Chapter 214 (2): Dragonrider

Meanwhile, Wayne was running at his top speed with Veronica in tow. “What did I say about building a subway here? See? Now that we’re under invasion, we can only rely on our feet because there’s no subway.”

Veronica looked up at the sky as Wayne dragged her forward, her mouth open in an O. It was massive!

In the dark night sky, the lone moon gradually turned oval, and its soft, flowy light became pale and dim. No, it wasn’t a moon, but a massive insect egg with a pointy tip and a round bottom. It wriggled like a worm with a soft body, and as it expanded and writhed, the pointy tip opened into a black orifice. Large swathes of black slime poured down from high in the sky.

The dome-shaped magical barrier made the sizzling sound of water hitting hot oil. The viscous fluid burst and scattered, turning the dome black.

The magical barrier shielding the Lando Estate fought back, triggering layers upon layers of magic circles from the main house to the zenith of the dome. Even on a rough count, there were more than a thousand magic circles in place.

Wayne’s jaw dropped. As expected of the Old Two-Face. Auston’s shell was so thick that the sight of it alone deterred invasion. They couldn’t lose.

He entered the main house with Veronica and headed straight to the study. On the way, they saw servants who had armed themselves to the teeth, the combined firepower a sight to behold.

Veronica said in astonishment, “So there is a demon, but why are they coming here?”

The fact that the demon was real meant that the agreement was real, too. Her heart sank. She couldn’t accept it. Since the current head of the family had a butler moonlighting as a secretary and a lover, the next should only have a simple butler. Veryl was good enough!

Bam!

Wayne kicked the door down. When he saw the three key figures of the family in the study, he rushed out, “I was on a date with Veronica in the grove when the moon suddenly changed shape. Who created the barrier? Was Auston caught for treason?”

“Who was on a date with you?!”

“You did commit treason!”

“...” x2

Just like that, the tension in the room evaporated.

Auston rolled his eyes and told Wayne to stop spouting nonsense. Looking up at the sky, he said while fiddling with his coin, “The barrier came from the Ministry of Magic. Although I’ve made some changes to it, it’s only a matter of time before it is torn down. Ready yourself for battle...”

“The demons have the vessels for the Seven Demon Lords and the Astral Egg, as well as the Forgotten Ones from the Red Leaf Asylum...”

Auston shared the intel he had at hand and analyzed what the demons could utilize. “The demon was able to take down the Order of Holy Light on his own, so he is powerful in his own right. According to Knight Captain Hermann’s testimony, the demon called himself Caim. He’s a familiar of the Night Tyrant, Stolas. At night, his power is infinitely stronger...”

As he spoke, the black slime sputtered by the Astral Egg corroded through the defensive barrier, and clumps of white foamy tissue seeped through the cracks, raining down from a hundred meters in the sky. They plopped down on the lawn, grove, and the rooftops of the main house and mansions, converging toward the heart of the estate. One after another, white humanoid figures emerged and rose to their feet.

The defensive barrier remained, but it ignored the humanoid creations born from the Astral Egg. As Auston had said, there was a traitor among the leadership of the Ministry of Magic, and with them knowing the magical defenses of the Lando Estate inside out, the barrier became obsolete.

Auston clutched the silver coin in his hand and scowled darkly at the pits left on the lawn. Anyone would react like him when their home was being destroyed. Wayne was also furious. After a hundred years, Auston’s assets would become his, so the enemies were essentially demolishing his house right in front of him.

Megan stayed closely behind Auston. When he didn’t give her the order to attack, she turned to Mistress Silvia for instruction. As the main butler of the family, she cared about the estate deeply.

Silvia shook her head. “No rush. Let’s wait and see. The enemy hasn’t shown their trump card.”

In other words, Megan was the Lando family’s trump card.

Wayne glanced at Megan curiously. When he turned to Veronica with questioning eyes, she responded with a look of confusion.

What’s with the butler?

x2

You’re the young lady. Why are you asking me?

How can you be the heir when you don’t know anything? What use are you?

The two glared at each other, their faces so close that a push would result in a kiss.

Splat!

A white clump landed outside the window, roaring at Auston with a twisted face from a close distance. A glowing magic circle emerged and kept the white monstrosity at bay.

It slammed against the window a few times. Unable to break through the defense through raw power, it disintegrated into writhing foam and slowly seeped through the barrier instead.

Wayne went up and conjured intense fire to burn the white foam to ashes, accidentally igniting the curtain.

Auston rolled his eyes, blurting out, “I’ll deduct the replacement cost from your allowance.”

“I have an allowance?” Wayne’s eyes widened. How did he not know about it?

Auston turned away and played dumb.

“Megan, where’s my allowance?”

“Master wired the money to your account, but he hasn’t told you about the account,” Megan said honestly.

How dare you! It’s one thing for you to exploit the Death Knight, but you’re stealing from me, too?!

Enraged, Wayne rolled his sleeve up and was ready to have a physical argument with Auston, but then the waterfall of white foam the Astral Egg spat out fell into the grove with a rumble. The resulting white waves rose to ten meters tall and flooded toward the main house.

Megan’s eyes glinted fiercely. When Auston nodded at her, she vaulted through the window and raised her hands, creating an invisible barrier with her thoughts to block the rising white tide.

The intense heat of the barrier distorted the air. As soon as it collided with the white tide, pungent smoke burst out, accompanied by chaotic, piercing screams that assaulted everyone’s senses.

To prevent the main house from getting ignited by the heat, Megan created another barrier, emptying the air in between.

From above, Silvia looked down at the increasingly fierce tide, her eyes gradually turning green. The energy of life spread with her thoughts, going through the barriers Megan had established and conjuring eight massive seeds in the sky.

Glowing with the light of vitality, the seeds plunged into the white tide. The moment the corruption of the Astral Plane hit, they stole the vitality of the white foam for their own germination and growth.

Wayne popped his head out to spectate. He saw thick vines that spanned hundreds of meters shoot out of the white tide, growing stems and leaves with impressive speed. In no time, the plants bore fist-sized fruit that grew to two meters in diameter before quickly rotting, resulting in more seeds falling into the white tide.

The faith magic of Nature was as insidious as ever for drawing vitality from an Astral Beast. Wayne was certain that this was no simple faith magic, but a divine art with a large faith component.

The limitations of fighting on her home ground left Silvia seething. She wasn’t the defensive type, so she vaulted out of the window and summoned the projection of the Goddess of Nature with divine art.

Hum—

Suddenly, there was a piercing scream, and the world Silvia saw became upside down. She and Megan fell toward the ‘sky’, where the Astral Egg was. Seeing the increasing distance between them and the main house, Silvia realized that they had fallen for the enemy’s trick, her pupils contracting.

Growl—

Megan’s body increased in size. Intensely hot white mist quickly expanded, and her shadow shrouded a large area. The next second, a massive white dragon paw extended to catch Silvia.

It was a great dragon covered in white scales, over a hundred meters long. Its streamlined body was aesthetically pleasing rather than bloated. On its forehead were more than a hundred eye-catching crimson scales, forming a complicated pattern.

“Megan, you aren’t the target. We’re stranded. Break down the spatial rampart before us.”

Silvia jumped and flipped onto the giant dragon’s back in a few flashes. White scales spread from her palms to the rest of her body. Her pupils became vertical ones, and the four elements took shape as lances and greatswords behind her back, fanning out like the plumage of a peafowl.

A dragonrider!