flame knights’ coordination was perfect.

They moved as one mind in ten bodies, their divine training allowing them to predict and counter his every move.

When the end came, it was swift. A gap opened in his defense for just an instant, and a flame knight’s sword took his head clean off.

The space magic died with him, and his headless body toppled to the bloodstained floor.

Now only Count Varnell remained, still locked in his battle with Commander Aldric.

The count’s fire had grown stronger as his men died around him. Rage and desperation fed his flames until they burned white-hot, scorching the walls and ceiling. But Aldric’s holy light held steady, a bulwark of divine power against the inferno.

"Your men are dead," Aldric said, advancing step by step through the wall of fire. "Your guests are dead. Your servants have fled. Surrender now, and I’ll make your end quick."

"Never!" Count Varnell screamed, pouring more power into his flames. "I’ll burn this whole estate down before I let you take me!"

The fire grew so hot that the stone walls began to crack. The remaining wooden furniture burst into flames. The very air shimmered with heat waves.