Corrupted blood lord

Luther crossed the castle corridors without making a sound.

Servants and soldiers moved around him in growing confusion, carrying sealed chests, bundles of weapons, and stacks of documents taken from the restricted wings. Some hurried toward the underground passages while others dragged barrels of oil into rooms that Luther had ordered to be destroyed.

No one dared to question him at all about his decision.

The death of Tepesh and the breaking of Teclos’s pact had given him a fair amount of warning, and he acted quickly.

Luther entered his private chambers and swept his gaze across the room. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books, relics, and records gathered over decades. Several contained information that could condemn Count Aweq and half the nobles who had dealt with him.

Others held secrets far more dangerous.

He rolled his eyes and immediately called a servant to clean everything up and store it inside a space ring. However, the documents that he did not need were destroyed by him then and there. With a slight movement of his fingers, crimson lightning crawled across the shelves.

A controlled burst of lightning tore through the room and destroyed everything that he did not need.

Luther watched years of work evaporate without emotion.

He had no attachment to the castle. No loyalty to the count. Everything within these walls had only ever been useful because it provided him with a steady supply of research and materials.

Now that it had become a liability, he had to destroy it.

A pair of thralls waited near the door with their heads lowered.

"Move everything of value into the eastern tunnels," Luther ordered. "Leave no trace of our research behind."

One of them hesitated.

"What of the researchers, Master?"

Luther’s pale eyes shifted toward him.

The thrall immediately lowered his head further.

"Anyone who knows about the lower chambers dies," Luther said. "The rest are irrelevant."

The two bowed and departed.

Luther stepped through the burning room and stopped before the open window.

Lupos stretched beneath him, its streets illuminated by lanterns and the fading glow of evening. Thousands of people lived behind those walls. Merchants, soldiers, laborers, nobles, priests, and beggars.

If the Church attempted to trap him here, the city itself would become his weapon.

Not that trying to block him would do them any good, as he could easily slaughter the garrison, burn entire districts, and bury every road beneath a mountain of corpses.

Even if the Church gathered every warrior stationed in Lupos, they would not stop him from escaping.

At best, they might force him to destroy half the city before he left.

Luther almost welcomed the attempt.

Yet unnecessary destruction would draw attention from powers greater than the Dawn Church. The royal family would become involved. Other vampire houses might begin asking unnecessary questions, and the court would eventually hear that one of his thralls had broken free from an absolute pact.

That humiliation concerned him more than the Church.

A knock sounded against the open door and interrupted his thoughts as he watched the papers and books burning.

"Enter."

A knight stepped inside and bowed.

"Count Aweq requests your presence in the throne room."

Luther sighed, as it seemed he had to deal with another nuisance today.

The count was already aware that something was wrong.

Perhaps he was not as blind as Luther had begun to believe.

—

Count Aweq stood over a wide table covered in maps of Lupos and the surrounding territory.

Several of his commanders waited around him. They were fully armed and ready for battle, it seemed. Small wooden markers had been positioned along the walls, the gates, and the roads leading away from the city.

All the remaining markers represented the Church.

There were far too many of them. Aweq seemed worried for a moment before he looked up as Luther entered.

"I have noticed that you are moving your people as well," the count said.

The usual cheerfulness was absent from his voice.

Luther approached the table and glanced over the map.

"So are you," he replied.

He was surprised that the buffoon could actually think for himself.

"My scouts reported unusual activity around the Dawn Church’s compounds. Their warriors have been watching the castle for several days now," Aweq continued.

"They have been watching you for far longer than that."

Aweq’s expression hardened when he heard that.

"You knew about this?"

"I suspected it."

"And why didn’t you say something?" Anger began building inside Aweq.

But Luther simply looked at him calmly and replied as if it did not matter. "There was nothing worth saying until now. The Church had nothing on us."

One of the commanders placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, but Aweq raised a finger, warning him not to act.

The count leaned forward over the table. "What happened that made you act now?"

"One of my operations failed."

"That alone doesn’t explain why you are emptying your chambers and moving men into the tunnels."

Luther simply shook his head and continued to warn him, as he might still prove useful.

"The Church will act soon. We should leave before they close the whole city."

Silence settled over the room. They could not believe what they had just heard.

Aweq slowly straightened. "Leave? And go where?"

’Unreasonable monkey...’ Luther thought before continuing. "The castle has served its purpose. Remaining here provides no advantage."

"This is my home."

"It is just a fortress made of stone. A new one can be built quickly."

Aweq’s jaw tightened.

"My family has ruled these lands for generations. Every soldier in the garrison answers my call. The walls have endured sieges, rebellions, and wars. I will not abandon all of it because the Church has grown suspicious."

Luther rolled his eyes. "They are beyond merely suspecting you. They have proof."

"Then let them come."

That statement made Luther freeze.

The count pointed at the map.

"We reinforce the inner walls and place soldiers at every entrance. The garrison controls the gates. The Church cannot move against us without exposing itself as an enemy of the lawful ruler of Lupos."

He looked up at Luther again as he stood there frozen and made one final remark.

"I will not flee from my own city."

Luther simply remained silent.

He could have explained that the Church had already gathered the evidence through Teclos. He could have warned Aweq that the soldiers surrounding him would abandon their banners the moment an archbishop declared him a heretic.

He could have forced the count to leave.

Instead, Luther simply looked at him for several seconds in disbelief.

Aweq mistook the silence for acceptance.

