Our family is in decline

Years ago, the manor was built on a drained swamp, and the surrounding courtyards and gardens once sparkled with the diligent work of the servants employed by the ancestors.

Under the starry sky, all-night grand dinners and lavish social activities were held here, although this kind of behavior was commonplace for people of status like the ancestors.

Now, the once magnificent gardens, grand courtyards and lavish mansions have become overgrown and crumbling. The savage wilderness has returned to reclaim what humans have gained from nature. The flora and fauna that were once driven out of their ancestral homes are being rediscovered. Enter the overgrown courtyard.

Little by little, the visible courtyard and surrounding gardens have been flooded, and the building is slowly sinking into the growing swamp and blending with its surrounding surroundings, creating a damp, foggy landscape. maze.

Lance walked through the mist as if he had entered another world, isolated from the cold. What he stepped on was no longer the hard frozen soil, but the stone floor sunken into the swamp. Fortunately, the water source dried up in winter, although it was a bit muddy. It's not like I'm going to fall into it.

As far as the eye could see, the masonry walls collapsed due to the swamp swallowing up the foundation. Even the black iron fence seemed to be distorted by some impact, and it was unknown what ran out of it.

Walking into the courtyard from the dilapidated gate, despite being soaked and submerged, these stone steps and winding gardens are a place of long-forgotten revelry and a place of still-remembered regret.

The ascetic fountains and angel statues were covered with weeds, corpses could be seen everywhere looming in the bushes, the crumbling rock pillars seemed to be about to collapse in the next second, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

What is even more annoying is the ubiquitous buzzing in my ears, as if there are countless mosquitoes lingering in my ears.

Not to mention coming alone to a place like this, even a group of people would be under increased pressure in this environment. Only people like Lance were strolling in the courtyard as if they were really strolling.

Soon he discovered something, which was a pile of strange corpses. From the most conspicuous head, he could feel that the thing did not look human in any way, especially the two weird fangs on its mouth, and The mouth is full of sharp teeth, like the mouthparts of some kind of insect.

But this was not the reason why Lance stopped, but he actually felt that the thing was not completely dead. As long as it fell into a deep sleep, it was like an electrical appliance that had run out of power.

Lance knew what kind of monsters were squatting in the courtyard, and he also knew what they were craving for.

If the ancestor was a prodigal before this, but after experiencing the bloody courtyard incident, he became a genius researcher in the extraordinary world.

He could create an ascension ritual in an attempt to become a god, so how could he not have studied what happened in the courtyard?

The countess he killed was a vampire, a kind of monster hidden in the human world. They themselves were a walking curse, a spreading plague.

The nobles who drank the blood brewed from the blood of the countess were infected with the scarlet curse and fell into madness in a short period of time, becoming crazy monsters with an insatiable thirst for blood.

Those who are cursed will change, their noses will elongate, their skin will become as pale as the dead, their eyes will become larger and darker and they will not blink, their teeth will fall out and be replaced by fangs, Grow insect-like organs and limbs.

Their minds slowly descended into hallucinations and madness but they still believed themselves to be human, hiding under a thin layer of false sophistication and nobility, but could never escape the bloodthirsty scarlet curse.

Ordinary methods can't kill them at all. Even now they look like a pile of mummies and they are still not completely dead.

Maybe an intruder was trying to find some treasure by pulling at the pile of bones with his bare hands, or maybe he stepped on them, and when he was scratched by the bones, the blood dripping on them would wake him up...

Only fire or some extraordinary power can completely eradicate the existence of blood descendants, but there is no way that the old ancestor would waste time dealing with a pile of flesh and blood that has been contaminated by a curse and seal it directly like a farm. stand up.

It wasn't until the ancestor was finished and the seal was loosened that the courtyard shrouded in mist appeared in reality again.

Sacrifice!

Lance activated his power on the corpse, but even Void looked down on that little bit of spirituality.

"Fucking poor guy, you can't get anything out of it..."

Lance, who didn't get any benefits, complained and kicked the bones apart, but some jewelry fell out.

