Alex III smiled when he heard the news.
With a 1,000,000 elite army, Jack conquered Candle Palace and burned it to the ground.
Without the Candles Palace, the Candle dynasty is as good as dead.
The loyalty of their people to the Candle Palace shouldn't be underestimated. Many people willingly threw their lives away because of their loyalty to the great candle in the Candle Palace.
With it destroyed, everyone would lose all hope.
Other countries took note of this.
With the personal letter from Alex III, they all began sending hundreds of thousands of reinforcements as requested. Though the troops they sent were poorly equipped and inexperienced, they still were young soldiers.
Soon, with all troops combined, 8 million soldiers from all countries were assembled, all within the territory of the Purple Empire.
With their spirit already crushed, their leadership dead, and little hope of winning against an army of 8 million, the Candle Dynasty's 'army' started falling apart.
Every day, more and more people deserted and ran away. Before the 8 million army could reach them, they all ran to the neighboring countries to seek refuge.
Alex III didn't plan to chase them to kill them all.
Previously, he killed all of Spike's Empire's entire population because, mainly, he was afraid of assassination attempts.
Now, however, he no longer fears any threat to his life.
Still, as the Mountains and Rivers Alliance leader, he ordered all the border countries to close their borders. If they do it, even if they do it reluctantly, he would let the matter go.
But, if they refused, he would cut the supplies of UD.
He must make everyone get used to following his orders.
So, even though he didn't want to kill the Candles, he used them as an excuse to enshrine his authority.
With an army of 8 million, who were still near the Purple Empire, he made a turn and attacked the newly formed Clements Empire.
Clements Empire is currently the only big country not addicted to UD. Without UD, Alex III cannot order them around; therefore, he must destroy them.
Clements Empire had around 20,000,000 residents, and as the situation was dangerous, it had already conscripted many people and raised its army to a whopping 2,000,000. It meant that 10% of its entire population was in the military, an astonishingly high number.
However, in front of the 8,000,000 army, it was nothing.
Before the Mountains and Rivers Alliance's army could arrive, the Clements Empire sent emissaries and surrendered.
They had no way of winning at all.
Their entire male population was around 9,000,000, so they would still lose even if they conscripted the old and the young.
Furthermore, they saw how Alex III destroys everything in his path and has no mercy. Keeping the troops from deserting in these situations is nearly impossible.
Even if all soldiers fight selflessly, the nobles would probably betray Clements. Even if all nobles, the people, and everyone in the country fight bravely, they still have little chance of winning.
Even if they defeat the 8,000,000 army, Alex III requests more from the Mountains and Rivers Alliance.
Simply put, the chances of them winning were near 0.
The Clements Empire's ambassadors came and agreed to distribute the UD among their population and join the Mountains and Rivers Alliance.
With the Clements Empire joining, a few smaller countries quickly surrendered, and the whole world was addicted to UD.
With Alex III still tightly controlling the supply of UD, the entire world came under his rule.
...
In a room, Alex III was looking at his son, Alex IV.
"Son, come forward!" Alex III said with a kind smile.
Alex IV came forward calmly and said," Father!"
Alex III nodded and said," Do you want to be immortal?"
Alex IV looked up wide-eyed and said," Yes, Father!"
Of course, who wouldn't want to be immortal? Well, maybe some people say that living forever is a curse, but Alex IV was ambitious; if he could be immortal, he would.
Alex III nodded with a smile.
In the next moment, with one swift move, he twisted Alex IV's neck 180 degrees, killing him instantly.
Alex IV didn't have time to think of anything before the world went dark for him.
It was a painless death.
Alex III let Alex IV drop to the ground.
He cut his hand and let the blood pour into the mouth of Alex IV.
Then, he went back to his throne and waited.
In less than an hour, Alex IV opened his eyes, and at the same time, fangs came out of his mouth.
"Congratulations! You are now a vampire!" Alex III laughed.
Alex IV, who was confused, looked around in confusion. He heard all kinds of noises and voices. His hearing was far, far better than it was before.
Standing up, he looked at Alex III and knelt. "Thank you, Father!" he thanked him from the bottom of his heart.
Humans could live up to 500 years; Vampires, however, could live forever.
Who would not be grateful?
Alex III laughed and said, "Let's go! I want to test your power!"
...
It was dark outside, but for Alex IV and Alex III, it was no different from the day.
In the arena, 100 people were already there, waiting.
They were war prisoners prepared by Jack.
"Son, go and kill them all," Alex III ordered.
Alex IV looked at them, bowed toward Alex III, and ran toward them without hesitation.
Alex III looked and shook his head, "Too slow!"
Alex IV's movements were fast compared to humans but far too slow compared to him.
Alex III estimated Alex IV's speed to be around 30% of the speed of sound. On the other hand, his speed is at least 100 times the speed of sound. Of course, that is his top speed; he couldn't move at that speed for long.
30% of the speed of sound is still terrifying.
It means nearly 100 meters every second.
In one second, Alex IV closed the distance of nearly 100 meters and started slaughtering the poor war prisoners.
In the middle of the slaughter, the blood splattered on him, provoking his vampire instinct. Then, he started draining everyone he came in contact with.
After ten minutes, Alex IV had consumed the blood of 50 people and killed off the rest.
The blood covered him from top to bottom.
"He drinks lots of blood," Alex III smiled wryly. Alex III ate only a few, but his son ate 50.
Alex III got upset; how did his son dare drink more than him? Still, as a new vampire, he had little control, so Alex III tried to be understanding toward his favorite son.
Alex IV, who returned to his senses, looked at his appearance and knelt, apologizing, "Father, please forgive me for my reckless actions."
Alex III shook his head and said, "Go and wash yourself."
...
