Feeling that the five rings were taking himself away with Dereksey, Jophany closed his eyes in desperation. Vampires were so vigorous that he couldn't kill himself even if he wanted to. He had to be a puppet under someone else's control. His fate would surely be miserable.
He would just be a human-shaped key who had lost all his freedom. When the Bloody Lich needed to enter the Kingdom of Nightmares, Jophany would be useful. The Bloody Lich was not wrong that he only needed to be alive. It would be fine even if his tongue or his limbs were cut off.
Considering the Bloody Lich's abilities, as long as Jophany was alive, the former would be able to enter or leave the Kingdom of Nightmares freely.
Nine of the 13 vampire ancestors had perished in the past year. Another one perished not a long time ago. There were only three vampire ancestors that were still alive. Two of them hadn't been seen in a long time, even though they were likely still alive.
