Chapter 90: Blood Drive (Part 2)

Disclaimer:

This would have been Day 5 of the 5-day update schedule but… well, yeah :P.

Quite a late upload but things have been busy irl for me and I just wanted a break from writing. I watched a few anime and I'm back re-focused. Here is a very long chapter for you and is the second part to the previous chapter. It's basically a direct continuation.

There are references to events in past chapters to help with foreshadowing and whatnot. Here they are:

Chapter 43, 89

With that said, I hope you enjoy!

"The last thing I heard before waking up in this dungeon was that those three were… vampires. That… can't be true, right?" Yami asked the imprisoned man next to him.

"You came to Augustine without knowing the full truth behind the family that once lived here?" The man asked, sounding surprised.

Yami would've dropped his shoulders in frustration if they weren't bound to the ceiling, which prevented him from doing so. "No, I don't know about this famous family that everyone in the world seems to be well acquainted with!"

The man quietened down. "I guess it's no surprise though. The Augustines were shrouded in mystery and only showed others what they chose to".

"So, those three I saw earlier were part of the Augustine family?" Yami asked.

"I wouldn't be 100% sure. It wasn't just the Augustines that were involved in Vampirism", the man replied.

"I guess that's another headache to deal with…", Yami sighed heavily. "Vampires? You've got to be kidding me… I've only heard about them through rumours and scary stories, even as a kid. If they're real, then…", he gulped but then quickly shook his head. He then focused on the man he had been speaking with. "You seem to know quite a bit about this famous family, as well as this area. Just who exactly are you?"

"The name's Elijah. I have no last name since I'm a mere orphan but I did live in this castle, once upon a time", he answered.

"Elijah, huh? He's telling the truth but he's also hiding something. I can at least tell through Ki. Anyway, waiting for those two is a bit of a chore…", Yami thought to himself. "Well, Elijah, I thought waiting would be a good idea but it seems like my power-up has come through".

Elijah paused and then chuckled quickly after. "Yeah, this isn't some fairytale, Yami. We can't just obtain new powers whenever we want".

"Oh yeah?" Yami asked, raising his voice at the end.

As he did, he tensed the muscles in his arms and hands to the extreme. His entire body was shaking but the metal shackles were slowly moving apart, giving a slight opening. They were quietly screeching and then loudly shrieking as they finally opened up, breaking apart.

"You were saying?" Yami said as he planted his feet firmly on the ground.

"You are quite the Magic Knight, Yami Sukehiro. Now, I could stay in awe or we can help each other escape", Elijah said.

Yami, not wasting another second, broke apart the shackles that Elijah was hanging from. However, instead of landing on the floor like the Dark mage, he just fell as his sense of balance was not there.

"There's a floor there", Yami said plainly.

"Yeah, I know…", Elijah groaned as he slowly got up. "Now that we're out of the shackles, we can use our basic magic. Fortunately for us, I have Conductor Magic".

"What the hell is that?"

"I'll show you", Elijah replied as he moved his right arm in a circular motion. As he did, there was a yellow afterimage which depicted the shape he made. Then, it burst apart, leaving a candle-like light in the air which he was able to control.

"That's a lot of work just to summon a light source", Yami said, focusing on the bright magic.

"We can't all be as impressive as you", Elijah smiled. He brought the light closer to him, revealing the way he looked.

Elijah was very skinny and the outline of his bones were showing through his skin. His face was thin with crusted lips, and his eyes were grey with a faint orange colour in them. His hair had mostly fallen out except for a few, thick, remaining clumps at the side and top. He was also wearing a black suit which was mostly torn apart and the tie which would be around the collar of his white shirt was no longer there.

"This guy has really gone through it, huh? With how he looks, and the way he can't maintain his balance… It means he's been here much longer than I have. Well, I can't just leave him here", Yami thought as he walked closer to Elijah, offering him a shoulder. "Hey, let's get out of here, okay?"

"Thanks, Yami", he smiled before taking the support. He hobbled towards the door and this way of walking made sense considering how weak he looked.

As the two walked to the door, the light source moved which illuminated other parts of the room they were in.

Yami turned his head away as he saw but he already expected such a sight. "A dungeon would have prisoners but, judging by the fact that the only Ki signature I could sense was Elijah's, it means that the others are all dead".

There were other chains across the ceiling, all in a row with the shrivelled up bodies of the prisoners that had died. They were either completely bones or very nearly decomposing to be so. On the floor, near the edges of the wall were multiple clear spots where the dust had not settled at all which meant that there were objects placed around not too long ago.

Yami focused on these spots in particular since he didn't want to look at the dead bodies. "Those bits on the floor… Were there buckets placed around?"

Elijah replied with a sigh. "Yeah, what's happening outside is nothing compared to what happened here. The bodies were all drained of their blood and stored in buckets".

The Black Bull rubbed his face with his free hand, shaking his head. He ignored the subject, or rather chose to focus on something else. "Come on, singer, let's focus on one thing for now".

Two people landed on the dusty floor with a bang, sending waves of dust outwards. Standing up, they wiped their heads and brushed off the dirt from their clothes,

"Teleportation?"

"I assume so".

During the time that Yami was knocked out and transported to the dungeon, Nozel and Charlotte were taken elsewhere across the ruined castle of Augustine.

The Silva and the Roselei both landed in one of the only standing towers of the Augustine castle. The two quickly looked around and found two doors that they opened without hesitation. However, once they tried to step through, a wall of flowing blood prevented them from doing so.

"We're trapped here", Charlotte sighed as she tried to slash through the barrier with her briar sword. "An impenetrable wall made of blood? All of this…", she thought deeply.

"Mercury Magic: Silver Bullets". Nozel summoned his spell which only led him to the same result as the Blue Rose Captain. "You're right".

The two kept on trying to escape but every exit that would lead them away was covered in the same, red wall of blood. Eventually, they walked towards each other and stopped to discuss for a few moments.

"I'm not mistaken in what I heard before we were whisked away, right?" Charlotte asked, thinking back to the event that led them here.

"You mean the talk about blood, and whatever 'transition' meant? Yeah, I heard that as well", Nozel confirmed.

"On top of that, the man with the black overcoat who was hurting those people - draining their blood. There's only one thing that would make sense", Charlotte theorised. "Vampires".

"Don't be ridiculous. Vampires are a fictitious subject and there's nothing real about them". Nozel quickly disregarded.

