( Dombivli City, Capital of the Bloodfall clan)
" It's been almost three days, still no updates on Max's whereabouts? " Asiva said with a deep frown on her face as her recently wed husband had gone missing in action once more.
" I'm afraid not- nobody has seen him leave Ixtal, and there is no more Ixtal, but he's also a god who can withstand the cold temperatures so…. " Jathi said as he tried to make wild assumptions about the situation since he had no solid facts.
" I knew we should not have left him alone…. " Anna murmured with rage as all eyes turned towards Sebastian once she made this comment.
After Asiva, the one who was most worried about Max's absence was Sebastian, but the dwarf was currently getting the cold treatment from Anna as she believed that he had abandoned his brother out of cowardice.
" Give Sebastian a break Anna, Dracula destroyed Ixtal's sun and moon defeating 7 legions, dozens of destroyer ships and hundreds of god's.
Do you really think that you staying behind would have made a difference against that man? " Asiva said as she scolded Anna for holding Sebastian's decision against him.
Anyone with half an unbiased brain could see clearly that running away was the best decision under the circumstances as they could very well be dead if they did not.
" About Dracula, he has free'd some of the most heinous criminals previously imprisoned in Ixtal's dungeon including Ulrich and his immediate werewolf subordinates and has now established a new base of operations on the previous werewolf capital which was controlled by the Kingdom Of Life.
So far it's just a theory but it seems like goddess Beniogre has a feud with Dracula.
It could be good news considering she has requested a meeting with King Regus over the same " Jathi reported as Asiva went into deep contemplation.
" Umpfgh " Asiva grunted as she felt the baby kicking inside her stomach which made Severus who could pick up even on such subtle sounds feel extremely aggrieved in this situation as he could not stand watching Asiva work in her condition.
" Oye, let's continue this meeting after lunch okay? There's no point over us theorising about where Max might be, or what King Regus is planning next….. " Severus suggested, however, Asiva waved his concerns off.
" The common masses have started to panic. 17 lords are confirmed dead, 3 including Max are missing.
Morale has hit rock bottom in Dombivili with people fearing another war and starting to hoard grain and essentials.
Christian fears that non-essential spending will come to a grinding halt under the circumstances and the recently recovered merchant economy will collapse again.
I can't rest, Godfather, there is too much to do as prime minister and lady " Asiva said as she clutched her belly and braved on.
Her speech instilled a sort of vigour within everyone inside the chambers as everyone felt the need to follow Asiva's need and try their best to resolve the crisis, and thankfully to further improve the situation, a servant came in bearing excellent news.
" Lady Asiva! MY LADY! " the shouts of a servant rushing towards the door while shouting could be heard as Severus opened it believing that it must be urgent.
" What is it? " Severus asked, as the servant with the most delightful smile of them all said-
" The lord has returned! He looks completely fine too- "
Immediately a bright smile was plastered across everyone's face as Sebastian clapped his hands and got back on his feet.
" ALRIGHT! " Sebastian said as he let out a big sigh of relief while secretly wiping off a small tear.
Max's absence had put him under a lot of pressure, but him returning solved everything.
As Max walked down the hall, his expression was extremely serious as only Asiva dared to jump at him and give him a hug as Max lightly embraced her back.
" What happened? Tell me everything " Max demanded as immediately as he came back a debriefing meeting began as he was given a detailed account of events that had transpired since Dracula escaped the dungeon.
As Max heard the story, he couldn't help but bite his lip as he knew that somewhere down the line he was responsible for these events taking place as he was the one who had granted Dracula his freedom.
On the plus side, nobody yet seemed to know that this situation was partly his fault, but on the other things were indeed grave.
The vampire society was probably going through its most tumultuous time since the first king assumed the throne many centuries ago and since nobody had the strength to defeat Dracula head on, everyone needed to brace for some very tough times ahead.
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( Meanwhile Beniogre and Regus )
" With all due respect, Goddess Beniogre, and trust me when I say this, I do appreciate your help in dealing with Dracula, but I'm no fool-
I know you are not doing this out of the kindness of your heart or your intense desire to have no bloodshed in the universe.
You are doing this for you, and I will only be able to trust you fully if I understand why?
So please, tell me what is your feud with Dracula " Regus said as he tried to be as respectful as he could while posing this question.
From the get-go, Regus never bought Beniogre's bullshit and her noble personality.
Regus was a practical man and he knew that Beniogre's demeanour was a facade.
Uptil now he was never forced to collaborate with her, so he never needed to know her secrets, however, now that the two were going to co-operate going forward, he needed to know her true intentions.
" I stole something from him long ago, and I'm afraid that he'll come to get it back from me.
Although several millennia have passed since that incident and I'm much stronger now than I was back then, he is still stronger than me.
If I don't stop him, he will end me and I'm not strong enough to do it alone.
Is that a good enough reason for you to trust me? " Beniogre asked in her sweet and seductive voice as Regus got up from his seat and extended his hand for Beniogre to shake.
" For now " Regus said, as Beniogre shook his hand and immediately as the two touched, all of Regus's lingering injuries from fighting Dracula were cured as if they never happened.
Beniogre only smiled sweetly as if it were no big deal while Regus nodded in acknowledgement.
She was the Goddess of life and a known magical healer…..
Sometimes Regus forgot that she had actual worth about her.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the GT target, good job everyone! ///
