Chapter 1166: Meeting with the Empress |
Once their group had entered the castle proper, Relia introduced Marcus, Quillon, and Lyra to some vampire servants that would guide them to their guest rooms.
"I need to go and make a report to the empress. I expect that she’ll call for you three within a few hours. Use that time to rest and relax. And please, don’t go wandering around without your escorts." Relia said, giving each of them a stern look. Especially Marcus.
Being told not to do something just made him want to give it a try. A childish thought certainly, but one that brought a grin to his face.
’I could switch places with a duplicate and go snooping through the castle. That would be pretty easy. The real question is how long could I go without getting caught?’
However, the rational part of Marcus’ mind won out over the mischievous part, and he left his thoughts in his head instead of acting on them. He understood that it would not leave the best impression if he did do something he had been explicitly told not to do.
After parting ways with Relia, Marcus, Lyra, and Quillon followed behind the three servants that had been assigned to them.
’These aren’t your average attendants. Level forty-three, level thirty-nine, and oh, level fifty-one. And they all feel decently powerful for their levels.’
Marcus could also sense eight more presences lurking in the shadows around them that were all at least level fifty.
None of them were anywhere near powerful enough to be an actual threat though, so he figured that they were just here to keep an eye on them.
The flooring was covered by a beautiful dark indigo carpet, while the stonework on the walls was impeccable.
At certain intervals there were paintings hanging on the walls, or statues placed in small alcoves.
Quite a lot of them depicted the same individual, and a person that Marcus remembered seeing once before.
’So, the vision I saw when trying to possess that vampire really was the ruler of this nation. Just recalling it gives me a slight chill. That’s the first time a source outside of my target’s soul kicked me out.’ Marcus thought, thinking back on the encounter.
It certainly did not help him form a good opinion of the people here.
Though he had seen that things did not appear to be as vile as he had first imagined a nation ruled by vampires. There was no telling what might be going on behind closed doors in this place.
Just because he had not encountered any horrid blood rituals did not mean that they did not exist.
The first vampire he had met had taken over a town and killed dozens of people for his own amusement.
That was not something that he could so easily forget.
Still, he put aside his preconceived notions about vampires.
Relia had never stuck him as a bad person, and honestly, he had seen far worse than his first vampire encounter during his years on Mirrion.
"These three rooms shall be yours during your stay here. If there is anything you require, you need only ask and we will do our best to provide whatever you want." The highest-level vampire servant said.
"Thank you, we’ll let you know if there’s anything." Lyra responded before entering her room.
Marcus and Quillon did the same.
The three of them inspected their lavish accommodations that were on par if not a bit better than the quest rooms in Borealia’s castle.
When they were done checking out the rooms and making sure that there were not any hidden magical devices that might be monitoring them, the three of them connected telepathically and went over their strategy.
There was not much that they could do until they knew what the vampire empress wanted from them, but they could still make some contingency plans in case things went awry.
Nearly four hours went by before Relia returned to get them.
"The Empress is ready to receive you all now. Please follow me."
It fortunately was not a far walk to the throne room.
Within just three minutes, they were standing in front of a set of ornate black metal doors.
Already Marcus could feel several powerful auras on the other side of the door. With one that dwarfed all of the others.
A slight rumbling noise resounded through the area before the two heavy doors began to open.
Once the other side became visible, two rows of heavily armored knights could be seen.
Marcus was not sure if this was supposed to be a show of force to intimidate them, or an honorable welcome ceremony of some kind.
What he did know was that they were about to walk into a room filled with high level vampires that he was not a hundred percent certain were not enemies.
For all he knew, this had all just been a trap from the beginning.
’Well, I guess we’ll find out soon.’ Marcus thought as he stepped into the throne room.
Immediately his eyes were drawn to the raised platform in the back where eleven vampires stood to the side of a throne.
Unlike the armored knights, these vampires were wearing ornate but mostly normal looking robes and dresses.
Nevertheless, their levels and powers were obviously higher than the knights lining the room. Each of them was just as powerful as Relia, if not more so.
Except, even these clearly important vampires paled in comparison to the one actually sitting on the throne.
Just like the vision that Marcus had seen years ago, she had the appearance of a beautiful young woman around twenty years old with pure black hair and piercing black eyes.
’She’s around as strong as Gwyneira or Ardea. Not quite as powerful as Gronex was, but I bet she would be a lot tricker to fight.’
As he tended to do, Marcus began analyzing the potential threats around him.
He concluded that only the empress was truly beyond any of them individually, but if all of the vampires present ganged up on them, they would be in for one hell of a fight.
"I greet and welcome the three of you. It is good to finally meet in person. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time now." The vampire empress said. Wearing a wide smile that almost felt sinister.
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