Continuing to walk, Lance found that he really owed his ancestor, as he was either wiping his butt or in the process of wiping his butt every day.

But before he could go too far, he was alarmed. Two strange-looking beings appeared in the corridor of the courtyard.

At that time, the nobles who drank the blood brew and were infected attacked all creatures in the courtyard, causing the scarlet curse to spread like a plague. It can be said that only blood descendants are alive in the courtyard now.

And both of them in front of him showed inhuman postures.

A short man dressed in servant's clothing holds a tray in his hands.

It seems that they may have been the personal attendants of a certain nobleman. They are like buzzing insects in a busy hive all day long, carrying plates of delicious food and pouring glasses of blood-red wine, all just to take care of the master's needs. .

And when the scarlet curse infected the nobles in the courtyard, it was only a matter of time before the curse spread to those who served them.

Just like now, the head has become like a mosquito with sharp mouthparts and big black eyes, and the pale skin color looks like it has been dead for who knows how long.

The clothes on the other one can be seen that it should be the housekeeper hired by the ancestor to manage the courtyard. In simple terms, it is also a servant. It is also not spared now.

There are not many changes on the body. The hunched body is loose and the hands are hanging down, but the head disappears directly, and turns into a very exaggerated monster like a blood-sucking tick growing on the neck, with overlapping teeth covering the original face, and the limbs are still moving.

It looks like a huge blood-sucking tick holding a corpse, but just like it provided services for the ancestor in the past, now they have become blood beggars to collect blood for those nobles.

The servants and blood beggars appeared and couldn't wait to attack Lance.

Collect blood!

The beggar's tick's mouth, which was biting the human head, opened like a zipper, revealing the skull that had turned into white bones. However, the key point was that the thin tubes stretched out and stabbed Lance.

Lance was not here to play, so he pulled out the bloody blade and stabbed it straight out. The big sword directly inserted into the tick that replaced the head from the open mouth, and the straw that stretched out to himself softened immediately.

However, an interesting thing happened. This magic sword had not found any blood to suck since it came with Lance. It either cut crystals or stones. This time, the blood runes flowed, and the blood tank directly increased.

On the other hand, the tick's congested belly actually shrunk in a short time, and when the sword was drawn, it fell down like a dried corpse that had been drained.

However, Lance did not stop at all. He was too fast. He did not wait for the servant to react and swung his sword back. The blood-sucking sword seemed to be more powerful. He slashed the servant and killed him instantly. The blood fell on it, making the lines on the sword shine again.

Lance put away the sword and held it in front of him to examine it carefully, as if he had found some interesting toys.

The power of these blood descendants lies in their blood, and the weapon in his hand is simply a natural nemesis.

Now Lance can't wait to find more blood descendants to test the sword, and the most abundant thing here is monsters. After all, the most common people in this world are not nobles, but ordinary people who serve nobles.

Three wandering beggars were discovered by Lance, and then they were killed by Lance without any surprise. This was not a battle, but a one-sided massacre.

The blood blade in his hand also absorbed more blood, and the power began to slowly show.

It was no longer a solid sword, but sharper, feeding back the power of the holder, and even using this power for treatment.

It was a pity that Lance rejected its power in exchange for a more direct improvement of the body.

Maybe the bloody smell released by the battle just now attracted something. In a buzzing sound, Lance saw a moving black cloud attacking him. When he got closer, he found that it was actually formed by countless mosquitoes. The small thing was as big as a thumb, and the big one was as big as a fist. Just seeing it made people feel nauseous.

The sword in his hand could not kill those things one by one, but Lance took out another equipment at this time - the Holy Grail of Blood.

The pirate blood accumulated in the cup had long been refined by Lance's research, but even so, when Lance raised the Holy Grail, the mosquitoes attacking Lance actually exploded directly, and the mosquito corpses kept falling like rain. In just a few seconds, only scarlet blood mist was left at the original position.

"Come here quickly."

