Chapter 969: The Crimson Moon Order
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Within the depths of the underground pyramid below the city, Maleficus was constantly harnessing his Mana and Miasmic Powers, a bright crystal glowing within his chest, as he channeled all of his powers into the large statue in the form of a man resting in the middle of that circle.
Surrounding him there were a dozen more Vampires, all conjuring powerful dark spells, imbuing their mana and souls into the magic circle. Slowly, hour after hour, the statue-like thing started to gain a few more cracks, as if something inside of it was awakening.
The ritual had been ongoing for three days in a row now, and it might finally end in another couple more. Once that is done, the Warlocks shall rejoice, the awakening of their Lord will be finally upon them.
However, Maleficus could not concentrate fully, as someone dared to interrupt him.
“Lord Maleficus… I am sorry to interrupt the ritual, but there’s something of incredible urgency!” A Vampire approached him, trembling as he noticed the vile warlock’s dead stare.
“What?! It better worth the fucking time!” He hissed back at him. “Or else, you and your soul shall be sacrificed to our Lord!”
The Vampire nodded, kneeling before him. “Yes, our scouts have detected that the Hidden Dungeon where we’ve been cultivating our monsters for the Great Sacrifice… have been slain completely and disappeared.”
“WHAT?!”
“N-Not only that… The Dungeon… it has been completely purified! There’s no more Miasma inside of it, and what’s worse, the Core we had saved in the ruins was also stolen, with all the other materials that once belonged to our Lord’s treasury…”
“W-Who… Who could do such a thing?! How could anybody find that place and slay- Ah… It was THEM! Wasn’t it?! It was! It was them, dammit! DAMMIT!”
Maleficus, despite looking old and decrepit, roared with utter fury and frustration, his arms suddenly extended out of his body, catching the Vampire besides him and crushing his head.
“Gryyaargh!”
SPLAT!
As the brains splattered everywhere, he dragged the body towards him and then threw it inside the circle, the statue overflowed with darkness, tentacles piercing the corpse and devouring it and the soul inside of it.
“Hahh… This can’t be happening. We can’t move on with our current plans without the damn monsters!” Maleficus thought. “And if our lord finds out his treasury has been stolen… He will surely not forgive us anymore. What do I do?! Wha do I… do…?”
However, a sudden malicious smile surged on the Vampire’s old and dry lips. “Right, right… I had completely forgotten we could always just do that. Silly me. Always relying on just my own strength.”
He glanced at a crimson medallion on his hands, showing a crimson moon and a bat in the middle, with its open jaws and sharp fangs coming from it.
“I did make a pact with them, our true ancestors. And I’ve supplied them good blood for centuries now.” He giggled. “They do love the taste of the blood of the people here, so full of mana. Certainly, those that grow below the sunlight do taste fresher and sweeter than those in the Eternal Eclipse.”
Maleficus imbued Mana into the medallion, smiling as he came out with a reckless plan, but he had no other option now. He was not affiliated with the other Vampires of this continent, so he simply had to rely… on outside forces of an even greater strength.
There were dangers, but if things went well, he would make both parties happy at the end, everyone wins. There are risks too but… He wasn’t a coward to not take them when needed.
FLASH!
The medallion glowed with bright crimson light, as the voice of a playful woman echoed from within the medallion, overflowing with dominance.
“Oh? Isn’t it our beloved blood seller from Yggdrasil, Maleficus! Do you have another batch you want to sell us? We do have plenty of materials to pay back this time too!”
“No, your excellency, there’s another thing I have to offer you. The freshest blood you could ever imagine… Alive.”
“Oh?” The voice giggled, interested. “Go on… Do tell me more. And it better be worth it, Maleficus.”
“It shall definitely be worth your time, your excellency. I swear by the Crimson Moon Order.”
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(Maria’s POV)
After coming back to the city, we decided to rest for the rest of the day in a fancy inn, after making sure to mask our identities and appearances once more. Eustace remained within Celes’ Soul, which seemed actually possible. It was also where the other three water spirits would rest.
Meanwhile, my little Amethyst rested over my head, but nobody else could truly see her, so we were safe. I noticed Nyx getting a bit jealous of the spirit getting more attention than her, so I decided to cook her something good for dinner.
I prepared delicious cheeseburgers, her favorite, using a combination of different monster meats, including that of the Drakes we found back in that one dungeon. I even added barbeque sauce to spoil her more and made a side of tasty fries and mozzarella sticks. All for my baby.
“Hmm, nom, nom! Thank you for making my favorite, mama!” She was wagging her tail adorably as she ate her burgers.
“It’s nothing, dear. I noticed you were a bit grumpy, so I decided to give you some tasty treats.” I caressed her hair. “I’ll begin working on your new dress and axe soon.”
“Oh, really?” She celebrated. “Finally! I can hack enemies apart with a big axe, like mama does!”
“I-Is that something you always wanted to do?” Lucifer muttered, feeling slightly worried. “Well, make sure to make the axe small enough for her.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.” I nodded.
“No! I want big one!” Nyx pouted. “The biggest you can make mom!”
Is she trying to make up for her small size by wielding a titanic axe or something? That’s cute though…
“Okay!” I nodded. “Anything for my little girl!”
Lucifer facepalmed.
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