Chapter 331: The Promise from Hundreds of Years Ago

Tonight seemed exceptionally cold and long.

Silvia's body trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes. Lying on her back, she saw the full moon, which had not yet set.

It was so quiet all around her.

The Vampire Descendant Mage found a cloak draped over her. She struggled to sit up, nearly bumping into a stone sword as wide as a door panel.

"You're awake?" The Count's voice sounded exactly the same as before. "Can you still move? It's still early. We should hurry and complete the ritual."

"My benefactors..."

"They're not dead. I spared their lives." The Vampire Count stepped aside. Silvia's gaze fell upon her companions, who had been beaten utterly defenseless.

The power Count Richthofen had attained might not have been the absolute greatest. However, on his own fiefdom, surrounded by his servants, with all his Magic Items and equipment at his beck and call, he was an almost invincible existence for Ron's party.

Unless someone of Mazarino's or Jilannis's caliber intervened again, their defeat was irreversible.

Silvia managed to stand. The Array they had set up was completely untouched. Outside of it, however, a large crater had been smashed into the ground by brute force. The Half-Elf Warrior was pressed into the pit. His tower shield, which had once sheltered the entire team, had been smashed, deformed, and twisted into a pretzel before being carelessly tossed aside.

Quest and Victoria were in slightly better condition, but both were unconscious. As for the Goblin Hunter, Silvia didn't see him until she looked up—the Vampire Count had hung him by his belt from a relief sculpture on the castle's second floor. It was a small punishment for the one who had tried to shoot his eyes out several times earlier.

The Count had clearly gone easier on Ron and Yelena, at least not beating them unconscious. Silvia saw several depleted Gemstones scattered at Ron's feet; he must have given it his all.

"Silvia..." Seeing his companion awake, Ron gave a bitter smile and tossed aside his shortbow, which had been snapped in two. "I'm sorry. We can't beat him."

"But don't you see? He's not the kind of person who would give up power for anything! His wife and daughter are right there next to you—look at them! Do you think you can earn his favor more than they could?!"

"Can't win with your fists, so now you're resorting to words?"

To the Count's surprise, those words actually came from Silvia's mouth. The Vampire Descendant gave a soft laugh and looked at Ron with a hint of pity. "Benefactor, at this point, do you still not understand the situation?"

"I won't give up. I can't give up—Lord Count, if I refuse to perform the ritual, will you let all of us leave safely?"

The Vampire Count didn't answer. He simply summoned the Obsidian dagger he had thrown on the ground earlier and offered it to Silvia.

The answer was self-evident. If Silvia obeyed him, the fate of the others didn't matter. But if she refused, the Vampire would have to rid her of all her worldly attachments.

"Go and carve out her heart." Count Richthofen tossed the greatsword he could wield effortlessly with one hand to a Gargoyle to carry away. He pointed at the witch bound within the Array by the Magic Sword. "You must be the one to complete this step. Be quick. If the heart grows cold, the ritual's success rate will drop dramatically. I can't guarantee what will happen then."

Hecate watched in terror as Silvia approached with the dagger, but with her mouth bound, she couldn't make a sound. Under the moonlight, the Obsidian blade glinted with a faint purple light as it plunged toward her chest.

"Excellent. With this, that hag's impurities have been completely purged." The Count watched with satisfaction as Silvia, following his commands, advanced the Array's operation step by step. He took the jade bowl filled with a sludge of blood and flesh and poured the finely ground mixture around the Array's perimeter.

The circle of candles instantly erupted in bright, blood-red flames, illuminating the entire manor as if it were daytime!

"Alright! Now!" The Count's eyes blazed with light. Obscure incantations spilled from his lips, taking on physical form and roiling the space around him. Dark clouds gathered, and a fierce wind howled. Ron and Yelena looked up at the sky in horror, only to find that not a sliver of moonlight remained between heaven and earth!

"This isn't some bloodline transfer ritual!" Ron shouted. "Silvia, get out of there! He's trying to summon something!"

"It's too late!" Watching the dramatic change in the heavens and the earth, and seeing Silvia try to flee only to be blocked by a barrier that had activated outside the Array, the Count burst into a crazed laugh. "Centuries! I've waited centuries for this day! It's too late for any of you to do anything!"

"What are you trying to do?!" Silvia tried to command her Night Howling Hounds to enter and protect her, but the Array seemed to completely cut off even support from the Ethereal Plane. The hounds couldn't get in at all. And she herself had no chance of defeating him.

"Do? What else could I be doing?" The Count sneered. "I am, of course, seizing the power within this land!"

He threw his head back and roared, "Witch Demon! As you instructed, I offer the body and soul of my closest kin to you! With a creature of half Blood Race lineage as a medium, and the people of my entire domain as the sacrifice! Come! Bestow the power of the entire Delusional Land upon me! I will become your mightiest arm!"

From within the dark clouds, the faint roar of some terrifying creature could be heard. Ron hurriedly pulled a Magic Scroll of mental protection from his bag and tore it open, lest he and Yelena suffer from any potential fallout.

But he soon realized this was unnecessary. Before the Casting was complete, a thin Gray Mist rose from the ground and silently enveloped him. Yelena didn't know the origin of this mist and assumed it was a projection of the power in the sky. Ron, however, understood: this was a gift from the Final Lawgiver.

"Kapen," a long sigh drifted from far to near. Amidst the roiling clouds, a figure shrouded in black mist slowly approached the Count's castle. "I never thought, after all these years, you would actually succeed."

"You are fortunate. None of the several families after you came as close to success as you have. Therefore, our agreement from all those years ago still stands."

"You're the one who gave up too early," the Count said with a triumphant smile. He and the being in the black mist seemed to be old acquaintances. "Enough nonsense. I've done exactly as you asked. Now, it's your turn to fulfill your end of the bargain!"

"In the thousand-year history of the Richthofen Clan, no one has ever come as close to success as I have!"