21.1

 

Tap…tap…tap…

 

Located thousands of kilometers to the South of Pardlorn, Kelgrim and Sozak dashed with such vigor that not even the fastest of winds could reach them.

From freezing air to the darkest mountains, not even powerful vampires like them are immune to the dense atmosphere that rested in this place.

With their rapid yet silent footsteps, the two new Itex vampires speed barely registered in anyone’s senses—not that there were many creatures this far in the South.

Normally, such tremendous velocity would rupture the ground from the sheer power that any vampire could have. Any vampire from the other families would have caused significant disruption in their trail from the feat of intercontinental travel by foot.

 

But Sozak and Kelgrim were not the average Itex vampires.

 

They were vampires handpicked by Lord Termezt, undergone his trials.

Vampires whom consumed their master’s blood.

They were evolved beings who garnered the favor and respect of a True Vampire.

Unlike common Itex vampires who were born as the third highest on the vampire hierarchy, they made their way from the second lowest rank of Knuf into Juko upon completion of the Seed of Blood collection.

Their training, the skills they learned from having no inherent power from the times that they were taken in as Lord Termezt’s acolytes. Combined with their sudden surge of power, allowed Sozak and Kelgrim to become vampires as powerful as the colonels of the Hangrabo family.

 

The vampires of the modern era used a hierarchical system that categorized its vampires into 6 ranks. Lonth, Knuf, Juko, Itex, Huza and the highest of them all, Ged.

 

With Palter’s generosity, they too, had the privilege of consuming one of the most powerful Ged Vampire’s blood. Boosting their abilities from being a Juko vampire all the way to the upper echelons of Itex rank.

 

That said, to claim their abilities were equal to the militarized vampires of the Hangrabos would be a unfair comparison, akin comparing a skilled merchant to a renowned warrior. These two Termezt vampires, like their master, specialize in the art of cunning and deceit, not mindless brutality that was synonymous with the Hangrabo family.

And now, with Palter attended a meeting with their master, the two vampires were tasked on a sacred mission.

 

Shshshshsh…

 

They halted their movement.

“We’ve arrived…” Sozak spoke, darting his eyes to the deep valley that the two of them found themselves in.

“Let’s hurry, Lord Termezt—”

Before Keglrim resumed forwards, Sozak placed a hand before his burly companion.

“Wait, let me…” closing his eyes, Sozak inhaled. “Grant me the power of vision, reveal the hidden, [Eye of the Unseen]!”

Sozak’s eyes became aglow with crimson red at the spell’s activation, painting his vision with thick red, obscuring all visual details that one could see.

In exchange, he was given a clear vision of the silhouettes that lurked along the three mountains that folded on the three cardinal points of the ancient tomb.

 

The tomb belonging to His Evergrace.

 

Even at this distance, the grand mausoleum built by vampires from the ancient times to honor the Vampire Prince still stood in all its awe-inspiring form.

The tomb itself was built to be 100 meters in height, spanning as wide as it could to the three mountains that shielded it from the harsh environment.

Much the mausoleum’s exterior has crumbled from the many battles that took place in these sacred grounds but there was no mistaking the landmark constructed from ancient times.

“Any guards?”

“I spot three Marcedoni enforcers along the mountains. Lord Termezt is right, their defenses are vulnerable when they change shifts. There, there and also there.”

Following Sozak’s indication, Kelgrim noticed handful of guards on each of the surrounding mountains, of which all were of Juko vampires—a rank below them.

“We’ll rush inside, they won’t see us coming. Once we finish our job, there’s nothing they can do to undo it.”

With a nod from Sozak, Kelgrim fished two silver rings from his pockets, giving one to Sozak before they placed it on their thumb as per their master’s instructions.

These were spell containment rings laced with [Invisibility] by Lord Termezt.

The moment they wore them, Sozak and Kelgrim’s presence would vanish, obscuring detection from the various traps and surveilance that the Marcedoni family had set along the premises for unwarranted visitors to His Evergrace’s tomb.

 

In accordance with the rules set by the royal families centuries ago, awakening the Vampire Prince was an act of heresy punishable by inflicting the death penalty upon the entire family.

