Chapter 55

-Ugh.

Unable to contain her frustration, the woman gnashed her teeth and climbed atop a large tree, gazing at what was once her castle. The dream of the Vampire’s revival and an independent kingdom—all of it crumbled under the roar of Ardein’s explosive dragon cry. Duke Shimira’s eyes burned with resentment.

“Why, why, why on earth, why?!”

At the crucial moment, fate had betrayed her. Duke Shimira was furious, but was it really fate’s fault? A hastily made plan collapsing just as hastily wasn’t strange. If anyone was to blame, it was her own arrogance, but the Duke wasn’t used to blaming herself.

She was a born ruler, always dominating others. When her subordinates succeeded, it was because of her leadership, but when problems arose, it was their fault. That was her common sense.

Even in this situation, she couldn’t break that habit and looked for someone to blame—Layton, Belron, the other lords… and eventually, she even blamed fate. But what would blaming change?

Separate from her arrogance, separate from her pride, Duke Shimira wasn’t foolish. She soon realized that no matter how furious she was, it wouldn’t gain her anything, and she let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s fine. I still have hostages. And there are still subjects who follow me.’

For Ardein to kill her, she’d have to go through every Vampire who could be sacrificed for her sake. Duke Shimira was determined to secure her position, even if it meant that.

Would the Princess really take on the stigma of being a mass murderer? Of course, even if she used this to threaten the Princess, it would only serve as a defensive measure. She couldn’t attack the Princess.

‘Of course, even if I negotiate with these two, I can’t avoid groveling…’

If she held the Vampires hostage and demanded Ardein commit suicide, would she really comply? She wouldn’t even consider retreating, let alone suicide. This wasn’t Ardein’s territory or fief, and the Princess had no connection to the Vampires here.

She wouldn’t wish for them all to die, but would she give up her own gains to save them? Since when was the Ardein she knew so noble? If she crossed the line first, the Princess would cross it too. If she ordered the execution of all Vampires, the Princess would bear the stigma and become a mass murderer.

If they both went to the extreme, the Princess would suffer losses, but would she be the only one? Then the Duke would become a Queen with no one to rule. What meaning would the position of a leader without a race have? The Duke didn’t want the situation to escalate to that point.

‘Still, I have to survive first.’

Though she had vented her anger earlier, the Duke was still a ruler. She had experience reigning as a Queen.

She wasn’t entirely devoid of political thinking. She soon calmed down and began to think about what she could negotiate with the Princess.

‘Should I break the deal with the Demon Race and negotiate to maintain my Dukedom and privileges while being satisfied as part of the Empire again? If she wants, I can even offer some of the wealth Layton has accumulated as compensation.’

By now, Kamira would have captured Roka, but unfortunately, she couldn’t give that prisoner to her daughter as a pet. She’d have to use her as a negotiation hostage.

Of course, she didn’t get carried away with holding Roka hostage. People often judge others by their own standards. To Duke Shimira, Roka was just Ardein’s subordinate or attendant, someone who could be discarded at any time.

Need I say more about how the Duke treated her subordinates?

She thought the Princess would likely do the same. Roka might not be that important to Ardein, but she could still be used to secure a few benefits during negotiations.

The promise she made with Kyle? That had long been erased from her mind. Duke Shimira would betray a contract the moment the other party weakened, so what meaning did a verbal promise have?

You should trust those you can trust. That promise was nothing but a spur-of-the-moment lie.

‘Belron, it’s me. Gather all the Vampires you can and assemble them in front of the castle.’

‘…Belron? Belron?’

“What… what is this?!”

Duke Shimira let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. The blood brands she had placed on Belron and all the other lords had disappeared without exception. She could no longer communicate with them.

A crackling, grating sound seemed to echo in her mind. The moment she tried to communicate with them, they noticed her too. The cries of a baby, multiple cries, harmonized and responded to her.

Something ominous and dreadful crawled from the depths of the spiritual realm. Seeing it, Duke Shimira hastily deactivated the brand and cut off communication. She trembled as she saw that horrifying thing. It was a baby. The most terrifying baby in the world!

