Ch.224224. Bloody Castle

“Haaa…. This zoo never changes.”

When Lisa Raeldotir spread her wings and arrived at the scene, the farce unfolding at the Imperial Zoo was a spectacle beyond words.

Dozens of animals were fighting each other or joining forces to create chaos, with at least several dozen creatures visible to Lisa’s eyes alone.

A mid-tier magical beast polar bear with ice attributes from the Arctic, a giant mammoth with tusks made of icicles, a fire djinn Ifrit kidnapped from the desert, and a dinosaur resembling a triceratops.

Just from what she could see, there were at least four mid-tier beasts, not to mention numerous lower-tier magical beasts whose danger couldn’t be underestimated.

Particularly concerning were man-eating crabs and air piranhas that preferred human flesh—even as lower-tier beasts, they could slaughter dozens of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, some of the more docile magical beasts were huddling together….

But docility had nothing to do with weakness.

A prime example was the Great-Kong.

A well-known omnivorous magical beast resembling a gorilla, famous for its gentle nature, with several proverbs about enraged Great-Kongs in regions where they lived.

Normally kind enough to protect weaker animals out of pure goodwill or even be kept as pets, an enraged Great-Kong was believed to destroy everything in sight.

And even this Great-Kong was merely ranked around 6th tier in the wild.

There were plenty of stronger magical beasts that became violent when provoked.

Fortunately, the species and magical beasts employed by the zoo were protecting citizens according to their contract terms, while the stationed security forces were running around trying to capture the escaped animals.

Kirururururuk!!

Hippogriffs and griffins joined hands to protect some people, while a city troll used itself as a shield to protect a small goblin child.

Thanks to various species diligently fulfilling their duties, the security forces were energetically subduing the animals.

Of course, they would simply kill them if necessary.

Very fortunately, ordinary animals and small docile magical beasts were kept in different sections and hadn’t escaped.

The zoo operators could only take comfort in the fact that one-sided predation hadn’t occurred.

Amidst all this chaos with magical beasts running wild,

Lisa landed on the headquarters spire, the tallest building in the zoo, and gazed down at the ground with cold eyes.

Though the security forces seemed to be struggling at the moment… Lisa was certain.

It might take some time as they prioritized capturing rather than killing, but the security forces would ultimately prevail.

They didn’t even need the newly introduced weapons; the old magical-muskets would suffice.

The magical-muskets had only been phased out because the new weapons were overwhelmingly superior.

They still surpassed the gunpowder weapons used by most humans.

However… Lisa, who had come to quickly suppress this disturbance, couldn’t just stand by and watch them work.

‘…Haah.’

Lamenting her fate of being constantly put to work, Lisa reached for the vampire blood flowing within her and channeled its power through her soul—

“—《Bloody Castle》!”

She unleashed the distinctive power of vampires through her soul, coating the entire area—specifically the whole zoo—with her power.

Everything turns red, deeply red.

The ground, buildings, and various objects become covered with something bloody, resembling blood vessels, and the sky, where the sun had somehow disappeared, turned red while the clouds became even redder.

The blood vessels consuming the floor somehow became densely packed, forming muscle-like structures.

Perhaps because blood was seeping from the surface of the vessels, the entire zoo became bloody.

When someone stepped on the thin layer of blood covering the ground, a squelching sound was heard, and those directly exposed to it shuddered with inexplicable creepiness.

Despite the space itself not directly killing anyone, the instinctive fear of blood-covered life forms was mildly stimulated.

As a result, the already eerie scene felt even more sinister.

While people confused by this sudden anomaly hesitated and stopped moving….

KWAJIK—!!

Suddenly, spike-like structures of mixed blood and flesh shot up from the ground, piercing through something, and similar blood spikes began emerging from various objects throughout the zoo, restraining hostile magical beasts.

The blood spikes protruding from between the vessels didn’t directly harm the magical beasts, but that didn’t mean they could be ignored.

Between legs, through narrow gaps in the sides, and right in front of the brow.

They either restrained the beasts to the point where they couldn’t move or threatened them with spikes, and when necessary, unhesitatingly pierced the magical beasts, turning them into honeycombs.

Moreover, these blood spikes only attacked hostile species while protecting ordinary people using the spikes.

Having merged with the space itself and controlling the entire zoo through delicate coordination, she formed biological speakers throughout this space—the Bloody Castle—and spoke.

[Citizens, hello? I am Lisa Raeldotir, Imperial Regent. I have taken these unavoidable measures to prevent the escape of magical beasts currently occurring in the zoo. Please bear with us until the security forces complete their work.]

As Lisa spoke with the voice of an ideal saint,

the security forces and staff, finally understanding the situation, began to move.

Most of the magical beasts and hostile creatures, intimidated by Lisa’s threat, obediently returned, and even those who resisted eventually returned to their facilities after losing a limb.

Of course, many facilities had holes or collapsed sections, but most of these were repaired with blood vessels and blood as soon as the creatures returned.

After this grotesque scene had played out for a while, Lisa, confirming that all magical beasts had returned to their places, released her power.

JJANG-GEURANG—!!

With a clear sound like breaking glass, the red space shattered, and the blood vessels that had dominated the zoo and the blood covering people disappeared.

Except for the destroyed or damaged parts of the facilities that the animals had wrecked during their escape.

※ ※ ※

After the incident.

The Imperial Zoo, which had caused an accident that could have resulted in thousands of casualties due to negligent management—

Incredibly, received considerable praise from the imperial media for this incident.

This might seem absurd, but to understand it, one needed to look at it from a different perspective.

Simply put, the escape of exhibition creatures from places like the Imperial Zoo or Imperial Botanical Garden was more like an intentional event staged by the management.

Visitors were required to sign a waiver acknowledging they could be attacked by escaped monsters at any time, and instead of managing thoroughly, they deliberately created gaps to make escapes easier.

One might wonder who would want to enter such a zoo, but unlike the weak modern humans, the people of this Dawn Empire had a unique mindset.

Given the empire’s welfare system that provided free restoration for injuries or death,

people actually enjoyed these events with just a pain-removal item provided by the zoo.

Therefore, these escapes were already popular among citizens, and this incident was resolved by none other than Imperial Regent Lisa Raeldotir herself.

Though nominally the representative of Bjorn, the highest leader of the nation, her active public presence made her as popular as an idol within the Dawn Empire.

So with no injuries or deaths, people got to see Lisa Raeldotir in person and witness fire-breathing dinosaurs running wild and destroying facilities.

Just as our ancestors enjoyed throwing stones at each other’s heads for fun, the people of this era found something stimulating in these events to break up their monotonous lives.