As of recency, a new law was passed against any low ranked vampires who spoke of the Vampire Prince. Where it states whoever implied any and all vampires that came before the royal families would be committing treason for conspiring against the Sovereign.

Nevermind the prophecy that foretold His Evergrace’s inevitable return in the coming decades. The royal families had the law written in ink to further solidify their hold on their Vampire Sovereign.

Rather than their rightful Vampire Prince who would restore their race’s former glory, the royal families chose to wield the power among themselves

 

These foolish vampires had long forgotten their ancient vampire ways.

 

Fortunately, Lord Termezt was ahead in his endevaours.

Their master had long since working to release His Evergrace from his eternal slumber. It was with his vigorous research and intellect did Lord Termezt made the Seeds of Blood curse.

All Sozak and Kelgrim had to do was to transfer the hundred Seeds of Blood to His Evergrace’s tomb to initiate the gradual awakening of His Evergrace.

It was a meticulous process with minimal progress, one that would prove to be worth the Termezt Family’s time.

 

Woosh!

 

The two Itex vampires vanished from where they stood, zoomed past the corroded grounds, across the dense woods containing various tier 6 defensive spells.

Their presence were akin to the chilling breeze of the night, subtle yet harrowing.

Chamber after chamber, they entered, not stopping even the slightest second to marvel at the intricate artworks inscribed onto the walls of the mausoleum. The various luxuries adorned throughout were not enough to tempt them into halting their tracks.

These were determined vampires.

Their master’s orders triumphed everything else.

 

“Wait,” amidst their movements Kelgrim stopped Sozak, halting his friend by the collar in front of an inconspicuous door. “This is it, the sixth hidden chamber.”

Rubbing his hands together, Sozak concentrated all his mana to his right palm, in a swift motion, he slammed it against the stone door surging all of his mana reserves into the wall.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

“H-hah…” panting from his exertion, Sozak looked to Kelgrim. “Kelgrim my mana depleted in—”

“Move!”

 

Shing!!!

 

A brilliant silver flashed between them as Sozak watched a scythe passed through Kelgrim’s outstretched arm, slicing it the vampire’s left arm cleanly off.

Spurt!

“Grahhhh!”

Kelgrim’s forearm dropped to the ground, blood splashed across the crevices of the mausoleum.

“Blood Arts: [Plalet Recovery]!” not even blinking, Kelgrim cast his spell.

 

Blood vessels from his stump sprung forth to his detached forearm, reattaching the severed limb back to where it was moments ago.

 

“Y-you…”

Still biting his teeth from the pain. Kelgrim gestured towards the door where Sozak had deposited all his mana into.

What was once a stone wall engraved with unrecognizable symbols now had traces of Sozak’s grey mana and streaks of Kelgrim’s vermillion blood coursing through it.

 

Creak…

 

The stone door separated, disappearing into the walls, revealing a grand chamber supported with large columns made of marble as pristine as it was first constructed.

For a chamber that is untouched, untainted over the span of a millennia, one where light did not permeate, the tomb of His Evergrace was far more exquisite than anything Sozak and Kelgrim had ever saw.

Sure, they had visited tombs, ransacked temples of worship, annihilated small monarchies further east of Pardlorn, along with Lord Termezt. Yet, those display of luxuries and power paled before the chamber of the Vampire Prince.

 

The two Itex vampires entered, partially shielding their faces in the face of His Evergrace’s tomb.

 

The Vampire Prince’s tomb was engraved artworks that one could commonly found along the mausoleum, just as intricately beautiful as the other chambers within the mausoleum, yet, this one felt familiar.

Had it not for Lord Termezt’s instructions, they would be none the wiser to think this was just another chamber among the thousands within the place.

 

Yet, Sozak and Kelgrim shivered upon entry.

 

Within this sacred place, a pressure tightened around their bodies, squeezing them with a tenacity so commanding that their very core froze despite their newly gained powers.

This was an aura far, far, far powerful than what they experienced with Lord Termezt. Their master, Ex’car Termezt, who was one of the only six Ged ranked vampires in the Sovereign.

Even with Lord Termezt’s continual training of allowing them bearing the full brunt of his true aura, before the Vampire Prince’s tomb, the two Itex vampires may as well have been Lonth filfth, lowest of the low among vampire hierarchy.

