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Looking through the window of his office, a young vampire man with skin as pale as candlewax, long dark blue hair, and sharp red eyes glanced at the three moons above the sky.
His face, which was in a perpetual expression of distaste, seemed even more angered than usual, and it was for something that he had been worrying about for the last four days.
Indeed, it has been exactly four days since Asthartez Von Sange, the Fourth Prince of the Iron Blood Empire, heard any news from his three spies. The three butlers he had employed to "take care" of Vlad and his family of useless parasites of the empire, as he often called these people,.
They were a group of sickly people who were seen as nothing but trash by the entire Imperial Vampire. In the beginning, Vlad's mother was seen as a strong maiden with a powerful affinity for magic and the blessing of an Evil God…
But that stopped being the case when she gave birth to Vlad, who was born sickly and crippled. And even worse, a Dhampir. She had attempted to have a second child with the emperor several years later, asking for a second chance.
And that's how Camilla was born; similarly to her brother, the girl was born much smaller than the rest, diagnosed with dwarfism and also being a Dhampir.
The Emperor couldn't take such disgrace anymore, quickly exiling Teressa's entire family to the outskirts and assigning them a small town with only three weak dungeons, Elderbridge, which was mostly dominated by several gangs of criminals.
Some called this a wise decision, but others became furious, not because Teressa was punished but because she was not punished enough.
Asthartez and his mother had particularly become very jealous of Teressa, who was given a territory all to herself without any effort, unlike Helena, Asthartez's mother.
They tried to tell the Emperor that his decision was unwise and that they didn't even deserve that, but the Emperor, as ruthless and cold as he was, could simply not throw his own bloodline into the streets.
"It's not that I don't feel disgraced by seeing them, but even if cursed, those children carry my bloodline, and it would be even more of a disgrace to not give them, at the very least, a house to live in," the Emperor spoke, and his concubines and children could no longer retort his words.
At that time, however, Asthartez and his mother were still resentful, especially his mother, who had worked so hard for the place she had acquired. She was born a commoner who became a powerful soldier and gained great prestige and renown in the wars against the Barbarian Invaders from the west.
She became the fourth concubine of the Emperor through effort and earned his recognition, his love, and his seed, which created her beloved and only son, Asthartez Von Sange.
Helena raised her son to become perfect in every single thing; she wanted him to stand out, even if he was the fourth son. He grew up in excellency and riches, yet his talents were only subpar.
Upon achieving Tier 4 of the Blood Core Realm, he was unable to gain the recognition of any god, becoming "unblessed," as the vampires called them.
Members of the royal family had strong bonds with the Evil Gods, those who were blessed at a young age were given, naturally, special benefits and a much higher chance, if not guaranteed, to become a big part of the entire Empire.
Yet Asthartez was not blessed; the Evil Gods did not recognize his efforts, and this made the Emperor turn his eyes away from his fourth son.
Although they were never banished and are still recognized within the family, their social status within the royal family has plummeted considerably.
"Damned Dhampirs…"
The frustration of being neglected and ignored by the Emperor made mother and son turn their anger against those more unfortunate than them, Teressa and her two children.
Despite being more unfortunate than them, they were jealous of how the Emperor showed some kindness to them, such kindness that he had never shown to anybody else before.
Why?
Why did he show kindness to the Dhampir but not to the rest of his family?!
"They must be purged from the family; that father let them live is but a mistake, mother!"
Asthartez once more raged, slamming his fists into the table in front of him and shattering it into two halves.
CRASH!
"I know, my dear son, I know." A tall, imposing woman remained unmoved in front of her raging son. Her long, silky blue hair reached her ankles, her hips were wide, her bosom was busty, and her beauty was almost unparalleled. Yet at the same time, her beautiful face carried the handsomeness of a warrior, the bravery, and also the cunningness of a survivor.
"But how could it be?" Asthartez wondered. "The butlers, our spies, have yet to even respond! What's exactly happening there? Don't tell me. Did that woman, Teressa, kill them?"
"She is not as strong; she lost her blessing after giving birth to Camilla too." Helena said. "It seemed that her patron, Gula, did not like her having children. He crippled them both to punish her. Yet she was given an entire town with three dungeons."
"You're saying she couldn't do it? Then who? That useless of Vlad? He can't move at all!" said Asthartez. "Camilla? Impossible… Could it be? Have they betrayed us and ran away?"
"Or perhaps their message has been delayed. Or maybe they did run away; there are countless possibilities," Helena said, her long blue nails gently grasping a little golden cube that her son had thrown into the ground. "But is it not easier to simply find the answer through this artifact? Or have you forgotten already, son?"
"The Golden Soul Cube?" wondered Asthartez. "That is the soul-binding artifact I use on our servants. Mother, is there another use to it?"
"Although you can't really use it aside from Soul Binding, you can... Well, let's say you can break the contract," she smiled.
"But wouldn't that kill the oath-bearer?" Asthartez wondered, perplexed.
"Yes, let us try this. If we sense his soul breaking, they are still alive. If there is no response, They are long dead," said Helena.
"…Very well," Asthartez didn't even doubt that those three spies were raised and specifically created to be spies and nothing else—disposable tools at best.
"Then…"
The Vampiress smiled, her tongue licking her blue lips, as her cold breath activated the item within her claws, a flash of golden light surging from it.
Helena then spoke cursed words.
"Shatter, Soul."
Two cursed runes entered the golden cube, their light darkening and breaking down.
CRACK!
The sound of something shattering made mother and son expectant, but then silence came.
Nothing.
"One of them is dead," Helena said.
