Monarch of Evernight

[V6C90 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

The mooring airship was a small but dignified vessel whose walls were decorated with relief images and exaggerated decorations—even its sails had complex pleated edges. It was an extreme embodiment of the vampire race’s extravagance and love of magnificence. Carved upon the ship was the depiction of a great dipper array, the insignia of the sixth vampire clan, the Reagan clan. Moreover, the gold-lined violet color signified that the passenger upon it was a duke.

The airship had just landed and opened its doors when a bloody light suddenly appeared over the distant clouds and descended rapidly like a falling star.

A wild wind kicked up over the plaza, the atmosphere was thrown into chaos, and even the sky seemed to darken for a split second. The just-stabilized airship was tossed up by the gale and flung hundreds of meters away. Several people were tossed out of the open cabin doors and fell into the dark abyss amidst dismal screams.

A faintly discernible silhouette flew out from the airship to catch the crew that had fallen out. He then arrived above the plaza.

“Who was trying to make things difficult for me?” that person said in a deep, thunderous voice.

The tempest on the plaza receded, and the blood color at its core dispersed, revealing Medanzo’s figure. “It’s me. What? Are you trying to fight me for this space, Skadi?”

Skadi, the fifth duke of the Reagan clan, was shocked out of his wits. He immediately drew back and offered his greetings, “So, it’s His Majesty Medanzo! Please forgive my offense!”

Medanzo might not be the most powerful among the vampires, but his wrath and vengeance was notorious on Twilight Continent and even in the Evernight Council. But this time, Medanzo merely waved his hands and didn’t make things very difficult for Skadi.

Skadi withdrew to the edge of the plaza and put his clansmen down there. Moreover, he signaled the airship not to approach. He simply stood in place waiting silently for Medanzo to leave first.

Medanzo didn’t step away immediately and, instead, looked up at the ancient insignia above the castle. There was a sanguineous full-moon against the backdrop of the River of Blood. That was the common emblem representing the vampire race. The bloody moon represented the first drop of blood, the source of all the vampire clans.

Below this emblem were the insignias of the twelve ancient vampire clans. No other vampire clan had the honor of being listed alongside them, no matter how powerful they were.

This was the Castle of Mount White, the biggest vampire main camp on Evernight Continent. It was also a base of operations jointly owned by all vampires.

Medanzo’s eyes fell on the rose and snake insignia at the fore before moving along one by one until the Dracula clan’s thorned castle at the fourth place. His gaze lingered the longest upon the Monroe clan’s flower of terror.

Medanzo then walked forward. His expression sank as his eyes swept over the statues on the floating plaza. The Lightless Monarch’s mood would turn sour every time he came to this place.

Those carvings were the vampire princes of each generation. Many of their past deeds had faded into history along with the lost memories of their second generation primogenitors. Only their sculptures and nameplates remained, protected by these ancient runic arrays.

But merely their existence here proved that they had once experienced glory because not every prince was qualified to have his sculpture raised on this plaza. Each and every one of them was the pride of the heavens, and they were people whose might was recognized by all clans, including their enemies.

There were only two sculptures of living vampire princes. One was naturally the Queen of the Night, but the other wasn’t Medanzo’s—it was the Azure King Renault.

In truth, Renault’s position used to be occupied by the statue of the Black-Winged Monarch Andruil hundreds of years ago. His statue was eventually replaced due to the monarch’s irreconcilable fall-out with the Queen of the Night and his prolonged absence. Thus, strictly speaking, this statue wasn’t sufficient to stand side by side with that of Lilith’s.

Even so, Medanzo wasn’t able to have his own sculpture placed on this plaza, neither would there be a place for him here in the foreseeable future.

Medanzo’s face was overcast as he entered Mount White Castle without sparing another glance at those statues. The vampires he met along the way respectfully stood aside and made way for him. Medanzo may not be the strongest monarch, but he was one people couldn’t afford to offend.

The great dark monarch walked all the way to the central hall in the main complex. There, he sat down on the iron throne which symbolized supreme authority and felt his mood improve somewhat. There were no other vampire monarchs at Mount White Castle right now, otherwise, he might not necessarily be able to take this seat.

At this moment, news of the Lightless Monarch’s arrival had spread throughout the entire castle. The high-ranking vampires here arrived in quick succession to seek an audience.

Medanzo’s expression quickly improved after seeing the dozen or so vampires in the great hall. All the vampires, except those from the Dracula clan, withdrew when he waved his hand.

Medanzo waited until only his men were left within the hall. “What are the casualties for the battle on Evernight Continent?”

A marquis replied, “Your Majesty, we’ve only completed an initial casualty count. The detailed numbers will require a couple more days. According to our calculations, Evernight lost over half the troops. Two-thirds of the nobles above viscount rank managed to escape in the end, but Mighty Marquis Julio fell in battle. Her Majesty Nana charged-in to rescue him but was heavily wounded. Currently, her whereabouts are unknown.”

