Volume 4 Chapter 111

Volume 4 + Chapter 111: The Actors Assemble

The Crimson Empire.

On a gloomy, rain-soaked day, Joshua stood holding an umbrella, a bouquet of flowers cradled in his arms, gazing at the gravestone before him.

This was his family’s burial ground.

He himself had never imagined that one day he would be able to return to the Crimson Empire, to once again stand before the graves of his clan.

Because of Herman’s persecution, Joshua’s family—aside from himself—no longer had a single survivor.

Naturally, the family graveyard had long been left unattended, overrun with weeds.

In the rain, he listened for a long while to the steady patter of raindrops striking his umbrella. At last, he placed the bouquet in front of the gravestone. After a quiet farewell, he turned and left.

When he reached the entrance of the cemetery, Joshua was startled to discover that a line of figures had appeared there.

“Hello there, Mr. Joshua. You haven’t forgotten who I am, have you?”

The Vampire Clan Grand Duke, Flora, stood in the rain with a group of her subordinates. She allowed the falling rain to soak her long hair and cloak, staring at Joshua expressionlessly.

“Flora… why are you here?!”

Panic flashed across Joshua’s face as he staggered backward several steps.

“That’s impossible! No one in the entire Crimson Empire knows my whereabouts—you couldn’t possibly have found me!”

“How foolish, to cling to such wishful thinking. After wandering abroad for so long, you still couldn’t resist secretly returning to the Crimson Empire to visit your family’s graves,” Flora said disdainfully. “Unfortunately for you, such actions could never escape the eyes of the Divine Ancestor.”

“Damn you, Vampire Clan Grand Duke!”

Joshua threw his umbrella to the ground and was just about to flee.

Flora stomped the ground once. Her figure vanished in an instant, and in the next moment she appeared beside Joshua, seizing his head and slamming it into a rain-filled depression on the ground.

“Come with us, Mr. Joshua. It’s time you went to meet the Divine Ancestor.”

…

Within the Crimson Empire, a civil war of enormous consequence was unfolding.

The imperial authority that had ruled the empire for a thousand years was facing an unprecedented challenge.

The army organized by the current chairman of the Council of Elders, Morton advanced triumphantly, pushing all the way to the imperial capital of the Crimson Empire.

On the opposing side stood the forces led by the royal family.

For reasons unknown, Herman, the former Vampire Clan King, did not personally enter the war to oppose the Council of Elders. Instead, he chose to remain silent, watching from the sidelines.

As a result, the royal army found itself unable to withstand the onslaught of the elders’ forces.

Now, the great army had reached the very gates of the capital.

The Vampire Clan could feel the empire teetering in the storm. Perhaps today, the imperial banner would be replaced.

“Chairman Morton, we have completely surrounded the capital. Nearly all the nobles of the Council of Elders have answered your call, leading their own armies here and standing ready to storm the city at any moment,” one of Morton’s subordinates reported.

Morton stood outside the city, gazing toward the capital shrouded in dark, rolling clouds.

Encircled by a vast, black sea of troops, the imperial capital looked as though it might collapse at any time.

Everyone knew that the current Vampire Clan Queen, Miu Miu · Borgia was far too young and inexperienced. Acting only on childish impulse, lacking true strength, she was no match for the task of ruling a kingdom.

Thus, all were eager to lead their troops into the capital, personally slay the Vampire Clan Queen, and earn extraordinary merit.

In that way, when the new empire was established, they could be rewarded according to their contributions and rise swiftly to power and wealth.

“The specially made pendants I ordered earlier had been distributed to all members of the Council of Elders?” Morton asked.

“Yes, Chairman Morton. The custom pendants have already been distributed. All members of the Council are wearing them now, awaiting your command,” his subordinate replied.

The special pendants had been commissioned by Morton and possessed a unique identification function. Their primary purpose was to ensure that, when storming the capital, members of the Council of Elders would not mistakenly attack their own allies amid the chaos, thereby avoiding unnecessary casualties.

“Good.” Morton smiled.

Inwardly, his subordinate marveled at how meticulous the chairman of the Council of Elders truly was—even this had been taken into account.

What he did not know was that, in truth, every action Morton was taking at this very moment was all for one purpose—

“Pass down the order! The entire army charges!! No member of the Council of Elders is permitted to retreat! Storm the capital, trample the Vampire Clan’s imperial palace, kill the incompetent Vampire Clan Queen, and bring this war of the Vampire Clan to its conclusion!!” Morton roared.

“By your command!”

In the next instant, all members of the Council of Elders felt a surge of magical fluctuation coming from their special pendants. The color of the gemstones embedded in them changed.

This signal signified the commencement of the all-out assault.

“Charge!!”

“Kill the Vampire Clan Queen!!”

“The throne of the Crimson Empire—it’s time for us to sit on it!!”

The army of the Council of Elders surged forward en masse, like a raging flood, pouring toward the imperial capital.

…

“Divine Ancestor.”

Herman knelt on the ground, reporting to the Vampire Clan’s Divine Ancestor.

“The army of the Council of Elders has launched a full-scale attack and has begun attempting to break through the defenses of the capital’s garrison.”

The silver-haired Vampire Clan girl leaned lazily against her throne, gently swirling the goblet in her hand.

The glass reflected her breathtakingly beautiful face and her calm, unruffled smile.

Though this was a crisis on the scale of national annihilation, in her eyes it seemed no more than a grandly staged performance.

“Have all the members of the Council of Elders arrived?”

“They have all arrived, Divine Ancestor. They are loudly proclaiming that they will behead you, parade your head through the streets, and hang it beneath the sunlight.”

“Excellent. The stage has been set, the actors have assembled, Morton has truly done a splendid job,” Elizabeth said in a cheerful tone. “Without him, it really wouldn’t have been possible to gather so many members of the Council of Elders in the capital all at once. When it comes time to choose a Best Actor, he absolutely must be included~”

“Divine Ancestor, should we resist, or…?”

“Order the capital’s garrison to cease all resistance. Open every city gate and allow all the Council of Elders’ armies to enter the capital.”

“As you command.”

“Alright now, we can’t keep everyone waiting for the protagonist for too long. If only the supporting cast occupies the stage, it does become rather dull.”

Elizabeth drained the blood in her goblet in a single gulp.

A faint glow flickered in her eyes, and an overbearing aura erupted, causing the very space around her to tremble.

Herman understood that, just moments ago, the Vampire Clan Divine Ancestor had completed the final strand of the Nine Imperial Bloodlines, repairing her own bloodline, undergoing a qualitative transformation, and reclaiming her former power—

Upon this land, she had become an invincible existence.

“The time has come. It is time to proclaim my true identity to the entire Vampire Clan.”

Elizabeth stepped out of the imperial palace gates, gazing upon the capital engulfed in flames of war, and took her first step forward.

Black bats gathered from all directions beneath her feet, lifting her upward.

The Vampire girl moved as if ascending invisible steps, walking higher and higher into the sky. Looking down upon the war-torn capital below, a faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips. A divine halo manifested behind her, and her attire transformed accordingly—no longer the garb of a Vampire Clan Queen, but rather… the vestments of the mythic age.

“The entrance of the Vampire Clan Divine Ancestor must be grand and magnificent.”