บท 34: The Colossus Rises
The sun climbed higher in Bloodmire's blood-red sky. The battle's tide flowed like a crimson sea.
Atop the castle's highest tower, Atenzi and Báthory watched Khan regroup at the woods' edge.
"He's cautious," Báthory said, eyes narrowing. "More than I expected."
Atenzi nodded, gaze fixed on the field. "He's lived centuries as a conqueror. He knows when something's off." A cold smile played on his lips. "But even great strategists fall to hubris."
They saw Khan's freed general galloping towards him. Atenzi sensed the centaur's urgency, his desperation to deliver the false message.
"The final act begins," Atenzi murmured.
Khan received his general. His posture changed as he absorbed the information. He stood motionless, staring at the castle.
Then, with surprising speed, Khan barked orders. His remaining forces formed up for a frontal assault.
Báthory's eyes widened. "He's doing it. Committing everything to a direct attack."
Atenzi's smile turned predatory. "Of course. He thinks it's his chance to end this. To crush Bloodmire in one stroke." He turned to Báthory, eyes blazing. "He's marching into our trap."
As Khan charged, Atenzi set his final plan in motion. "Signal the retreat. Make it look desperate, disorganized. Let them think we're collapsing."
Báthory nodded, relaying orders. Vampire forces began a staged withdrawal, falling back in apparent disarray.
Khan's centaurs, emboldened, pressed their advantage. They pushed closer to the castle gates.
Atenzi watched intently. Timing was crucial. Too soon, and Khan might see through the ruse. Too late, and they risked real defeat.
"Not yet," he murmured. "Not yet..."
The first centaurs crashed against the outer defenses. Hooves thundered. Steel clashed. The wounded and dying screamed.
Still, Atenzi waited.
Báthory gripped the parapet, knuckles white. "Atenzi," she hissed urgently. "If we wait much longer-"
"Shut up," Atenzi snapped, eyes fixed on the distance. He searched for one figure amidst the chaos.
Then, he saw him. Genghis Khan, moving towards the gates. His elite guard carried a massive battering ram.
"Now," Atenzi breathed. Then, louder, "NOW! Spring the trap!"
For a moment, nothing happened. The battle raged on, Khan's forces pressing closer.
Then, the world seemed to groan in agony. The ground shifted and buckled. Cracks appeared in the castle walls, widening rapidly.
Khan realized the danger almost instantly. Atenzi saw him rear up, bellowing retreat orders.
But it was too late.
With a thunderous sound, the castle collapsed. Towers crumbled. Walls caved in. Foundations liquefied.
Khan and his elite, trapped in the courtyard and lower halls, were buried in stone and steel.
Atenzi watched grimly as chaos drowned the enemy. Centaurs screamed as debris crushed them or chasms swallowed them whole.
"It's done," he said quietly. "Your castle is gone, Báthory, but we've broken Khan's invasion."
Báthory's eyes were wide with horror and exhilaration. "My home... centuries of history... but by the dark gods, what glorious destruction."
As dust settled, Atenzi turned to Khan's remnants. They were in disarray, formation shattered, morale broken.
"Now," Atenzi said, his voice resonating with Lashon Kesef, "we finish this. No mercy. No quarter. Let none escape to tell the tale."
Báthory's smile was all fangs. "With pleasure, my champion."
They descended, ready to lead the final charge. The battle for Bloodmire entered its bloody last phase.
At its heart stood Oni no Atenzi, eyes blazing with victory, ready to cement his legend in Naaim's history.
As they reached the ground, the destruction's scale became clear. Bloodmire's proud castle was now rubble and ruin. Dust hung thick, punctuated by screams of the dying.
Atenzi moved with phantom grace, every step calculated. His eyes scanned the chaos, assessing threats and opportunities coldly.
"There," he pointed to regrouping centaurs. "They're trying to form a defensive line. We must break them before they rally."
Báthory nodded, fangs gleaming. "Allow me."
She summoned her elite vampires. They flowed across the ruined courtyard like living shadows. The disoriented centaurs barely saw them coming.
The battle was swift and brutal. Hooves clashed with claws, steel met fang, blood flowed freely.
Even as this skirmish raged, Atenzi planned ahead. He knew the castle's fall, while devastating, wouldn't completely break Khan's army.
"We need to find Khan," Atenzi said, cutting through the noise. "While he lives, his forces have hope. We must extinguish that hope."
Báthory turned, eyes gleaming with bloodlust. "How do you propose that, my champion? Even buried, Khan is formidable."
Atenzi's smile was cold. "We don't fight him directly. We isolate him, cut him off from his army. Then we give him a choice he can't refuse."
As they moved through the ruins, Atenzi outlined his plan. Báthory listened, admiration and excitement growing.
"It's audacious," she said. "Risky. But if it works..."
"It will work," Atenzi said confidently. "Khan is a conqueror, a warrior. He can't resist the challenge."
They paused at the edge of the former great hall, now a crater of broken stone and twisted metal. At its center, a figure emerged from the rubble.
Genghis Khan rose like a colossus. His centaur body was battered and bleeding, but his eyes burned with fury. He held a massive warhammer crackling with eldritch energy.
"Báthory!" Khan's voice boomed, making even vampires flinch. "Face me, you cowardly witch! Let's end this here and now!"
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