Chapter 202: Curse of the Vampire King
The Vampire King was looking in the direction of Ryder, which once again stunned him. He wondered why the Vampire King looked at him every time he entered the great hall. Did he have a big sticker on his forehead titled ’killer’?
’Did he again find out? How could it be?’ Ryder frowned, but he suddenly felt as if the Vampire King was not looking towards him, but he was looking behind Ryder.
Ryder glanced back and saw Dale. Dale was a part of the Royal army. He was one of the strongest members of the Royal Army. He was only slightly weaker than the Dukes. He worked under Rale, and he was also a part of the team that went with Ryder to the Undead Region.
Ryder couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment as he noticed the small mark near Dale’s shoulder. It seemed as if one of the needles had managed to graze his skin. Ryder also noticed some blood on Dale’s clothes. Dale was bleeding a little.
Ryder finally understood what had happened. He wanted to curse out loud, but he kept his silence.
What Ryder didn’t know was that this same thing had happened in the past as well. Dale was injured in the previous timeline, too, and he was bleeding then as well.
Since Dale was standing in the back, Ryder hadn’t noticed that light injuries of his in the previous timeline. In the last time, he was more concerned about other things, and Dale hadn’t said anything about being injured either, probably because the injuries were light.
The Vampire King had also placed more focus on Ryder since he was wearing a crown, and his blood had also matched the blood he found there. So he also ignored Dale in the last timeline. Dale was an unorthodox factor here that has given the whole game away.
"Where is Viden?" Vampire King asked in a grim tone. He only had one question in his mind that he wanted the answer to.
Ryder knew how it was going to go, but since he wasn’t caught yet, he could still act like the neutral party. He still had the hopes of making things better if he played his cards right.
"You must be the Vampire King. I’m the Prince of the Demon Realm. May I ask what brought you here and who this Viden is?" Ryder asked innocently as if it was the first time he was hearing that name in his lifetime. The look on his face was so sincere that no one would have doubted that he was lying.
"Viden is my general whom you treacherous Demons have kidnapped! Give him back to me," Vampire King roared in anger as he released his murderous aura that filled the great hall entirely.
"Who are you calling treacherous! What would we do with your General? I thought you came here as a guest, but you’re just here to Slander us, aren’t you?" High Duke Magna let out as he glared at the Vampire King.
"Let’s just hear his concerns. If the concerns of the Vampire King are valid, We can address it," Ryder replied as he shook his head.
"So, You’re saying that your General entered our land and one of our people kidnapped him. May I ask which place it happened in? We have most of our Dukes here. We can probably find your general," Ryder said to the Vampire King.
All the High Dukes had already surrounded Ryder to keep him secure.
"You! Tell me where my General is!"
Vampire King said in a low tone as he glanced at Viden. His red eyes turned even redder as a light flashed through his eyes.
"He..."
Ryder was about to say something, but his words were cut off by Dale, who seemed as if he was under some kind of hypnosis.
" We killed him in the Valley of Wandering Souls," Dale replied.
"Dale! What the hell are you speaking! Stop Spouting nonsense!" Ryder thundered as he glared at Dale, but he noticed the daze on Rale’s face.
"This seems like the Vampire King’s skill interrogation. It won’t work on anyone that is as strong as a Duke, but this skill can affect the weaker people," High Duke Oris let out as he kept his eyes on the Vampire King.
"I heard that it could force people to answer their questions honestly. It is a pretty useful skill, but how why the heck is he saying about killing his men? Did one of the Royal guards actually sneak inside the Undead Region?" High Duke Magna let out with a suspicious look on his face.
High Duke Oris also looked uncertain.
"That proves it. Who ordered the killing of Viden?" The Vampire King inquired as he again used the same skill.
"His Highness ordered his death," Dale replied.
"So you guys actually killed him. I had a sliver of hope that he would be alive, and now that’s crushed too. All of it just reeks of the dirt on demons," Vampire King let out in disgust.
"The Demons have stayed away from our business in the past, but after getting a Prince on the throne, it looks like your ambitions are growing rapidly. You don’t even think twice before sneakily into our land and killing our people," Vampire King added as he shook his head.
He opened his mouth once more as if he was going to say something, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he disappeared as he appeared before Ryder and reached out his hand towards Ryder’s neck, but his hand was caught by High Duke Magna, who gripped his hand firmly and threw him away.
The Vampire King flew back as he crashed on the wall. The wall broke as the Vampire King flew outside.
"We can’t let you attack the Prince just with that," High Duke Magna let out as he glanced towards the wall.
"As for what happened with the matters about you sneaking inside the Undead Region without informing us, we’ll have a lengthy conversation about that later. For now, you need to get out of here. Mila, take everyone away. I’ll handle the Vampire King," High Duke Magna said.
"I’m staying behind with you. Everyone else, leave," High Duke Oris added.
"I don’t need you. I can handle him alone," High Duke Magna said in annoyance.
"I know, but two is always better than one. We can finish it fast," High Duke Oris replied.
"I thought I would improve it, but it’s even worse now. The Vampire King still hates us, and the High Dukes also start to lose faith in me," Ryder clenched his fist.
"Let’s leave," High Duke Mila told Ryder as she saw him standing in a daze.
"No one is going everywhere. Today will be the day of slaughter! I will kill the one that ordered for my people’s execution and slaughter everyone that stands in my way!" The Vampire King thundered as he entered the great hall once again.
"You overestimate yourself!" High Duke Magna said as he disappeared from his position and appeared near the Vampire King as he formed a flame sword. The sword seemed just like the one that his son had formed during the battle with Felina. The only difference was that this sword seemed bigger and brighter. It also seemed more powerful. The level difference clearly played a significant role in the strength of this sword.
High Duke Magna swung his sword towards the neck of the Vampire King that seemed shocked at the speed of the High Duke. Before the Vampire King could move, the sword cut his head off.
The head of the Vampire King fell on the ground, but the High Duke didn’t seem happy.
High Duke Magna looked back towards High Duke Oris and called out, "It’s a fake. Protect the Prince!"
High Duke Oris also realized that and noticed the air move behind him.
The Hand of the Vampire King was coming towards his back to pull his heart out, but High Duke Oris reacted fast.
"Bindings!" he let out as he tapped the ground.
Thousands of thick vines came out of the ground and caught the hand of the Vampire King. The other vines caught the body of the Vampire King.
High Duke Oris looked back and saw the blood-crazed smile on the face of the Vampire King.
"Mila! Get alert!" High Duke Oris let out, feeling that something was wrong.
Mila noticed the Vampire King behind her and punched him. The Vampire King flew back like an arrow and crashed on the wall.
High Duke Mila followed after him to smash him some more, but she heard High Duke Oris and High Duke Magna’s scream.
"You idiot! That’s a decoy! Don’t follow it!" The other High Dukes let out as they started running towards Ryder, but they were certainly too late.
The real Vampire King appeared before Ryder and stabbed his palm inside Ryder’s chest. The Vampire King pulled out the heart.
[Massive Damage Received]
[HP losing Rapidly]
[The user has received the Deadly Curse of the Vampire King]
[HP Critical]
[5% HP left]
[The Curse of the Vampire King activated]
[No HP left]
