Gaya showed the severed head to every vampire around her. The vampires took a step back in utter fear. She had killed their strongest. These vampires were more terrified than furious at her for killing the blood prince.

"His body belongs to us. Anyone got a problem with that?" asked Gaya. As expected, no one dared to utter a word. With a flick of her wrist, she took out a silver scroll from her space ring. She put a sliver of arch energy as the runes glowed within the scroll. The next moment, a bright light enveloped the blood prince's body and disappeared along with the body.

"Everyone, please leave the hall," said Saber. The vampires looked a bit flustered for a few moments, but ultimately they left the room, leaving Trista behind.

"Azazel, look around the castle and get the feel of the layout,"

"As you wish, my lady," Azazel deep bowed before leaving the hall. Gaya sat down on the chair facing Saber.

"You can take your seat beside Saber," Gaya gestured at Trista to sit. The brunette vampire looked confused. Despite being one of the oldest and the most powerful elder vampires, Trista couldn't help feeling weak in front of the black-armored woman.

"You want to know what the fuck just happened, right?" Gaya asked Trista.

Trista slowly nodded.

"I think it's better if Saber explained everything to you," Gaya turned her gaze toward Saber. She patiently waited for Saber to tell everything that had happened after he met Ghost to give an Immortal killing weapon to him as part of their deal.

Two days ago, Saber took out an Immortal killing weapon from his personal collection. He went to meet Ghost but met the Dark Lord instead. At first, Saber was completely off guard. Everyone in the vampire clan was terrified of the Dark Lord. So when Saber saw him, he thought he was going to battle the Dark Lord for his life. However, The Dark Lord revealed his identity and shocked Saber. It was Ghost. He offered Saber something he couldn't refuse, Immortality and a permanent solution for the sunlight problem. The Dark Lord kept his word as he gave more potions to Saber. But he also offered a permanent solution if Saber was willing to serve him. When Saber felt reluctant to agree to bend his knee, the Dark Lord attacked him. Compared to a Half Immortal, Saber was weak. He couldn't even react in time before the Dark Lord injected a potion into his neck. Saber lost consciousness. To his utter shock, he woke up on a beach in Royal Land. The sun didn't hurt him at all. Furthermore, he didn't feel his blood lust at all, even when there were bleeding humans before him.

Only then did he realize the Dark Lord wasn't lying about a permanent solution. Saber had never felt so powerful in his life. At that moment, Saber could see his kind's bright future. Without a weakness to the sun and blood craving, they had the chance to become a whole new, powerful breed.

This new power came at the cost of Saber and his kind following the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord exposed their existence because Hacan was stupid enough to try to kill him. The Dark Lord explained how similar his kind and he is. The vampires drew power from darkness, and the Dark Lord was the God of Darkness. In a way, the vampires were born to follow him.

Saber felt the true extent of the Dark Lord's power when he turned the day into night. His power grew out of bounds.

After everything was said and done, following the Dark Lord seemed to be the best option. Therefore, Saber agreed to serve the Dark Lord. Saber had a feeling choosing otherwise would mean the death of him and his kind. But Saber focused on more positive things.

When Saber finished his story, Trista was in complete shock. First, she still couldn't believe Saber could survive the sunlight. Second, she never expected Ghost to be the Dark Lord, and Saber agreed to serve him. Although Saber was an Elder like her, he was more of a leader than an Elder. Ingram, the oldest vampire who should offer guidance, was always absent when they needed him. Hence, Saber became a leader of the elders.

Now Trista had to make the choice of whether to follow Saber and thus by following the Dark Lord or not. Gaya noticed a sliver of reluctance in Trista's eyes. She was truly amazed at how easily Michael could predict others' behavior. He told her Trista would be hesitant to join them or even chose not to.

There was a reason why Gaya brought Azazel to the castle. She was expecting Azazel to return with something that could make Trista come to the dark side.

"Any moment now…" Gaya mumbled under her breath. A few minutes later, Azazel finally showed up in the hall. He had a sack in his hand. He handed over the sack to Gaya as Saber and Trista smelled blood in the air.

"Where did you find this, Azazel?" asked Gaya as though she had no idea. She wanted to entertain Trista and Saber.