"Try the other two, mother," Asthartez insisted.
"Very well."
They tried it two more times; all three of them were dead, their souls long gone. In fact, it felt like their souls weren't even sent to the Void but gnawed and devoured.
"They were not only defeated, but their souls had been eaten." Helena uttered it with a voice of disbelief. "W-What is this? Who did this?"
"Could Teressa have been hiding her true strength? Or perhaps… There's another family member you are not aware of?" wondered Asthartez.
"That can't be. Teressa's parents are dead; we killed them," said Helena. "Her brother was also hunted down by my dogs... The only thing left is them—the only ones protected. The butlers did well in infiltrating this whole time without creating any more problems. But it seems their family might be more mysterious than we imagined."
"It's hard to believe…" Asthartez sighed.
"Whatever the case, they killed three of us, so we are forced to retaliate, right?" smiled Helena. "My son, the law is now in our favor for self-defense. What do you think we should do?"
"If it were up to me, I would kill them all and place their heads on pikes outside our house…" Asthartez groaned, looking hateful.
"Good idea," Helena smiled. "I am sure the Emperor… my dear husband, would not mind, right? If we tell him they killed our family…"
"Retaliation against unjustified aggression is fine and often protected by the laws of the Empire," nodded the son.
"Then?" smiled the mother, gently caressing her son's face and looking at him in the eyes. "What shall we do, my dear?"
"We kill them… Drink their blood and announce their deaths. We take their territory, and our influence rises, and then… Father can finally look at us again," Asthartez smiled.
"That's right~" his mother said, caressing his chin with her long, blue nails. "I've taught you well, my dear son~"
"When do we begin, mother?" Asthartez was ready.
"…Not so hasty; let us prepare. There was someone strong enough to kill three Tier 3s. Let's bring an army if needed," said Helena.
"Would that be alright?" wondered Asthartez, panicking slightly. "If father learns we're waging war against his favorite toys before..."
"Shhh, it's fine." Helena smiled. "It's alright~ Mommy has everything covered up, don't worry."
The woman walked towards the window, looking at the three moons.
"We'll begin preparations right away, and we'll depart on two more cycles."
"Very well."
Mother and son were up for blood.
These were the rules of a Vampire Family.
If you want power, tear it apart from the corpse of your brother.
.
.
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"I love the armor, but you have to calm down a bit with the equipment, Paul; you almost couldn't even move. Are you that obsessed with becoming a floating brick of steel or something?"
Chris reprimanded Paul as the two made their way to the dungeons once more.
"Look, I had calculated everything correctly, almost." Paul muttered. "I mean, I didn't know that my weak body wouldn't be able to take over fifty thousand Arcana, okay?"
"That's a ridiculous number, even for someone with none." Chris facepalmed. "At least you can move now, eh?"
"Yeah, as long as I don't activate all the rings," Vlad said, looking at his own hands.
He was wearing ten rings, one for each finger, two bracelets, one for each wrist, and two necklaces. Each ring was identical, of a dark red and black color, with small beast core fragments embedded into its surface.
The bracelets had larger ones and more, looking like shiny jewelry, and the necklaces had several embedded into a single tringle-shaped black steel piece.
The problem arose when Paul equipped them all and tried to connect the Auras of Arcana between all the equipment, amounting to over fifty thousand Arcana total.
Which was too much even for him; the pressure was so strong he ended up falling to the ground and being unable to even lift himself with the float spell.
But that was quickly resolved once Chris helped him get his sh*t together; they found out that as long as he didn't activate all the Arcana, it would be fine.
He could still get their little bonuses, but if he activated their internal Arcana, the pressure would crush his body again.
Still, he could maintain his whole armor, his wand, and both necklaces, bracelets, and two rings active, but the other eight rings were for reserve Arcana for now.
It was fine; he had planned to use them as "Arcana Batteries" anyway.
"You could spare some for me, you know?" Chris wondered, trying to act cocky again.
"What? I gave you too much already; you owe me at least a hundred thousand Credits from your premium equipment, so you're paying that from now on," Paul said.
"Eh?! They weren't gifts because you loved me as your friend?" Chris made a shocked expression.
"What? No…" Vlad looked elsewhere. The embarrassment was palpable, but he tried to ignore it. "Of course… not."
"Hmm~ I don't know you're all embarrassed; you tend to get embarrassed about everything, dude. Calm down." Chris patted his shoulders, but the armor was so hard it ended up hurting his hands. "Ouch… Anyway, we're here. Um, the same as before, then?"
"Yeah, this time I don't want to transform and see how strong we are with equipment," said Vlad. "Let's go to the strongest dungeon right away."
"Without you transforming?! Isn't that suicide? Also, they don't yield any blood or life force; they're all undead!" Chris complained.
"It's a test of power; they might not yield that, but they can be sold for a good price," Vlad insisted. "Let's go."
"Ugh, fine… Only because you keep insisting and begging me," Chris shrugged. "It can't be helped."
"Stop acting like I am not going to carry you now." Paul acted cocky for once.
When the two were teleported inside the Dungeon, the dark temple and the black skeletons greeted them. Almost instantaneously after appearing here, the undead were charged with murderous intent.
"Let's test the new equipment then," Paul smiled, his red and black armor overflowing with a powerful Aura of Arcana.
However, there was something odd about them.
Red crystals were growing over their bodies.
"Um, Paul, don't they look a bit weird to you?" Chris wondered.
As the two confronted the army of strange skeletons, something else awakened within the depths of the dark ruins.
The fabric of space was tearing apart.
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