Lance murmured to himself, and the blood mist seemed to be attracted and merged into the cup, and even the fallen insect corpses were squeezed dry of the last bit of strength.

Such a strange scene was naturally caused by Lance using the power of the Holy Grail to control blood and detonate the blood in their bodies. He had tested it with pirates before. If it was a large living creature, it might be a bit difficult. It would only be easy to control if there was a wound and blood flowed out of the body, but these mosquitoes were just right. They were simply a magic weapon for clearing miscellaneous soldiers.

After finishing, Lance shook the thin blood in the cup but couldn't help frowning.

The blood of these blood descendants carried a strange power. This should be the scarlet curse, which means that it was contaminated and could not be used. No wonder even the ancestors disliked it.

This discovery made Lance frown, but he didn't care too much. He quickly approached the place where the insects were, and found the insect nest that was as tall as a person under the cover of bushes and trees.

The whole thing was like a big cocoon, with many holes of different sizes on it. The big one could fit a fist, and some of them were oozing blood-red liquid. It was conceivable what they ate, and it was very likely the culprit for the animal mummies outside.

Combined with the blood beggars squatting here, Lance roughly understood how the blood descendants in this courtyard survived.

These insects are equivalent to bees. They go out to suck blood and come back. The blood beggars, the housekeepers and servants suck blood from the insects, and then go up layer by layer. They can't escape exploitation anywhere.

Of course, this is just a survival skill under the seal of the ancestor. If it weren't winter now, I'm afraid these blood descendants would have spread the scarlet curse.

This discovery made Lance more determined to clean up the courtyard. He swung his sword to chop up the bark-like dry insect nest and piled up the insects, and took out a torch to light it.

The crackling sound made him feel inexplicably comfortable. Sure enough, killing mosquitoes makes people feel comfortable at any time.

Regardless of this, Lance continued to walk in with the Holy Grail in one hand and the big sword in the other.

Flower beds can be seen everywhere on the roadside, and the soil inside is soaked with blood that is about to coagulate, blooming bright blood flowers.

The skeleton locked in the low iron cage is probably the unlucky guy who accidentally made a mistake and bumped into the nobles. It is hard to imagine how he was stuffed in. Just looking at it, it seems that you can feel the pain of his life.

Rotting plants, dilapidated angel statues, and fountains with a cursed bloody pus flowing from unknown sources.

But the most common thing here is the insect nest, there are large insect nests like the one just now, and there are also throbbing cocoons.

Unlike the earthy yellow wood material of the insect nest, several red and black cocoons of different sizes are gathered together. The big one is only half a person's height, and the small one is as big as a human head, just like the eggs laid by some insects.

What's even more weird is that behind the translucent shell wall, the constantly twitching organs are looming, and no one knows what this thing will hatch.

Lance had no interest in the contents. He thrust his sword into it and sucked out its vitality in a breath. The plump cocoon became shriveled and burned by a fire.

He came here to bring destruction.

Until he encountered those piles of strange corpses again, Lance did not leave directly this time, but poured a few drops of the cursed blood in the Holy Grail to do an experiment.

The liquid condensed with the blood of the blood descendants just fell into it, and it could feel that the pile of corpses actually sprouted vigorous vitality.

The scene that appeared in the next second was amazing even for Lance, a demigod of flesh and blood. The corpse, which had little flesh and blood, was like a long-dry field, madly absorbing the power of blood. Unfortunately, it could no longer restore the plump muscles of humans, but it was enough to support the clothes and stand up again.

Lance did not mean to interfere, but just watched, a tick-headed blood beggar and a flattering servant crawled out of the pile of corpses.

These two were monsters seen before, but then stood up one who had not seen before.

He was the height of an adult, and under his pale skin was a mosquito-like head with sharp beaks, poisonous fangs, and big black eyes that resembled a virus that had mutated.

Although his clothes were old, he still looked decent in those days, far from what the servants could compare to. Even though he had become a blood descendant, his manners and posture still revealed a superior attitude. (End of this chapter)