Chapter 95 The Circumstances Outside (1)

While Jin and Ysabelle were enjoying their alone time together in the stomach of Eyghon, the world outside wasn’t as blissful.

“You turds! You had one job! One job!!! To secure your sister! How the hell did you fail so miserably?!”

One burly, middle-aged man could be seen shouting his lungs out at two younger men. They all had rich obsidian hair, making it hard for anyone to distinguish them based on their hair colour. Not to mention, they were all stacked with veiny, red muscles, all jammed in a body that was easily two metres in height.

However, despite their similarities, there was no question about who was in charge and who was subservient.

“F-Father, by the time we arrived, Y-Ysabelle had been…”

“Don’t say it! Don’t you dare say it!”

General Enzo slammed his fist down on the table, slamming the sturdy desk into smithereens and sending splinters of wood flying all over the encampment. Fortunately, Vampires weren’t vulnerable to a wooden stake like in the legends. Otherwise, the man would have inadvertently killed his sons right there and then.

“Yoel! Have you confirmed your sister’s death?”

“N-No…”

“Yannis! Did you see Ysabelle’s corpse with your own eyes?!”

“N-No, sir!”

“Then, Ysabelle isn’t dead!” The Blackburn family head yelled out with a fiery tone. “That fucking Eyghon is the size of a mountain range! Even if Ysabelle was swallowed by the beast, it would take time before she reaches its stomach! We still have a chance to save her!”

“Of course!!!”

Yoel and Yannis both bowed with hope gleaming in their eyes. Just like their father, they didn’t wish to see their precious little sister pass on. However, they just had a more pragmatic view of the situation. General Enzo, while capable at his job, had been blinded by the love for his only daughter.

“Listen here, you punks. When we cut open Eyghon’s stomach, the two of you will be the first to dive in and rescue Ysabelle! I don’t care if you two come back without a limb, an organ or even your heads. Bring back my daughter, do you understand!!!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

The colonel and lieutenant colonel clicked their boots together and gave the man a firm salute. They knew their position in the family and gladly obliged. Unfortunately, both their lives combined didn’t compare to a hair on Ysabelle’s head.

Watching his two foolish sons disappear into the dark of night, General Enzo fell back on his chair and rubbed the temples of his forehead. Over the past few months, the man had been hit with event after event.

Eyghon’s appearance, the deaths of multiple Blackburn Vampires, dealing with the Werewolves, asking for help from the Holy Church, and now… The disappearance of his one and only daughter?

As much as the General was a tough cookie, he had finally reached his tipping point. The stress that had been mounted on him pressured him so much that he didn’t notice the two individuals who had walked into his private camp.

“What a nice posture you have there, Enzo. I wonder if it helps to keep your muscles from sagging.” A cool, sonorous voice echoed, drawing the man’s eyes from the roof of his tent to the entrance.

An ethereal-like woman with snowy white hair that reached all the way to the floor sauntered into his private abode as if she owned the place. With each step she took, an illusory mist followed, bringing a mysterious air to the gorgeous lady. However, Enzo wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Rather, with a snort, he growled:

“Innocence… You finally came, huh?”

“Oh my, is this how the Blackburn House welcomes its guests? I even took time off my busy schedule to travel all this way.”

“What schedule? Do you mean fucking your nine-hundred and ninety-nine consorts? Don’t make me laugh, Innocence. I know you’ve washed your hands off the Everwinter House.”

“Well, if you really want to, you could be number one thousand, you know? It’s about time I added a Blackburn into my collection.”

Matriarch Innocence smiled in a jestful manner as she took a seat before the lethargic Blackburn Head. General Enzo was too lazy to call her out on her behaviour and simply scoffed:

“Spare me from that; I would burn in hell for eternity than spend a night with you.”

While General Enzo’s words were poison, he still treated the ancient Vampire with due respect by pouring her a goblet of the Blackburn House’s finest virgin blood. He then turned to look at his other visitor as if asking if the man wanted the same.

“Lord Sirius, have a seat. We may be in the middle of an upcoming battle, but the Blackburn House never treats its guests poorly.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Sirius Moonreaver smiled as he took the other chair before General Enzo. However, unlike Matriarch Innocence, the Lord of the Moonreaver House wasn’t at such ease. Comparatively speaking, he was at least two thousand years younger than the other two Vampires in the room. And while age doesn’t necessarily mean strength, the two ancient Vampires had legendary track records.

General Enzo had been leading the Blackburn House for nearly two thousand years and was widely considered the strongest Vampire when it came to close combat. As for Matriarch Innocence… There was no need to even discuss her credentials. An ancient being that had been walking since the dawn of the Vampire race, it’s a miracle that she hadn’t passed away during one of the many wars she was a part of.

Matriarch Innocence. General Enzo. Lord Sirius.

On the surface, these three were on the same level and led the Vampire race with equal standing. In truth, Sirius was a level behind the two mighty monsters.

“My apologies, Lord Sirius.”

“What for?”

“Our Blackburn House couldn’t assist you during your war against the Bloodbourne. As you can see, we were rather preoccupied with the threat of Eyghon. Also, a war against the Bloodbournes…”

“Ah,” Sirius’ face broke into a broken grin. “There’s no need for your apologies, General Enzo. We fully understand the situation. Besides, if our Moonreaver House couldn’t defend against the Bloodbourne House’s blatant aggression, we don’t deserve to be amongst the four pillars.”

