VAP - Chapter 74
Chapter 74: The Supreme Sage Hopelessly Obsessed with Beauty (33)
The prophetic dream’s message was clear, but unfortunately, neither the father nor the son considered the correct possibility.
Misana Walter’s family had long since fallen into decline. Once a great clan of the imperial capital, they were now a minor family settled in a remote border town, their former glory a distant memory.
The vampire father and son soon tracked them down. After confirming that the Walter family had no powerful relatives or descendants living elsewhere, they decisively destroyed the entire estate.
Lifting his head from the neck of a chestnut-haired girl, the vampire man with dark red horns wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth and casually snapped her neck.
He stood up with a sigh of regret.
“I was thinking of bringing a few blood slaves back, but I’d better not. What a pity.”
Who knows if the dream’s warning might be fulfilled through them? For safety’s sake, they all had to be eliminated.
And it truly was a pity.
After all, the blood of this family had always been quite delicious.
The man strolled leisurely out of the courtyard gate. Behind him, the house, its gate, and all the people and objects within disintegrated into fine dust.
With that, the Walter line was completely severed, never to cause trouble again.
The vampire leader was greatly relieved.
His youngest son was also greatly relieved.
Afterward, they put the matter aside and focused on plundering resources while the chaos raged. They also kept a close watch on the movements of the humans and magical beasts, ready to withdraw at a moment’s notice.
Their attacks focused mainly on the humans, as the Empire was the easiest target.
If the human emperor had once been able to rely on the First Dharma Saint to hold some sway, then after the magical beast assault, there was no longer any question about whether Nai Yin Galor would side with the Empire.
Their other forces were deployed to the magical beasts’ rear.
While the blood of magical beasts was generally less delectable than human blood, and they were unsuitable as blood slaves, their blood was more valuable in other ways, better satisfying the vampires’ needs.
Plunder, plunder—
The true nature of vampires was indulgence. Despite the camouflage of their pale, handsome features and elegant dispositions, they remained the most dangerous of the four races on the Ayers Continent.
After this carnival for the bloodthirsty, the vampires made a swift and satisfied exit.
When the vampires first withdrew, the human and magical beast alliance assumed it was merely a temporary truce designed to lull them into complacency.
Thus, they dared not let down their guard and remained on high alert.
This continued until scouts reported that the vampires had completely withdrawn to their territory, not leaving a single soul behind.
The emperor gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down, cracking his amethyst desk.
“Shulaide did this on purpose!”
Shulaide was the vampire leader’s surname.
Musha, who had also received the message, was so angry her tail stood straight up. Lorins found it amusing and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The vampires have completely withdrawn,” the silver wolf said. “They don’t intend to fight anymore.”
Lorins was puzzled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s not good at all. They planned this from the very beginning.”
Musha grew even angrier as she spoke, her soft, lustrous silver fur bristling. “They deliberately intervened while we were fighting the humans, then slipped away once they’d reaped enough benefits, suffering almost no losses.”
In contrast, the humans and magical beasts had not only lost resources but also their people. In addition to those killed in battle, many of their kin had been abducted by the enemy as “resources.”
Becoming a vampire’s blood slave was a terrifying fate. They would completely lose their sense of self, becoming mere vessels for the enemy’s sustenance and pleasure.
It was obvious that the vampires, having fully retreated to their territory, had already activated their domain’s barrier. It was too late to give chase and attempt a rescue.
By the time the barrier was lifted, their kin would have long since become mindless slaves, with no hope of being saved…
It was just… it was just!
“Despicable! Absolutely despicable! I officially declare that the vampires have replaced humans as the most detestable race!” Musha proclaimed furiously.
Lorins hugged her, stroking her fur to calm her down.
Once she had finally calmed down, Lorins asked, “So, are you still going to fight the humans?”
The silver wolf fell silent.
After a long moment, she sighed. “Continuing to fight would benefit neither side. We won’t fight anymore.”
Even without the threat of a third party, the humans and magical beasts did not resume their war. They chose to redraw their borders, returning to the centuries-long standoff.
This time, the peace treaty took a full thirteen days to finalize.
In addition to the ten border cities, a significant amount of resources was ceded to the magical beast clan.
Although the magical beasts held the advantage in the treaty, if one were to look back four hundred years at the borders of that time, one would realize that the current situation was merely a return to how things were before Nai Yin Galor had intervened.
What belonged to one was returned to them.
Perhaps this was historical inevitability.
Meanwhile, in the vampire territory.
The leader and his son, who had been celebrating the spoils of their plunder, received some unexpected and unwelcome guests.
The territorial barrier, so convenient for preventing reprisals after a raid, was utterly useless against these two intruders.
“Long time no see,” Nai Yin said with a smile.
The vampire leader, who was just about to have his meal: “…”
He shuddered reflexively. The human girl in his grasp came to her senses, seized the opportunity to break free, and the leader paid her no mind.
His eyes fell upon the iconic silver hair and the exquisitely beautiful face that had left him psychologically scarred centuries ago.
“…Nai Yin Galor,” he heard himself say, his voice dry.
Nai Yin raised an eyebrow. “You still remember me?”
Then she answered her own question. “Then again, I suppose you wouldn’t go so far as to forget your own grandmother.”
In a daze, the vampire leader felt as if the nightmare from centuries ago was happening all over again.
—His life was too difficult, truly.
The vampire leader lasted a little longer against Nai Yin this time, but it was pointless. It was still a one-sided beating.
