CH 228

“That can’t be.”

Eugene smirked. The progenitor of the Blood Shadow School had perished long ago. Moreover, the wizards of the Blood Shadow School were only favorable to vampires because the founder of their school was a vampire. They had nothing to do with any particular clan.

Eugene quickly organized his thoughts before speaking to Christian, who was still prostrating on the ground, “Do you remember what I said earlier?”

“What do you mean?” Christin asked.

“I take precedence over all wills,” Eugene repeated.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Christian suddenly bashed his forehead against the floor before shouting, “The supreme one is the lord of the tribe! You stand above all practices and laws of the Tribe of the Night!”

“Even above the clan?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right,” Christian answered without hesitation. He was certain. It no longer held any meaning for him to get nitty gritty about clans and all formalities since he had already seen a vampire like Eugene. The existence in front of him was the absolute king of the clan, and Christian knew instinctively from the imprint on his soul and blood.

Eugene spoke, “Then, from now on, you will serve me.”

“It is an honor!” Christian shouted while shuddering with excitement.

The one he called father—the one responsible for transforming him into a vampire.

The Helmond Clan—a powerful clan with hundreds of members.

Such things were meaningless in front of this man, the king of blood and the supreme vampire. An unparalleled existence was about to take him in.

‘I can stand by the side of the King of Darkness! That means I can get revenge on that wicked woman!’

Ahh! How could he be so generous? How could he bestow another chance to one who dared to bare their fangs toward him?!

Christian reveled in joy and hope of revenge. Eugene spoke once again, “By the way, how did you strengthen the monsters?”

“I used this,” Christian answered while hurriedly pulling something out of his inner pocket.

“Hmm?” Eugene’s eyes glimmered. The object was an incense burner made delicately by connecting three skeletons.

‘I’m certain. It’s the exact same incense burner that belonged to the wizard I had killed in the Carls Baggins Peninsula.’

It was the same object which belonged to the black wizard who controlled the undead twin-headed ogre whom people mistakenly assumed had been converted by Eugene. The object Christian raised over his head was surprisingly similar to the incense burner that the black wizard had in his possession.

“So, what did you do with this?” Eugene asked.

“First, I mixed the blood of humans, monsters, and vampires…” Christian eagerly explained. He had obtained an accurate understanding of Eugene’s personality in the meantime, so he gave a very simple, clear explanation.

“So, you mix the blood of humans with the blood of the monster you want to strengthen, then add the blood of a high-ranking vampire. Afterward, you burn it, correct?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right,” Christian answered.

“But are there many magic tools like this? I guess the others who are serving on similar missions as you have things like this?” Eugene asked while lifting the incense burner.

Christian answered, “With all due respect, but as far as I understand, there are only a few of these precious objects. I dare say that there could not be more than three.”

“Hmm.”

Eugene nodded. Indeed, it made sense that there wouldn’t be dozens of tools capable of creating an undead out of a powerful monster like the twin-headed ogre and controlling it.

‘If there are three, that means I’ve already gotten my hands on two of them.’

The incense burner he had previously acquired was with Romari. He had no real use for it, and Romari had practically begged him for it, saying that she needed it in her research for chimeras.

“I’ll take this,” Eugene said. It would be helpful for Romari’s chimera research. Until now, he had distributed most of the spoils he had gained to the knights. It was about time for him to present her with a gift, as she had suffered quite a bit as his wizard.

“Everything of mine humble self belongs to the supreme one. Please take it,” Christian answered.

“Good. Next question,” Eugene stated. Afterward, Eugene spoke with Christian for another thirty or so minutes. Naturally, he did not find out everything he wanted, but he managed to obtain quite a bit of useful information.

Eugene nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Good work.”

“It’s an honor,” Christian answered.

“Hmm. Now, there’s the matter with your disposition…” Eugene muttered while looking down at Christian. The vampire’s head was bowed, and his shoulders were trembling, probably due to his expectations.

Eugene continued, “I’ll take you as my vassal then.”

“Oohh…!” Christian’s entire body trembled with overwhelming joy.

The high lord of the Helmond Clan? Such a meager, humble position was nothing compared to being the vassal of the supreme lord. Such was the highest honor for any member of the Dark Clan.