The sheer power, the primal ancestor of all vampires, even in its state of confinement by Gods of the ancient times, His Evergrace’s raw power still exuberated from the coffin laid at the center.

Thud.

The two Itex vampire’s dropped to their knees.

 

This was the only thing they needed to do.

 

This was the only they wanted to do.

 

For like Lord Termezt before them, the vampire prince’s aura was enough to invigorate them with clarity. Clarity that the other vampires in the Sovereign were ignorant of, something that only they, emissaries to revive His Evergrace could ever understand.

 

The Demon Lord of Stagnation’s return was not the simple wish of their master.

No, for their mission here held a certain weight that could not be described.

This was the will of the world, His Evergrace’s return to this world is crucial to fend themselves off threats originating from otherworldy—

 

Shroom.

 

The luminescence of His Evergrace’s chambers disappeared.

The two Itex vampires found themselves surrounded by a shroud of darkness. Horrid shapes of pitch black dawned upon them.

 

“Ah, Termezt vampires… The Hangrabos were right to warn us of you.”

A voice from the shadow whispered from their ears, no sooner, vampires of all kinds appeared from the silhouettes, filling chamber of His Evergrace with a platoon of vampires in full platinum armor.

“No sudden moves, or both of you die,” the vampire who held Sozak into a chokehold threatened.

“Tell us, Termezts. What, did, your, pathetic, master, instructed you to do?” one of the vampires who had a boot planted on Kelgrim’s back spat, drawing a dagger to his face.

 

“…”

 

“Your pathetic excuse of a master was dumb enough to send you traitors here, just because you lowly Knufs were able to jump to Itex, doesn’t mean you lot can handle yourself against us!” the platoon leader with the white sash of the Marcedoni family ordered.

“An fellow Itex hiding behind a platoon of Juko. Have the Marcedoni fallen so far that they now follow the Hangrabos military ways of cowardice—”

 

Wham!!!

 

A giant Warhammer swung down at Sozak, snapping the Itex Vampire’s spine before he could finish.

 

“Blood Tribute: [Shared Torment]!!!”

 

“GARH!!!”

“AHHHH!!!!”

“SCREKK!!!”

 

At Kelgrim’s immediate spell, he counteracted the assault on Sozak’s spine to their enemies. Instead of Sozak’s spinal cords shattering into a thousand pieces, the platoon of vampires around them, all had their backs broken instead.

Spurt!

Kelgrim choked out a thick black liquid.

The price of casting the blood tribute spell Kelgrim had sacrifice the blood reserves in his body that would have lasted him until next winter, leaving the Itex vampire spent of all his energy reserves and access to further blood magic.

 

“Pleaseeee, Termezts, you think that’s enough to take out all of us?” the Marcedoni platoon leader stood unaffected, along with other five Itex vampires hidden among the ranks of the Juko platoon.

 

Woosh!

 

The platoon leader disappeared before Sozak’s eyes, reappeared in front of Kelgrim who barely had the strength to move.

“And now, you die!!!”

The Itex leader raised his claws before Kelgrim’s eyes—

 

THUD!!!

 

The chamber shook, halting the platoon leader in his tracks, and behind them all, the door that they all had come from closed shut.

 

!!!

 

“W-what...?”

The chambers vibrated upon Sozak’s whisper, the luminescence of the room dimmed until the glowing gray eyes of the Itex Marcedoni vampires were the only light source.

 

Then…

 

All traces of luminescence within the mausoleum abated.

 

The chamber had become dark.

 

So horridly black that it was though they were plunged into an eternal void.

 

“What trickery is this, Termezts!?” one of the Itex vampires shouted behind his captain.

Under normal circumstances, any powerful Itex vampire could see in absolute darkness.

Yet, now, all of them. The Termezt duo and the Marcedoni platoon—in this case, the still standing Itex Marcedonis—could not see anything aside the glow that emitted from their vampire eyes.

 

Creak…

 

“W-what… What is that!?” a Marcedoni furthest from the group shouted, his eyes darted around him, trying to make sense at the unusual sound of movement.

 

Crack…

 

Then, a great distance behind Sozak, another eerie sound echoed throughout the room. Prompting even the Marcedoni platoon leader to stiffen in the midst of the blinding darkness.

