National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

”That face isn’t Chu He’s in the slightest. Don’t stand there spouting nonsense.”

Uzi’s face instantly flushed red with anger, the veins on his neck bulging as he bellowed his retort.

His voice, laced with the volatile mix of shame and rage, echoed above the ancient castle.

”Look at the ring,” the Doctor said.

On the young man’s long, fair fingers

was a uniquely shaped ring that emitted a faint, mysterious glow.

”This is no ordinary ring. The Vampire Clan once considered it a rare treasure and collected it with great care.

”Its function is rather peculiar. While it might seem of limited use,

it also possesses a wondrously astonishing effect:

it can draw upon some mysterious power to disguise a person, giving them a completely different appearance.”

The Doctor began to speak slowly, his voice steady and calm as if he were recounting an old legend. ”I once read about it in a dust-covered grimoire filled with countless arcane secrets.

”According to legend,

the ring’s material is a strange new substance the Vampire Clan excavated from a mysterious mineral vein hidden deep in the mountains.

They then spent a fortune hiring the most skilled and renowned master craftsmen

to meticulously carve it, resulting in this one-of-a-kind ring.”

The Doctor’s gaze remained locked on the young man’s finger,

so intense it felt tangible.

Florian and Uzi instinctively followed his line of sight.

Sure enough, a ring exuding a mysterious aura and emitting a faint blue glow sat snugly on the man’s finger.

Florian frowned, filled with doubt. ”If it really is Chu He, with his renowned status and formidable reputation, why would he hide his face and act so mysterious? Besides, it seems like he has no need to disguise himself at all.”

The Doctor’s lips curled into a faint, meaningful smile. ”If I’m not mistaken, Chu He isn’t disguised for our benefit,

but for when he’s out and about in the world. His fame is so widespread, and he is so widely known and revered,

that his face draws too much attention, causing him all sorts of trouble and inconvenience.

”The implication being, don’t flatter yourselves. He’s absolutely not wearing that ring on your account.”

Uzi still looked skeptical after hearing the Doctor’s explanation,

privately questioning the truth of the Doctor’s words, his eyes flickering with hesitation and disbelief.

”Brother Chu, I can feel it. That guy is the weakest.”

Just then, the ethereally beautiful girl, who moved like a celestial being, took a graceful step forward.

She raised a slender, jade-white finger and pointed directly at Florian.

Without a hint of hesitation or subtlety, she spoke her assessment bluntly.

Her crisp, pleasant voice echoed through the silent castle, sounding jarringly out of place.

Florian’s expression froze instantly, as if he’d been struck by an Immobilization Spell.

A muscle in his cheek twitched, and a raging fire erupted in his eyes,

a fire that threatened to incinerate everything in sight.

He might have been the first leader in the history of the Werewolf Clan to be both a scholar and a warrior, a man of great ambition and strategy,

and he wasn’t normally one to act rashly.

But the hot blood of a Werewolf still flowed through his veins.

How could the innate pride and competitive nature of a Werewolf

allow him to tolerate such a blatant, merciless display of contempt?

And yet, despite his immense fury,

Florian had a clear understanding of his own strength.

Uzi might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, and his personality was brutal and cruel, but his strength was undeniably formidable and his ferocity unmatched.

The Doctor was an enigma, but the recent series of shocking, unbelievable events was more than enough to prove he was no ordinary man.

Faced with these two powerful allies,

he knew he had to be cautious.

He couldn’t act on impulse, or the consequences would be dire.

A bitter sense of helplessness filled Florian’s heart.

Among the three of them, he was undoubtedly the weakest,

like an ant before an elephant.

Despair settled over him like a suffocating shroud, impossible to shake off.

”Enough talk! Let’s fight!

”Since they’ve delivered themselves to our doorstep,

we’ll slaughter every last one of them! Only then will the hatred in my heart be sated!”

Uzi bellowed, and in that instant,

a long-dormant volcano of energy inside him erupted.

A torrent of violent energy erupted from him like a tsunami, sweeping outward with overwhelming force.

The solid floor beneath his feet shattered like thin ice,

a web of dense cracks spreading rapidly outward like the claws of some monstrous beast,

spiderwebbing out in all directions.

Uzi shot forward like a lightning bolt, a human cannonball

wreathed in boundless energy and killing intent as he hurtled toward Chu He.

His speed defied imagination. Where he passed,

the very air shrieked under the immense pressure,

producing a sonic boom like rending metal.

The sound echoed terrifyingly through the silent night sky.

In the blink of an eye, he and Chu He were locked in a cataclysmic battle.

Where they clashed, energy poured out in all directions like a raging storm,

sending dust and debris flying. The scene was one of total chaos, as if the apocalypse had arrived and the world itself was on the verge of collapse.