Chapter 2323: Arad’s Hibernation XXXV

"Imagine Arad as the ceiling of power. The stronger he gets, the stronger all other vampires can rise. That’s essentially the role of a Blood Lord. "Kali sat on the ground, crossed her legs, and leaned on her fist. "Vampires aren’t destructive creatures; they are collective ones."’

"What do you mean exactly?" Eris stared at her, and Kali smiled.

"Exactly what I said. Vampirism and lycanthropy are the last resort mortals can attempt to grow stronger and fight off the abominable infection. They aren’t immune to the abominable infection or influence, but they are more resistant than regular people. Just imagine, an abomination taking over a world, enslaving all of the people there, only for the vampires to start a revolution."

"Vampires rarely care about the gods. Won’t they side with the abominations?" Eris shook her head, and Kali giggled. "They won’t. Vampires are prideful and stubborn; they won’t bow their heads to anyone besides their Blood Lord."

From Spawns to regular Vampires, Ancient Vampires, Vampire Lords, High Vampires, and even the Elder Vampires. Those who gained power by consuming powerful blood, those who gained power by starving themselves for thousands of years, and those who trained and mastered their powers. Werewolves also go through the same ranks and can be just as powerful and hard to deal with, but the true difference comes in their abilities.

Immortality, regeneration, blood magic, flesh magic, horrifying physical power, speed, illusions and mind control spells, minions, necromancy, and much, much more horrifying powers. If Lucky, a single Elder Vampire who has lived for thousands of years can become a painful thorn in the side of most powerful abominations and allow the gods enough time to descend.

The best part about vampires and werewolves is that they won’t fight to save the world out of love, but because, to them, mortals are their cattle and food. They aren’t heroes or villains; they are shepherds protecting their herds from wolves.

Apparently, in the past, even Vlad had killed a few abominations that showed up. He didn’t know what they were, so he just called them Magical Abnormalities of Horrid Descent. Kali even remembered what Vlad said to one of those abominations.

"Black-Blooded piece of accursed filth, you sour what’s mine."

Eris looked up and sighed. "I guess everyone has their role. Dragons, humanoids, vampires, werewolves, demons, devils, angels..."

Kali nodded. "They are all just doing their part." She then waved her hand and looked at Diana. "Go keep a close eye on that Cursed Metal Drakaina, and don’t get too close. She isn’t dangerous, but hazardous."

Diana bowed and then disappeared. In the blink of an eye, she was already flying in the blue sky, camouflaged with demonic magic to avoid being detected by the Cursed Metal Drakaina. She looked down and could see Alcott resting with Aether by his side, and the Cursed Metal Drakaina being watched by Gamond.

Diana didn’t know why Kali sent her to stand guard here, as she couldn’t see how dangerous the cursed Metal Drakaina could be compared to her, but she’d do her job anyway. Just to make sure nothing slips past her, she summoned several angels and demons and made them spread all around the desert and form a tight surveillance network.

She had made sure to check everywhere for abominations, but found nothing. At this point, it’ll just be ridiculous to find another abomination hiding in the Mortal World, but she checked just in case. But then, something clicked in her head. If the Mortal World is safe, what’s the latest new addition that could house an abomination?

It was right in front of her, a massive Drakaina lying on the sand. "Mathilde..." Diana mumbled, and Mathilde teleported to her right away. "What? You called me?"

"Of course I did. Do you think she is carrying a parasite or not? I can’t look into her." As Diana pointed down, Mathilde looked at the Cursed Metal Drakaina and shook her head. "I can’t tell either. But since you’re here with all of those forces, Divine Kali must’ve sent you."

"She did." Diana looked toward Alcott, who sat on the ground. "He can kill a drakaina, but what about an abomination? If she is infected, we’ll be facing a real disaster."

Mathilde scratched the back of her head. "Since she traveled between worlds physically and on her own, she could’ve picked something along the way. I’ll bring some of my people and help you. If she is infected, we’ll need the fight to be contained to this desert with nothing spilling out."

Diana immediately sent a report back to Kali about everything she had done so far, including her speculation about the Curse Metal Drakaina, now known as Godvia. Kali didn’t confirm or deny anything, just saying that it was a possibility. Physical travel between worlds is regulated because of such a thing.

