The First Vampire

His vision was consumed by darkness, and Colin’s consciousness was forcibly returned to his physical form.

When he looked at Queen Midela again, he saw the newly converted blood slave had been completely reduced to ashes.

Utterly dead.

What a shame that the forbidden spell was incomplete.

It had merely turned half of the Orc Emperor’s arm to stone.

Nonetheless, Colin was not overly discouraged.

Originally, he didn’t hold out much hope; it was more of an experimentation to let the ceremony carry on.

It matters little if the Orc Emperor didn’t die; anyhow, Queen Midela received the punishment she deserved.

Colin, feeling satisfied, turned to walk toward the stairs.

Halfway, he turned back, gathered all his strength in his right hand, and slammed quickly into the ground.

Boom!

The basement shook violently as countless cracks raced across the floor like cobwebs.

Looking at the magic array he’d thoroughly obliterated, Colin nodded in satisfaction and left the basement.

Back on the top level of the castle, he found Duke St. Gregorian had already awakened.

“How do you feel?”

Colin asked with a smile, feeling the blood connection with the Duke.

Duke St. Gregorian watched Colin intently, his eyes filled with both confusion and undisguised, heartfelt reverence.

“I feel… peculiar,” Duke St. Gregorian carefully chose his words, “Are you a god’s favored?”

“Yes,” Colin asserted, nodding.

Then, without hesitation, he relayed the brainwashing speech to Duke St. Gregorian.

Without the experience of being brought back to life, Duke St. Gregorian would never buy such nonsense. However, now, having experienced a miracle first-hand, even the resolute Holy Knight kneeled before Colin, his face flush with emotion as he respectfully asked,

“The favored of God, has the Lord not truly abandoned His believers?”

“Of course not,” Colin replied unabashedly, “The Lord’s radiance will never be extinguished, and humankind has never lost the Lord’s favor.”

“Glorify the Lord!”

Perhaps having gone through the painful experience of Westland falling and feeling severe despair in the face of the Orc Emperor, the resurrected Duke St. Gregorian needed a spiritual haven even more than the common believers.

And Colin presented him just that hope.

“Glorify the Lord!” Colin gently patted the Duke’s head, chanting like a holy man, “All tribulations are temporary, all trials are necessary. Holding steadfast to our faith, we shall eventually witness the final redemption!”

Duke St. Gregorian felt an overwhelming and warm divine aura radiating from Colin in front of her. This sensation made her tremble uncontrollably while tears streamed down her face.

At this moment, she felt as though she had regained her solid faith.

Reborn.

Colin blinked, observing the emotionally-overwhelmed Duke St. Gregorian, he wondered silently-

Is my control over the bloodline really this powerful now?

But if it’s really that powerful, why did Marquis Vincent of Eastland betray me in the first place?

Maybe, for a resolute Holy Knight like Duke St. Gregorian, experiencing a miracle makes her more likely to believe in it.

Holy Knights are the beings closest to God. In their eyes, only God can move their hearts.

Since Colin brought her back to life, naturally he became her god.

“Alright. We need to deploy the Imperial Allied Army to ambush in the Luwal Valley as soon as possible, and also arrange for the evacuation of the refugees.”

“Yes, Favored of God!” Duke St. Gregorian respectfully acknowledged.

…

“Prince Lexie, what’s the use of you chasing me like this?”

Mr. Ji stopped in his tracks, turned back and pointed towards the direction of the Storm Fortress, “If your intention was to prevent me from offering up the Storm Fortress as a sacrifice, you’ve already succeeded.”

Prince Lexie chuckled coldly, “What if I also want to kill you!”

Mr. Ji shrugged his shoulders and shook his head:

“You’ve been hunting me for an entire year, from the North Territory to the East and then from the East to the Westland. Have you succeeded?

Face reality, you alone cannot kill me.”

Prince Lexie stared emotionlessly at Mr. Ji, “Don’t assume that these few sentences will make me give up on hunting you.”

“No, I just hope you understand what is futile, and what you should truly be doing.”

“What do you think I should truly be doing?”

“Emperor Reinhardt is already dead. What do you think you should be doing?”

Hearing this, a flash crossed Prince Lexie’s eyes.

Mr. Ji perceptively caught this look and quickly added, “Don’t try to deny it. The moment you allowed Queen Midela to kill Emperor Reinhardt, I knew you had your eyes on his position!

In fact, that is the basis for our cooperation…”

Hearing this, Prince Lexie couldn’t help but scoff, “Mr. Ji, you actually think I would cooperate with someone who once framed me and just tried to kill me?”

“Yes, I did frame you once, and I did indeed plan to have Ernest use the ‘Eyes of Judgement’ to get rid of you.” Mr. Ji admitted candidly.

He understood that in order to win Prince Lexie’s trust, he must first acknowledge the conflicts between them.

As expected, upon hearing Mr. Ji’s admission, Prince Lexie was stunned.

Mr. Ji continued:

“However, that was because we were previously on different sides. But now, we have a common enemy, and thus a foundation for collaboration.”

“A common enemy?”

“Yes, Colin Angler.” Mr. Ji said gravely, “If I’m not mistaken, your sudden suspicion of me was provoked by him, right?”

Prince Lexie nodded.

Mr. Ji went on, “Have you ever thought about it? Our previous perfect plan, involving three Holy Knights, backed by the Queen, and even got rid of the Emperor, was quietly stopped by a Northern Earl in an instant.

Such a person is terrifying!

And if he continues to lead the Imperial Allied Army to repel the Orc army, well, then, not to mention you wanting to ascend the throne, even whether the Royal Family’s surname remains St. Lorenzo, is not certain.”

“Is that the extent of your attempt to sow discord?” Prince Lexie scoffed disdainfully.

However, Mr. Ji gave a leisurely smile and said:

“The sophistication of instigating discord doesn’t matter, what matters is whether a real conflict exists between you.

When Colin was sowing discord between us, was it sophisticated? Wasn’t it because you saw Ernest in the basement that you fell out with me?

Yes, I was indeed thinking of killing you before.

Similarly, can you say that Colin Angler is not a hurdle for you to ascend the throne?

This man was Prince Harrison’s tutor.

Even if he has no intention of usurpation, he will definitely support Harrison’s ascension to the throne.

What can you use to fight him now?”

Prince Lexie remained silent.

His stern and indifferent face flickered in the moonlight.

Even though he got no response, Mr. Ji, watching Prince Lexie’s head in silent contemplation, couldn’t help but smile triumphantly.

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