"In the Blood Prince's room. I found several others, but I thought you would want to see this," said Azazel. Trista and Saber curiously stared at the sack. Trista looked at Saber with doubtful eyes. Judging by the look on his face, Trista could tell Saber had no clue of what was inside the sack.

Under their curious eyes, Gaya slowly pulled the sack up. Surprisingly, they saw a head when she removed the sack. Their surprise soon turned into utter shock as they recognized the head. It was none other than their fellow Elder, Lenora.

"Lenora!" Trista shouted in shock. The last time she saw Lenora, she was a puppy mess under the feet of the Blood Prince. She didn't find her head because Trista thought the Blood Prince crushed it with his foot. Lenora's eyes and mouth slowly moved, but no words came out of her mouth. The Blood Prince was a sick psychopath who kept the heads of vampires on a shelf as his personal collection. Thanks to Michael's Spyders all over the vampire castle, Azazel learned this juicy information about the Blood Prince.

"The one who should have protected you had a secret collection. He was keeping heads of your kind in his closet. Talk about skeletons in a closet," Gaya exclaimed. Gaya handed over the head to Azazel and gestured at him to give the head to Trista.

Azazel gently grabbed the head. Trista shivered, looking at her best friend's severed head. Her hands trembled as he took the head from Azazel.

"Her head was cut off from her body and kept in a cold place for too long. I'd give it a day or two before her brain completely shuts off. He was a sick bastard," said Gaya.

"He gave just enough blood to keep her barely alive,"

"Lenora," Trista's eyes watered for the first time in a long time. Anger and sadness overwhelmed her heart. She couldn't see her best friend like this.

"My lady, is there a way for us to heal Lenora?" asked Saber. Even he felt pity for Lenora after seeing her like this. Plus, helping the Dark Queen kill the Blood Prince seemed like the best decision in his mind.

"That depends on Trista,"

Hearing Gaya, Trista slowly raised her head.

"You want me to serve you, just like Saber?" asked Trista.

"Bingo. You're a smart girl. That's why we are hoping you will join us and change this world. Trust me, this is not some fancy word or offer. We actually have a God with us. As you can see, only a God can bring Lenora back to life. So what's it gonna be?"

Saber placed his hand on Trista's shoulder, wordlessly reassuring her to make the same choice as him. To be honest, Trista saw no cons of serving the Dark Lord. If it was before, Trista would have refused to bend her knees. But after what happened with the Blood Prince, she realized even the Elders were just pawns. What made the difference was what kind of pawns they would be. At Least serving the Dark Lord came with perks and a chance to heal Lenora back to life.

"I'd follow you, but only if you heal her," said Trista. Saber was shocked. The Dark Lord and the Dark Queen were not the kind of people one should negotiate with. To his surprise, the Dark queen chuckled.

"As I said, you're a smart one. Constructing a body for her will take time. But as a gesture of faith, I can ask the Dark Lord to heal her head. You'll be able to talk to your friend. We will heal her completely once we are confident you have no ulterior motives or doubts about serving us. How about that?" Gaya paused for a moment before continuing.

"You have no other option, really. You can say yes and see your friend again, or you can say goodbyes to her. Either way, it's time to make your choice," said Gaya.

Trista stared between Lenora's head and Saber. Saber nodded as Trista took a deep breath.

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"You want me to kneel before you?" asked Trista, rising from her seat with Lenora's head in her hands.

"No need. The Dark Lord will arrive, and you can do that before him,"

Saber was surprised. He didn't know the purpose of the Dark Lord's visit to the vampire castle. But one thing was sure, the fate of the vampires would change forever from today.

"Saber, the Dark Lord would like to meet the head of your experiments and research projects. Bring that one here," Saber nodded.

"As for Trista, why don't you go there and take a look at the Blood Prince's collection? I feel like you should know how wrong of you all to follow a Blood Prince without knowing their nature,"  Gaya rose from her seat and turned her gaze back to Saber.

"The Dark Lord also wants to meet all the Elders, including Ingram. Summon them all here. I assume you have a way to do that,"

"Yes, my lady," said Saber.

"Great. I'll see you in five hours with the Dark Lord. Try to convince your minions about the new hierarchy. Only those who fully deserve will get the gift from the Dark Lord,"

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