Chapter 399 The Herbalist and the Witcher

Inside the dark, gloomy dungeon, droplets of water fell steadily from the rocky ceiling.

A cage forged from silver and dimeritium hung suspended in midair, capable of imprisoning even the world's greatest escape artists, higher vampires.

Emiel Regis sat dejectedly inside the cage.

After being shut away in this sunless place for so long, he quickly lost all sense of time. He didn't even know how long he had been imprisoned.

In the darkness, he once again began regretting the mistake he had made...

If he hadn't softened for a moment and told Dettlaff everything he knew, things never would have ended like this.

Or perhaps if he had accepted Victor's help from the beginning and the two of them had remained together in the rocking-horse toy shop to wait for Dettlaff, everything that happened today might have turned out differently.

At the very least, with the witcher's help, Dettlaff could never have defeated him so easily and imprisoned him in the dungeon beneath Tesham Mutna.

Regis was deeply worried about Dettlaff.

He feared the higher vampire's fury would bring utter devastation upon the city.

But there was nothing he could do now.

This cage had imprisoned Khagmar centuries ago, and not long ago it had held Regis himself.

Experience had already proven that no matter how fiercely he struggled, escape was impossible.

Just then, he suddenly heard hollow air currents carrying the tapping sound of footsteps.

One step was light, the next heavy, and whoever was approaching moved slowly with an unsteady gait.

Regis's thoughts raced.

He gripped the bars with both hands and peered through the gaps in the cage.

Entering the dungeon beneath Tesham Mutna required the blood of a higher vampire.

Those footsteps obviously didn't belong to Dettlaff, nor did they belong to Orianna.

Had one of them been injured!?

Fortunately, his question was soon answered.

A blurry figure appeared below, breathing heavily.

The reason one step sounded heavier than the other was simple.

The newcomer was dragging a large sack behind him.

Click.

A mechanism was activated.

The cage hanging over the middle of the chamber plummeted downward and struck the ground with a heavy crash.

"Long time no see, Emiel Regis! It's been half a month since we last met!"

The speaker wore a broad smile.

The higher vampire's eyes widened.

He could hardly believe that the person standing before him was the young witcher.

Victor looked absolutely terrible.

A large section of the left shoulder of his Undvik armor had been shattered, clearly bitten apart, while the wound beneath was a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

His face was covered in colorful markings, even more vivid than when he had dueled Regis before.

That meant he had consumed nearly every toxic potion he could safely drink, pushing his combat ability to its absolute limit.

Given Regis's understanding of Victor's strength, there were only three individuals in all of Toussaint who could have left him in such terrible condition.

And among those three, there was only one whom Victor had a compelling reason to fight.

The old herbalist sighed deeply.

"You look dreadful. I can almost imagine what happened!

"I'm sorry... truly, I'm sorry. I badly underestimated the extent of Dettlaff's anger. What is happening outside now? Were there many casualties?"

Victor limped forward, unlocked the cage, and released Regis.

Then he simply dropped onto his backside and lay flat on the ground.

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. I was careless too. I thought everything was under control. It wasn't until Horace came running to inform me this morning that I learned Dettlaff had already issued an ultimatum three days ago.

"That bastard was serious. He summoned a huge number of lesser vampires to attack Beauclair. When I left, the entire city was descending into madness."

Regis could easily imagine the horror of a city being massacred.

He unconsciously bit his lip, then crouched down to examine Victor's wound.

The blood had already coagulated into a scab.

Given the witcher's skill as an alchemist, Regis believed injuries of this degree would be easy enough for him to control.

"Rest a while longer, then find somewhere safe and hide. Dettlaff must be stopped. I need to find Orianna immediately.

"Though I am deeply reluctant to do this, it appears we have no other choice. We must visit the Unseen Elder."

Still sprawled on the ground, Victor watched Regis make his solemn declaration and snorted with laughter.

"Relax, old friend. It's already over. Dettlaff has fallen. I watched the blood moon shatter with my own eyes!"