“Haha, then we’ll wash down our apology with this cup!”

General Enzo raised a toast to the young leader. All these were just courtesy conversations which essentially had no influence on the greater picture. However, as leaders of two great Guardian Houses, Enzo and Sirius had to put up with pretences.

On the other hand, Matriarch Innocence had washed her hands clean of politics. The only reason she was present was to act as a weapon against Eyghon and a deterrent against those who might wish to target the Vampire race. That’s why she had a more blase attitude while speaking with her age-old friend.

“Speaking of the four pillars… Enzo, where’s Veralyn? I heard the representatives of the other Houses have arrived.”

“Veralyn? She’s not coming.”

“What?! I had to travel all the way from the north, and you’re telling me that she gets a pass? Does she think that the Shadowgarden House is above this task?”

Matriarch Innocence feigned an exasperated look and scolded her compatriot who wasn’t present. Sirius mentally retorted that the Matriarch had taken his Warp Gate over; therefore, her travel was practically instantaneous, but he didn’t dare breathe those words. Who knows if that temperamental ancient Vampire would bare her fangs at him next?

“The Shadowgarden House has sent assistance in the form of rations and intelligence. They’d even sent some of their best Blood Servants to help boost our numbers. So quit your complaining. You know the Shadowgarden House isn’t cut out for this kind of work.”

“Tch, you’re no fun.”

If the Everwinter and Blackburn House had military might, and the Moonreaver House had copious amounts of wealth, then the Shadowgarden House was the intelligence branch of the Vampire race. They had spies everywhere and had basically every corner of the globe uncovered.

Be it the Holy Church, Werewolf Tribes, Human Cities, Elven forest… There’s no information that the Shadowgarden House couldn’t obtain.

Plus, they also commanded the world’s most dangerous assassin troupe. If they wanted a man gone on Friday night, he wouldn’t live to see the evening. It didn’t matter if you were the Pope, an S-Ranked Hunter or an Alpha Werewolf. If the Shadowgarden House deems that you are too dangerous to the Vampire race, your head will roll the next hour.

They were deadly and effective assassins, yes. But against a Demon Lord like Eyghon…

“Whatever,” Matriarch Innocence swirled the blood in her goblet, seemingly losing interest in the subject. “By the way, I heard an interesting rumour on the way here. Apparently, your daughter has been swallowed by Eyghon?”

“… Careful now, Innocence. Your next words might be your last.”

“Haha, how scary! I see that your fondness for your daughter hasn’t subsided.” The white-haired Vampire chuckled and took one sip of her delectable drink. “But that’s not why I brought that matter up. Apparently, she was swallowed with someone I know.”

“Hmmm?”

“Jin Valter,” the Matriarch declared, drawing twitches from both Sirius and Enzo. “He’s the paramour my granddaughter is infatuated with.”

“Ah, that boy…”

“Oh? So you know of him?”

“Of course, my daughter has never stopped speaking about him.” General Enzo let out a helpless sigh for the first time in the conversation.

“To tell the truth, I have mixed feelings about that brat. He protected Ysabelle, but at the same time, he took a quarter of her soul. He inspired Ysabelle to train hard and become the female warrior she is now, but he also became her object of infatuation. So I don’t know whether to thank him or plummet him to the ground.”

“Haha, if you do so, I’m sure my granddaughter would freeze you to death.” Matriarch Innocence smiled brilliantly, revealing her complete set of pearly white teeth. “I swear, that boy must have been an incubus in his past life! Else, how would he have seduced four of our prized daughters?”

“…”

“…”

General Enzo and Lord Sirius didn’t speak, but their eyes did all the talking. Likewise, they believed in Matriarch Innocence’s conjecture.

“My granddaughter has even asked me to charge into Eyghon myself. They say that girls are like spilt water; they forget all about their maiden home once they are married. Tch, what a useless granddaughter I have.”

The two males in the room wished to retort: ‘Aren’t you a woman as well?’ But they wisely chose against it. Moving over the Matriarch’s misogynistic words, Sirius spoke after two coughs:

“If that boy is with your daughter, then she might have a chance of leaving Eyghon alive, General Enzo.”

“Hoh? What makes you say that?” Intrigued, the bulky man urged Sirius to continue.

“Oh, I heard a rumour that you’d lost to that brat, didn’t you? In a formal duel, no less.”

“What?! Is that true?”

Sirius scowled at the Matriarch’s terse statement. However, he couldn’t give the right words to retort. After all, the only reason those words cut him so deep was because they were true.

“Yes,” Sirius sighed. “It was a restricted duel where he would win if he landed one hit on me, but still… He won fair and square.”

“… Didn’t he just become a Vampire this Winter?” Gobsmacked, General Enzo gulped down his goblet of wine unknowingly. “To defeat you, when he’s less than half a year old… It’s practically a miracle.”

“Yes, it really is…”

Sirius couldn’t agree more. Jin’s growth was nothing short of unprecedented in history. It didn’t matter if they were True Vampires that stood at the apex of the food chain; there was practically no one who could reach Jin’s level in that short period of time.

“That’s why… Perhaps that boy might pull off yet another miracle.”