Chapter 194: The Shared Misfortune

The King of Azure has fallen?

Yantong’s blood core suddenly accelerated, and Qian Ye’s face darkened. He roared, “The fall of a great lord is no small matter; how dare you make such a claim? If you don’t tell the truth now, I think you’re getting tired of living!”

The vampire marquis was terrified and quickly shouted, “I’m not lying! I swear by the Dark Origin, I have never lied! I come from the prestigious Yarusheng family and have the hope of ascending to the rank of duke. I am privy to many secrets. The King of Azure indeed fell, my bloodline elder said so himself.”

Qian Ye slowly responded, “Since you are from a distinguished vampire family, you should know that the higher-ups in the bloodline also maintain secret connections. How is it possible that the vampires themselves didn’t know if a great lord had fallen?”

“Well…” The marquis’s eyes darted around, and he said, “I know some inside information. If I tell you, can you spare my life and not kill me?”

“Speak quickly!”

The marquis, not daring to haggle, hurriedly explained, “I heard that the blood core of the King of Azure is still intact… cough, cough, so the secret connection between the vampires wasn’t completely severed. This might be the reason.”

Yantong suddenly swayed and then gritted her teeth, “Ask him who killed Renault.” To assert Renault’s fate and mention the details of the intact blood core, the role of the demons in this matter was obvious.

Without waiting for Qian Ye to ask, the marquis hurriedly said, “I heard it was the Eternal Flame and Parochia, both bringing the Deep Dark Blessing.”

Yantong just shook her head, “I know Renault well! They alone could not have taken him down. Renault… he fought to the death for us.”

A fight at the level of a great lord was beyond Qian Ye’s understanding at the moment, and he didn’t know how to comfort Yantong. He reached out and stroked her hair.

Yantong steadied herself and said, “It seems the demons are ready for a full-scale war. I just don’t understand why they would do this now.”

Thinking deeper, Qian Ye asked, “How many blood pools were you planning to collect? Which clans were involved?”

“I’m not sure about the others, but we, the Yarusheng, were assigned fourteen. Three of them seem to be ancient clans,” the marquis replied honestly.

Yantong and Qian Ye exchanged glances.

They did not yet know if this mission was a personal agenda of the demon lords or a true decision of the council. Even with the minimum calculation, to prevent the worst, if the seven great demon houses led the charge, the number of blood pools they would seize would exceed a hundred.

The vampire world was vast, but even including the blood pools of the Mora family, there were only a few truly ancient ones. If the demons collected over a hundred blood pools, even if they didn’t take half of the entire vampire resources, they would get at least a third.

Blood pools were the true strategic resource of the vampires. Elder vampires nearing the end of their lives needed blood pools to extend their lifespan while asleep, and to recover upon awakening. Younger descendants also needed blood pools to enhance their bloodline abilities.

Blood pools required time to accumulate. Many pools took hundreds of years to gather enough blood to sustain the sleep of a marquis or a duke. This was the significance of the ancient blood pools. Without them, it was like cutting off the lifeline of an entire clan.

Given the scale of collecting ancient blood pools, this was a declaration of all-out war.

Seeing no more information to be gained, Yantong hummed and waved her hand. A dark gold blood blade cut the marquis in two.

Qian Ye frowned slightly but said nothing.

Knowing his thoughts, Yantong explained, “To the vampires, execution by fire is as shameful and provocative as a blood banquet to humans. Just based on what they’ve done here, all the ancient clans will declare war on the Yarusheng.”

Qian Ye stroked Yantong’s head and remained silent, following her to the castle square. There, many young vampire women were weeping, and several young vampire barons and viscounts were gathered around an elderly man. The old man, with half his body burned, leaned against a stone pillar, weak and frail.

Seeing Yantong and Qian Ye, the old Mora marquis struggled to his feet, knelt on one knee, and said, “Thank you, your majesties, for your rescue. I’m at the end, but these children still have a future. They will offer eternal loyalty to you! Our Mora family, with our 2,000-year-old territory, castle, and blood pools, are willing to be yours, only asking that you preserve the Mora bloodline.”

This was a request to become Yantong and Qian Ye’s vassals.

Yantong asked, “Where is the patriarch of the Kardun?”

The old Mora marquis replied, “The current patriarch of the Kardun is Duke Ronikandon. The council is composed of four dukes and one prince. However, the old prince has been in hibernation for three hundred years and has never ignited his mark. Duke Ronikandon himself is often in hibernation, waking up only once every three years.”

Hearing this, even Qian Ye frowned.

As one of the twelve ancient clans, the Kardun had already declined to such a state.

Vampires’ hibernations were of two types: one where they could awaken on their own, like a demonic retreat, mainly to communicate with the Holy River and enhance their power. The other required external awakening and the consumption of many resources, meant to reduce activity and maintain power.