Medanzo shot to his feet. “Julio died in battle?!”

The lights in the entire hall dimmed down as blood energy raged about like the tides. All those below the marquis-rank felt their blood churning. They could hardly remain on their feet as they personally experienced the Lightless Monarch’s shock and wrath.

As the focus of Medanzo’s attention, the marquis delivering the report was deeply affected by the blood energy. For a brief moment, he could hardly even speak.

Medanzo soon noticed his loss of composure. He slowly withdrew his blood energy and asked with a snort, “How did Julio die?”

The marquis spoke with great effort, “Some people personally witnessed the marquis being surrounded by imperial experts and had his blood core shattered in the end. Her Majesty Nana wanted to save him, but it was already too late when she arrived. As for why Marquis Julio chose to fight to the death… this…”

He couldn’t say anything more. Back then, a demonkin had hidden himself outside of the Evernight camp and witnessed the entire battle. However, the divine champions of the Great Qin Empire were fighting against the dark race dukes outside of the battlefield. Those leading the ground forces were, at most, lieutenant generals. How had Julio failed to escape under such a disparity in strength?

Medanzo’s expression was gloomy. “Who saw it? Bring him here!”

The marquis replied with an uncomfortable expression, “This… Your Majesty…”

Medanzo cut the man short without waiting for him to finish, “I really cannot understand how you can let the witness go without proper interrogation.”

The marquis’ voice was evidently softer as he said, “Your Majesty, the one who saw Julio’s final battle is Count Eden of the Evernight Council. He hails from the Dark Abyss and holds considerable status in their clan. We’ll encounter quite a lot of problems if we interrogate him just like that.”

The Marquis spoke with tact, but everyone, including Medanzo, knew what he meant. The famous Dark Abyss was a massive entity whose strength was even above the Dracula clan. Moreover, they also had a great monarch watching over them. Even Medanzo wasn’t willing to offend such a clan for no good reason.

Medanzo realized that he had some recollection of this count. “Eden? That little demonkin who obtained an ancient essence fragment?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the count said cautiously. “It’s indeed that lucky fellow, but what he obtained was only half an ancient essence fragment. Our Twilight, on the other hand, obtained a complete piece.”

Medanzo felt frustrated all of a sudden. “When did Twilight become ours?”

The marquis spoke softly, “She can become ours as long as you’re willing.”

Medanzo’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve had some contact with Twilight before, and she’s willing to join you. Naturally, she requires a small compensation.”

Medanzo said coldly, “She contacted you of her own accord?”

This caused the marquis to break into cold sweat. He hurriedly fell on one knee and said, “She really came to find me on her own. Please forgive me!”

Medanzo, quite unexpectedly, didn’t flip out. He pondered for a while and said, “She’s very smart and I don’t like smart people. However, I also want a descendant with some brains. Agree to all her demands. I will also grant her a drop of origin blood as an additional reward.”

These words caused the entire hall to be alarmed. Some of them immediately objected, even at the risk of angering Medanzo.

The Lightless Monarch could only produce one drop of origin blood every one hundred years. If he gave Twilight this drop of blood, the successors who had been waiting painstakingly for almost a hundred years would have to wait yet another century.

Medanzo sat in silence until the sounds in the hall had died down. “I gave you all a whole three minutes to express your opinions. Now, who else still wants to talk?”

The great hall went completely silent. At this point, everyone had come to understand that Medanzo had already made his decision and no one would be able to change his mind.

This time, Medanzo waited ten whole minutes, and the great hall was plunged into ten minutes of silence. Seeing that no one was speaking, he looked toward the previous marquis. “Tell Twilight of my decision. I believe she’ll choose wisely.”

The marquis bowed. “As you command.”

Medanzo became silent once more. The entire hall was also deathly still since no one dared disturb the monarch’s thoughts. He spoke again only after a good while, “Did anyone else apart from Eden see how Julio died?”

“I don’t think so, Your Majesty. Eden has a special ability, and his rank is a count. It’s said that his actual strength is even greater. That was why he could remain there without being discovered. Other people don’t have this ability.”

“Eden…” Medanzo’s eyes narrowed in silence.

The marquis grew increasingly astonished because, judging from Medanzo’s demeanor, it looked like he wasn’t about to give up on interrogating Eden. If that were to happen, the results would be extremely serious.

After weighing the matter back and forth, Medanzo finally said, “Forget about Eden. You lot, investigate in detail who Julio was in touch with recently. That’s all, you may leave.”

The Dracula clan vampires sighed in relief as they withdrew one after the other.

Only that marquis remained. “Your Majesty, are we investigating his movements and contacts to…”