“But I already have a vassal. There’s also someone I had taken in as an administrator. Ah, come to think of it, there are a couple of others who are similar to vassals in Brantia. Anyway, sort it out amongst yourselves later on,” Eugene said.

“I will keep that in mind!” Christian shouted while kowtowing. No matter what anyone said, it didn’t change the fact that he was originally a high lord of the Helmond Clan. He was confident in becoming the right-hand man of the supreme vampire. Christian soaked in ecstatic joy. However, he had no idea that a vassal of the Origin was currently swamped with work across the sea in Brantia, and that same vassal was suffering from extreme stress and was filled with the desire to kill just about anyone.

***

“Then I will give you a month. Take care of your mess,” Eugene said.

“I will do my best. I swear it on my blood,” Christian answered before quietly leaving the dungeon with his subordinates through a secret passage he had made earlier. After killing all of his slaves, he only had about five subordinates left. Even so, each of them was strong enough to stand their ground against two or three experienced knights. As such, there was no need to worry about them.

Christian’s mission was simple. He had to restore all the evil lands he had tampered with, including the dungeon of the Tywin territory. He would block all the secret burrows used to send monsters out of the evil lands, and he would have to kill the evolved monsters as well. However, he was told to leave the high-ranking monsters untouched, as Eugene would go around to exterminate them, anyway.

Monsters would continue to be born even if Christian properly completed his job, but as long as no one else intervened, their growth rate would normalize.

“Kieeeeh? Then we will have fewer mana stones. Are you sure?” Mirian asked. The spirit always talked about wealth, both in her wake and her sleep.

She had a point. If the monsters were left untouched, Eugene could definitely acquire more mana stones. However, Eugene had already seen through the traps hidden within this incident.

“You’re probably right. Since there are other clans involved, it’s probably not just a matter of our dukedom either,” Eugene answered. There were vampires from at least two, possibly more than three clans who were on missions to infiltrate and carry out similar tasks as Christian. Moreover, it had been almost a year. In addition, it was highly likely that similar things were happening in the other kingdoms of the continent, aside from just the Kingdom of Caylor. With the number and the quality of the monsters increasing, the supply of mana stones would exponentially increase as well.

“Wouldn’t we take a loss?” Mirian asked.

“Not at all,” Eugene answered. Even in the short term, although they would be making relatively less profit, they wouldn’t be making a loss. Moreover, it was only limited to profits from mana stones.

In the long run…

‘The Dukedom of Maren and I will benefit no matter what. The same with those who had planned this whole thing.’

Eugene’s eyes glimmered coldly. He turned and spoke to Princess Lilisain and the elven knights, “All of you may have already guessed, but this matter will remain a secret for the time being.”

“Hmm.” The expressions of the elven knights changed subtly. Although they were favorable toward Eugene, they were knights in essence. They couldn’t simply agree to release Christian, someone who had committed an outright sin, as well as to keep such a serious fact hidden from the public.

Noticing the hesitancy of the knights, Eugene spoke in a stern voice, “He is just the tail. If we start blabbering about this, we will miss the opportunity to strike at the head. Sirs, you should already know my personality and the path I have walked so far.”

“…!”

The elves became startled by Eugene’s words. They fell into contemplation for a minute, then nodded.

“Of course…”

“We trust in Your Majesty.”

The expressions of the elves were once again placid. A few even had satisfied faces. They knew Eugene to be a man who knew when and how to act according to the situation. Moreover, he was fit to be called the perfect model of knights. Although he sometimes used extraordinary methods that were unknightly, he was ultimately a hero who had punished the undead, killed black wizards, and saved a country from a crisis. Moreover, had he not killed roamers during his journey, though they were unrelated to the subjugations? He had done so to save villages and residents from danger.

“Who else could we trust if not an honorable knight like you, Your Majesty?”

“I will gladly join the path of uprooting evil.”

“Thank you for your understanding,” Eugene responded with a pleasant smile on the outside and an insidious smile inside.

‘I’m glad they’re naïve from having lived their entire lives stuck on the island of Eland.’