****

"Don’t cry about it. You just needed to sleep a bit." Akasha patted Capsella on the back, looking at it with a grin, and Capsella could only growl back. She was asleep while everyone else had fought Arad’s avatar, and she had really wanted to fight him.

From what she heard from the paladins and nuns, he was absolutely absurd in his power and speed, and even though they faced a mere fragment of his power, they were overpowered in less than a second.

Arad’s power was something special. Because to the vampires, he wasn’t just someone they serve, worship, or obey. He was their Blood Lord, the ceiling of power all of them try to reach. The stronger he gets, the higher the potential ceiling of all the vampires beneath him. While that wouldn’t have mattered much before, now that they know of the existence of other worlds and the abominations, being able to grow even stronger gave them a far better edge.

Capsella would’ve loved to test her new powers on Arad and see how far she could go, but she had just missed her chance.

But soon, and before Capsella could stay grumpy for long, they reached the final room.

The hall was massive, lit by torches, and there was a large steel box in the middle, surrounded by a coiling, massive yellow serpent. In the back, they could see the sleeping dark green hen. The two vampire ancestors weren’t in the room before the mask, but in the same room the mask was in.

"The final boss..." Capsella walked forward, and Ginger stopped her. "Don’t just attack. Those two can be reasoned with, and I doubt they’ll just fight us." She then looked at the steel box. "The mask should be there."

Akasha shrugged and pulled Capsella back. "Let her talk to them. Get ready to attack if they become hostile."

Ginger walked forward, and looked at the sleeping snake, and then cleared her throat. Before saying a single word, the yellow snake woke up and lifted its massive head. "Vlad’s daughter, it’s been a while."

The hen in the back also woke up and lifted its head. "Scarlet of Blood, former princess of the vampires. Haven’t seen you ever since the Dragon Slayer kidnapped you."

"I know it’s been a while. I came here seeking the mask. We need it for an upcoming battle." As Ginger slowly explained the situation to the two ancestral beasts, Capsella and Akasha helped the vampires build a temporary camp inside the room where they decided to rest for a bit.

"They’ve been talking for a while now." Capsella looked back at Ginger, who was still with the two ancestral beasts, and Akasha shrugged. "It doesn’t matter which world it is; the ancestral beasts are always like that. Old, talkative, and hard to convince."

Capsella looked at the two ancestral beasts, remembered hearing about them from some old vampires back in the day, and sighed. In the past, she thought they were some massive and titanic creatures that could level mountains down and were hiding deep underground, but to see them not being bigger than a massive hall, it was a bit disappointing.

"Aren’t they a bit weak?" She asked and Akasha nodded. "They are weak, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. As ancestral beasts, they hold authority over specific vampire traits, meaning that fighting them isn’t about raw strength, but about technique and skill with blood magic."

Akasha then pointed at the yellow serpent. "That one, for example, controls poisons, but vampires don’t have poison, right?" She smiled. "That’s true; that serpent’s poison is the same agent that can turn people into vampires, and I believe its bite is what turned the first human into a vampire in this world. That’s why the vampire fang bite resembles more a snake bite than a bat bite."

She then pointed at the hen. "For that chicken, try to sense its magic. It’s attuned to the sun and can easily use that power to burn vampires down and kill them." Akasha smiled. "One makes vampires, the other kills them. Those two are probably the first ones Mother sent into this world."

"So... they are more dangerous than they look." As Capsella sighed, the hen looked back, left Ginger talking with the serpent, and approached.

"Divine Princess of Blood, it’s an honor to meet you." The hen bowed its head, and Akasha smiled. "So you can recognize me. I’m kinda sad that you didn’t greet me first and kept talking with her."

The hen giggled. "Our job takes priority; those are Her Highness’s orders." The hen looked back at Ginger and then turned back to Akasha. "So... I see that you’ve lost your Blood Lord status... to Arad Orion."

Akasha frowned. "Thank Yog for that... Are you here to just make fun of me?"

"No. I’m here to congratulate you. Arad Orion isn’t just any vampire; he has evolved the Bloodline to something higher, something that even Her Highness Akasha couldn’t achieve."