Blood Dragon

Section [-] Prisoner

As everyone knows, a vampire is a monster who needs to drink the blood of the living to make himself immortal.Many people think they are undead, a rotting corpse, but brought to life again by its own strong will and the magic of black magic.This claim stems from the fact that vampires neither breathe (this is questionable) nor have a heartbeat.But some people believe that vampires are living creatures, magical creatures that have been further changed and improved on the basis of humans.The main basis for this view is that vampires can have a sexual relationship with humans (or elves?).

But this problem seems unsolvable, because it is almost impossible for us to capture a vampire and analyze it in detail.Of course, going to a vampire for counseling is equally absurd.

Whenever we discuss the origin of vampires in a more serious manner, we always end up facing an inescapable topic—the dark city of Kalyan, the kingdom of vampires.In this place isolated by the desert and far away from other countries, vampires are nobles and rulers, while humans are civilians and the ruled, and black magic prevails.This may indicate one thing, that is, vampires' need for blood is far less than we estimated.Kalean has never seen a living being endangered.

And there is no objection to the creation of Kalean's vampires.All vampires descend from their leader, the Scary Queen Kotoxin.Queen Qinxin can turn ordinary humans into vampires through a method called "blood kissing".Only the best and most outstanding people are worthy of this honor and can be given this cursed eternal life.

Among the vampires derived from Queen Qinxin, there are also high-level vampires and low-level vampires.The difference between the two is that the former can dominate the latter to a certain extent.Of course, we still don't know why this difference occurs in the same way. The only guess is that it may be related to the physique of the converted person, or these are two different ways.

But where did Qin Xin come from?Why did she become the Queen of Kalyan?Relevant records have long been lost in history, and there are only a few fragments left in a few files, scratches and claws.Of course, most of these documents are impossible to test, and the content is full of loopholes and contradictions.

Based on these records, we can half guess and half estimate a story of the origin of vampires, a story similar to mythology.

As early as in ancient times, the Kabeid people (?) living in Calian were conquered and enslaved by their barbaric neighbors, the desert people (?).Although these oppressed people rebelled more than once, in the end, these rebellions were suppressed.The biggest and last uprising they ever staged had the same result.

At the end of the uprising, the rebels were besieged in a castle on the edge of a desert, including many women and children.The men demanded surrender, but it was coldly refused.Because these slave owners are already tired of such repeated uprisings.They were determined to teach a thorough lesson to these darings who had dared to rise up against them.

These unfortunate souls are in despair, the enemy has cut off the water, and the end is not far away.This complete despair made them surge with unprecedented hatred.They no longer desire their own safety, they do not expect to be saved, but they desire only severe punishment for these cruel enemies.Eventually, they initiated an ancient blood ritual of unknown origin (and undoubtedly never performed).

They selected a thousand victims and performed blood sacrifices, all killed by the hands of those who loved them most.The victim offers blood and despair, but the executor offers tears and pain.The priests among them prayed to the dark sky amidst the blood and tears, calling for the attention of those unknown evil forces.When this ceremony reached its climax, the power of hatred and pain directly tore the world apart.

People saw a huge red fireball skimming the sky, falling from the other side of the sky, and directly hitting the land of Kalean.After a moment of shaking enough to make everyone fall, the unfortunates found that the enemy army outside the castle had disappeared.At the position of the enemy camp, a huge deep pit appeared, where the fireball hit just now.

Qin Xin, the queen of vampires, the source of black magic, came out of the deep pit, stood on this land with an absolutely terrifying posture, and accepted the Kabeid's kowtow and surrender.

———————Excerpted from "On Vampires"

The sword light is flying.

Scar turned sideways, dodged the first blow, and blocked the second and third with his shield.The opponent created a big flaw because of excessive force.If he took advantage of the opportunity to attack, he should be able to knock down the opponent with one blow.

But Scar didn't attack.He just stepped back, carefully protecting his body with his shield.

Another round of attack, defense and dodge.Scar retreated slowly, circling in circles, and only when absolutely necessary would he strike back with his sword, forcing his opponent back.This situation has been going on for a long time, causing boos in the arena.It's clear that viewers have completely lost interest in this long, boring, cringe-worthy, and lackluster fight.