 

“Nobody move, the Termezts must know something…”

 

Crussh!!!

 

“AHHHHHH!”

The vampire furthest away from them let out an ear deafening wail as his eyes elevated into the air, thrashing back and forth as sounds of fists striking stone sounded through His Evergrace’s chambers.

 

Clack!

 

At a decisive snap, the light in that Marcedoni vampire’s eyes abated, extinguished as though a one would by pinching a candle.

“Termezt!!!” one of the Itex vampires yelled. Glowing gray eyes flew towards Sozak in vigorous speed. Unable to cast anything with a depleted mana pool, Sozak closed his eyes, shielded himself with his arms, ready to fend himself against the Marcedoni…

 

…

 

…

 

…              

 

Sozak opened his eyes.

The vampire never came. What had been once a pair of disdainful eyes, had all but vanished into the darkness just like the previous Marcedoni. All that remained were three pair of glowing gray eyes…

No, that’s not right. There were six Marcedoni, two disappeared, how is there only three left.

 

As he counted the Marcedoni vampires, another pair of gray eyes vanished before him, leaving only the platoon leader and the one standing behind him as the surviving Marcedoni.

 

“Y-you’ll p-pay for this…” the platoon leader’s eyes shook, eyeing Sozak’s crimson eyes in their blinding environment.

“[Message] to Lord Marcedoni!!! [Message] to Lord Marcedoni!!! Do you copy!!!” the other Itex vampire had his eyes squinted in the dark, desperate to make contact with the outside. “Fuck!!! Why isn’t our magic—”

 

Spurt!!!

 

At the disgusting sound of flesh and sinew squeezed by a horrible force the Sozak and Kelgrim gave each other a look of mutual understanding.

 

When they undertook this task, they had accepted the possibility of them never returning to Lord Termezt or Palter.

 

The Vampire Prince was an ancient being, who was the progenitors of all current day vampires.

 

“It’s fun while it lasted, Kelgrim.”

“Sure is. I hope Palter will forgive us for not—”

 

“You blasted Termezts!!! What have you done!?” the platoon leader turned to them, screaming frantically as Sozak and Kelgrim felt their necks being yanked up by a strong grip. “Stop this! At this rate, all us will die!!! The Sovereign is in grave danger if this thing is released!!!”

“…”

“…”

The Termezt duo only looked at the platoon leader in pity.

 

“We came here knowing we would die.”

“Our master wish to fulfill the prophecy of His Evergrace’s return. If our deaths—”

 

Zing!!!

 

A metallic ring clanged as all three of the vampire’s squeezed their eyes shut, marking an end to their lives.

 

Thud.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Clack.

 

The luminescence to the Vampire Prince’s tomb returned as the entrance opened once more, marking the end of the horrible darkness that blinded the creatures of night.

All that was left on the floors of the tomb chambers were a river of red, what had been the unconscious bodies of the Marcedoni platoon were nowhere to be seen. It was as if when the darkness left, all vampires that trespassed this sacred tomb were erased.

 

Except.

 

The Termezt duo, Sozak and Kelgrim stood where they had been when they first entered His Evergrace’s tomb. Their tattered clothes made anew, their bodies that were drained of mana and strength, was reinvigorated with unparalleled strength that allowed them to resist the strong aura of the tomb.

Their eyes focused on the coffin laid at the center, which was now surging with the mana that Sozak had previously infused to open the tomb and a floating crimson orb that no doubt, was made from Kelgrim’s blood.

“K-Kelgrim…w-what just…”

“We were s-spared…”

The two Itex vampires went down to their knees, prostrated before His Evergrace’s tomb.

 

In unision, the Termezt duo spoke.

 

“The Termezt family awaits your return, Vampire Prince!”

 

The Seeds of Blood that they carried with them, had all disappeared from their pouches.

The hundred was that was needed to undo the seal on the Demon Lord of Stagnation, was all spent.

 

It may take months, years, or decades even, but one thing was certain.

 

When His Evergrace amassed enough strength to break away from his eternal slumber, away from the countless intricate imprisonment spells that were done onto him.

 

The vampires shall return to their old ways.