Even though the others hadn't seen what Quinn had done, the fact that there was now one less doppelganger of the Earl in front of them, they had no choice but to believe it was their King's doing. At the same time, they had their own fights to worry about.
The doppelgangers immediately started to strike at the person in front of them. Those that were less skilful, all they could do was block while making sure to protect their more vulnerable places.
They were getting hurt, and if they didn't do something soon, they would be in serious trouble. Some were getting desperate and thinking of attacking, but before they could the Viscount gave them words of encouragement.
"Just keep defending for now!" Norvic shouted. "We will find a way to deal with them!"
It was at that moment, the Viscount splitting his attention off of the Ronston doppelganger, that his opponent had hit him in the stomach. It was a powerful hit that nearly made him kneel to the ground, but tensing his stomach at the last moment, he somewhat managed to lighten the blow.
"I guess having a large belly isn't always a bad thing." Norvic commented, as he grabbed the Earl's wrist and twisted the skin together, trying to rip it apart. Although it did some damage in retaliation, it looked like the doppelganger of the Earl was ready to strike the Viscount's head.
'If I don't use my abilities…then I'll be dead. We have to use it and refocus.'
"Not just yet." A voice warned as it grabbed the hand of the doppelganger. Looking at whom it was, Norvic could see that it was His Majesty. Quinn was holding onto it tightly, and it wasn't budging an inch, either.
With its other hand, it looked like the doppelganger was attempting to hit him again, but it moved ever so slightly before Quinn grabbed hold of that one as well.
"Go on, I'm letting you punch this one. It hit you, so give it your best shot." Quinn said. The doppelganger tried to struggle free, but with one kick his legs were broken. The bodies that they transformed into, although lacking any blood, still behaved like the bodies they copied.
Not wasting time and wanting to help the others, Norvic was more than happy to deliver a finishing blow, striking the Earl in the head with both his fists.
"You help your group, whileI'll go help Nian." Quinn ordered. Heading over that way, Norvic couldn't help but think about what he had just seen, and he smiled to himself.
'I was an idiot. I wonder who even spread those rumours in the first place. The King being weak… if that had been true, how would the other leaders have accepted him? I doubt any of it had been borrowed power…he is just that strong.'
Quinn had landed in the middle of the vampires and Viscount Nian, who had formed a circle. This way they couldn't get attacked from behind. Jumping again, he positioned himself in the middle of the circle in between both sides.
He soon left again, jumping the vampires and kicked two of the viscounts head's. The strength of a single attack of his was able to finish them off.
Seeing this, the others could finally catch a break and could just see Quinn smiling back at them. They had fought the doppelgangers. They knew that it could replicate their strength, and they had faced the Earl's hits that were anything but weak.
They doubted even the leaders without using their abilities could deal with an Earl so easily. Then suddenly, the real Earl himself was hurled across the water. Like a thrown stone, he skipped on the top of it several times, crashing and causing waves to rise up.
It forced many of them to turn and look at what was happening, and they noticed that their own doppelgangers had stopped their advance as well.
'The Earl shouldn't be able to do that to himself, I can smell blood as well. I have a feeling that we might just have a serious problem on our hands.' Quinn thought.
Looking at where Ronston had come from, the Vampire King saw what looked like a replica of himself. It had taken a while for Quinn to get a doppelganger to face him, but this just made Quinn worry even more.
The other doppelgangers had stopped advancing because, once again, they were all changing forms… this time into Quinn. Each of them had a slight smirk on their face as only one side of their mouths would lift slightly.
"Moe… I'm a little scared." Joy admitted, as she looked at His Majesty in front of her.
Norvic, seeing those under him frightened, didn't know what to do. Now that he knew the King wasn't weak at all and after seeing what had happened to Earl Ronston, the strongest vampire after Quinn, he was afraid they would all be doomed. At the same time, it looked like every single one of them were ready to strike.
They threw their fists fast towards each one, but before their fists could connect, a purple shadow rose in front of them all.
"The power of the Shadow! This is… the Punisher's ability." Norvic gasped.
"No… it's the King's ability." Ric corrected him.
Seeing who the Earl had gone up against, Quinn had immediately spread out his shadow towards the others, and had blocked the attack. There was no choice, otherwise all of them would have died.
[Shadow lock!]
A few seconds later, everyone found themselves in a dark space. One second they were in the swampy land, but now they were all together.
"What is this place?" Moe asked. "Is this also the King's doing?"
"It's part of my power." Quinn answered, after being the last one to appear.
In his hands he held the Earl and placed him on the ground. The others came rushing forward to help, and could see that there was a giant hole in his stomach where he had been hit.
"Was that from… His Majesty's doppelganger?" Moa gulped.
"Yes, the doppelgangers that have taken my form are too strong for all of you. It's too dangerous." Quinn pulled out a flask of blood and poured some into Ronston's mouth and directly on the wound as well.
At the same time, Quinn used the gauntlet to give him a bit of the energy he had absorbed from the doppelganger of himself he had fought earlier. He could always get this amount back through a few beasts. Seeing that the Earl was doing better, Quinn stood up and readied himself.
"What are you planning to do, Your Majesty? Use the shadow to help us get back?" Norvic asked, now being polite compared to before.
"No, you guys stay in here, I will get the Nest Crystal and will let you out when it is safe." Quinn answered.
"That's crazy!" Nian shouted. "You used your ability. I'm sure they sensed it, when you return there will be hundreds of those beasts waiting for you, and they probably will have all copied your strength. We know you're strong, but I doubt you could get through that."
Quinn looked at them all for a while.
"Thank you for your concern. You are good vampires, but I was the one that asked you to get this crystal. I won't let you guys lose your life over something that I asked for. Not when I can get it myself.
"Just tell me the general direction of the crystal." Quinn insisted.
Nian and Norvic tried their best to describe to him what the area of the nest crystal had looked like, but they had only been able to see it from a distance. They also didn't have as much trouble last time as they did this time. Perhaps because of them attempting to get the crystal already, it had caused it to be more on guard.
"Okay, everyone please look after the Earl for me. Jesk, make sure to get along with them as well. Don't worry, I won't be long. Maybe two minutes." Quinn stated.
Before they could question what he meant by that, he had already left the Shadow space. Landing in the strange sludge, he wasn't alone. Just as he had been warned, there were more than a hundred versions of himself.
"As much as I would love to try to fight you all, I have other things I need to do." Quinn said.
[Nitro accelerate activated]
Running through the crowd of himselves, none of them could keep up now that he had the active skill. At times there would be those that would appear and get in his way, but Quinn with his new speed and strength, not holding back on his Qi, was able to beat even himself in a single hit.
He hardly had to fight, as he got away from the initial lot as well, it seemed like the beasts couldn't form quick enough even for him. Finally, in the distance, Quinn could see the Nest Crystal, placed on a large leaf on a single mound of land.
Stepping on the soil with them all behind him, Quinn didn't hesitate as he grabbed the crystal.
[Nest Crystal has been obtained]
*******
My Werewolf System has finally arrived on Webnovel!
If you want to support me, you can do so on my P.A.T.R.E.O.N: jksmanga
You will get access to the MVS + MWS webtoon for only $3 dollar a month.
For MVS artwork and updates follow me on Instagram and Facebook: jksmanga