Inside the Kurona Palace.
In the middle of the secret chamber was the real Staff of Nagash. The will within the staff was still in a frenzy. Around it were ten Grey Knight recruits, led by Petain, who were releasing their psionic powers to strengthen the seal.
Normally, Petain and the other recruits would not be a match for the will of Nagash and its power of the dead. But Nagash's resurrection ritual had failed. Now that the Lord of the Undead could not be resurrected, both his will and power were at the lowest point in a thousand years. The incompetent and furious Nagash could not do anything other than continue to curse and shake his staff in his Black Pyramid. As Peyton and the others increased the psionic power, the Staff of Nagash was easily sealed again, locked in the psionic chain.
However, no one in the room was paying attention to the Staff of Nagash. On the contrary, Lilith, Morgiana, Knight King, and Suria were all staring at the other magic circle in the room.
After a few seconds, the magic circle lit up, and Laing's figure fell from the sky. He was in his original form, but he was in a very sorry state. There were no wounds on his body, but his face was very pale. As soon as he landed, Laing lay on the ground like a dead dog. He opened his mouth to say something, but a mouthful of boiling blood came out.
"Laing!"
"No, Laing!"
"My dear, how are you?"
"Are you okay?"
The Lake Goddess, the Queen, and Sylvia, who was standing behind Suria, were all shocked. They rushed to check on Laing's condition. The Lake Goddess already knew what happened. She immediately hugged Laing and let Laing lean on her chest to make him feel better.
"Ugh …" Laing spat out mouthfuls of blood. His original form was clutching his chest, and he was panting with fear.
Almost, almost, Man Frey really did exchange one for one with him.
The power of the Lord of the Dead was not something that could be easily blocked. If Baldy Man's attack with all the power of Nagash was accurate, he could have really traded his life with Laing.
In fact, Ryan taking action himself was Plan B. Originally, he had thought that it would be enough to let the spy, Hal Harris, take action. As long as he could cause enough damage to Manfred at the critical moment of his promotion, Baldy Manfred would be doomed.
However, Man Frey was already prepared. He had already prepared for the spy, so Laing was forced to do it himself.
Hal Harris's failure was both good and bad. His failure forced Laing to do it himself. He used ultra-long distance teleportation to forcibly tear through the subspace with the Staff of Nagash's Dark Pull. He was directly trapped in Sylvania's cursed land and resurrection ritual. Facing thousands of Wind of the Dead, Laing was exhausted almost as soon as he entered the scene.
However, there were also advantages. After detonating the time bomb that was Hal Harris, Man Frey really felt that he was no longer a threat. Baldy Man's complete relaxation gave Laing the opportunity to quickly close in and kill him in one shot. This was the reason why he was killed instantly with a Backstab.
"Cough, cough, cough …" Laing coughed non-stop. Suria quickly took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Laing, are you okay?"
"Cough, cough, cough … I'm fine … We succeeded. We stopped the Lord of the Dead from resurrecting. I also successfully dealt with Man Frey and found us a reliable ally who is willing to work with us." Laing grimaced. His original form wanted to smile, but his face was pale.
"Alright! We've heard everything from the lady. Don't say anything! " Suria saw that Laing's life was not in danger, but he was heavily injured. She immediately put on a straight face after seeing the Knight King. She calmly said to Sylvia, "Sylvia, His Majesty is tired and needs to rest. He needs a warm bed and a good environment for recovery. Go and arrange it."
"Yes." Sylvia saw that Suria's expression had calmed down and let out a sigh of relief. The head maid bowed. "Alright, I'll arrange it."
"Your Highness Morgiana, I'll have to trouble you to take care of Laing for a while," Suria continued.
"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Morgiana did not expect such a big pie to fall into her lap. The Lake Goddess witch was overjoyed and could not help but curl her lips. She quickly put away her joyful expression and accepted the task very seriously.
Laing smiled bitterly and nodded.
Although Man Frey had almost switched places with Laing, this was the distance from Dark Sword 21 to Dark Sword 22. Laing had the special ability "Forgotten Shadow" that allowed him to switch places instantly. Therefore, Man Frey could not really switch places with Laing. There was no chance at all.
However, Laing still paid a huge price. As mentioned before, switching places with Laing's Forgotten Shadow would immediately cost him 50% of his Psionic Power, stamina, and life force. The Forgotten Shadow replaced Laing and bore the brunt of Man Frey's desperate attack. Laing still had to forcefully teleport away after suffering a huge loss.
This was not something that could be recovered with a few days of rest. What made Laing even more uncomfortable was the feeling of his body being torn apart by countless Wind of the Dead and being pierced by bone spikes.
