" ALL KNEEL! NOW ENTERING! THE SUN OF THE UNIVERSE, THE KING OF KINGS, THE VAMPIRE MONARCH, THE PROTECTOR, THE ANNIHILATOR, THE WISE, THE WICKED, THE MAN WHO RULES IXTAL
KING REGUS AURELIUS "
The moment this announcement was made, everyone in the room including Vega dropped to one knee.
Max did not know why, but both his hearts began beating violently as he reluctantly bent his knee and expectantly looked towards the door.
A few seconds later, a man no taller than 6 feet walked into the room with a domineering aura unparalleled to anything Max had ever seen.
Regus Aurelius was lean, his hair was cut short and clean, he had no beard but a thick moustache and had fire red eyes that looked like they could see through anything and everything.
He wore red robes the same shade as his eyes and had the insignia of the Aurelius clan embroidered all over.
His presence alone demanded absolute obedience as from the second he walked into the room, to the moment he sat on the seat of honour specially prepared for him, there was Pin-Drop silence in the room with nobody even daring to breathe loudly.
If someone looked at Regus from an aesthetic sense, he did not look jacked at all, he did not have the bodybuilder physique that most Military men who prioritised strength had, but rather had a lean physique like that of professional fighters.
Unlike the terrifyingly tall opponents that Max had faced all his life, Regus was actually not that intimidating at all, however, from the way he carried himself anybody could make out that he was not someone you could fuck around with easily.
He had the eyes of an overlord, sharp, wise and all encompassing as a single glance of his was enough to send shivers down the spine of even a tier6 god.
The biggest proof of his presence was the fact that Max did not even notice his wife and children who had entered the banquet hall after Regus Aurelius until the queen took her seat beside Regus a full 2 minutes after Regus took his.
Today Regus had entered the banquet with his second and third son, after the banishment of his first son.
" At ease " Regus said in a shrill voice tone after he scanned the room and was satisfied that everyone had shown him enough respect.
Everyone got back to their knees as Vega walked up to Regus Aurelius and kneeled before him to officially greet him at the banquet.
" Thank you for gracing this banquet with your presence my king " Vega said through gritted teeth as although he did not mean a single word coming out of his mouth, he respected the old customs enough to follow them even though he disliked them.
" Haha, 40 years and we still do this facade, it amuses me every time Vega, but well, the honor is mine to be invited " Regus said as he patted Vega on his shoulders
Regus had despicably chosen to drink Rumi Titus's blood before sitting on his throne after beating the Titus clan forces on Ixtal and it was exactly this disrespect to the dead king that did not let Vega sleep at night.
The relationship between Vega and Regus was impossible to mend because of this one act, and it was also the reason why Vega was so excited about Max, as the last words of his father were not about him, or the Titus clan, but rather about the primordial vampire who would one day kill Regus Aurelius.
" Oh Sabrina, how are you? " Regus said as he spotted Vega's wife, and began socialising pleasantly with her.
If there was one thing that was respectable amongst all vampire clans, it was that they kept their women and children outside of personal grudges, politics and enmity.
If the child was not male, not above 18 years of age, he was generally not prosecuted for the crimes of the father, whereas the females were rarely ever brought in the midst of conflicts.
Despite the tough relationship between the Titus clan and the Aurelius and Caesar clan, both Julian and Regus gave face to Vega's wife and treated her with utmost respect, whereas Vega did the same with their wives as well.
In this clan social structure of the vampires, the survival and blossom of clans was the priority of every clan leader, and to ensure that infighting never destroyed the whole community, the ancient kings designed the vampire society and culture in a way that conflict between men did not spill onto the innocents and did not destroy the lineage of the clans.
The women were objects of worship, whereas the children were allowed to live carefree.
From the moment Regus arrived, Max never once took his eyes off the Monarch, noticing everything from how he talked, to how he laughed in great detail until he was suddenly interrupted by two young boys.
" Captain Ravan, I'm Lucius Aurelius it's a pleasure to meet you "
" Felix Aurelius, my mother praises you a lot "
The two boys said as they extended their hands for Max to shake.
Max shook their hands, as he sized the two boys up.
Felix was the second born son of Regus and was completely unlike Marcus.
A dedicated practitioner of his sword arts, he was famed for being a proficient warrior and a man with a temperament just like his father.
At just 16 he was already tier3 and climbing through the power ranks fast.
Lucius on the other hand was just 14 but he was undoubtedly the most menacing of all Aurelius brothers.
A wicked face that oozed smartness and wisdom, a lean physique that only had muscles where he needed them like his father and rough calloused hands alongside a shiny body full of scars, testament of the hellish training he underwent daily.
There were no public records of his strength, however, it was rumoured he was as strong as his brother while being two years younger.
A true monster.
" The pleasure to meet you is mine " Max said as he tried to remain cordial despite his urge to punch Lucius in his smart face.
" I have to thank you Captain, you have helped me depose my brother, even though he was a wastrel my father favoured him to be the next king.
It was a shame, however, your thrashing of him on Maralago changed his mind. I must say, you have a beautiful girlfriend, I can see why my brother fought you for her " Felix said as he eyed Asiva and made whistling gestures
It was clear to Max that the other party was trying to get a reaction out of him, and although he was slightly enraged looking at the setting around him and knowing that Regus Aurelius was sitting not even 30 metres away, Max kept his calm.
" I had no idea the man I was fighting was the young prince, if I did, I would have never raised a fist against him " Max said as he discredited the praise from Felix.
Max knew that gods had superhuman hearing abilities, even though it seemed like they were not paying attention, they could hear even the slightest whisper in the room if they wished to hence he needed to monitor every word that he said in the room, because Regus might be listening in.
" My my, how thoughtful of you captain, you sure are a tactful man " Lucius said in his half boy- half manlike voice that all men go through before puberty
Max could not wrap his head around what annoyed him about Lucius so much, but something about him irked him to no end.
Maybe it was his hairless face, maybe it was his boyish voice or maybe it was his defiant eyes that screamed ' I'll kill you first chance I get ' that irked Max, because he could feel it in his bones that the other party's intentions were certainly not friendly.
" So tell me Captain, how did you manage to take down a fort all by yourself? I'm training against tier 4 opponents myself, but I can only take on 3 of them at a time, but you took on 11 alongside thousands of troops and still managed to annihilate them all, while destroying a fort.
You are exactly the warrior I aspire to be " Felix said as Max gave him a fake bright smile
The boy could fight against 3 tier 4 opponents, which were sure to be elite warriors if they were sparring with him, which meant that he was at par if not better than Max in combat at this stage of their paths.
" Well, I have my means, if I reveal them then it won't be so useful the next time, i'm afraid young princes, for the security of the Titus clan who I'm loyal to, I cannot reveal my methods ". Max replied diplomatically as Felix and Lucius returned his fake smile right back at him and assured him that it was alright.
To any outsider watching, it looked like a cordial conversation between young men, however, Max knew he had met his match after the short conversation with the two princes.
The two of them were smart, dedicated and vying for the same throne that he was. Unlike Marcus, they were nothing like spoiled young masters who could be riled up and controlled easily.
Their future clash was inevitable and they were opponents that Max definitely needed to watchout for.
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/// This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron Allcat_Gaming, please thank him in the comments for this one ///
