When the dwarf and Kislev coalition forces quickly marched towards the Winter Palace, the atmosphere in the palace's magnificent meeting hall was solemn. This was one of the few places that Snorri did not visit during his stealth investigation.
Sitting on the throne was a woman with charming eyes, but now she was frowning and shaking a goblet filled with bright red liquid in her palm. The ministers whispering below are obviously vampires, but their temperaments are very different.
"My lords, the traitor has come to the Winter Palace. We must make a decision now whether to fight or to leave."
Catelyn's scarlet eyes kept glancing at the chiming clock hanging on the wall. In order to avoid being exposed, she had been carrying the strange child with her. Being forced to make a choice is always difficult, and it is no exception for vampires with endless lives.
"We can't leave! How many years have we planned to have this piece of property? Without these people, we have to live a sneaky life again! I Halevi is willing to be the pioneer!"
A guy wearing scarlet plate armor waved his fist and roared. It was obvious that he was a martial artist from the Blood Dragon family. It would be easy for these vampires to leave on their own, but not for the clumsy and slow undead army.
Desecrating the dead makes them stand on the opposite side of the forces of order, and basically every believer in the god will make it their duty to hunt them. Most of the bitter vampires who lurk in human society like rats crossing the street and are afraid of drinking blood have tasted it and do not want to continue to experience it.
In this world, personal power is limited, and even a strong man like Agrim, who is at the peak of his mortal abilities, will have difficulties facing an entire team of elites. Even the demigods in charge cannot say that they can fight an entire army on their own.
For these second- and third-generation vampires who are not very powerful, the demand for blood food when acting together is too great, and it is easy to attract the attention of the lord. If they act separately, a priest with a team of protective guards or a Holy Grail Knight will be enough to make them flee.
"Hehe, keep the green hills here, don't worry about running out of firewood. If you want to fight against the demigods, you better do it yourself, I haven't lived enough yet!"
Yin's words came from the side, and if the speaker didn't look carefully, he would be mistaken for a zombie. Its pale skin stretches directly over its bones, and its large bald head is eye-catching.
"Of course you, Trimble, are very perceptive. Who doesn't know that your Nicholas family is the best at summoning? You can pick up a pile of skeletons in a cemetery. I, Sir Garfield, swear to advance and retreat with His Majesty the Tsar!"
Opposite it, a cross-legged gentleman shook his goblet and mocked. In this hall, apart from Caitaline and her maids, this guy was the most human-like.
"That's nice to say! Who doesn't know that you, you can still go back to Sylvania to enjoy your happiness?"
"Are you a beast like you worthy of attending a noble banquet?"
"Just kill it! I have never tasted the divine blood of a demigod, I don't know how it compares to dragon blood!"
After Queen Neferata of Lymiya teamed up with Black Arkhan to develop the potion of immortality, out of various considerations, she distributed the first-generation potion to the city-states at the time, including the ambassador of Cathay, the so-called ancestor of the Jade Blood Tribe. A dozen important figures, these people became the ancestors of vampires.
There are different opinions on the exact number of ancestors, but after Alkadiza defeated Lamiya, they escaped successfully and spread their branches in the old world. There were five of them in total. They managed their descendants in the form of families.
The Lymiya family founded by Neferata is undoubtedly orthodox, and Caitaline is one of them. The champion of Lymiya, Ablash, overcame his blood thirst by drinking dragon's blood after slaying a dragon, and his family called themselves Blood Dragons.
The founder of the Nikolaich family, Vosolun, was a powerful necromancer, and he was also a major contributor to the development of immortality potions. The Stryger family was founded by the city-state general Usoran. These guys were once brilliant, but now they are at the bottom of the contempt chain.
Most of the most well-known vampires in the Old World are members of the von Carstein family. Its ancestor, originally named Ankart, was a less important advisor in the days of Lymea, but he became famous after he stole the rule of the province of Sylvania through marriage six hundred years ago.
"Report! Master, gentlemen, the rebels are approaching the first line of resistance!"
While they were arguing, a blood slave rushed in. Vampires other than the ancestors are transformed through blood kiss and become weaker with each generation. When they are so weak that they lose the ability to cast spells, they will be expelled from their "ghost status".
"let me see!"
Garfield of the Von Carstein family tapped his goblet on the arm of his chair to summon a screen of light, a spell that allowed him to share the perspective of his tamed bat.
"Is he the King of the South, Snorri Thorson, who is said to be rare among the shortest in martial arts and whose intelligence is three points better than that of the elves?"
"What kind of trick is this? Storm Hammer doesn't seem to be like this, does it?"
"The one with the longest beard must be Krag, no, who is that? The madman from Karak Kaderin is also here?"
The vampires knew how powerful Vladimir was, and their attention was focused on the dwarf.
"The Butcher's Castle is not far from here. Even if we hold on to this wave, there will be a steady stream of troops! The corpses of those stone species cannot be lifted up! You can beat them if you like, I will find another place to stay!"
"How dare you! Back then we made a blood oath to advance and retreat together!"
The vampire of the Nikolaich family turned around and wanted to leave, but Halevi's bloody sword was directly placed on its neck. The Blood Dragon family does not use magic, and is the least likely to deal with those who rely entirely on magic.
"Look again, look again! Originally we didn't expect the first one to have any effect." Looking at the lineup, the most carefree Sir Garfield couldn't help but break the handle of the goblet.
The reason why this group of vampires refused to retreat despite such great risks has to do with the ecology of the race. As a side effect of immortality, their upward passage is blocked.
In the old vampire forces, the ancestors at the top and their descendants can enjoy pure virgin blood as much as they want, while the blood slaves at the bottom even have human blood as a luxury product, and often have to feed themselves with animal blood.
The difference in food is only a small part. When you have endless life, no ghost is willing to be an immortal slave. Therefore, many aspiring ghosts choose to leave the family and start their own business. Count Noctilus is a good example.
"It's time to reach the second blocking position!"
The maid whispered, and a large group of ghouls appeared in front of the dwarves in the light curtain, as well as several corpse trucks to provide them with buffs.
"Tsk!"
Under the gaze of all the ghosts, Master Krag took action. He struck the Anvil of Doom, causing the earth to crack and flying away half of the undead. Mrs. Kislev followed and rushed to clear the way forward.
"Just a more powerful mage, it seems?"
"What do you think, Halevi?"