He finally understood why the Emperor was so exhausted in the cyber war under the palace.
Nagash's power was really too terrifying. Leon believed that even the gods of order would not be a match for Nagash when he was at his peak. Moreover, there was a risk of complete annihilation. It was no wonder that the four gods of chaos were determined to stop Nagash's resurrection.
"Now, it's up to the new Lord of Death, the Sanguine Ancestor, the rightful master of Sylvania, what he will do. I hope he won't disappoint us." Laing said one last sentence and sent the heavily injured body out.
Morgiana escorted Laing to rest, leaving the Lake Goddess and Suria. The Goddess held the Holy Grail and said, "Azarion is dead."
"Really?" Suria recalled the elite hero she saw in Ossouin. He was cold, ruthless, determined, and eternal.
"Azarion knew very well that he came to the Old World to die. He had a chance to live." The Lake Goddess's expression was complicated. The Goddess shook her head and said, "I warned him, but his heart was as strong as iron. He succeeded in saving Alissanda."
"Alissanda?!" Suria was surprised. The little queen survived?
"Yes, she survived, but she has lost Yisha's blessing. Now she only has the blood of Cain that she inherited from Tyrion." The Lake Goddess also felt a little troubled. "This is troublesome. She is destined to never be the Eternal Queen. What's worse is that if she …"
"I know, My Lady, but we …" Suria also felt the problem was complicated.
The secret chamber was quiet again. The two sisters whispered together, discussing what to do next.
… I'm the dividing line of the sisters …
"Damn it, how did Sylvania become like this?"
"Is Duncanhof Castle the nest of the inferior creatures?"
"Where are the humans that I raised so carefully? Where is my Sylvania auxiliary army? "
"Conrad! Man Frey! Two useless pieces of trash! "
Apart from Alissanda, the other eight sacrifices were all dead and devoured by dark magic.
The return of the new Lord of the Dead, Vlad, had activated all of Sylvania. Unlike Manfred, who had used schemes, tricks, and all sorts of methods to get the vampires and necromancers to work for him, the moment Vlad appeared, all of Von Kastein's blood descendants and necromancers under his command naturally swore allegiance to Vlad.
Vlad didn't even need to force them or ask.
As the ruler of Sylvania and the Blood Ancestor for hundreds of years, Vlad had such charm and tricks. Not to mention, the Blood Ancestor was now a demigod, the Lord of the Dead.
"Live to serve, or die as a slave. Lich King, choose." These were the words that Vlad said to Lich King Akerman. Only he had the right to ask.
"Then I shall serve you until my master is resurrected." Lich King Akerman was very straightforward. He knew that Nagash's resurrection ritual had failed. Not only did his master fail to come back to life, but Vlad and Man Frey had also stolen a large amount of his power. Nagash was now in a weakened state, and he didn't know how long it would take for him to come back to life and gather all nine sacrifices. Perhaps five hundred years? A thousand years? Perhaps even longer.
Akerman couldn't calculate how long it would take for his master to come back to life again. He only knew that he was in a better position than he was. He would only regret it when his master was resurrected!
Moreover, the Lich King was secretly delighted. He would have a long period of easy days ahead. It's not that I didn't work hard enough, it's that the ritual went wrong.
A trace of disdain flashed across Vlad's handsome and mature face. Of course, he knew that Lich King Arkham's only master was Nagash. Pledging loyalty to him was only a temporary measure. Lich King would still focus on reviving Nagash.
But Vlad didn't care. The Lord of Death really didn't care. He was different from Man Frey's son, who was always thinking about schemes and schemes. He was also different from that lunatic Conrad.
The first thing the Lord of Sylvania did upon his return was to inspect his territory. He quickly became infuriated by the current state of Sylvania.
Sylvania's originally balanced and reasonable population distribution had been completely destroyed. The once prosperous human towns and the once prosperous relay station system had all been destroyed. There were no longer any mortals left in Sylvania!
Idiot! Vlad's heart burned with rage. You've killed all the living. Where are we, the higher humans, supposed to get blood? If we can't feed ourselves, we'll start a war!
Is this the time to start a civil war?
The power of Chaos was already approaching the borders of the Empire. Vlad knew better than anyone just how terrifying the power of Chaos was. When he was still the Lord of Sylvania, he had done everything in his power to stop the spread of Chaos, suppress the spread of corruption, and eliminate the cultists of Chaos hiding among the mortals.
In Vlad's eyes, his legitimate claim to the throne of the Empire and the First Vampire War were genuine human civil wars. They were internal conflicts at best. If the Empire was gone, and the Old World was gone, where would he go to become the Lord of Death? Where would he go to maintain his supreme rule?
In the long run, the only way to survive was to unite!
