Night soon came to an end with the first rays of the Lightbringer lighting up the entirety of Eventide.
Across the peaceful parts of the continent, banners were raised in celebration as the denizens of the Empire celebrated the Emperor’s birthday.
It was a day of merriment and joy as they exchanged gifts and sang songs glorifying the Emperor that allowed them to enjoy the beauty of the behemoth known as Zion.
Of course, the same was currently happening in Krobridge as the gates were opened allowing those from the Extensions to come into the main city, albeit with intensive scrutiny from security.
This did nothing to dull the celebrations but strangely enough, most people couldn’t tell why but a deep sense of unease gnawed silently at their hearts, causing them to inadvertently put up their guards.
Watching the humans move about their day from the top of the academic building at Kro Institute, Charlotte couldn’t help but snicker in utter disdain.
Soon, these joyful streets would be covered in blood and she couldn’t wait for it to begin because, at that time, her greatest wish would be fulfilled.
Just then, the entrance to the roof opened and a Crimson Knight approached, stopping a few meters away from her position.
Going down on one knee, the Knight reported while bowing his head. "Lady Charlotte, the Monarch requests your presence at once."
"He is finally awake." Charlotte’s eyes glowed with anticipation as she turned to face the Knight.
Nodding in response, the Knight rose to his feet and left the roof with Charlotte following closely behind.
"You are here," Damian remarked upon noticing Charlotte’s presence.
Standing at the center of the octagonal hall, he seemed to have recovered considerably judging from how rosy his complexion was.
"Everything has been prepared as you ordered," Charlotte said after coming to a stop a few meters away from him.
Damian nodded in satisfaction. "That’s good. You’ve done well."
"Not only me. The ally you mentioned is doing quite an amazing job. I do not understand the principle but the citizens of Krobridge are ripe with the fear needed to harvest their hearts."
"..." Damian remained silent as his expression turned somewhat stiff.
Noticing the subtle changes, Charlotte inquired. "Is there a problem?"
"That he is helping me to such an extent."
"... I don’t understand."
"He has no reason to help but he still does so... I fear that whatever motive he has will not end well for me."
"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked in exasperation.
Damian glanced at her, taking a moment to consider things properly before replying. "The Blood Ritual carries a certain risk."
"So you want to stop it?" Charlotte asked in apprehension.
Damian shook his head. "No, on the contrary, we have to complete it. If I want to oppose that crazy bastard, I need the power of the Blood God. No matter what, I will not lose this golden opportunity."
"Then shall we begin?"
"Let’s go over what we know one last time," Elizabeth remarked while standing over the long table in the meeting hall.
Accompanying her were Alex, Roland, and a few executives of the Department.
Glancing at Roland, Elizabeth hoped for a brief overview which he obliged to give.
"The Blood Ritual from what my master deciphered has three steps. The first is the sacrifice. The second is the devouring and lastly is the possession and assimilation.
"It is roughly an upgraded version of the Thousand-Heart rituals performed by the Monarchs during the Dark Ages to create a Crimson Heart. But instead of a Crimson Heart, he intends to create a Divine Crown.
"To stop the Ritual, we need to ensure he doesn’t get to assimilation, else... even I don’t know what would happen." Roland finished with that.
Elizabeth, seemingly satisfied with the explanation turned to the others. "The Blood God Damian plans to become is going to be the first of its kind. We don’t know how powerful it would be but judging from how it requires more than 3 million lives to complete, we can’t assume it to be any lesser than a Demon God. So we have to prevent it from happening at all costs."
"We’ll follow whatever the liaison has in mind." An executive remarked with his comrades echoing similar words.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s next words poured cold water on their enthusiasm.
"I won’t be leading the charge."
"Huh?" They pointed questioning looks in her direction.
Ignoring them, Elizabeth continued. "Kane will be the one leading the attack."
Silence reigned for a bit before one of the executives spoke up.
"Liaison forgive me for this but did we hear you correctly when you said it would be the Dark Lord leading us?"
"... The Dark Lord?... A potential threat to us?"
"For now, we are allies and his plan holds a higher chance of success considering we have another enemy apart from the more prominent Damian."
"But isn’t this hearsay?... I mean, are we to believe the words of the Dark Lord about another powerful being lurking in Krobridge?... For all we know, he could be the powerful being."
Seeing as how the situation was about to spiral out of control, Alex let out a tired sigh before addressing Elizabeth. "I will be going ahead. Convince these fools and meet up with us."
Not waiting for a response, he promptly took his leave with Roland following behind him.
Elizabeth watched the door close before turning her attention back to the executives.
"This Stronghold is in danger of being destroyed. We don’t have the time to be engaged in petty quarrels."
"But nothing!... I take full responsibility for whatever happens today. You all have trusted me for so long...I hope you trust me again today."
With those words, she turned and left as well, leaving the executives to ponder their options.
With the celebrations underway, the center of Krobridge was currently alive with several nobles gathered, enjoying the spectacle of a dance troupe showing off their talents.
Due to the incredible display, even those commoners who stayed in the Extensions were drawn over, forced to watch from outside but still excited by the performance nonetheless.
However, maybe because of this, they took no notice of the impending danger.
Several Vampires, donning armor emerged from the underground tunnels through quite a number of exits leading to the surface.
Equipped with well-crafted weapons and brimming with bloodlust, they looked primed to unleash terror on the city, and without fail, they would.