...
The entire throne room immediately turned silent right after Dracula stopped talking. He didn't even open his mouth for a long time after telling Shin what he wanted to say.
Shin was also thrown into an awkward situation since he didn't know how to proceed now. He didn't even know how to proceed with the topic, much less with the quest.
He was expecting to have an intense battle when he went to this place, but who would have thought that he was going to have a casual chat with the final boss instead?
Being able to read what was inside Shin's head once again, Dracula smiled and finally spoke. "I know that you are thinking, but it is not time yet. You may be eager to end this now, but the fruit is not ripe yet to be harvested."
He then turned his gaze towards the six vampires kneeling in front of the bottom step of the stairs before continuing. "How about this? To not waste your time coming here, let's have a little competition."
"Let your retainers fight mine for a little entertainment, what do you think?" he asked while flashing a mysterious smile.
Shin couldn't help but be wary of Dracula as he felt that there was something more hidden behind those words. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was sure that there was a deeper meaning in that suggestion.
And while he was contemplating, the notification that he was expecting since earlier finally arrived.
*Ding!*
System: The Bloody Ghost Quest has been updated!
System: Due to a large number of vampires present in your surroundings, your Reaper's Retainer, Noblesse Crimson Spirit Vladimir becomes very agitated.
He is eager the challenge all of the powerful vampires in the vicinity, especially the strongest ones, to prove himself.
He wants to prove that he is the real 'Child' of the Blood Element!
System: Related Quest has been detected.
System: The Vampire Primogenitor Dracula is suggesting a simple competition between your Reaper's Retainers and his personal retainers while waiting for the new curse he cast upon the Frozen Kingdom to fully bloom.
Accepting the challenge will increase your achievement in the Empire and World Quests that were currently in progress.
System: Would you like to accept? 'Yes' or 'No'?
…
Seeing the new series of notifications, Shin couldn't help but raise his brows as he got another clue about their ongoing quests.
'What is this new 'curse'?' thought Shin before sweeping his gaze at the vampires gathered within the throne room.
Then he recalled all of the details of the quests alongside the other information that they had gathered since they had started.
Thinking about something, he couldn't help but raise his head and look at Dracula with a weird gaze. 'Don't tell me he is planning to take advantage of it to free his people with that so-called curse.'
Seeing the expression that Shin was currently wearing, Dracula knew that Shin might have caught on to the plan that he was planning to do.
He spent quite a long time formulating this plan alongside Draco since the time that they were caught in the schemes of the Wicked One. This was also a part of the contract that he had with Draco during that time, to which the latter had agreed after careful consideration.
Draco would consume all of the curses cast upon the Frozen Kingdom alongside their army, weakening the power of the Wicked One shrouding the whole region. He would carry all of the burdens in exchange for his freeing the souls of his subordinates as well as the other armies.
For it to work, they needed someone to defeat the other armies and free them from the curse, so that Grand Marshal Draco could fully absorb everything.
And when the grand marshal had absorbed everything, Dracula would exhaust all of his remaining powers to cast another curse on the land, but in reverse. This curse would not harm the Frozen Kingdom itself but the other curse cast upon it, instead.
They were using a strategy of fighting fire with fire, or poison against poison. And with it, the power of the curse from the Wicked One would further weaken, giving them the chance to finally free the souls of the people bound in this place due to it.
Doing it would require a lot of power, but given that Dracula was one of the Sovereign Beings within the game, he would be able to achieve such a feat as long as Draco successfully weakened the said curse.
Though, they also would not be able to achieve it if Shin and the others didn't defeat the other armies and let Grand Marshal Draco absorb cast upon those people.
…
Seeing the smile that Dracula had, Shin knew that he was right about his theory. This also made the events that they experienced clearer to him.
'He is waiting for his curse to fully bloom and further weaken the other curse cast by the Wicked One. But why can't they just lift the curse directly?' thought Shin confusedly but quickly understood the reason why.
He remembered the Seraphim that suddenly appeared right after Lycan free himself from losing his mind.
'It is because there are still people from the higher plane who are keeping an eye on them,' muttered Shin in understanding.
'If Dracula and Draco carelessly lifted the curse with their strengths, the Wicked One would immediately sense it and might even send her army to this plane to slaughter everyone once again before casting another curse probably. It will make all of the careful preparations that they have made meaningless,' he thought as he remembered the scene in the dream that he got during their battle against the wolf army.
But at the same time, he was thinking that shouldn't be that simple to cast another curse. After all, no matter how powerful the Wicked One was, she was nothing in front of the Heavenly Principles. If she continuously meddled with the affairs within the lower plane, she would definitely suffer heavy consequences.
Pausing his thoughts, Shin was suddenly reminded of the vampires within the throne room. He was wondering what would happen to them once the group cleared their quest. 'Are they going to be another special race? What about the Dragon Worshippers? Are they going to be an additional religion?'
Shin continued to have more questions inside his head. It seemed like the more answers he got, the more question he received.
Forgetting about them for the time being, Shin turned to Dracula once again before giving his reply, finally. "That sounds interesting. How are we going to proceed with it-… Your Majesty?"
Shin hesitated for a moment whether he was going to add the last words to what he just said, but after sensing the sharp glares directed at him after making Dracula wait for his answer, he decided to address the latter respectfully.
Dracula seemed to not mind it as he quickly snapped his fingers and thought about something. "Since it is a contest, the winner naturally has to receive a reward!"
"But since you are a guest of our kingdom, I will not ask anything if I win. But if your retainers somehow emerge victorious, I will naturally give you a suitable reward."
"What do you think about it? It sounds good, does it?" he added while wearing an expression that was full of interest.
On the other hand, Shin couldn't help but suppress the twitching in his mouth after hearing those words. 'Guest? No matter how I look at it, I can't call ourselves a guest of your kingdom.'
Since the time they arrived, Shin and the others didn't have to do anything but fight and kill everyone who are blocking their path. If he described themselves, then they more like invaders than being a guest.
Regardless of his thoughts, Shin didn't dare to voice them out since he could already imagine his outcome the moment when he did. He would immediately rip into shreds by these vampires right after those words left his mouth.
All he could only nod his head silently and agreed with Dracula 'wholeheartedly '.
Seeing that Shin agreed to him, Dracula quickly clapped his hands and ordered his 'people'. "Alright! What are you guys waiting for? Quickly prepare the stage so that our esteemed guest will not wait for long."
Shin didn't know if Dracula was doing it on purpose, but it seemed like he was agitating his retainers deliberately and making them hate Shin more.
With a twitching corner of his mouth, Shin could only stand on the side and helplessly watch the vampires preparing the area while shooting daggers at him with their sharp eyes. If looks could kill, then they had murdered Shin a thousand times already.
Fortunately, he was not the one who would be fighting this time. It was his Elemental Spirits. He at least could feel at ease when he thought about that.
He could only pray in his heart for Vladimir to teach these vampires a lesson. Though, he also couldn't help but feel a little strange when he thought how unreliable this particular Elemental Spirit was, most of the time.
"Let's just hope that everything will be alright."
...
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