"I don't want to believe it either but the facts are right in front of us", Charlotte protested, folding her arms. "Talking about blood, draining those people's blood, the entire area around this tower being surrounded by blood… not to mention their fangs and veins protruding out from their face… It's all quite damning".

"Instead of talking about things that are used to scare children, let's find a way out of this place", the Silva said with haste. He started walking around even without hearing what the Blue Rose captain had to say.

The two captains found themselves in a room which had the walls lined with books, records, and other important-looking documents. There were torn sofas and chairs with cobwebs across most of them.

"A library? Why did… whatever that thing was teleport us up here?" Charlotte asked Nozel with a loud voice as she looked around the worn-down room. There was plenty of wear and tear across the entire room with a large chunk of the ceiling missing. All of these areas were also surrounded by the thick blood wall. "To think this was a functioning area once upon a time…".

"Keep your voice down. I'd assume our enemies aren't too far away from us", Nozel replied.

"If you didn't run off then I wouldn't have to shout", Charlotte shook her head, annoyed with the royal.

"Watch your tone", Nozel said with a stern voice. He then chose to answer the woman's initial question. "Those people probably wanted to separate us from Yami".

"I guess that was definitely part of the reason. I imagine all three of us against them would have been too difficult", Charlotte replied, also taking in the surroundings.

"Hm, you have a lot of faith in that foreigner. I hope you haven't forgotten that he needed saving from the Eye of the Midnight Sun in Nean by us", Nozel snarkily replied back.

"Of course, I haven't forgotten. Anyway, instead of focusing on your hatred for him, let's look around the place and see how we can get out, like you clearly told me to", the Blue Rose added, waving off the talk about Yami and saying the last part of her response under her breath.

The two captains walked through the room and made sure they stepped on the solid pieces of floor, avoiding the large holes and cracks through the majority of the space. Sometimes, even the slightest bit of movement would make parts of the floor fall through which, like the rest of the place, had blood covering every inch.

"I can't see nor sense the person who took us here, but these seem important…", Nozel thought to himself as he slid his fingers across the covers of the various different documents.

Under his breath, Nozel read; "'History of the Clover Kingdom: Royals'".

Across the room but in the same aisle, Charlotte turned around with a set of documents in each of her hands. "Captain Nozel, I found a document titled; 'The Sealed Ones' and 'Secrets of the Occult'. Just… what is all this?" She said, furrowing her brow.

Nozel flicked through the book he was holding and his purple eyes scanned through the pages quickly.

"The Silva Family, Vermillion Family, Kira family… Everything here is just basic information. There are family trees, past Wizard Kings, and just general knowledge. The only question is… why?". The Mercury mage sighed and closed the book but, just as he did, a small photograph that was lodged in between one of the pages fell down and next to his sandal. "What's this…?" He thought as he bent down to pick it up and, as he looked at what the photo showed, his eyes widened with disbelief.

He held the photograph and his right hand started to shake. It was a picture of a man that he seemed to recognise as he traced his left hand's fingers over his face. The man was standing next to an unfamiliar woman who was sitting down in a chair holding something that was too faded to make out.

Sweating and rubbing his eyes, he focused on the photo again but quickly put it in his grimoire satchel. "Father… You couldn't have, right?"

All of a sudden, the room started to shake and shift. All the different books and documents were flying through the air and both of the captains were trying their best to not get taken along with them.

"Did you do something, Captain Nozel?!" Charlotte shouted, using her briars to clamp at the destroyed floor beneath her so that she could keep her balance.

"Don't be silly. I just opened a book and then all of this happened!" He replied, using his own magic to prevent himself from being thrown around.

After a few seconds, the room stopped moving and everything that was in the air fell down to the floor. Then, a voice sounded out through the room and it was very familiar to the two captains.

"A close secret has been revealed… You can move on to the next room".

"A close secret?" Both captains repeated in their heads. Charlotte was confused but Nozel realised what the voice was referring to. He clutched at his grimoire satchel instinctively.

"Any idea what the voice is on about?" Charlotte asked to which Nozel shook his head.

"No idea but… that voice is the same as the one that took me here", he added.

"Hm, anyway… since the voice spoke about us moving away from this room…", Charlotte began to say as she walked up to one of the doors that they previously couldn't get through and opened it. "Thought so".

The wall of blood had disappeared and the door led to a different room that was much smaller.

"Is this a game to them? Find something and you get to move forward?" Charlotte said aloud. "Still… I wonder what this close secret could be?" She asked again, looking closely at the man beside her.

"Maybe we'll find out if we go further. There's nothing else we can do", Nozel shrugged. He still clutched at his grimoire satchel which the Blue Rose captain noticed this time.

The next room the two entered only had one brown and wooden desk in the middle with a few candles alongside it. It was placed against a wall with an investigation board hanging on it.

"Were these… people… investigating the royals?" Charlotte asked as she focused on the board in front of her.

"Considering they have documents about us in the library… I'd say that's correct", Nozel replied. "But this?"

The two stared at the crazy wall in front of them. On the board, there were at least hundreds of loose pages attached with a pin that held them up to prevent them from falling down. Red string connected these pages with different photographs which, in turn, also connected to one another.

"Captain Nozel… Those photos… that's-", Charlotte began to say but the Silva finished her sentence off.

"The three royal families…", he said.

Nozel traced his fingers over five photos whilst Charlotte looked closely at the other ones.

"The Silva family… Solid, Nebra, Noelle, and… me". The otherwise stern and mature captain was starting to sweat as he gulped. His eyes then followed the pieces of string that connected his family to the documents and saw another person. "Father as well". His eyes followed one piece of string that was attached to his father's picture but it led up to nothing. There was only a faint outline of where another photograph would be. "This must be where the photograph that I picked up was from".

"His father is on it as well? Just what kind of grudge did these people have against the royals?" Charlotte thought. "Look here… You have Captain Fuegoleon and the rest of his family. Even the one from the Golden Dawn".

"The Vermillions and the Kiras as well? These people have been planning something against the royals", Nozel surmised, trying not to focus on the eeriness of this board.

Silence filled the room for only a second before a loud voice shouted out.

"Finally! Gosh, you sure took your time".

It sent a chill down both captains' spines as they heard the voice nearby. A chair that was facing in the opposite direction and away from the two slowly turned around to face the Magic Knights and it was the same girl that took Charlotte away. She was crouched on the chair with her arms resting on her knees.

"I'm so bored just waiting for you guys to figure things out!" She shouted. Her short, blue hair was waving around as she moved her neck around to stretch it.

"Is this a game for you?" Nozel asked, raising his grimoire in response to the girl.

