The First Vampire

Colin stood in the crowd, staring at Queen Midela, who wore an expression of righteousness, with amazement in his heart.

He was confident that Queen Midela wasn’t the type to sacrifice herself for justice, but how could she dare make such a public promise?

Unless…she had decided to kill everyone here!

Colin knew the true face of Queen Midela, of course, he would make such a guess, but the others were silenced by the Queen’s righteous words.

But soon, nobles started to persuade her again:

“Your Highness, even if we plan to offer the Storm Fortress as a sacrifice, we should start by evacuating the army!”

“Yes, aren’t the refugees enough as a sacrifice?”

…

Clearly, the nobles didn’t care about the fate of the refugees. If they could trade the lives of these refugees for the life of the Orc King, they would probably rejoice secretly.

Queen Midela hummed lightly, saying:

“Just the refugees aren’t enough for this sacrifice! Besides, if the army retreats, the refugees will surely run away. So, no one here is allowed to leave!”

“Your Highness! How can we sacrifice the best elite force of the Empire?”

“Your Highness, we could retreat part of the army…”

Listening to the nobles’ persistent persuasion, Queen Midela waved her hand in determination and commanded with an unquestionable tone:

“Enough!

I’ve already said it, no one is allowed to leave!

This plan has received unanimous approval from His Majesty, Prince Lexie, Duke St. Gregorian and Count Angler, so you have no other choice but to cooperate!

Sacrificing the Storm Fortress is our best chance to break down the Orc Empire, it must go on!

Furthermore, I must remind you, once the sacrifice ceremony begins, the only safe place in Storm Fortress will be this castle. Please do not leave, and do not attempt to contact your armies; otherwise, be prepared to become sacrifices!”

Having said this, Queen Midela found Colin in the crowd and ordered:

“Count Angler, guard the castle and tend to the noble lords here. Don’t let the outside chaos affect us!”

“Yes!” Colin immediately bowed and accepted the command.

Queen Midela nodded with satisfaction, and without paying further attention to the nobles attempting persuasion, she left in long strides.

Count Nicoll wanted to catch up, but was stopped by Colin.

Queen Midela went down the stairs, rounded a corner, and a Shadow Knight was waiting there for her unexpectedly

“Your Highness, are we initiating ahead of schedule?”

“Yes!” Answered Queen Midela without pausing, her face dark, “Rumors have begun to circulate outside, it is too late for control. Thus, we have to act early!”

“Someone must have deliberately leaked the information!” Said the Shadow Knight angrily, “I suspect it was Duke South Border, do we need to kill him first?”

“No need.” Queen Midela smiled coldly, “Put him under watch and don’t let him contact anyone. Our current priority is to sacrifice the Storm Fortress.”

“Yes, Your Highness, what is our specific plan?”

“Three things, remember them clearly.” Queen Midela ordered decisively,

“First, spread the news in the fortress that the Orc’s army has approached, so the refugees won’t dare to flee;

Second, declare that His Majesty has discovered Duke South Border’s conspiracy of colluding with Orcs and preparing to hand over Storm Fortress to them, and thus, His Majesty has ordered for the disarmament of the South Border army…”

Hearing this, the Shadow Knight couldn’t help but remind her:

“Your Highness, spreading such baseless accusations might cause chaos. The southern warriors will not surrender without a fight…”

“That’s exactly the effect I want.” Explained Queen Midela, “We need to push the South Border army to rebellion and create chaos.”

The Shadow Knight understood and nodded accordingly.

Queen Midela continued:

“Now, the lords in the fortress are confined to the castle and can’t contact their armies. If you do as I just asked, the fortress will surely fall into chaos.

And with this opportunity, you can smoothly carry out the third task—

Arson!

The city walls, main buildings, and major routes of Storm Fortress have all been sufficiently rigged with charcoals. You will send someone to set them alight.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” The Shadow Knight nodded, promptly disappeared into the darkness with a flash.

Queen Midela walked downstairs until she entered the basement.

Upon seeing Mr. Ji and Mage Ernest, Queen Midela asked in a hurried tone:

“How’s it going? Is the Magic Array ready?”

Ernest frowned, “The third node isn’t ready yet…”

“There’s no more time!” Queen Midela declared decisively, “The ceremony has to start immediately. If we wait any longer, even we won’t be able to control the situation in Storm Fortress.”

“But with only two nodes…”

Just as Mr. Ji was about to speak, his gaze suddenly fell on the entrance of the basement.

There, Prince Lexie had unexpectedly appeared.

“You plan to start the ceremony ahead of schedule?” Prince Lexie’s tone was devoid of any detectable emotions.

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. There has been a leak, so we must start early. For the smooth progress of the ceremony, could you help secure the castle gate to assure the chaos outside doesn’t reach here?”

Prince Lexie didn’t respond to Queen Midela’s request, but directed his attention to Ernest, asking:

“Mage Ernest, what are you doing here?”

Ernest hesitated for a moment, then explained: “Your Royal Highness, I’m here to assist Mr. Ji in completing the Sacrificial Ceremony.”

“Assist?” Prince Lexie’s mouth curled up slightly in disdain, “Does this Sacrificial Ceremony need two Rank Six Mages to perform together? Or… do you have two targets for your sacrifice?”

Queen Midela sighed quietly, aware that she couldn’t bluff her way out of this. Ernest’s presence, once known to Prince Lexie, would struggle to convince the Holy Knight again.

Mr. Ji also understood this point. He exchanged a quick glance with Queen Midela, then slowly walked towards Prince Lexie, saying:

“Actually, I invited Mage Ernest here only as a precaution. But if you have doubts, Your Highness, let’s do this: let Ernest preside over the ceremony, and we will wait outside.”

But Prince Lexie remained at the entrance of the basement, his eyes still filled with distrust.

“I’m sorry, but I no longer can trust who your target might be. So, this Sacrifice…”

Boom!

Before Prince Lexie could finish his sentence, Mr. Ji had suddenly transformed into a beam of golden lightning charging towards him.

Having had prior suspicion, he immediately moved his hands in front of him. The revolving Holy Light formed a massive golden shield.

Bang!

After the earth-shaking blast, Ernest opened his eyes to see the entrance to the basement blasted into a large hole, with Prince Lexie and Mr. Ji nowhere to be seen.

He looked hesitantly at Queen Midela and asked: “What should we do now?”

Queen Midela decisively replied: “What else can we do? Start the ceremony immediately and help Mr. Ji to kill Prince Lexie!”

“Then… the other node, do you want to use it?”

“No, keep the other one for Mr. Ji. If we don’t kill the Orc Emperor after sacrificing the Imperial Allied Army, the Empire will be finished.”

“And you…”

Queen Midela looked at the third node that was still not finished, and sighed: “I’ll wait till the next time. As long as we control the Glorious Empire, there will always be opportunities.”

“Alright!” Ernest restrained the joy in his heart, nodded repeatedly, and then turned to walk towards one of the nodes.

But the next moment, Ernest suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Looking down, he saw that a dagger had pierced his chest.

“You… you…” Ernest turned his head, looking at Queen Midela with a face full of rage.

Queen Midela pulled out the dagger, letting Ernest slowly collapse to the ground, turning to reveal a bloodthirsty smile, saying-

“I’m sorry, Mage Ernest, I promised the Empire’s Nobles that I would atone for everyone in Storm Fortress with my life. Therefore, this opportunity… I’ll take it.”

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