In the morning, Alex IV tried to move in the sun, but he was surprised to realize that even the slightest contact with the sun burned him.
He wasn't like Alex III, for whom the sun was only annoying.
Alex III realized that his resistance to the sun was unique and not shared by all vampires.
With no choice left, Alex IV slept in a coffin and decided to act at night.
As undead creatures, vampires don't need sleep, but sleeping still provides a comforting feeling.
It's exactly like eating.
Vampires need blood for survival and don't need food at all, but Alex III still eats delicious foods every day. Similarly, vampires are not able to have children, but they still have sex, maybe even more than normal humans.
Alex III decided to create a vampire bodyguard legion. He would only choose the most loyal people.
He could feel that, as Alex IV's creator, he could order him around. Any vampire he would create would have to obey his command, whether they were loyal or not. However, Alex III still prefers them to be trustworthy.
But before that, he has to try something.
...
Both Alex IV and Alex III were present in a room.
In addition to them, a woman was also on the ground.
Her neck was twisted; she was dead.
"Go," Alex III ordered.
Alex IV went forward, cut his finger, and poured his blood into the woman's mouth.
Her name was Elizabeth; she was a noble lady from the fallen Candles Dynasty, taken as a prisoner.
Alex's kingdom took few prisoners; among them were noble ladies taken as harem members.
Alex III didn't want to use the prisoners as concubines; he could not sleep with them with ease of mind.
Therefore, the female prisoners were thrown out of the harem jails and into the general war prisoner population.
However, some of his male children took a fancy to some of the prisoners and brought them into their own harems.
Each of Alex III's male children has their harems.
Even some of his female children, not wanting to lose to their brothers, created harems filled with noblemen.
Alex III was genuinely curious about what his daughters were doing with all those men.
Usually, men create harems because they can impregnate many women. A harem is a way of ensuring the women in the harem wouldn't sleep with other men.
If the wife of a king gets pregnant by another man, and the child becomes the king, the entire country's ruling family might change without anyone knowing.
In hindsight, it really doesn't matter which bloodline the king is from, but medieval families cared a lot about bloodline. Many noble families never marry any commoners.
A king being the result of adultery could bring down countries if revealed. The risks are too big.
Women, however, couldn't impregnate men, so there was no point in keeping men in a harem. They couldn't get pregnant, so even if they cheated on his daughters, the royal family bloodline would remain safe.
Elizabeth woke up after three hours. It took much longer than Alex IV.
When she woke up, she tore all the chains around her body and attacked Alex III with her newfound strength.
"Slow!" Alex III sighed.
Elizabeth's speed was even slower than his son's. Her speed was only around 15% of the sound speed.
"The blood of vampires gets weaker with each generation! So, after a few generations, the vampires wouldn't be that much stronger than humans!" he thought.
Alex III wanted to know the precise answer, so with one move, he cut off both arms and legs of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth, in terrible pain, screamed, but nobody cared. It was an isolated place, and everyone was warned not to enter.
Even with all limbs cut, she didn't die! Vampires only die if a wooden stick is inserted into their hearts. They won't even die if their head is cut off.
Therefore, Elizabeth kept screaming and didn't pass out or die.
"Son, go and bring 100 prisoners! Bind them before bringing them!" Alex III ordered.
Alex IV could guess Alex III's plan, so he bowed and left to do the order.
...
Soon, 100 people were all around in chains.
Alex III twisted the neck of a man in one move and poured the blood of Elizabeth into his mouth.
After 6 hours, the man returned to 'life' as a vampire and looked around, confused.
"Hey, I destroyed your country and killed your parents! Attack me!" Alex III said, annoyed that the man didn't attack.
After his taunt, however, the man's fangs came out, and he attacked Alex III.
"Even slower!" Alex III sighed.
The man ran only around 10% of the speed of sound. Again, with one move, Alex III cut off the man's four limbs, twisted the neck of another, and poured blood.
This time, it took 12 hours.
The woman came back to 'life' as a vampire, and instead of attacking Alex III, she started running with fright.
She saw Elizabeth and the man, and as she wasn't dumb, she knew her fate would probably be the same as them.
Alex III shook his head and, in one move, cut off the poor woman's four limbs.
Her speed was 7% of the speed of sound.
Now, three people were in the room who were continuously screaming, making the room very loud.
Elizabeth's severed limbs recovered a bit, but she couldn't wholly recover if she didn't drink blood.
Alex III twisted another neck and fed him the woman's blood.
He came back as a vampire in 24 hours.
His speed was a mere 5% of the speed of sound, not much faster than humans.
Alex III continued this process a few more times.
The process stabilized at 24 hours, and the speed remained stable at 5% of the speed of sound.
Alex III made a few categories in his mind.
"The most powerful is the vampire ancestor, which is me. It is the strongest, with a speed of 100 times the speed of sound."
"Then, first-generation vampire, with 30% of the speed of sound. Their transformation takes less than 1 hour."
"Next, second generation, with the speed of 15% of the speed of sound. Their transformation takes 3 hours."
"Next, third generation, with 10% speed of sound. Their transformation takes 6 hours."
"Next, fourth generation, with the speed of 7% of the speed of sound. Their transformation takes 12 hours."
"Any vampire above the fourth generation will have a speed equal to 5% of the speed of sound, and their transformation will take 24 hours."
After this categorization, Alex III nodded to himself.
After going through 100 generations, he confirmed that the blood won't get thinner than 5% speed of sound.
Even after 100 generations, the speed of the 100th generation vampires remained at 5% of the sound.
He looked around and found Elizabeth was already dry. She wasn't dead but couldn't even scream anymore.
With a sigh, Alex III closed his eyes. The next moment, all in the room except Alex IV were killed.
Alex III looked at the stunned Alex IV and said, "Let's go."