"Now is not the time to think about reclaiming the throne that belongs to me. We must unite with everyone, including the dwarves, the elves, and the humans. We must defend against external enemies." Vlad didn't hesitate. He immediately issued an order as the new Lord of Death, summoning all undead vampires to defend the Empire and the Old World.
They must unite.
Messengers were sent out one after another to Silverpeak Mountain, Nicohalla, Luscia, and the Graveyard of Ships.
Vlad, the Lord of Death, silently awaited their replies.
Akhan saw all of this with his own eyes. The Lich King remained silent.
With a flash of necromancy magic, Hal Harris, the vampire baron killed by Man Frey, came back to life. He couldn't hold back his joy when he saw the return of the Blood Ancestor. He knelt at Vlad's feet, "My Lord, you've finally returned!"
"Let's not talk about the past. Serve me now."
"Yes, my Lord!"
Next, Vlad returned to his headquarters, Dunkenhoff Castle.
The Blood Ancestor was soon enraged by the current state of his castle.
The once magnificent Dunkenhoff Castle now looked more like a bandit's nest. Time had not treated these ancient buildings well, and the entire side hall had fallen into ruins covered in ivy. The cold wind from the Border Mountains blew through the walls that were full of mud and cracks, sweeping across the dusty hall and swaying the old and tattered tapestries hanging on the walls.
The two generations of vampire counts after him had failed to protect the glory that belonged to Von Castein. Instead, Dunkenhoff Castle was covered in dust. Vlad's carefully designed sculptures, architectural structures, and all the precious legacies he had left behind were all ruined. That damned Man Frey even treated Dunkenhoff Castle as a place to rear dark creatures. Those filthy ghouls, tomb wraiths, and bloodthirsty akasha — how dare they build a nest in my castle?
And Isabella … When Vlad thought of his wife, a heart-wrenching feeling lingered in his chest. Becoming a demigod did not make him lose his love for his wife. The Lord of Death could still remember clearly how Isabella smiled at him in her white wedding dress on the night of their wedding. He would never forget that feeling of love for the rest of his life.
Grief filled Vlad's heart. Isabella was gone, and he didn't know where his wife's soul had gone after she had died with him in Brunswick. But he was sure that he would find her, he was sure.
There were many things he needed to do now.
In order to resurrect Nagash, Arkham had obtained the Chosen of the Old World's gods and obtained the divine blood and divine power. Although the ritual did not succeed, it had severely weakened the power of the Old World's gods. Soon, the mortals would realize that their gods were no longer able to help them resist the corruption of Chaos.
Vlad also needed time to master his new power and rebuild his army of Sylvania. He needed both the living and the dead to rebuild Dunkenhoff Castle. It would become the Old World's strongest fortress and a place where troops could be deployed. It could even be the frontline battlefield against Chaos!
At the same time, at the border of Sylvania Province.
Perhaps it was intentional or not, but ever since Alisabella escaped from the ritual site, no undead creatures stopped the little queen from leaving. Even if she accidentally met undead or even vampires on the way, they did not have any intention of harming her. Instead, they faintly felt that she was … one of their kind.
This made the little queen feel lucky, but she also had a very bad feeling in her heart.
Alisabella found a cold stream and looked at herself in the mirror.
Although her face was pale and her spirit was weak due to being trapped and imprisoned for a long time, she did not turn into an undead vampire. She was still a living person.
Her originally bright golden hair had faded into a light flaxen color.
What was even more terrifying was that Yisha's blessing was gone. All life magic could no longer be used. She could only master a few high-level spells and … new death magic. Alisabella had turned from a life mage to an apprentice death mage.
It was impossible for a Death Mage, a little queen who had lost Isa's blessing, to ascend to the throne and become the next Eternal Queen.
Alisabella's first reaction was to commit suicide.
However, something stopped her.
"Yisha's blessing has been lost. Alisabella, you can't become the Eternal Queen. I'm sure the future will be very painful. But promise me, live on, okay?"
"I promise you, Uncle Azarion!"
Alisabella bit her lip. The little queen crawled back up.
Yes, I promised Uncle Azarion that I would live on.
In the distance, thunder rumbled along the eastern horizon. The jagged mountains came into view for a brief moment. The dyed black resisted the darkness outside. The scavenging crows gathered into a huge flock. The Death Moon hung high in the eastern sky, shining with a sickly green luster. In the cold wind, the messy withered grass and dry leaves swayed back and forth.
But my future, where is it?
Alisabella silently prayed to the Elven Gods for guidance. A pitiful person who had lost her blessing and power was in urgent need of salvation.
A God answered her prayer.
It was Lilith, the Moon Goddess of the Elven Heavens!
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