The herbalist froze mid-step.

"How do you think I got in here? You don't seriously think Orianna would willingly donate some of her blood to me, do you?

"Without question, Dettlaff is the strongest creature I've encountered so far. From head to toe, inside and out, there wasn't a single reason he should have lost.

"But I won!"

Regis abruptly spun around and stared at Victor in disbelief.

That utterly ordinary face was now brimming with supreme confidence.

Victor patted the enormous sack he had dragged inside.

"Mr. Dettlaff van der Eretein is right here. Don't doubt me. I know your lesser kin are especially sensitive to the scent of a higher vampire's blood, so the cloth wrapping the bundle has extremely strong insulating properties."

Regis silently turned around.

With great care, the herbalist opened the cloth bundle.

The familiar smell of blood immediately assaulted his nose.

Then he saw the body of his friend.

Aside from the pallor caused by severe blood loss, conspicuous blackish-purple veins bulged beneath Dettlaff's skin.

"Enhanced Black Blood? As far as I know, Dettlaff hasn't had the habit of drinking human blood for several centuries."

"If he were in his right mind, tricking him like that really would have been difficult. But I'm guessing he hasn't been that furious in centuries. I really pissed him off!

"And I have to say, that third-stage transformation of yours is unbelievably ugly!

"Allow me to offer you one small piece of advice. If you're going to transform, you absolutely need to preserve a humanoid appearance. Preferably an attractive one. Anyone who turns ugly after transforming is practically destined to get beaten."

Victor's lazy remarks left Regis unsure whether to laugh or cry.

He hesitated for a moment before finally making up his mind.

"Vic, you know that only a higher vampire can truly kill another higher vampire. So next I must..."

"No, you don't!"

The witcher interrupted him without hesitation.

"Old man, is your hearing going? I just told you, 'It's already over!' If you don't understand what those words mean, allow me to explain them especially for you.

"It means this ends here."

Regis stared deeply at Victor, his fingers trembling faintly.

"Are you certain you want to do this?"

The witcher whistled.

"A silver sword through the brain followed by a thorough roasting with Igni. Based on what you've told me, even a conservative estimate says Dettlaff will need at least a century to recover naturally.

"I want to lock him inside this dungeon. We'll come back in fifty years and let him out. Hopefully, after experiencing a brief death, he'll have learned to appreciate the value of life."

"Aren't you afraid he'll lose control again when that time comes?"

Victor remained on the ground, chuckling happily.

"My dear Regis, don't let my miserable appearance fool you. I'm actually in a very good mood right now...

"Today I remained true to my own will. In a calm state of mind, I bravely faced a trial of life and death, and my spirit has undergone an extraordinary transformation.

"So let me sincerely tell you this.

"Right now is the closest Dettlaff will ever come to matching my strength.

"If he couldn't defeat me tonight, he'll never defeat me.

"And if fifty years from now he still refuses to let go of his hatred, I'll throw him back in here for another hundred."

"But all those people who died..."

"Please shut up! You aren't a judge, and neither am I.

"Enough people have died tonight already. Unless you need to kill one of your own kind to satisfy some lofty sense of morality, then do me a favor and put Dettlaff's corpse in the cage so we can finally bring this whole affair to an end.

"I'm genuinely rather tired right now. I may look like I'm in a wonderful mood, but I've lost far too much blood and could pass out at any moment."

Victor's argument left Regis completely speechless.

He covered his mouth with his left hand and remained silent for quite some time.

"Thank you, young man. I will remember this noble act of yours for the rest of my life. I shall remain here and stand guard, ensuring that no one releases Dettlaff before those fifty years have passed."

"Old man, this has nothing to do with nobility. I simply don't want you being hunted by your fellow vampires. There's no need for that.

"And if a good friend like you truly wants to thank me, buy me a glass of Mandrake cordial!"

Regis rubbed his temple.

"...It would be my pleasure."

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