“I also know your personality and the path you have been walking. Honor and chivalry, such things are meaningless. If anyone dares to touch what belongs to me, then I will… Kieeeh…”

The spirit, who knew her contractor better than anyone else, whispered as she slowly stuffed herself inside of her leather pocket. It was quite fortunate that her survival instinct had improved even though her intelligence had remained unchanged.

“Your Majesty, is this the end of the subjugation?” Princess Lilisain asked.

Eugene shook his head. “No, we still have the most important thing left.”

“By that…”

Eugene left behind Princess Lilisain’s excited gaze and turned around. The place where Christian and his men had been residing was located right in front of the dungeon’s center. Beyond it, at the end of the winding aisle, was an undiscovered area engulfed in ominous darkness. No one had ever traveled to the dungeon’s heart.

“We will enter the heart of the dungeon,” Eugene said.

Oooh…!

The elven knights gasped. There were only unconfirmed rumors regarding the heart of evil lands. No one had actually succeeded in conquering an evil land’s heart. No, rather, there weren’t even any eyewitness accounts, as no one had ever returned alive.

‘However…’

‘It will be different for His Majesty!’

Even a vampire high lord had to stop just before the heart of the dungeon, but this was Eugene they were talking about. They were filled with expectations. Perhaps today would be the day in which he would make an accomplishment that would forever be passed down in history.

***

Kwaaaaaa!

“Keugh!”

Eugene turned his head at the groan coming from behind. Even Princess Lilisain, who rarely expressed her pain, was clenching her lips until they bled.

‘This is troublesome.’

Eugene inwardly clicked his tongue. The first thing he saw after climbing down the stairs was a large passage measuring five meters wide and high. It was quite a large formation, but no one showed any reaction until that point. However, less than a minute after entering the passage, the elven knights began to howl in pain.

Evil energy…

Even the elven knights, who were quite resistant to evil mysteries, could not withstand the enormous amount of evil energy flowing from the heart of the dungeon. In the end, Eugene was forced to command all the elven knights to retreat back from the passage. Princess Lilisain managed to endure a little longer as a pureblood of Eland’s royal family, but it appeared that she was at her limit.

“Are you all right? Eugene asked.

“M-my apologies! This seems to be my limit, Your Majesty,” Princess Lilisain responded.

“K-kieeehh… S-sir. I’m having a hard time too.”

Even Mirian, who had made a contract with him, was struggling to fly around properly. As such, Eugene had no choice but to make a decision.

“There’s no helping it. Both of you, go back. I will go alone from here,” Eugene said.

“B-but…”

“Sir. I don’t have a good feeling about this. Let’s just go back together.”

“No, the two of you can go back. I’m fine.”

It was true. Although Eugene felt a slight, unidentified pressure from inside the heart of the dungeon, he was mostly unaffected. Meanwhile…

‘This feels familiar. Why is it?’

Eugene was more curious rather than nervous by the strange atmosphere.

“I’ll be right back. If I think it will be dangerous, I will retreat immediately,” Eugene said.

“…Covenant.” Princess Lilisain muttered.

“What?”

“You made a promise, Your Majesty,” Princess Lilisain said.

“Oh… Right.” Eugene nodded obediently. From the princess’ gaze, he had a premonition that something big would happen if he did not return.

Eugene continued on the path after leaving behind the spirit and Princess Lilisain.

Kieheeeeeeeeng!

The wind blew with an ominous sound. Eugene would have evoked his Fear under normal circumstances, but he did not. His instinct and intuition were telling him that he didn’t need to do so in this space. After walking for a few more minutes, Eugene’s eyes slowly grew larger.

Darkness…

A black wall, seemingly filled with infinite darkness, was blocking his way.

“This is…”

Eugene slowly approached. The smooth wall was like glass made of obsidian.

Suddenly…

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

A huge amount of Fear surged from Armis and Wolfslaughter. Simultaneously, Paracletus expanded to protect his front, and Madarazika rose into the air with a cry.

“…!”

A scene was reflected in Eugene’s fiery eyes. Beyond the black wall, which was filled with only darkness, all kinds of monsters and creatures were killing and devouring each other. It was impossible to consider these monsters and creatures as natives of this world. Eugene’s lips slowly parted, and he expressed the grotesque sight with words.

“…Hell.”