"Move your thralls to the lower halls. Once the Church makes its move, we crush their first assault and expose their treason before the city."

Luther gave a faint nod.

"As you wish."

Luther turned and walked away. The count nodded and continued establishing a defensive plan, but Luther would not be doing any of that.

In his mind, their cooperation ended before he even reached the door.

The count had become exactly what the castle was: an obstacle whose usefulness had ended.

Luther would take everything he needed and leave Aweq behind.

If the Church stormed the castle, the count and his men would keep them occupied.

If Aweq somehow survived, Luther could deal with him later.

—

From the upper chamber of the Dawn Church’s western compound, Archbishop Laenor watched Count Aweq’s castle through a narrow window.

The castle courtyard had been quiet that morning.

Now wagons passed constantly between its towers. Soldiers reinforced the gates while armed men carried crates into the lower levels. Several figures had also been seen entering passageways connected to the old drainage tunnels.

Laenor’s fingers tightened around the windowsill.

"Have they noticed our surveillance already?"

The inquisitor standing behind him lowered his head.

"It appears so, Your Grace."

"How many have left the castle?"

"None, Your Grace. However, our observers believe they are preparing for a siege battle."

Laenor turned away from the window.

Several priests and paladin officers waited around the chamber. Maps covered the central table, just like Aweq’s, each marked with the positions of their forces throughout Lupos.

They had planned to continue observing Aweq until Regulus returned.

But that was no longer possible. If Luther escaped, they might never find him again.

"Seal the city," Laenor commanded.

One of the paladins stiffened.

"Your Grace?"

"Close every gate. No wagon, rider, or traveler leaves Lupos without being searched by the Church."

"The garrison controls the walls."

"Then the garrison will assist us. Also, have men evacuate the civilians."

The paladin hesitated.

"They are the count’s men."

"That is why every gate will have Dawn warriors stationed beside them." Laenor’s voice hardened. "We can no longer trust the garrison to act without supervision."

"What reason do we give them?"

Laenor looked back toward the distant castle.

"Tell them that, from this moment forward, Count Aweq is declared a heretic. Any person who offers him aid, shelter, or obedience will be judged guilty of heresy and condemned to immediate execution."

The priests exchanged uneasy glances.

Such an order could ignite open conflict between the Church and the garrison.

Laenor understood that, but he issued it anyway.

"Move quickly," he said. "Before we lose the opportunity."

Church bells began ringing across Lupos minutes later.

At the northern gate, soldiers lowered the iron portcullis while confused merchants shouted from the road. At the western gate, Dawn paladins marched onto the walls and took positions beside the count’s archers.

The southern and eastern gates closed soon after.

Within the hour, Lupos had become a sealed cage.

Neither side trusted the men standing beside them.

—

Far from the growing tension in Lupos, lightning still crawled through the ruins of Alta.

Dallion charged through the smoke with rage twisting his face.

Teclos had already disappeared into the portal, taking Tepesh’s body and severed head with him. Nothing remained where he had stood except a thin trail of darkness that quickly faded into the air.

Dallion unleashed a furious roar and turned toward Regulus.

Lightning flooded his muscles, and he crossed the ruined ground in a blur, his dagger thrusting toward the paladin captain’s throat.

Regulus shifted half a step.

The blade passed beside his helmet.

Before Dallion could retreat, Regulus drove his armored boot into the thrall’s knee. His bones shattered from the impact, forcing Dallion down.

Regulus then raised his leg again and simply stomped his lights out, crushing his skull.

Lightning flickered weakly across Dallion’s body before disappearing.

Alvira screamed and hurled a thunderbolt at Regulus from behind him.

Golden light burst from his armor as the spell struck him, tearing apart the ground and filling the air with burning dust.

He remained unscathed.

Alvira prepared another attack, but Regulus emerged from the smoke before she could react.

His claymore pierced through her chest.

The blade carried her backward and drove her into the ground, passing through her heart before burying itself deep in the stone beneath her.

Alvira opened her mouth, but only blood escaped.

Regulus pulled the weapon free and turned toward the remaining thralls.

Tiria and Obelon were still fighting.

The surviving Dawn warriors had surrounded them among the ruins. Shields overlapped while priests reinforced the formation with layers of golden light. Each attack from the thralls cracked armor and threw men backward, but the line held.

They did not need to defeat them.

They only needed to keep them occupied until Regulus came.

And he did.

He struck Tiria first, severing her arm before his claymore tore through her waist. Obelon tried to break through the paladins and escape after seeing that all his comrades had fallen, but chains of light wrapped around his legs.

They made him stumble.

Regulus’s blade passed through the back of his neck, and his head rolled away from his body.

All five thralls who had attacked Alta were dead.

Or, in Tepesh’s case, taken.

Regulus looked toward the place where Teclos’s portal had closed. One heathen had escaped him, but one day, he would kill him too.

Many questions he wanted to ask still burned within his mind, but there was no time to pursue them.

If Teclos possessed even the slightest sense of self-preservation, he would already be preparing to flee the kingdom and hide, Regulus thought.

Regulus rested the claymore across his shoulder and sighed. His duty was not yet over.

"We depart for Lupos immediately," he commanded.

The surviving Dawn warriors bowed despite their wounds and exhaustion.

Behind them, the remains of the entire village continued to burn.

But now was not the time to help them, because ahead of them, the hunt for a Noble vampire had already begun.