NOVPUBThird floor of Lichtenstein Castle.
Three men were moving about on carpet-covered corridors alongside a vampire.
Lanci was guiding Viscount Augustin to the Art Park, both seemed to be in good moods, creating a harmonious atmosphere.
They traversed the chilling corridors, the flickering lights casting long and short shadows.
At the end of the darkness, the black oak door to the main bedroom of the castle stood silently, majestic and solemn, bearing unique marks left by the passage of time.
Upon reaching the grand entrance and being momentarily flooded with a burning gaze in the darkness, Viscount Augustin was courteously cautious in front of the Earl but couldn’t wait to dine on the three men.
"How eagerly I await."
Clearly, Count Paluocas already controlled the castle and was waiting for him.
"May fortune favor your opening of the door."
Lanci wished him well too.
Viscount Augustin laughed as he raised his hand to gently push open the grand door. With a deep, grating sound, an instantly tangible sense of oppression was released from within.
A peculiar, stale smell of medicine filled the air.
The dim light of oil lamps on the stone walls flickered wildly, illuminating the densely scattered tools and test tubes. Strange green alchemical solutions reflected their feeble glow from various bottles and jars throughout the ominously filled bedroom.
In the center of the room, three clergymen wearing masks were gathered around an indescribable humanoid creature on the bed.
They had already applied resin to Count Paluocas and tightly wrapped him with layers of linen cloth.
The count was completely mummified. His once pale face under the cloth had lost its vitality, only a pair of hollow eye sockets remained, void of life. Yet, his hand kept on trembling as if to assert that he was still alive.
Upon noticing the arrival of Viscount Augustin, the three men, immediately keen on a fresh target, locked their gaze on him! 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
"!??"
At the entrance, Viscount Augustin saw the sight before him and felt a chilling shudder run down his spine. His eyes flickered with disbelief and alarm.
The Earl was not here; this room was far from being the master’s bedroom—it was a horrific laboratory.
Although Viscount Augustin had no idea who the poor being bound on the grinding table was, he was certain it was a weak member of his own kind, for only the Blood Clan possessed such endless vitality!
His reaction, swift as lightning and driven by survival instinct, caused his gaze to instantly shift towards the rear.
However, at the same time, his vision was overwhelmed by a pure, flawless glow!
It was the world illuminated by the sun, an infinite expanse of burning flames, almost melting his eyes with its scorching intensity.
"Impossible—!!!"
With a strident cry from Augustin, Frey, who was standing not far behind Viscount Augustin, took a step forward. He seized Viscount Augustin’s wrist, threw him down heavily on a shoulder, and pressed him to the ground. This action generated a thunderous noise similar to the cracking of floorboards.
A sixth-order vampire, such as the Viscount, stripped bare of its initial frenzy from the seal’s removal, was actually quite vulnerable—like a shell-less cockroach—when left out in the sun.
"Stay still."
While Frey used one hand to hold down Viscount Augustin’s head, he received the "blood pressure rescue device" that Lanci had smilingly passed to him, and without ceremony plunged the device’s needle into Augustin’s back, drawing his blood.
The rising blood within the device seemed to predict Viscount Augustin’s fate like a crimson gauge.
"Those who grieve but do not shed tears, who are exhausted but cannot sleep, can only face day after day, night after night, endless days and nights, forever entrapped in the world of men!"
Pulling off Lanci’s sunglasses and placing them on his face, the Great Love Poet—also summoned by Lanci— started singing as he observed the condition of Count Paluocas and Viscount Augustin.
"..."
With his sunglasses stolen, Lanci was forced to close his eyes.
The Great Love Poet was always keen to take the limelight, and this had led to a rather embarrassing moment for Lanci.
He was puzzled why the Great Love Poet had to be so eccentric.
"...Could the lack of tears and sleeplessness be due to reasons not of their own making?"
While speaking these words, Hyperion placed her sunglasses on Lanci.
She felt better witnessing less of the scene, as it would only add to her virtues.
"Thank you, Hyperion."
After expressing his gratitude to Hyperion, Lanci turned towards the three clergymen,
"More merchandise for you."
"What are you people?!"
Viscount Augustin’s anguished scream was filled with fury.
However, his distress was disregarded by the humans.
"What shall we do with this new arrival?"
"No need to do the same as that one. Of course, if he does not cooperate, feel free to improvise."
"Let’s start by removing all his organs."
"I suppose that’s feasible."
Seeing the lively state Count Paluocas was in while lying in bed, Lanci was certain that a Blood Clan member could live normally without a few organs.
After all, they could regenerate.
"You Huo Ning people, do you realize what you are doing?! In the age of the Blood Moon, you will face endless pursuit and revenge from the Blood Clan!"
Viscount Augustin’s voice trembling with rage as he spoke.
Even though he didn’t quite understand their obscure language, he had a hunch that these men were about to commit some seriously heinous acts.
"Viscount Augustin, just a while ago, I overheard from a Blood Clan member that these days in the Huo Ning Empire, the Blood Clan themselves are the law, and human laws are just game rules that worms like us have to follow. So, it is quite normal for your kind to be unfamiliar with current laws."
Lanci, looking very much like a seasoned lawyer, explained the updated Huo Ning Empire’s penal code to Viscount Augustin.
"Although Huo Ning Empire’s laws prohibit humans from trafficking humans, they don’t say anything about trafficking vampires, so what we’re doing is perfectly legal."
After arriving in the Shadow World, Lanci had studied the laws of the Huo Ning Empire out of curiosity. It indeed did not contain such restrictions after being revised by the Blood Clan.
"...?!"
Viscount Augustin was speechless for a moment.
Wasn’t that a given?!
Who in their right minds would dare to traffic vampires! The very notion of introducing a clause saying "vampire trafficking is prohibited" was offensive to the Blood Clan in itself!
"I am no ordinary Blood Clan member, I am a Blood Clan Viscount! Do you know the fate of that witch? She still fell at my hands. For creatures as fleeting as you, even risking your lives to unseal the vampires is meaningless!"
Despite his resistance to Frey, Viscount Augustin continued to roar.
These humans had probably not realized the severity of his title as a Blood Clan Viscount!