The Kardun prince, who had been in hibernation for three hundred years, even if awakened, was already at the end of his life. And this un-crowned prince’s power was unlikely to be much stronger than a fully potent duke. Duke Ronikandon, though capable of waking up on his own, was clearly in a state of decline rather than strength enhancement.

Yantong said, “The Kardun have long been in decline, but the higher-ranked clans have always helped them, protecting their traditional territories. This is because vampires with the Kardun bloodline are the easiest to sense and ignite the blood mark of their clan.”

Understanding dawned on Qian Ye.

Half of the marks in the Blood River had already dimmed, and protecting the Kardun was equivalent to preserving a path to the Blood River marks for the entire vampire race. This was why, despite internal conflicts, the twelve ancient clans had never broken their lineage.

Perhaps one day, a talented young Kardun could re-ignite the mark, leading the Kardun to relive their ancient glory, much like Habus.

Qian Ye speculated, “Are the demons targeting the three ancient clans to cut off three paths of the vampire lineage?”

“Perhaps.”

Such a move was aimed at their roots. How could the supreme queen, the Night Queen Lilith, possibly allow this? And how could the council approve such a plan? It made no sense. The werewolves would certainly be delighted, and the arachnoids likely indifferent, but what about the vampire giants?

If Qian Ye thought of it, so did Yantong. She said, “We should go to the Pars clan. We must let her know what has happened here.”

“Agreed.” Qian Ye was curious about Yantong’s attitude towards Lilith. She seemed to lack the most basic respect for the Night Queen.

Turning to the old Mora, Yantong said, “Gather all your promising direct descendants.”

The old marquis, struggling, gave the order, and soon, eleven young vampires knelt before Yantong. They were a mix of nobles, with the highest being a viscount, and the youngest a mere knight.

Yantong’s blood energy coalesced into a map in the air. “From now on, you are my vassals. Take the blood pools and all the source blood to this place, fortify the castle there, and await further instructions. Prepare now.”

The eleven young vampires did not move but instead knelt, each cutting their wrist and letting their blood flow onto a blood blade, swearing allegiance to Yantong.

The ceremony was brief and solemn, and only after it was completed did the Mora direct descendants rise and leave, going to relocate the blood pools and other precious resources.

In the old Mora marquis’s eyes, there was both nostalgia and sorrow. He slowly said, “From today, the Mora family no longer exists. But our bloodline can continue under your protection, which eases my guilt somewhat.”

The old marquis sat down, his eyes lowered, and thus his life ended.

While Yantong handled the aftermath, Qian Ye wandered through the castle, observing. There were signs of intense battles throughout, with many vampire corpses still unattended. Some bodies were horrific, clearly having endured much torture and humiliation before death.

This was not a battle but a one-sided massacre. The Mora family, though not powerful, had little resistance against the overwhelming force of the council troops. Of course, the demons, using the council’s name, entered the castle directly, rendering all defenses useless, a key factor.

The marquis in charge, though relatively mild-tempered, had a ruthless deputy. Qian Ye had just learned that the dead deputy, killed by Yantong, was a werewolf. From any angle, the marquis would not restrain his subordinates when facing the Mora’s resistance.

Many council soldiers lay dead, not just demons, but also arachnoids and werewolves. Pyres were not only in the main square but also in smaller plazas.

The angry Yantong had already slain all the council warriors in the castle. The surviving vampires extinguished the fires and removed the bodies from the pyres.

Qian Ye suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on a small, thin corpse. It was a vampire girl, not yet grown, with a beautiful, pale face. Now, her features were twisted in extreme pain, her wide, empty eyes with torn corners, her silent, agonized expression frozen.

Perhaps due to her size, most of her body was burned, but her pretty face was clean and unscathed. The residual demonic aura indicated that a demon had specifically protected her face, not out of pity, but to clearly see her pain.

Several more charred bodies were brought and laid out, covered with crimson cloth.

Qian Ye shuddered. He had almost been drawn into the girl’s pain. Her expression, frozen in the peak of suffering, made Qian Ye feel as if the flames were burning him.

He exhaled heavily, realizing this was the reality of war, the age-old enmity. The internal slaughter among the dark races was no less brutal than the conflicts with the Empire.

The surviving vampires, some sad, some numb, and some silently weeping, looked back at him.

Looking at their faces and expressions, Qian Ye felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen this before. He hadn’t witnessed a human blood feast in a long time, but the memories of the wretched and despairing people in the lower levels of the Evernight Continent were still etched in his mind.

At that moment, he realized the misfortune of their race was unfolding before him. These dark races were not so different from humans, reacting similarly to their fates.

Not all dark beings were born warriors. Even the long-lived ones aged, became vulnerable, and suffered the loss of kin.

Because of his own blood core, Qian Ye could faintly sense the emotions of the surrounding vampires. This was a natural advantage of the superior over the inferior, but now, it left him overwhelmed by the sadness around him.