Chapter 45: Kyros’s Preparations

Kyros detailed the plan to everyone and explained every detail of it.

The more he explained it, the more horrified the group was.

Avary was the most confused as he had a series of strange commands.

"But... That's crazy! You will risk killing yourself! It's better if you take the dark cloak and leave!"

"I've already lost my family once; I'm not allowing that to happen again!" Kyros declared.

"If I don't do this, I might as well die, Uncle! How would you feel if you failed to protect and lost your family twice? I have vowed to get stronger the first time, and now it's happening again! Do you know how painful that is? I might as well die now if I don't try this!" Kyros shouted.

The knights and Aron were silent.

"Vampires. What do you think? You lost your first families first." Kyros then asked.

"...I understand Master Kyros's feelings. If Master Kyros flees and survives... I can't imagine what he would feel. When the vampires killed my family and turned me, I felt helpless and became an empty shell. I wanted to die with this family. I understand master's feelings." Scarlet answered.

"The same with me."

Avary didn't answer as he was still confused on his specific mission and kept mouthing the words Kyros ordered him to memorize.

The knights looked at Aron.

"... Fine then. Let's consider this your Steele inauguration ceremony. Let's do the plan!"

"We'll survive this storm! Trust me! Uncle. Try to barricade the entrance with the dead body of these Lizards to make it harder for more to move inside. Leave a few bodies for the Vampires to feed on later."

"Alright. Men, you heard my nephew! We have to barricade the entrance!" Aron began to order the knights who moved.

"Vampires, drink my blood," Kyros ordered.

The vampires reluctantly agreed. When Kyros explained the plan earlier, he revealed that his master bestowed on him a special bloodline. Kyros lied and said that this bloodline allowed him to wield the dark sword without any painful side effects. And so, he wanted the three vampires to drink his blood and create a Bond.

Aron was surprised, but he had no time to argue earlier. But the vampires were very hesitant to bite on Kyros.

"Do it! My blood is purer than yours! This will make you stronger!" Kyros ordered.

The vampires bit on Kyros and began to feed on him.

In Kyros's previous life, Mechiel managed to bite him and had grown stronger as a result of the bite. Kyros thought that the reason Mechiel managed to have the power to wield the energies aligned to the Light was because of Kyros's Celestial Paladin status. But Kyros now know that it was much more complicated than that.

It was his blood. Now he was unsealed and was almost certain that the powers he could pass on to the vampires would be far greater. He originally planned to do this secretly and mix his blood in some pills or alchemic potion, but now, he had no choice but to let them bite off him.

[Vampires Devotion acquired.]

[Anthro-Pteropid Cryovirus acquired from Devotee Vampire. Assimilate virus?]

Kyros selected the assimilate option.

[The power of the Fanged Fallen awakened.]

[All Devil curses slightly weakened.]

[Shackling Darkness slightly weakened.]

[Blood Devourer skill acquired.]

Kyros read all the notifications and didn't have time to ponder on the new information that his stats reflected. It only made his plans better.

The three had finished feeding on Kyros and suddenly stumbled backward as they felt a strange power course through them.

[Three Devotee Vampire has drunk your blood. Allow Blood Lustrate ceremony?]

Kyros quickly allowed the Blood Lustrate to begin.

[Blood Lustrate complete.]

[Create a Coven?]

Kyros quickly agreed. He had expected something like this would happen.

The three vampires could feel a strange power course through them.

[Coven Created.]

[Dark Linkability acquired.]

Kyros could see the stats of his group.

---

Avary Steele

Race: Vampire Bloodline

Age: 14

Level: 14

Coven: Coven of the Nephilim

---

Strength- 43 (Coven Blessing active)

Magic- 10 (Coven Blessing active)

Dexterity- 61 (Coven Blessing active)

Vitality- 41 (Coven Blessing active)

Intelligence- 32

Dark Force- 12

---

Scarlet Steele

Race: Vampire Bloodline

Age: 13

Level: 13

Coven: Coven of the Nephilim

---

Strength- 36 (Coven Blessing active)

Magic- 18 (Coven Blessing active)

Dexterity- 51 (Coven Blessing active)

Vitality- 37 (Coven Blessing active)

Intelligence- 49

Dark Force- 7

---

Gregory Steele

Race: Vampire Bloodline

Age: 14

Level: 13

Coven: Coven of the Nephilim

---

Strength- 49 (Coven Blessing active)

Magic- 10 (Coven Blessing active)

Dexterity- 41 (Coven Blessing active)

Vitality- 48 (Coven Blessing active)

Intelligence- 25

Dark Force- 18

---

"Vampires. While I am not a vampire, In my blood is the true lineage of a vampire. My fallen master gave this to me on his last day. This was also one of the reasons why my family died. You three will be the first of a new breed of Vampires in this universe. I do not know what your limits will be. For now, fight and kill. Drink the blood of these lizards!" Kyros ordered mentally.