"For me?!" The girl jumped out of the chair and stood on her tip-toes. She rolled her hands into fists and pouted. "I'm the one that wants this to all be over! Roman is the one that wanted to 'assess' your 'capabilities' or whatever that meant!"

"I guess that was the other one", Charlotte deduced. "You two aren't working together?" She asked, confused, as she put a hand to her head.

"Urgh, I can't be bothered explaining. Let me just end this stupid game!" The girl slowly stretched her hands outwards and slashed downwards as if she was ripping something up.

The room shook for a few seconds before the door that the two captains came from flung open, revealing another figure that had just materialised from the head down after the girl's actions.

"I've had enough of these stupid games, Roman! I just want to kill them and go back to my transition!"

In response to her, the sound of a book closing was heard and the man that the girl revealed turned around.

"It's him", Nozel noticed as he and Charlotte both took a step back.

"Honestly, Raven, you're too impatient but I guess I can't expect much from such a childish, younger sister…", he shook his head as he walked through the door.

"His voice… it's the same as the one that spoke about the 'close secret'", Charlotte realised.

The two enemies now stood side-by-side but, instead of facing Nozel and Charlotte, they started to bicker with each other.

"Your insistence on sending that royal on a treasure hunt was too boring for me. Just kill them and we'll be fully-fledged in no time!" Raven screamed

"I had orders and I wanted to see them through. You revealing me has put a dent in that so I'll let him know that you're the cause of it", Roman retorted.

"Oh, please… that guy isn't even awake and you're still acting like his pet. Just grow up for once!"

"Says the one that's acting like a five-year-old and jumping up and down. You look like a hungry puppy wanting some attention".

The two Magic Knights exchanged quick looks with each other and nodded.

"Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Blade!"

"Briar Magic: Blue Rose Strike!"

Nozel controlled a large, silver sword in the air that was going to swipe at Roman whereas Charlotte extended the briars on her sword to slash at Raven. It looked like there was no time for the enemies to react.

However…

"Urgh, hang on, bro…". Raven sighed before quickly raising her arm up and slashing at the two attacks, getting rid of them in one swipe, leaving five, red lines in the air in the aftermath.

"Spatial Magic?" The captains thought, shocked.

"Interrupting my argument with Roman? Bad move, you two…". Raven blew air out of her mouth before finally turning to face Charlotte.

Roman did the same as he looked at Nozel. "Whatever, then… We'll do what you want but the punishment from him goes all on you", he said.

"Yeah, yeah", Raven quickly replied, discarding what he said. "But… let's not fight here with such limited space, okay?" She said before twirling in place, raising the ends of her black overcoat to reveal the same crows as before.

"I guess I can still carry out my orders elsewhere…", Roman thought before doing the same action as his sister.

The black crows covered the room and, within a few seconds, took the two captains away again. The one voice that remained in the air was Raven's before everything turned pitch-black.

"I'm sure that weirdo Logan wasn't able to show you our proper strength. Let's show you how we vampires really fight!"

Only a few seconds passed before they returned outside where they were with Yami initially. The queues of people weren't there anymore and the afternoon was just silent before the four teleported through. Nozel and Roman were on the other side of the open area whereas Charlotte and Raven were on the opposite end.

The silver-haired mage looked beyond his enemy for a brief moment, focusing on the dark and cold mountains in the distance before turning back to Roman. "I don't have time for this. Mercury Magic: Silver Bullets!" Nozel shouted, summoning a plethora of small pieces of mercury that shot out randomly.

Roman opened his eyes and they were glowing a bright, red colour. He quickly weaved in and out of the firing bullets until the spell was finished.

"Mercury Magic: Silver Shining Regal Spear!" Nozel held his right arm upwards and motioned downwards. A bright beam of silver shot out and followed the movements, slashing down at Roman.

Roman started to spin and used the momentum to rotate out of the way of the powerful strike. He looked like a mini tornado with how quick he was moving and he managed to evade another of the royal's spells.

"Nozel Silva, a royal, and that was all you had to show for it?" He smirked, correcting his middle parting from all the movement.

"You're acting as if you know what my entire moveset and strategies are like already. Are you perhaps… a fan of mine?" He replied, smirking just as his opponent was to him.

This made Roman angry. "Fine. I'll leave what I was asked to do for a minute. Right now…", he breathed in and out before opening his mouth wide, revealing his four fangs that grew out of his canines. The veins around his eyes flared up and stuck out of his skin slightly. "I'll do what my sister said we do".

"What is that? That Logan guy did it against Yami and healed his wounds but… Roman hasn't been hurt yet". Nozel took a few counter measures by summoning a solid shield in front of him as a precaution.

"That won't do anything at all, royal".

Roman blitzed forwards, leaving afterimages of himself from where he initially stood that disappeared seconds later. He was past the shield that Nozel made and wrapped his hands around the captain's chest to keep him in place. His mouth dug into the royal's neck to suck his blood.

"Blood Spatial Magic: Crimson Gateway!"

Raven moved her arms outwards which created a door or blood in front of her. It opened and multiple small wolves came out of them, drooling blood as if it were saliva for them. They were on all black and on all fours as they charged ahead towards Charlotte.

"Briar Creation Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Trees!" The captain responded with her sword elongating into multiple different vines that grew to the size of trees with each root having multiple blue roses attached. Each travelled to a wolf to destroy it.

"Wow, that's some beautiful magic!" Raven praised with stars in her red eyes. She held her hands to cheek as she gasped.

"Thanks, but I'm not something to be gawked at. My magic is for winning, not beauty", Charlotte responded, tightening the grip on her sword.

Each vine wrapped around the wolves and tore them apart, leaving blood stains everywhere on the floor and her magic.

"Oh, you're strong, huh? Well, considering that I'm transitioning, I should probably use my magic sparingly", Raven nodded before her grimoire closed and returned to her.

"I've heard that word multiple times now. What do you mean by transition?" The Blue Rose mage asked.

"Three Magic Knight captains came to the home of vampires, yet didn't even do their research? Wow", Raven said, rolling her eyes. "It's the middle part towards the final result. A human becomes a vampire but it's not as simple as that. There's a grey area where you're neither one or the other.

Charlotte gulped. "So… How would you actually… transition?"

Raven's mouth opened wide and turned into an eerie smile. Her four fangs elongated and her eyes became brighter with the veins in her face popping out. "Why, that's by drinking human blood!"

She rushed forwards, rustling the dead grass on the floor as she did with how fast she was going. Charlotte looked around to catch where Raven was but she was too slow in doing so. Suddenly, the captain felt a chill go down her spine.