-Found you.

In the last moment, it seemed to smile at her. She didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened to her lords, who were like her limbs.

That horrifying, twisted thing—it was hard to even say it—was probably… a god.

For such a thing to come to her kingdom. Shimira was overwhelmed with shock and terror.

“The Death God… the Death God? The Death God has been born? Why? Why something like that?”

Even in the midst of this, her mind raced, and she thought of a way to destroy both the Princess and the Death God. But even if the Princess was unaware, would that thing show interest in her? The Duke couldn’t be sure.

It seemed all too clear that the Death God was targeting her, not anyone else.

“If you’ve come, then leave quietly! How dare you kill all my lords…?!”

So resentful that tears streamed down her face. It felt like the world was forcing her to suffer. Compared to this, even what Ardein had done to her didn’t seem so significant.

What is a lord? A noble class, a middle manager.

The waist and torso connecting the Vampire’s head and feet. And all those lords were wiped out by a mad god that appeared out of nowhere! What kind of kingdom has only commoners and a Queen?

The lineage of lords becomes lords, with no exceptions. Commoners can never become lords.

The extinction of the lords meant they couldn’t be replaced. This was a huge problem.

It was as if the Vampire revival she had hoped for had become an impossible dream.

Now, the only remaining purebloods were her and her daughter. For this lineage to continue, the man who would take her or her daughter must at least be a lord. A pureblood would be ideal, but that wasn’t possible.

Only then would there be a slight chance of the next generation being purebloods. If she took a commoner as her husband and bore children, the best they could be was lords. The pureblood lineage was cut off!

‘No, there’s one left. Who is it?’

But there was still one lord connected to her.

One path hadn’t been corrupted by the Death God. Hastily tracing that path, the Duke was shocked. That lord was Layton Valencia!

It was surprising that he was still alive, but she didn’t have the luxury to hesitate.

She immediately flew toward the castle. She wasn’t even afraid of facing the Princess again.

She had to save him, no matter what. If necessary, she’d even kneel before that priest! If the last remaining lord died pointlessly, her life’s purpose would crumble.

The Vampires would never rise again,

and they’d become nothing more than a footnote in the history books of other races.

“No, no, absolutely not… You have to stay alive. Please, until I get there…!”

Her quick flight paid off, as the castle was now within reach!

Filled with urgency, anxiety, and passion, Duke Shimira suddenly felt a change and stopped in her tracks. A bell tolling with eight melodies brushed past her, bringing about an immeasurable change.

Shock filled her mind. Part of the blood-bound dominance had crumbled.

It was a sensation she had never felt before, so it took time for her to realize what it was. Soon, cold sweat began to pour down her back.

The power of dominance had been broken. At least for some Vampires.

It wasn’t that the dominated had died, but the dominance itself had been nullified. She didn’t know how this had happened, but to her, it was as if the sky had fallen. What kind of Queen has nothing to rule?

“Was it the Princess? Or that priest…? Ah, no. This can’t happen…!”

Her connection with Layton was also severed. Now she didn’t even know if he was alive or dead.

With so many major events happening in succession, her rationality was on the verge of collapse. She no longer knew what to do. No, there was much to do, but she couldn’t prioritize.

First, she had to find Layton and save him.

Barely pulling herself together, her spirit crumbled once more.

The only Vampire she was connected to through empathy, not dominance—her only blood relative in the world, her daughter—had suddenly lost that connection. Shimira staggered in mid-air and descended to the ground.

“What… what is this? Who did this? Ardein? Or that Death God?”

The only person in the world she loved, not dominated—her daughter.

This meant her daughter had died in an instant. But who? How?

The answer came to her without her having to search. The grand castle, already cracked and worn from the earlier battle between Duke Shimira and Ardein, was now further damaged.

Whoosh!

The Light of the Sun, shot by Roka’s Heaven-Piercing Arrow, shone brightly through the cracks in the wall. Duke Shimira reflexively shielded her eyes and finally realized what had erased her daughter.

Her eyes filled with extreme fear for a moment, but soon her pupils burned away.

Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun.