Chapter 437: Submission? So easy

Meanwhile, at the same time, somewhere else not far away...

Boom!

A raging explosion echoed through space, several figures sent flying.

Men at the peak of the awakened rank, flung apart like rag dolls, rolled through the dirt.

A blur rushed through the midst of the defeated bunch, then suddenly came to a halt.

The figure’s full frame was bathed in the brilliance of the noon sky...

The man’s familiar features came to light...

His lips curled into an unpleasant frown. ’So they truly became human. I can still sense the blood within their bodies, but I suppose this is more a matter of lineage.’

President Cain deduced, staring down at the groaning bunch.

The energy brewing around his frame was akin to an unstoppable storm, a brilliant aura of verdant green towering into the skies.

Cain clasped his hands behind his back as he slowly levitated upwards.

The former bloodborn beneath him struggled to crawl to their feet, only to fail again and again.

His eyes washed across their frames, leaving them cold and shivering.

"I will ask once, and only once. Where is Dracula?" his cold voice echoed.

The group shivered, glancing at one another as they gritted their teeth, understanding they couldn’t defeat whatever monster this was.

They were the elite crop of their race, the strongest in the awakened realm, yet this man had dealt with them like a bunch of pathetic toddlers.

They understood this, but their determination remained unwavering.

They might have become humans, but their allegiance would forever remain with the blood king.

And betraying the blood king’s location was something they would never do.

The strongest among them, Klein Vlad Dracul, struggled to his feet beneath Cain’s gaze.

Staggering upright with a limp gait, he craned his head towards Cain, unable to hide the fear in his eyes, but he still spoke.

"Then do not waste your breath, great sir... End us, if you must, for we will never tell you where he is!" he spat.

Cain merely observed them with a stoic expression for a brief moment.

Then his hand moved, his aura rising as his arm lifted. "Very well. I shall take your advice."

The poor man shivered, the others behind him trembling as they shut their eyes, waiting for their end.

Cain was never one to jest; since they wanted to die, he would grant them death.

He didn’t care that they had become human; changing race did not wash away the sins of the Bloodborn.

The thousands they had killed and feasted upon, the very land he stood on had been plundered from humans they slaughtered without mercy.

So even as a human monarch, these men would not evoke a hint of empathy in him.

And he was going to do it when...

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the void.

"You have come a long way to find me, monarch. Here I am. Spare these children... for my sake."

The voice was old, raspy and dark.

The ones about to die instantly recognized it, their eyes going wide.

Cain halted in his tracks, his arm lowering and his aura going calm, allowing the stifling atmosphere to settle as he stared straight through the void.

His eyes locked onto his target’s energy signature.

"My king!" the defeated soldiers cried together.

The voice let out a tired sigh... and the very fabric of reality began to warp and bend.

A tunnel of crimson bled into the void a few metres from the group, a certain regal presence carrying a dense stench of blood beginning to seep into the atmosphere.

The presence clouded the air at a restrained pace, an invisible wall forming where it clashed with Cain’s.

There was a reason the Bloodborn were ranked among the top three greatest races of the ancient ones.

A cut above the rest, because they had cultivators in their ranks, several realms above the awakened.

Not only that, their blood king Dracula was a man of unparalleled power, on par with the Jade Emperor, Neptune and the late Ra.

A prowess that would put such figures at the level of an ancestor of the human race...

A level so far above the awakened rank that the mortal mind couldn’t perceive it.

Which was why the world had reacted so violently to the demise of the Avians, and why Dracula had been so quick to fold to the human side even though no one asked.

"Hmph," Cain sneered, staring down at the looming silhouette walking out of the void tunnel.

’So he comes. Humanity’s new progenitor, the King of Blood...’

The figure came to light, the brilliant rays of the sun meeting the elderly man’s pale features.

He stood about seven feet tall, his eyes carrying crimson lights that seemed to bleed into the atmosphere.

His hair was a bright silver, different from the bright crimson shade of the others.

Though clearly elderly, he carried features so handsome they seemed unreal, his face bare of any wrinkles.

This was the legend in the flesh, the origin of all vampire myths: the Blood King Dracula in all his bloody glory!

The blood king looked up towards Cain, a soft smile gracing his lips as they parted.

"So you are one of humanity’s great monarchs... I have heard much of you."

Dracula’s words fell more like a statement than a question.

But despite being spoken to, Cain remained silent, simply scanning the blood king’s frame.

Draped in a deep, dark, overflowing coat, the king pulled back his sleeves, clasped his hands, and made a respectful bow out of nowhere.

The sight shocked not only his subordinates but Cain as well.

Even he hadn’t seen that coming, of all the encounters he had simulated in his head.

He had imagined having to break the blood king before the man would surrender the information he needed.

Never would he have imagined that Dracula would bow to him... he simply hadn’t seen it coming.

"I owe you an apology, monarch," Dracula said, "for taking a seat at your table unbidden. It was the only way."

Cain stood utterly still. ’A bow... and now an apology?’

Gathering himself as the blood king fell silent, he asked, "The only way to what end?"

Dracula sighed. "To the survival of my race. The others may refuse to understand, but I see it clearly..."

"The world is turning towards humanity, and that tide cannot be stopped. To stand in its way any longer would be folly."

"The fall of the Avians has made this plain. We could ride the tide, or be crushed beneath it..."

Dracula straightened his back and rose, casting his gaze back at Cain.

Cain remained silent for a few moments, weighing the king’s words...

In the end he sighed; what had happened had happened, and the Bloodborn were now humans. He could not dwell on that.

And besides, he had not come for the reason, but for the means.

Dracula seemed to read this in his gaze and, without being asked, summoned an ancient, decaying parchment into his palms and offered it to Cain.

"This is the ancient text from which I derived the method of providence sacrifice..."

’Given so easily? What does he intend?’ Cain wondered, eyeing the loose parchment warily.

"Have no fear. No other soul knows of this technique. I offer it today as a gift of peace... and I ask only that you accept us."

Cain’s gaze moved from the king to the parchment and back again a few times...

He remained silent, then abruptly declared, "I will not take it here. If you truly seek acceptance..." He paused, then appeared instantly before the blood king.

Faster than the man could track, so fast that even his now-human heart skipped, Cain’s palm landed on his shoulder.

"Then come with me." His voice echoed as both of them vanished.

Leaving the group behind to stare at the empty spot in confusion and worry for their king.