"A human has to die with vampire blood in their system to wake up in transition. Then… you drink from a human!" Raven cackled before going to sink her fangs into the woman's neck.

Instinctively, Charlotte summoned a technique of hers.

"Mana Skin!" She shouted and a thick layer of light-blue mana formed around her body, giving her a boost in defence. It repelled the vampire as she couldn't get through the coating.

Holding her head as she fell to the floor, Raven started shouting. "Just what kinda spell is that?!"

"It's something that all mages should learn to do at the start of the battle. It helps against close-combat foes like you", she replied.

Raven's face turned red and she repeatedly stomped on the floor as if she was having a temper tantrum. "I was going to transition earlier but Logan interrupted me. I was going to do it in the library but Roman wanted to wait. I was going to do it now but you brought out this annoying technique… Fine! Once I become a full vampire, I'll lose access to my grimoire eventually so I might as well use it now!"

She jumped in the air and spread her arms and legs out wide. Her black overcoat moved in the wind, revealing the grimoire she had in her satchel. It was torn and the red colour of it heavily contrasted her complete dark clothes so anyone could see it.

"Blood Spatial Magic: Crimson Gateway!"

Another door made out of blood formed in the sky and out came another animal. This time, it was a large, black crow which was similar to the other crows that the vampires had been using.

"What is it with her and animals… Anyway, I think I can beat her but there's questions surrounding her grimoire. First, I'll need to understand that", Charlotte thought before swinging her briar sword towards the large bat. "Briar Creation Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Trees!"

Her spell tried to reach the bat but, just as the vampire, it used its speed to evade their grasp and flew ahead towards Charlotte.

"Briar Creation Magic: Rotating Thorn Cycle!" She summoned multiple thorns that spun around in the air in front, creating a shield that protected her.

The bat hit the thorns and blood splattered out of the animal, leaving more blood stains around which hit the captain and her magic once again.

"The shield's broken but the bat is still here. Since it's right up close… Briar Magic: Blue Rose Strike!" Her sword became lined with blue roses and she slashed at the bat to cut through it.

"Ah… You shouldn't have done that, captain", Raven smiled as she watched from above.

The bat was torn in half but not before an explosion of blood occurred. The inside of the bat's body let out burning-hot droplets of blood that spread out everywhere and was about to fully submerge Charlotte in if she hadn't reacted.

"Briar Magic: Haven's Blue Dome!" The captain backed away but formed another protective spell around her. A dome of blue roses managed to defend her as her body was still intact. Though some of the blood did manage to get through because of its burning properties.

"That… hurts…", she winced as she felt a few burns across her body, mainly her arms and legs. "At least… that thing is dead…", she said before undoing her spell.

"You know, I've noticed something odd and maybe it's me just not being educated but… why are your 'roses' even blue in the first place?" Raven asked. "Surely when you picture a rose, you think of a red one, right?"

Charlotte's eyes widened as she thought about something momentarily. "Red roses… Well, there's a reason for that but…", she re-focused again. "It's none of your business. Red or blue, roses are roses and they will take you down!"

Raven raised her hands to the sides. "H-Hey, I was just asking but it seems like I struck a nerve. Maybe… red roses are stronger and it's just something that's beyond your capabilities? Otherwise… why would you get that angry?" She giggled, putting a hand to her mouth.

"My curse… I vowed to not let it rule over me ever since that day, so… I'm going to keep to that even here!" Charlotte's grimoire turned a page.

"Briar Magic: Hailing Storm of Thorns!"

Hundreds of tiny thorns illuminated the afternoon sky as they floated down from high above. The way they fell were like feathers, swaying side-to-side in the wind, and once they reached the floor, each thorn grew into a blue rose.

"Uh, that's pretty and all but what is a decorative spell like that going to do to me?" Raven asked, folding her arms.

However, just as she said that, a few thorns landed on her skin and caused her to cry out in pain.

"AHH!" Raven screamed as her body started to be enveloped by blue roses. "The thorns were tiny so I couldn't see them properly. They managed… to hit me but something like this shouldn't hurt so much!"

Then, a green light surrounded Charlotte on top of her light-blue Mana Skin. The burns on her body were healing as each rose grew on Raven.

"This spell saps your strength away and recovers my body. I needed you to be within distance and, since you decided to just watch from above, the spell could reach you", Charlotte explained. "Still, these vampires are tricky. I can see this being a big problem in the long run and we just don't have enough information about them…".

"You… really are an annoying old woman, aren't you?" Raven gritted her teeth with her fangs lining the skin just outside of her mouth. "I probably have one more spell left in my grimoire before… Well, I'll use it to complete the transition!"

Charlotte felt a change in the air and braced herself. She summoned Haven's Blue Dome once again to protect herself but Raven already had a plan to get through.

"Blood Spatial Magic: Infiltrating Claw!" She shouted as she slashed through the barrier spell with ease. Her right hand's black nails elongated and tore open a hole that was wide enough for the blue-haired vampire in transition to enter.

Although the enemy was right there, Charlotte's focus was on the grimoire by her side that had now started to disappear. "She was cautious in using her grimoire earlier and now… it's disappearing. Since she's technically dead, the grimoire should have gone away. I don't know why the grimoire stayed for so long but now… is my chance!"

"Briar Creation Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Trees!" Charlotte used the vines to trap Raven but the girl had already swiped at Charlotte's Mana Skin barrier to get through to her body.

The small gap that she created with her Blood Spatial Magic was enough for her to sink her teeth into. She was reaching for the captain whilst the rest of her body was tied up by Charlotte's spell.

Raising her head to take a breath and talk, Raven smiled. "I used my last bit of magic to get through and draw your blood. Now… Since I'm a full vampire, I can easily beat you!"

Charlotte undid her barrier spell and jumped a few feet away, holding the wound on her left arm. "I used Mana Skin and she still got through?! Besides… now that she's a full vampire, I…!"

The Blue Rose looked towards the vampire and saw that she was shaking. Her eerie and blood-soaked smile grew even bigger as she licked her lips.

"Finally…". Raven's eyes kept pulsating and her fangs started to turn red. The veins in her face were even more visible and you can see the blood flowing through them.

Charlotte's grimoire turned another few pages and she was about to summon a defensive spell. That was, until she saw what happened next.

Instead of the vampire attacking again, she fell to the floor in pain. Steam started to emerge from her body and she started to scream as the steam turned into flames.