The three heard the voice and were stunned.

"Hide this from all the Steele family. This will be our little secret. You are now members not only of the Steele Family but also of my Coven. Serve me well. Now go!" Kyros ordered once more.

The three began to approach the slain lizards and began to drink their blood.

Kyros began to observe his newly gained powers.

---

Blood Devourer

By devouring the lifeblood of creatures that are alive or recently slain, Kyros can absorb the life and death energy and slowly recover wounds, mana, and stamina.

---

Kyros read it and smirked. He stood up and suddenly rushed at the nearest lizard and bit on the open wound to drink it.

Aron frowned but did not say anything to Kyros. Some knights noticed what Kyros did but ignored him and continued to create the barricade and push more dead lizards to block the entrance.

"No matter what... You're my nephew..." Aron secretly sighed.

Kyros could feel his mana recovering, and his stamina was also recovering.

"Good. This will help me in the coming battles. Now... Let's see if I can turn that Blood Blade into my personal sword..."

"Give me the Blood Blade." Kyros ordered, and Avary immediately gave it to Kyros.

Kyros marked the Blood Blade and then concentrated on it.

[Blood Blade under the ownership of Zid Blood Blade. Expend 50 magic points to destroy seal?]

Kyros immediately confirmed. With his newly gained ability, he could recover the mana he would lose when casting spells.

A dark red light began to explode out of the sword as a strange dark ball was being yanked out of the bloody hilt of the sword. The process was very similar to the soul that Kyros found in the Sword of Ten Thousand Grudges. But the small soul that appeared was unlike the first soul Kyros fought. This soul was a whisk and didn't even have any sentience. But upon closer inspection, Kyros recognized it as the soul of the vampire Zid.

Kyros mercilessly bit on the darkness and activated Dark Consumer.

[Blood Sword wielder skill acquired.]

The notification rang out.

All of a sudden, Kyros could somehow feel the Blood Sword as it was alive.

"How grotesque. This idiot Zid has been gathering such weak and impure blood? What an idiot." Kyros cursed.

"Master, I have recovered to full health and have filled my jug with the blood of the lizards." Avary suddenly bowed.

"Alright." Kyros then waved his hands, and the dark cloak moved and connected with Avary.

"Do your mission without fail. The Dark Cloak may cover you and help you sneak out of that tunnel, but I don't know how far it can protect you. You've seen those iron golems. They might be able to detect you. Scarlet and Gregory will accompany you to the entrance and draw their attention but will quickly retreat and go back here to help us fight. Do not fail me!" Kyros urged.

"I will complete my mission." Avary vowed.

"Avary. Those words I said... Not a single word must be missing. Have you memorized it?"

"Yes, I have, Master."

"Then go. Time is of the essence. I pray that Fate will be kind to you, Avary. Go now."

Avary nodded and went into the small hole that was tunneling out of the lizard's lair.

Scarlet and Gregory followed into the small hole with great speed.

The knights were ready at the blockade of bodies and were quietly waiting.

The howls and hisses of lizards could soon be heard.

"Tsk. The Golems and the Lizards stopped fighting already?" Kyros cursed.

Despite the chaos and preparations, he made to force the lizard and the golem groups to fight, Fate somehow intervened and caused the two groups to stop fighting recklessly against each other.

"Knights! Hold as long as you can." Kyros ordered at the three knights who were pushing back to keep the blockade of bodies from spilling over.

"The rest, get ready to fight! The more we kill, the tighter the space for the lizards to slip through. This rocky floor will make it harder for them to dig their way through. So we will be fighting these lizards one reptile at a time. So fight and keep fighting!" Kyros ordered.

"Yes, Young Master! For the Glory of the Steele Clan!" The knights cheered.

Kyros then turned to his Uncle.

"Uncle... The moment that blockade is broken, I'll go on ahead. I'll leave the knights and the vampires to your protection. You have to hold! Promise me!"

"I promise. You're Uncle's not that weak." Aron smiled.

Kyros turned back and looked at the blockade of bodies in front of him.

"Ultimately, this is the best plan I can come up with. Even with all my INT, my weakness can only make me do this risky plan that still endangers my family..." Kyros cursed secretly.

"Lesson learned. Let's do better next time. I'm not so helpless now. I'll take command of the Familiar and the Shadow Ghouls. You focus on fighting and reaching that place."

"Yeah. Let's do this."

At that moment, several lizards broke through and made the wall of dead bodies collapse.

Kyros ran towards the lizards and readied his attack.