Nai Yin bound him tightly with her most practiced dark imprisonment spell.
“Aren’t you supposed to be ignoring the human Empire?” the leader demanded, aggrieved.
It was one thing to interfere, but did she have to wait until they were at their happiest, returning laden with spoils? Was she doing this on purpose?
“Did I have a reason the last time I came?”
No. It wasn’t just without reason; it was utterly unreasonable. And that was precisely what made her so terrifying!
“So, it’s the same this time.” Nai Yin shrugged, put away her black-gold staff, and took Yue Du’s hand with a smile. “However, there is one other matter today. Come, meet your grand-dame.”
Yue Du cleared her throat and said ceremoniously, “You may dispense with the formalities.”
The leader: “…”
Dignity or his life—that was the question.
The vampire leader’s youngest son was on his way.
He was in a good mood at that moment. The sweet aroma of human blood still lingered on his palate, and he was enveloped in that unique sense of fulfillment only a vampire could experience.
He hoped that blood slave would please his father.
With that thought, he pushed open the door.
The scene before him was incomprehensible: his father, who had always seemed omnipotent, was tied to the throne, while the blood slave who should have been helpless was standing perfectly straight.
Hearing the door open, the chestnut-haired girl turned her head, a trace of satisfaction lingering in her eyes.
What… was this?
The man’s gaze shifted blankly until he saw the silver-haired woman and the black-haired girl beside her.
He hadn’t looked their way at first, likely because an instinctual fear prevented him from looking at them directly.
Logically, he knew he should retreat at once and flee for his life, but his body refused to obey. He stepped inside mechanically and closed the door behind him.
—A mind control spell.
The caster was Nai Yin.
She was getting addicted to the game. Seeing the blood father of this body enter, her first reaction was, “This one can come meet his great-grand-dame.”
Yue Du said helplessly, “That’s enough out of you.”
Nai Yin sighed.
Then she released the mind control spell.
When the man realized the spell was broken, he glanced at his father. Perhaps realizing he couldn’t escape even if he tried, he stood perfectly still, feigning composure.
Jekala Shulaide, the youngest son of the vampire leader, a “child” of over seven hundred years.
His list of scummy deeds included abandoning his own daughter and abducting common women; amicably parting ways with human women did not count.
Yue Du observed the scumbag for a moment, then her eyes suddenly narrowed.
She had grown accustomed to analyzing things with her system’s senses. In her vision, a small, unknown mass of black mist swirled around a certain part of Jekala’s body, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
It was right over his heart.
A very curious location, Yue Du thought, looking up at Nai Yin.
“It’s a curse,” Lord Nai Yin explained. “Probably left by that woman. The aura is very much like hers.”
Yue Du knew who she meant.
Darkness and curses stemmed from the same source. Nai Yin drew over a wisp of the curse’s aura and casually examined it.
In the vision, a noblewoman dressed in black knelt within a circle of blood-red candles, casting a curse with the most malevolent spell she knew:
“I curse you, Jekala Shulaide! I curse you to die in extreme agony! I want you to experience all the torment my daughter suffered!”
This was Misana, after losing her daughter all those years ago.
The power of the curse was too strong for Misana to control, and so, she fell ill and died not long after casting it.
Even so, the curse was not potent enough to threaten Jekala.
Misana was simply too weak. Her curse couldn’t harm him; it could only linger over Jekala’s chest, waiting for an opportunity.
It should have dissipated long ago, but a mother’s grief at witnessing her daughter’s abduction was so intense that it had allowed the curse to persist for nearly six hundred years.
Nai Yin found this rather interesting and told Yue Du about it.
Yue Du was amazed, but she couldn’t help thinking:
Both were her daughters, yet Misana had been utterly indifferent to “Nai Yin,” while she doted on her second daughter and even gave her life to avenge her… Human emotions were truly complex.
Of course, a scumbag was still a scumbag. There was no excusing that.
Their entire exchange took place telepathically. To any onlookers, it simply appeared as if they had fallen silent for a moment.
Nai Yin flicked the wisp of the curse’s aura back.
—And she didn’t just send it back; she added a little something extra.
Yue Du saw it clearly. After that wisp was returned to its source, the entire black mass of mist abruptly swelled, and it showed signs of continuing to expand.
Perhaps in the near future, it would begin to affect the vampire body it inhabited.
Having done this, Nai Yin yawned, her interest waning. “Let’s go back.”
Yue Du didn’t move.
She glanced at the chestnut-haired girl who had been in the leader’s clutches earlier and said thoughtfully, “I just had an idea. What if we make all their efforts come to nothing?”
Jekala’s expression instantly grew tense.
Nai Yin agreed. “Mm, good idea.”
Making all their efforts come to nothing would be difficult. The vampires had plundered too many different things, and confiscating it all would be too much trouble.
However, letting half the water leak out of the basket was certainly possible.
Half an hour later, all the abducted humans and humanoid magical beasts were gathered before the leader’s residence. Jekala himself had summoned them—because Nai Yin couldn’t be bothered, she had simply pressed the tip of her staff against the leader’s heart and ordered his son to do the work.
What else could Jekala do? He was furious but dared not voice it.
All the would-be blood slaves taken during the war were gathered here. To be precise, they were not yet blood slaves, merely captives.
Among these handsome and beautiful youths, Yue Du spotted the male lead, Rand Abio, at a glance.
Just behind him, the black-feathered crow—a master of concealment—poked out a wingtip to signal its presence.
Yue Du: “…”
Why was Abio here???
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