"Wh-Wh-What's happening?!" Raven screamed, running about and rolling around to try and get the flames away. She looked up at the sun that was barely shining through the heavy clouds and cursed loudly. Its rays were still hitting her, though barely.

"She's burning up? But… why now? In the stories, vampires can't be in sunlight otherwise they'd burn up but the three we encountered had no problem!" Charlotte thought, shocked.

"I c-completed… the transition so… WHY?! WAS I LIED TO BY THEM?!" Her screams carried immense weight but they couldn't travel too far because of the bad weather that obscured her voice.

"Is it because she was in transition? Neither a human nor a vampire so she didn't have the properties of either… She wasn't fully what she wanted to be? Did this transition fail? Gah… I can't let her die, though. We need information and who knows if Logan and Roman will be willing to give it, or even if they're able to".

Charlotte ran forwards towards the dying vampire. "No grimoire so you can't use your Spatial Magic so I can be close enough without worrying. Briar Binding Magic: Vines of Restriction!" She surrounded the enemy in vines and prevented the light from reaching her. "Hey, Raven, can you use your crows to teleport us to some sort of shade?"

A few seconds went by and no answer.

"Raven?"

Again, another second passed and no response.

The captain kept the enemy bound but removed the upper layer of the spell so she could see what was happening and that was when she saw the reason for Raven's silence.

The vampire was fully grey. Her skin had discoloured and even her hair changed from blue to grey. There was no movement in her muscles and the sound of her breathing was non-existent. There was ash on the floor with parts of her body gone such as her arms and one of her legs.

"Dead? No… This… isn't death. It's almost like she's been frozen in state somehow. She's missing limbs, presumably because of the fire. The magic in her body has gone but I know she's not dead", Charlotte said to herself.

The Blue Rose looked back at the ruined castle of Augustine as the grey clouds above started to obscure the vast building.

"Just what is happening here…?"

"Gah!" Nozel shouted loudly. He felt Roman's fangs dig deep into his flesh and it almost seemed like they would go through to the other side with how hard the vampire was going. Within seconds, he could feel his vision start to blur and he was becoming lightheaded. "The blood… the fangs… the power and strength… So, you vampires are real, huh?!"

Roman lifted his mouth from the wounded neck and exhaled heavily. Blood was dripping from his fangs and he licked them with his tongue. "Of course, we are. Those stories we were told as kids… they had to have come from somewhere!" He was going back to suck some more blood but stopped when he heard Nozel respond.

"I wasn't… going all out since I thought… y-you were just a foolish human who… didn't know his place. Since you vampires… are real… I'll show you what a royal can really do!" Nozel grabbed Roman by the arms and forcefully loosened his grasp on his body. "You have free access to my blood, so to prevent that… Mana Skin!"

A silver-coloured layer of mana formed around the outline of the royal's skin, giving him a defensive boost. He put more focus on the technique around his neck which stopped the heavy bleeding. Mana Skin also repelled the vampire away and made him cover his eyes for a brief moment.

"Although it's a technique that all high-class mages should use from the start of battle, we're near a Grand Magic Zone which had made it difficult to do so from the start. Unfortunately for you, I've grown used to it since the start of our battle", he explained.

Roman looked back at the vast sets of mountains in the far distance. "It's true that Breed Mountain, the backdrop to Augustine, is within a Grand Magic Zone… Are you saying you got accustomed to the crazy flow of mana in such a short time to be able to output Mana Skin?"

"Look at you, you're much smarter than you look", Nozel answered rather sarcastically before changing his expression into more serious one. "Mercury Creation Magic: Slash of the Silver Eagle!"

The transport spell that Nozel often used formed in front of him and raced towards the surprised enemy who was watching on. The eagle's feathers extended outwards and converged together to form two, large, sharp blades. The spell slashed horizontally with its right wing first and then used its left in a vertical direction, giving two huge cuts to the enemy vampire.

After the spell dematerialised, Roman fell to the floor in a heap of his own blood. Nozel walked forwards and looked down at him. "You vampires aren't so tough. After all that talk, that was all you had to show for it?"

The captain used Roman's own words against him but all the enemy could do was smile.

"Fair enough. I'm weaker than most… and I might die here… but I am going to fulfill the mission that my master gave me in his place…", he said with a deep exhale.

"Mission and Master?" Nozel repeated.

"Did you ever stop to think why neither Logan, Raven, or I never used our grimoires against you humans? Well, it's because we forsook them to gain power… However, remnants of their abilities remained with us…".

Nozel instinctively jumped backwards and away from the injured enemy. In front of Roman, a torn-up book slowly rose from the open satchel he had on his person that was just hiding underneath his black overcoat. It was a thin grimoire with only a few pages within.

"The grimoire is in shambles. Beaten up… broken… it looks like one touch would make it wither away", Nozel analysed.

"Blood Book Magic: The Real Truth!" Roman shouted out. The torn grimoire shone before falling apart into pieces but not before his final spell materialised.

Roman extended his arms outwards and his black fingernails started to glow red as if he were wearing nail polish. The veins around his face flared up and his fangs grew longer.

He slashed in a forward motion, tensing his two arms and hands. He created 10 red cuts in the air that then converged, fused, and mixed together to create a floating book. It was open and forming images within. Although he was heavily injured from the recent attack, he was strong enough for this final spell.

"Did you question… why there was so much information on you, Nozel Silva?" He asked as the surroundings started to change.

"The Augustines lived in this area and I assume they had a grudge against the royals. Were they preparing for something?" Nozel replied.

"Correct. To put it in simple terms - revenge! Revenge on the ones that forced the… Augustines to hide out here, away from the rest of the nobility". He said.

"You have your history mixed up. The Augustines were the ones that chose to come here, after they insulted the nobility in the Royal Capital", Nozel refuted with a calm but stern voice.

"Ah, I see that you're still confused by your twisted fantasies. Let me tell you - or rather show you - exactly what went down. Roman Black will reveal the truth!" He shouted, blood still pouring out from his open wounds.

The image was a blur at first but it quickly became clear after a few seconds. It depicted the inside of a throne room with the king in the main seat and another figure who was sitting with him to the right.

"Father?" Nozel said aloud, recognising the other man.

The man looked similar to Nozel regarding hair length, face shape, and height, but he had no braid going down the middle of his face. Instead, he had a side parting with a lot of his silver hair combed over and slightly slicked back. His eyes were dark-purple and he seemed to have a permanent scowl.

