Chapter 2062 Game of Life and Death

As the eclipse drew near, every player taking part in the game of life and death within the Blood Moon Secret Plane began moving their plans forward.

The new players had begun to move forward. Adam and Luca had only recently entered the game, yet their actions had already begun to disturb the balance of this little world.

Then there were the older players. The Councilors of City Hall had been moving their pieces in secret. The Vampire General Sandra had been doing the same, carefully advancing her own plans while keeping her true intentions hidden.

And then there was the oldest of them all…

The elderly gypsy woman.

Aneesa was the name her mother had given her. A strange name. A foreign name. A name derived from a culture that predated the Valouis and Edavane Kingdoms.

She had lived in this accursed world for longer than anyone else. She had watched countless people enter this place. She had watched them struggle, scheme, fight, and die.

Yet she remained. Still watching. Still waiting.

Now, even she had begun to move.

One by one, the pieces were being placed upon the board. Some knew they were playing a game. Some believed they were the ones moving the pieces. And some did not even realize they were pieces themselves.

Aneesa stood in the heart of Castle de Vile, a step behind Jacob, the Vampire King. She looked at this broad, unguarded back and silently shook her head.

I have felled many kings, she thought.

You, Jacob dear, will be the last of the kings to fall by my hands.

Aneesa was born long before the Conqueror invaded her homeland.

Back then, she was barely a woman grown. She was of the free people, who slept on a bed of grass and under a roof of stars. They lived peacefully in their homeland, far removed from the wars and ambitions of kings.

She had a family. A father who loved her. A mother who cared for her. A brother and a little sister. A husband she loved dearly. And children of her own. Sweet, sweet children. They were still infants.

Then Philippe d'Aubigny came.

His army descended upon her tribe like a storm. There was no battle. No chance to resist. They simply slaughtered everyone in their path.

Her father fell. Her mother fell. Her brother and her little sister fell. Her husband fell.

And her children…

They were too young to even understand what was happening.

Aneesa remembered holding them in her arms. Remembered their warmth. Remembered the sound of their cries. Remembered how their tiny hands curled around her fingers.

And then, nothing.

She should have died with them. Perhaps, a part of her wished she had.

But fate had other plans.

Someone found her barely breathing among the dead. Her benefactor. Her savior.

He took what little remained of her life and breathed new life into her undying body. He pulled her back from the edge of death and gave her something she no longer believed she could possess.

Hope.

He gave her purpose. He gave her the means to avenge those she had lost. He gave her the means to quell her vengeance. But more importantly, he whispered the sweet promise of justice.

Justice.

Aneesa had clung to that word ever since.

For centuries… no, for thousands of years, she had carried the memory of her family with her.

For thousands of years, she had waited patiently. From the shadows, she spun the web of lies. Day after day, week after week, year after year, she continued to bide her time.

Because Philippe was strong and careful, and Aneesa was weak at the time, she could do nothing.

So she hid.

She remained in the shadows, waiting for the day when the man responsible would finally die. And when Philippe's life finally came to an end, Aneesa stepped out from the darkness.

She whispered evil words into the ears of the Conqueror's sons.

It was she who sowed distrust between the princes.

It was she who secretly caused the civil war.

It was she who fanned the flames until the kingdom began to crumble.

And it was she who severed Philippe d'Aubigny's legacy into two separate kingdoms - Valious and Edavane.

But Aneesa didn't stop there.

She had once been a daughter. A sister. A wife. And a mother.

How could the wrath of such a woman ever quell so easily?

So she waited again.

Eventually, an opportunity appeared.

An opportunity in the form of King Louis d'Aubigny.

Aneesa whispered into his greedy ears. She told him that General Jacob was a threat to his power. She told him that Jacob sought to usurp his throne.

It was a lie. Jacob had no such intention.

But Aneesa did not need the lie to be true. She only needed Louis to believe it.

Slowly, she drove a wedge between the two men, two friends, two brothers.

Louis and Jacob.

They reminded Aneesa of the sons of the Conqueror. Such fools.

And when the seed of doubt had grown deep enough, she guided Louis toward the only conclusion she wanted him to reach.

Jacob had to die.

It was Aneesa who manipulated King Louis into killing General Jacob.

And when Jacob lay upon the brink of death, his body broken and his spirit crushed, he had lost all hope of ever avenging his wife and unborn child.

That was when Aneesa came to him.

Like a savior.

Just as her own benefactor had once come to her.

She breathed life into Jacob's dying body. She gave him strength from the dark side. She made him strong, just as she had once been made strong thousands of years ago.

And then, she prepared him for revenge.

She guided him. She helped him conquer Edavane. She helped him take Valouis. She helped him slaughter the d'Aubigny bloodline and erase the family from the world.

And when it was all over, she crowned him king.

The Vampire King!

At long last, Aneesa had obtained justice. Justice for her family. Justice for her tribe. Justice for her people. Justice for everything that had been taken from her.

But she was not yet finished…

"The formation looks flawless," Jacob suddenly said. "What do you think, Old Aneesa?"

The elderly gypsy snapped out of her reverie. She humbly bowed and spoke politely, "Yes, Your Grace. No complications shall arise; I give you my word."

Jacob hummed in response as he watched his servants prepare for the coming eclipse.

Aneesa displayed a gentle smile on her face.

She knew what no one else in this game of life and death did.

That there was someone else playing the game.

An unseen player. A hand that never appeared. A presence that never revealed itself.

While the others moved their pieces, that unseen player remained beyond their sight, watching every move from the darkness.

And with every piece that moved and the game reached its finale, the unseen player drew closer to making its own move.

Aneesa shifted her gaze from Jacob's back…

To the crimson moon.