Thalassar's anger rose, but he wasn't foolish enough to engage in combat with the King of Vampires when he wasn't at full power.
"Why are you here, Vlad?" the archlich asked.
"I'm here to tell you that as long as you don't cause trouble for my lord, you can go back to sleep. But if you truly want to stir up trouble, I suggest you head to Europe. There, you'll only be dealing with the Hightower, not me, my lord, or our organization," Vlad replied.
"Hightower?" Thalassar muttered, his mind racing to decipher the intrigue behind Vlad's words.
From what he remembered, the Hightower was a mage organization tasked with regulating mages and certain aspects of the Curtained World. It was founded by Merlin himself, and after Merlin vanished, it was managed by Envy, the Witch of Envy. That two-faced wretch, who preaches peace and harmony but is actually ruthless.
Many underestimated her, deceived by her gentle exterior, only to meet their end at her hands. The graves of those fools were covered with grass tall enough to reach one's knees.
But that wasn't the point. He recalled that the Hightower's influence spanned the globe, meaning they should have known about him by now. The fact that they hadn't sent anyone to stop his rampage left him with two possibilities: either they were powerless to stop him, or he wasn't within their jurisdiction.
And from what he knew, mages never liked sharing power. This could only mean that the Hightower had lost significant influence during the centuries he had slept beneath the sands.
"Is Europe the Hightower's territory?" the archlich asked.
"That's correct. You catch on quickly," Vlad responded with a smirk.
"Besides Europe, where else is within the Hightower's territory?" the archlich inquired.
"Nowhere. The Hightower only controls Europe. Everywhere else falls under the jurisdiction of our Order of Ember," Vlad answered.
[The entire world, except for Europe, is under the Order of Ember's control!?] The archlich was stunned. This revelation shook him. [Is Vlad lying? No, it seems unlikely. Even though I've deliberately avoided areas where mages reside, the Hightower should have sent someone to negotiate with me, even if they lacked the power to stop me.
I've been asleep for over 500 years, but that shouldn't have made all mages cowards. The only logical answer is that this region is outside the Hightower's jurisdiction.] The archlich concluded.
"And you expect me to rampage through the territory of a mage organization powerful enough to control the entire magical society? The same organization founded by Merlin himself? Even if the Hightower has weakened, I'm not foolish enough to challenge them directly," Thalassar paused.
"On the other hand, challenging a newly established organization like yours, without much foundation, could yield far greater rewards. Even if the Hightower has weakened, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. I'm sure that if I were to kill your leader and seize control of your organization, I'd gain far more!" Thalassar said with malicious intent, then softened his voice.
"What about you, Vlad? Why not join me in taking over your order? I know you don't want to serve mortals. With your immortality and vampiric power, combined with my material wealth and forbidden knowledge, we could entice many mages to serve us!" Thalassar proposed, attempting to sway Vlad.
He even floats from his throne toward Vlad who is standing on the ground below and standing on the same ground as Vlad, showing that they are equal.
"Come, Vlad! The King of Vampires, join me in creating an Eternal Empire, and you'll never have to fear the light of God or his servants again!" Thalassar extended his hand toward Vlad, trying to convince him.
"Ooooh, tch tch tch... oh, I'm sorry... did we just break your toy?" Vlad taunted, his voice dripping with sarcasm, mocking the despairing archlich.
"You! Vlad! You and your organization will pay!" Thalassar roared in fury. He activated the magic engravings on his black skull, igniting all his power, ready to fight to the death against Vlad, his nemesis.
"Yes! HAHAHA! That's what I've been waiting for! Come, you old corpse! Face ME!" Vlad's smile widened, a hint of madness gleaming in his eyes, blood seeping from them in sheer excitement.
One must understand, Vlad had been denied his mad rampages many times. First, by Envy, that two-faced woman, though she was his lord's lady, so he couldn't complain. Second, by his lord, preventing him from killing to his heart's content. And the Vatican? Their good relationship with his lord meant he couldn't unleash his madness on them either.
Yes, he had slaughtered many fools during the mage families' uprising not long ago, but that level of slaughter wasn't enough to sate his bloodlust. He craved either a large number of enemies to massacre or... a powerful opponent worthy of his wrath.
In his frenzy, Vlad swiftly unsheathed the sword his lord had bestowed upon him.
Card: Righteous Flame
Picture: A flaming sword burning with holy, cleansing fire, its radiant blade searing foul undead and abominations.
Rarity:
Type: Unique Artifact - Equipment
Mana Cost: 2 Light, 3 Non-Elemental Mana
Description:
Equipped creature gets +5/+5. Choose up to three targets; damage is equally distributed among them. Undead, Demons, and Devils are instantly destroyed when they take damage from the creature equipped with Righteous Flame.
Flavor Text:
Forged in the cleansing flames of the High Heavens, legend says it was baptized by the blood of the One True God.
Seeing the heavenly blade before him, Thalassar knew that even a speck of the holy flame from it would reduce him to ash. But no matter! This fight needed to end—he needed it to quell his fury!
"Vlad! You die!" Thalassar bellowed, casting a dark crushing spell toward Vlad. The spell's power was immense, enough to obliterate an entire town. The foul green magic surged at Vlad, but with one swift swing of his sword, he eradicated it instantly. But...
When the smoke and light cleared, Thalassar was nowhere to be seen.
"Thalassaarrrrrr! Get back here, you coward!" Vlad roared in fury, enraged that his enemy had fled without hesitation after such a grand display.