The king waved his hand and Nozel's dad stood up and addressed the family of four that were kneeling down just below the steps and opposite the throne. He wore the typical Silver Eagle uniform but there were multiple gold medals and silver pins attached to his squad robe which had a faint, gold border around it. He also wore silver-grey gloves and he showed them off as he pointed down to the four. There was a man and a woman with a child in each of their arms.

"Due to your inability and failure to produce results for us in the Royal Capital, you are to be moved elsewhere. Arrangements have been made for you to take residence at the abandoned castle near the border to the Spade Kingdom".

"But Sir Silva, our family's expertise is in communication! How will we be of use all the way over there, not to mention the rumours about the Spade Kingdom! My children cannot be so close to such dangers!" The man pleaded.

"The decision has been made. If you worry for your family then you should have produced results. Anyway, in regards to the Spade Kingdom, your job there is to establish communication with them. There is a willing party on the other side but, to reach them, you will have to do so yourself".

"You're sending us there but you won't even help us?!" The woman stood up and shouted at both the Silva and King Clover. "Don't act so self-important and self-indulgent. You are only getting rid of us because of fear!"

Nozel's eyes widened as he heard the words 'self-indulgent'. "So, it was true what the Augustines said about the nobility. However… none of the reasons why they were essentially banished were revealed…", he said under his breath.

"Fear?" The Silva repeated. "Why would we elites be fearful of weaklings like you. You could not impress here so we're offering you another chance. If you don't accept, then you'll be stripped of your nobility. Actually, if that happens you'll be no different to the peasants that live over there in the first place", he chuckled.

The man and the woman knelt back down, shadows across their eyes. Their faces were tense and it looked like either one of the two would burst apart with the amount of anger they were holding inside.

The king stood up and off his throne for the first time. "I believe the message is clear. Get out of the Capital, and work for us diligently whilst over there. If you don't, then expect your nobility to be gone and eventual execution to await you".

A short while passed as the family left the throne room but they had left the doors slightly open. The man stood against the wall, listening in to the conversation between the two royals.

"Nice work, Argent", the king smiled.

"Of course. Our economical yield this year is low and there is fear that an uprising with the commoners and peasants could be on the cards. However, letting go of the Augustines frees up space and we can sell their land to balance the books", Argent Silva replied, laughing.

"We would usually force the ones in the Common Realm or Forsaken Realm to give up their belongings but the price was too great. Fortunately, blaming the Augustines worked in our favour, especially with the amount of influence they were gathering. Nobility is everything to them and if we threaten that, we can keep them in our palms!" The king cackled, holding his stomach.

Whilst this was revealed, the man and woman who were listening in gritted their teeth.

"You threaten us and force us to work for you like this?! Fine. We'll do exactly that but don't think you'll be safe in the future…

… Mark my words!"

Then, the book closed and the red slashes in the air faded, returning to Roman's fingertips. However, Roman wasn't where Nozel left him on the floor. Instead, he was…

"Now that I've shown you what the master wanted you to see… I can finally kill you!" He shouted from behind Nozel. He was in the air with his mouth wide open once again. He was aiming for the neck, despite Mana Skin being up.

"You may rip through Mana Skin, but because you used magic, I can sense the remnants of mana inside your body. Though it's quickly fading, I still know where you are if I act quickly!" Nozel turned his head around quickly while forming a spell from the palm of his hand.

"Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Blade!" The tip of a sword formed in the captain's palm and he shot it out into Roman's chest and through his heart. Eventually, the entire sword formed in its whole and raced towards one of the broken buildings nearby. The tip of the sword stabbed into the wall and stuck the vampire on the middle of its blade.

Roman let out a scream and he spat out a lot of blood. He tried to escape but the sword was too strong and sharp to do anything about it. Eventually, he just dropped his shoulders as his face started to turn grey from the chest up.

"Y-Y… You g-g-got me…", Roman said as his eyes started to roll towards the back of his head. However, his fangs were throbbing and the veins in his face were flowing quickly with blood.

"You're saying one thing, but your face shows another… The anger in your expression is about the incident between the Augustines and the royals. Why… are you angry?" Nozel asked as he walked over.

"My master… You won't understand it. It's a vampire thing but… just know that you royals are not safe. I'm not even an Augustine and I feel their anger so… just imagine what they would do considering… they're much stronger…", he explained before dropping his head.

"His entire body's turned grey like the blood in his body's all gone. There's no life in him anymore… Not like there was any to begin with", Nozel noted.

He started to walk away after surrounding the dead Roman in bindings made out of his Mercury Magic. "Vampires… Augustines… This is a problem…".

Escaping the dungeon in the depths of the Augustine castle, Yami and Elijah made their way through the mysterious building. The hallways were dark with cobwebs and dust filling up every path.

"It's a good thing I can conjure up some light, huh?" Elijah smiled as he led the way. His Conductor Magic illuminated the way before them.

"Yeah, yeah, that's sure good and all but… where the hell are ya taking me?" Yami replied, walking behind the skinny and weak man with his hands in his pockets.

"To our grimoires, of course. You do want your spells back, right?" Elijah sighed.

"I mean… yeah, but we've been walking for ages. Do you even know where they're being kept?" The swordsman asked with haste. He was getting impatient.

"Logan was tasked with putting the people in prisons so he took their grimoires beforehand. There's an area just below the dungeon and it's where all the valuables are stocked", the man replied.

"You sure do know a lot about this place. Were you adopted by the Augustines or something?" Yami asked, intrigued with his knowledge.

"I was originally a slave that was living here, even before the Augustines showed up. They helped me out and freed me from my captors but I haven't seen them for a while…".

"What were they like?"

"The Augustines? Hm, they were caring and always did their jobs to perfection. It's just…".

"Go on", Yami said, encouraging the man to continue.

"I'm not sure. I sensed a darkness in them. It was like they were constantly angry about something but they never showed it in full. It was the little things like their expressions and the way they spoke to one another", he finished.

"Hmmmm", Yami nodded.

After that, the two mages reached one last hallway with only one door at the end. It was down a set of stairs and it looked like they couldn't go any further without opening it.

"Is this it?" Yami asked.

"This is the deepest area. I've only walked past this place once before and it was for an errand so I didn't focus on this particular area. Other than that… all of this is new to me", Elijah explained.

Yami put his hand to the doorknob and pushed it gently so that he wouldn't make any noise. "This is as careful as I can get since using Ki doesn't really matter here as the place is crawling with those freaky things. I don't know whether to trust it or not so I'll go on the defensive".

