Ignisarya walked through the lowest, most ancient corridors of the Imperial Palace.
She moved with a stiff, almost rigid posture.
Kaelen walked beside her, his long steps easily matching hers.
Evelyn trailed behind them, her pink hair swaying gently.
She studied Ignisarya's back with a slight frown.
The Princess was clearly not herself.
Her unease was a clearly visible to anyone who paid attention.
"Ignisarya," Evelyn called out, her voice bright and warm in the cold hallway.
The Princess flinched violently.
It was a sharp, sudden movement that caused her to stop mid-step.
She quickly turned to face Evelyn, her bright red eyes blinking rapidly as if she had just been startled awake.
"Yes, Holy Daughter?" Ignisarya asked, trying to sound normal, but the tension in her voice was still there.
Evelyn tilted her head, her pink eyes full of curiosity.
"Is something the matter? You look a little bit worried. Did something happen?"
Ignisarya immediately shook her head.
"No, no, I am fine. Everything is in order,"
she insisted, forcing a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
She took a moment, adjusting the cuff of her sleeve, before looking past Evelyn to a blonde maid who was following them silently.
"You," Ignisarya commanded, her voice suddenly sharp and authoritative, cutting through the silence.
"Go Find the Grand Duchess and the Knight Commander. Tell them to meet me at the vault entrance immediately. It's about the relic and it is urgent."
The maid bowed low, her expression serious.
"Yes, Your Highness. I will send the message right away."
She turned and hurried back up the passage.
Evelyn watched the maid disappear before turning back to Ignisarya.
"Urgent?"
Ignisarya sighed, the sound echoing lightly in the cold stone corridor. She rubbed her temples.
"Alright, you are right. It is not nothing, but it is not a disaster yet, either. The item we are retrieving is the former Demon King's main weapon. It is a sword of immense power."
She lowered her voice further, leaning in slightly.
"However, it is also highly corrupted. It has been sealed for too long and the dark mana has become toxic. Apostle Kaelen is very powerful, I know, but if he were to hold it without preparation, that corruption might seep into his soul. That is a risk I cannot take. That is why I summoned Commander Kaelus and Grand Duchess Isolde. They are the strongest shields the Empire possesses."
Evelyn's smile grew wide and confident. She patted Kaelen's arm reassuringly.
"You really don't need to worry, Ignisarya. My Nii-san is way stronger than he looks. He can handle something like that."
Ignisarya's red eyes flickered to Kaelen, lingering on his composed and powerful frame for a moment.
She looked at Evelyn's utter confidence in him, then gave a reluctant nod.
"I sincerely hope so, Evelyn. Now, we must hurry. The Grand Duchess will not tolerate waiting."
They continued walking,
They finally reached the end of the final, massive hallway.
Their path was completely blocked by the vault door— a magnificent, single slab of solid, shimmering diamond.
It was enormous, covered in glowing, ancient symbols.
And waiting there, exactly as requested, were the two most powerful protectors of the human world.
One was a man whose presence was immediately reassuring. He was large and solid, a warrior forged in time, probably in his early fifties. His long, curly grey hair framed a face that was like carved rock but softened by the years. It was a strong, grandpa-like warrior face, and his personality was just as kind. This was Kaelus Zargoth, the Knight Commander.
Beside him, standing perfectly still, was a woman who was the very definition of striking beauty.
She was a vampire, her pale white skin giving her an ethereal glow that contrasted with her straight, black hair.
Her figure was captivating, a voluptuous, mature, and undeniably thick in a way that commanded attention.
Her eyes were blood-red,
This was Isolde Zargoth, the Grand Duchess and Kaelus's daughter.
Ignisarya quickly stepped between them.
"Commander Kaelus, Grand Duchess Isolde, thank you both for your swift arrival."
Kaelus gave a small, respectful bow.
"Any time, Your Highness. A relic of that caliber must always be treated with the utmost seriousness."
He glanced at Kaelen, his eyes sharp and assessing.
Isolde's blood-red eyes swept over the group, resting on Kaelen for a noticeable extra second.
Her face remained flawlessly calm.
"Indeed. But who are these two? I do not recognize them from the palace."
Ignisarya introduced them formally.
"Grand Duchess, Commander, this is Apostle Kaelen, who is here to retrieve the weapon, and his sister, Evelyn. They are key figures in the coming war against the Demon Realm."
Kaelus offered a polite nod.
"A pleasure to meet you both. You have a reputation, Apostle Kaelen. I hope it is deserved, given the task ahead."
As Ignisarya stepped up to the diamond door and began tracing the seals to unlock it with bursts of controlled fire mana, Evelyn once again nudged Kaelen.
💖New System Quest Alert💖
>The Vampire Grand Duchess – Conquest I
>Objective: Capture the attention and emotional interest of Isolde Zargoth, the Grand Duchess. Must secure a personal, private connection within 48 hours.
>Reward:
🍁Influence over the human continent through Isolde's Network.
🍁Skill: Blood Bond
Kaelen shot Evelyn a look of complete disbelief.
She simply gave him a small, cheerful wink.
'You can't be serious, Evelyn.' Kaelen grumbled mentally.
[✿We are also standing next to Isolde, Nii-san. Look at her. A thick, mature vampire Duchess. You cannot pass on such a prime target. That figure is top-tier,' Evelyn replied in his mind, her tone perfectly light.✿]
'Is that all I am here for? To conquer women 24/7? I thought I was supposed to be preparing to fight a war,' Kaelen challenged internally.