The bell rang, which was the signal to end the gladiatorial fight.Scar leapt back, drawing enough distance between each other.

He looked back and saw the entrance, the locked door was slowly opening.The battle is indeed over.The two opponents retreated separately and left the arena through different entrances and exits.

When he walked in and out of the entrance, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.Once again he won the bet.

Two human guards came and took the sword and shield from him.Then he walked along the long passage to the lounge at the other end.

In the lounge, a dozen gladiators were sitting or lying down.There is a long and narrow observation window in the rest room, so that the gladiators resting inside can also see the fighting situation in the arena.So when Scar walked into the lounge, everyone turned their attention.

"You could have won," someone said. "You've had several good opportunities."

"But I couldn't grasp it. The opponent's strength is very strong and cannot be ignored."

"Fortunately, when two people who are mainly defensive meet, it will become like this." Someone excused him.

"The next round is a group battle with eight people!" the guard shouted outside the lounge.So most of the people went out.In the blink of an eye, there were only three people left in the lounge.

"You can win, why not win?" After a short silence, another person spoke.

Scar glanced at the other party, it was an unfamiliar face.In fact, every day for a year now, familiar faces have disappeared and new ones have joined.In the beginning, most of them were ordinary soldiers, but now there are more real knights.From the few words these new faces revealed, everyone knew that the war was still going on.Moreover, Kalyan won more than one battle.

"It doesn't make sense," Scar replied.

The daily gladiatorial programs are fixed. The first game is man and beast, and the second, third, and fourth games are one-on-one single fights.The last one is a group fight.The winner lives, and the injured will be taken care of in time, and the loser dies, even if he still has a breath, he will be slaughtered directly.

But Scar knows that, in essence, what the audience of Kaleian wants to see is the bloody gladiator fight itself, not the life and death of the gladiators.In fact, the latter was never a concern.When there's that long, emotionless fight, the arena bell will ring to end the bad fight.

The strange face smiled.

"Your name is Scar? Seems like they all call you that."

The muscles on Scar's face twitched, and these words seemed to touch a certain pain in his heart.When he first came here, half of the criminal squad was still alive.Now he is the only one left, and the name "Scar" that has been recognized by everyone.The old man's casual nickname is now his only name.

"My name is Reis," said the man dismissively. "A knight of the Kingdom of Ryan, or, once a knight of Ryan. I can tell that you are also from Ryan, um... Could it be that you are also a knight?"

Scar still didn't answer, just turned his head and looked out of the observation window.Now, two teams of gladiators are walking into the arena, ready to fight for their lives.

"I was captured four months ago...and sent here. How long have you been here?"

"Two years."

"It seems that you are really a quiet person."

"Maybe."

"I really don't understand what these vampires are thinking..." Lace also looked towards the arena, where the two teams of gladiators were approaching each other cautiously.

Few people understand the purpose of vampires in this practice.Vampires are not interested in torture, interrogation, or asking for ransom. Instead, they like to let captives engage in bloody gladiators for fun.According to legend, the vampire's favorite thing is to drink the blood of the living, and this behavior does not happen to captives.

"You haven't told me why you didn't kill your opponent just now?" Lace walked behind Scar and asked softly. "I know that person is not your opponent at all."

"There's no point in killing him," Scar finally replied. "Killing him won't change anything. I'm still a prisoner, and I'll have to fight another person again in a few days."

"Should I say you are stupid, or are you too confident? Your opponent doesn't think so." Reis pointed his finger out of the window. "See there?"

What he was referring to was not the gladiators who were testing, but a corner on the edge of the arena.This arena is not enclosed on flat ground.To be more specific, the arena here is composed of four octagonal platforms located on the water, and bridges are used to communicate between the platforms.Of course, the pools around the arena are not water, but bubbling green bubbles of acid.

The location that Lace pointed to was a prominent viewing balcony in the middle of the arena, a unique building.On this balcony, you can watch the gladiatorial performance from the best angle.