As the swordsman opened the door, he saw a burst of bright light and it hit his face, making him look away for a few seconds so that he'd get used to it. When he opened his eyes a few seconds later, he saw a wall of flowing lava that swirled into a shallow, red pool on the floor.

"Uh, what?" Yami was confused. "Why on earth is this here?"

"Hm, I'm not sure. Maybe it's some sort of decoration?" Elijah replied, scratching his chin.

"You come out with some weird things".

"Oh… really? Do I… reallyyyy?" Elijah sang.

"Shh, you idiot!" Yami whispered with force. "What if that vampire is here?!"

The conductor shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Then we'd have seen him by now. Besides… don't you feel something from behind the lava?"

Yami shook his head. "This guy's danger sense is in the negatives. I know I can be nonchalant about things but this is too much!" He then looked at the lava and focused, feeling something faint yet familiar to him through it. "My grimoire is behind the lava".

"Mine too".

"Alright, I'll just bust through with my strength and take the two as quick as I can". Yami was about to run for the lava but a shout from Elijah stopped him.

"You got a burst of power earlier to break through the chains but I highly doubt you'd survive contact with lava! Just… look around. Maybe there's a switch or a lever?" He said before scanning the room.

The two looked carefully and ended up at opposite ends of the room. Yami sighed before taking a hit of a cigarette to then blow some smoke out of his mouth.

"Where the hell did you get that from?" Elijah shouted out from behind him.

"It's a secret. I'm not telling you", Yami responded. "There's nothing here anyway. I think my plan to power through is the righ-!" As he looked up towards the skinny man, he sighed and then smiled.

"Found it. Guess I've saved you from burning up, huh?" He smiled as he stood leaning against the big lever that was attached to the wall. The man pushed against the lever and the two heard the sounds of gears and wires turning and sparking behind the walls and the ceiling.

The flowing lava started to come to a halt with a large staircase descending even further down. The sides were lined with candles and there was what looked like the start of some sort of carpet right by the end of the stairs.

Although the area where the grimoires were was revealed, the lever not only stopped the lavafall but caused something else to happen.

On the floor, there was a section that started to divide and it rose up quickly, separating Yami from Elijah. The thick, stone wall was too big to cut through as the swordsman was trying to do and the conductor had no strength to do anything from his side.

"Well, this isn't exactly ideal", Yami said as he tried to slash through once again. His sword just bounced right back, shaking the grip in his hands.

"Hm, this is some… interesting security system. Yami, do you have light on the other side?" Elijah asked, moving his hand across the dividing wall. His voice was the only thing connecting him to Yami as the wall made it so the two couldn't see each other.

"Yeah, there's plenty of candles around".

"Well, go get them and hurry back here. I'll lift the lever as you do and we can finally get out of this hellhole", he responded.

"You got it", Yami saluted to the wall before walking down the stairs. One hand was in his pocket whereas the other was on his katana.

Just as he reached the last step and right before he could see the room in front of him, he stopped and gulped. Sweat lined the top of his head and trickled down his face. A chill went through his body and the little hairs on his arms all stuck up.

"Ki is useless here but I can still tell this place is not somewhere I should be. Still, I can still sense mana perfectly and there's something… overwhelming here".

The Black Bull still went on and the entirety of the room revealed itself to him. Yami's eyes widened with what he saw but he wasn't exactly sure what it was.

The room he entered was as large as the height of the entire Augustine castle on the surface. It was as if another castle could fit in the depths here. From the ceiling and on the floor, lining most of the open spaces were brown and black stalactites and stalagmites.

There were pools of lava on one side and pools of water on the other. Droplets of the former fell from the ceiling to the left whereas droplets of the latter fell from the right.

"Just what… is this place?" Yami wondered as he walked further into the giant cave. He walked on the red carpet underneath him. "There's something important here…".

Past the first rows of sharp stones and rocks, were more and more. The cave's environment was repeating and, after a few minutes, Yami reached the centre.

"This isn't funny you vampires. I could sense my grimoire from behind the lava but I didn't think I had to walk a marathon to get to it", he yawned.

As he took another step, the space below the closeby stalactites started to glow a red colour, creating a sudden aurora. Yami ignored it and walked on until he reached the dead centre of the room. This place was smaller in size but the nearby area was the same in terms of look as the rest of the cave was.

Within this place, a floating, black case was in the middle surrounded by a mixture of colours in an orb.

"Red, blue, yellow, and green? I have no idea what these colours mean", Yami shrugged. He looked closely and it looked like each colour was holding the black case in place but the red one was flickering.

As he noticed this, he turned to the right and instinctively jumped backwards, unsheathing his katana. However, Yami remained safe.

"You… You're not moving?"

What Yami saw was the grey and completely lifeless body of the one he was attacked and imprisoned by a few hours ago. Logan was laying on the floor, staring up at the black box above him with a face that screamed fear. His otherwise red eyes were devoid of any kind of activity and had turned grey, as well as strained for some reason.

Yami slowly walked towards him and examined the vampire. Judging that he wasn't in danger anymore, the man started to click his fingers around the vampire's face. He lifted his black overcoat and saw what was attached inside of it.

"My grimoire! Oh, and Elijah's, I think?" Yami went to grab the two but noticed something odd with his own.

There was a dark and foreign energy radiating from his spellbook when it was with Logan. "This ain't Dark Magic, that's for sure". Yami then forcefully took his grimoire back which made the weird energy disappear, returning his spellbook to normal. His grimoire fit perfectly in his satchel and he decided to hold the singer's in his hand. "Hm, this grimoire is tiny. There's… Huh?! One page in it… Hm, I guess a conductor doesn't need that many spells, does he?"

Yami, after closing the second grimoire, backed away from the dead enemy. He looked at the floating black case and all the colours once again. "I don't understand this but… It's definitely something I shouldn't mess with judging by how these vampires are. Marx can just use his Memory Magic on me for information, I guess".

He shook his head before turning away but, just as he took a step out from the enclosed space, he felt a shift in the air. Yami turned around and saw the reason.

"Those four colours. Red, blue, yellow, and green… The red was flickering and now its…".

The colours that surrounded the black box were now just three as the red colour had disappeared. Due to this, a change in the orb happened and the box itself disappeared with no trace left. The remaining colours stayed in place but with nothing to hold onto.

"... Gone? Is…!" Yami turned to look at Logan but he wasn't there anymore. His body had also disappeared. "What the goddamn hell is going on here?!" He turned around and left the inner section to only be greeted by a horror scene.