[✿The war is a long game, Nii-san. Everything needs some preparation, and political power is part of the preparation. We need influence here,✿] Evelyn insisted.
[✿Besides, you still have Ignisarya to complete, remember? Think of it as keeping your skills sharp✿]
'I still have Ignisarya to complete,' Kaelen repeated the thought, glancing at the focused Empress.
Evelyn followed his gaze.
She looked at Ignisarya, who was concentrating intently on the runes, and then back at Kaelen.
She let out a small, quiet humm inside his head and narrowed her pink eyes slightly, but she stayed silent on that point.
She knew Kaelen was right, but she also knew he would not resist the opportunity in front of him.
With a heavy grind of ancient mechanisms, the diamond vault door swung open, revealing a dark, freezing passageway.
"Now," Ignisarya said, her face grim.
"Isolde, Kaelus, please maintain your shields. The final chamber is unstable."
Isolde and Kaelus stepped through first, their powerful silver and blood-red shields snapping instantly into place around their bodies, lighting the dark passage.
Kaelen and Evelyn followed close behind.
The final chamber was not a treasury, but a massive space carved deep into the bedrock.
It was unnaturally cold and the air was dead silent and heavy with a sickening rotten magical aura.
At the very end of the chamber, resting on a stone pedestal was the reason for all the tension.
It was a sword of dark beauty, pure black iron forged into a deadly, elegant shape.
It was trapped behind a dome of magic barrier.
But the sword itself was the problem. It was actively oozing a black, corrupted aura, a swirling, visible darkness that made the air feel sticky and toxic. The violet dome was visibly struggling to contain it.
Ignisarya stopped them all abruptly, turning around with a look of genuine fear.
"I was wrong," she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"The corruption is far worse than I remember. We need to rethink this, Apostle Kaelen. That weapon is genuinely dangerous. Even if you are an Apostle, this kind of dark mana can cause irreparable damage to your soul. We must find a way to stabilize it first."
"It isn't dangerous," Evelyn stated calmly. She stepped right up to Kaelen, her pink eyes glowing softly.
Without saying another word, a wave of pink mana flowed out of Evelyn.
lt instantly enveloped Kaelen from head to toe, forming a protective cocoon beneath his clothes and spiritual defenses.
The dark mana in the room recoiled slightly from this pure, sweet energy.
"Just pick the weapon up, Nii-san," Evelyn instructed, her voice completely steady.
"Go on. It won't hurt you. My mana will take care of it."
Kaelus and Isolde exchanged a quick, worried glance.
They intensified their personal barriers, ready for the inevitable explosion.
Kaelus gripped his sword, and Isolde prepared a high-tier defense spell on her lips. They were ready for things to go terribly wrong.
Kaelen walked up to the pedestal.
The violet barrier parted easily for him, and he reached out, wrapping his hand around the cold, black hilt of the Demon King's sword.
The moment his skin touched the iron, the sword exploded.
A massive burst of pure black magic, a physical torrent of corrosive energy, shot out from the blade.
The whole chamber seemed to shake.
Ignisarya cried out in alarm and instantly threw her hands forward.
Her most powerful defense— a shield of blazing, vibrant red fire erupted, surrounding Evelyn, Kaelus, Isolde, and herself.
The black magic slammed into the fire shield.
The shield held for a moment, but then thin, bright lines began to race across the red surface.
It started cracking from the intensity.
Ignisarya kept channeling every ounce of her spiritual energy just to keep the failing barrier intact.
It was over in a moment.
Evelyn, still smiling calmly, simply gave a soft wave of her hand.
The pure pink mana she had been radiating flowed out in a rush, instantly saturating the cracking fire shield.
There was no noise, just a brilliant flash of combined red and pink light.
Ignisarya's shield instantly became whole, the cracks vanishing as the barrier was fundamentally reconstructed and reinforced.
The chaotic black energy outside could not penetrate it.
Evelyn was still smiling, her gaze completely fixed on Kaelen, who stood silently within the shield, looking down at the immense power now resting in his grip.
Then, Kaelen moved.
He didn't use any fancy spell or shout a command.
He just raised the massive black blade and executed a single, smooth swing through the empty air.
The moment he swung the sword, the massive, raging torrent of black magic outside the shield instantly vanished.
The intense cold retreated, the violent shaking stopped, and the air returned to its oppressive but quiet state.
The sword was now passive, fully contained in Kaelen's grip, only emitting a faint, controlled shadow.
Ignisarya let her now-stable fire shield drop.
Silence filled the vault.
Kaelus Zargoth stared, his big warrior's face completely stunned. He slowly lowered his broadsword.
"That is… impossible," Kaelus muttered, shaking his head slowly.
"That sword is a soul bond weapon. The legends say it can only be wielded by the soul it recognizes, and only the previous Demon King was capable. He just… he just took it and commanded it. That is simply not possible."
Isolde's reaction was different.
She had not lowered her guard, but her eyes were still fixed on Kaelen.
Her pale white skin was deeply flushed, and her blood-red eyes were wide.
She was visibly blushing, trembling slightly, completely affected by the sudden, overwhelming flood of Kaelen's lust aura that had been momentarily suppressed by the chaos but was now flowing freely.
The image of Kaelen's quiet effortless strength was instantly intoxicating to her vampire senses.
Meanwhile, Ignisarya stumbled back a step, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide with a horrific realization that had nothing to do with Kaelen's current power.
She whispered, her voice laced with raw fear.
"No…. It can't be… Not again…"