Scattered along the stalagmites, were hundreds of human bodies all stabbed through by the sharp points of the cave stones and rocks. They were hanging on, not by life, but because of their inability to fall further down as their bodies got caught.

"Holy sh-shit…". Yami, who was usually foreign to feelings of fear, had his heart racing with the sight of the impaled dead. "This is where those queues of people… ended up?"

As the swordsman went to run out of the cave, some of the bodies started to move. Thinking there was a chance, Yami turned back with a hopeful smile but that feeling was erased straight away.

"No…", he whispered at what he saw. Without even wasting another second, he rushed back up the stairs towards Elijah.

"Oi, open up the wall!" He shouted, banging as loud as he could. However, there was no response. Yami focused again and felt his throat close up. Through Ki, he knew that Elijah had fallen unconscious and was on the floor on the opposite side of the raised wall.

Having his grimoire back, he could finally use his stronger spells again. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash!" The katana used darkness to slash through the wall with ease, breaking it in a clean half.

Yami rushed through and picked up the sleeping Elijah and put him on his shoulders. The man looked even weaker than he was a few minutes ago with how easily he was lifted.

"Now you're like this? This place… I need to find Nozel and Charlotte!"

Back on the surface of Augustine, Nozel and Charlotte met up again and exchanged information with each other about their fights as well as about the vampires.

"They had to die first to be reborn as a vampire? Makes sense…", Nozel sighed as he shook his head.

"But that's only if they drink from a human. Otherwise, they're stuck in what they call 'transition'", Charlotte added.

"This is looking to be a big problem. With the Eye of the Midnight Sun and now this… We've got to keep our guards up", Nozel explained.

"True. Did you learn anything about their motives?"

"The Augustines have a grudge against the royals with their main hate aimed towards the Silvas and Kiras. My father wronged them along with the king", Nozel answered, closing his eyes. It looked like he was tensing his face, trying not to display his clear anger.

"Your father?" She repeated as a question. "Judging by his expression, it's best to not pry into it, but that evidence board in the library makes a little more sense now...", she thought, putting some of the pieces together. "Well, I've captured that Raven girl but I'm not sure if we can get information out of her in the state she's in. Maybe Marx can do something", the Blue Rose said.

"Our mission isn't finished though. We came here because of the human trafficking issue in the first place. We just need the foreigner to show up and get back to it".

"Right. But… where is he?"

As if on purpose, a shout from the distance came from the very man the two were talking about. The two turned around to face him but they were confused with what they were looking at.

"Is that someone around his shoulder?"

"What has he gotten himself into this time?"

"Never mind any of that. Nozel, Charlotte… we need to go now!" Yami shouted.

Charlotte's eyes widened with surprise. "He never calls me by my actual name. If he is, then… something is serious!"

Nozel didn't find that same realisation and questioned him. "What do you mean? We came here to help those people from their capto-". He was about to say but the Dark mage cut him off.

"They're all dead. The vampires… got to them and now they're all turning. Yami thought back to what he saw in the depths of the Augustine castle.

"Their bodies started to move so I thought there was a chance to help them but… I also saw red eyes, fangs growing out of their teeth and I got the feeling of… a lust for blood", he gulped.

"All of them are dead? I can't believe that". Nozel shook his head.

"Captain Nozel, I think we should believe him. Yami is a lot of things but he isn't a liar… especially when it concerns lives", Charlotte said. "I know he's telling the truth. His face even shows that he is…", she thought as she looked at the fear in his strained, grey eyes.

Nozel put his hand to his face, looking back at Augustine and then at the direction of the Royal Capital. "Ah, fine… If you're lying to us, foreigner, then prepare for what the Wizard King will do to you as punishment… Mercury Creation Magic: Soaring Skies!"

Mercury formed and converged into the metallic bird, lifting up the three captains on its back. Within seconds, they were away from the ominous area and were now on their way to the Royal Capital.

"Who's that guy on your shoulder?" Nozel asked, or rather he demanded as he was frustrated.

"A prisoner. He helped me out a lot and is the only survivor. I'll explain everything once we get to Julius", Yami replied.

The Clover Kingdom's Magic Knights were retreating for now on Yami's orders but the mystery of Augustine remained.

Hours later, now that the moon had risen up and was shining above the quiet, yet clear Augustine, there was movement around the surface.

A shadow loomed over Roman who was still stabbed through the chest with Nozel's Silver Blade. A white-gloved hand grabbed the weapon and easily snapped it into two to remove the vampire's body.

The grey vampire started to return to his original colour but was still coughing blood. He fell to the floor as he tried to recover. "I… was stabbed through the heart, and yet… I'm not dead? I wonder if… Raven is…", he gulped.

The shadow got closer to the one it had saved. "Poor Roman. I gave you a few orders and you failed me like this. Well, at least you're still alive", the male voice chuckled. "Understand that though your heart was pierced, it was not removed from your body. Be grateful that your attacker had no knowledge of a vampire's anatomy".

Roman's eyes widened as he saw just who was towering over him. He crawled backwards and prostrated himself towards the person. "M-Master… I thank you for your…", he gulped. "... Kindness in saving me".

The moon was right above Roman's saviour but the way he stood made it so that every facial feature of his was darkened. Only his bright red eyes shone in the black shade which stared right through the injured vampire.

The man turned around. "Stand up, Roman. You fail at the task I set and your sister has been taken by the humans and you were sleeping as if you had not a worry. What will you do to rectify your mistake?"

Roman gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I… I will do as you say", he said before bowing his head again.

The man smiled, licking his fangs. His red eyes tore through his subject's as he shivered in anticipation of what his master could do. "The right answer. Unfortunately, your sister will have to wait but… the Box of Daeva has been unlocked".

"The… black box? What… happened for it to open?"

"One of the Four Great Spirits had ceased control. I believe… Salamander has disappeared which means that the grand plan can now be underway", the man looked towards the moon, smiling. "It will be time to infiltrate soon".

Under the ruined castle, the cave that housed the Box of Daeva was crawling with the undead. The hundreds of human corpses that were lined along the sharp rocks had now pried themselves off.

The rows of new vampires stood still as they looked towards a dark figure where the box originally was. They then all bowed at once towards it.

"O', Sealed One… The plan to unleash you… will commence!"

NOTES:

Finally… I'm back to finish this span of five chapters where the update schedule got thrown away… hehe.

What did you think of the introduction to the vampires? There's still a lot of mystery around them that I'll go into further as the story progresses.

Soon, I'll be going back to the original canon so I hope you look forward to that. The Star Festival will be coming!