The four Elders were dumbfounded.
They had anticipated Darian's various reactions, but they never expected him to be so unconventional, directly opening fire at the slightest disagreement!
They had already noticed the commotion outside the castle, and they were equally suspicious of Darian's absurd origins, but no matter what, he was at least ostensibly a positive character.
What kind of good person just shoots someone in the head right off the bat!?
Darian was completely unfazed by this.
It was because these old fellows had put on airs from the start, acting as if everything was under their control.
What he hated most in his life was someone showing off more than he did, unless he couldn't beat them.
Clearly, the four Elders were not in that category.
Are you worthy of the Holy Light on you by doing this?
After a moment of silence, Elder Damascinos, who was seated at the head, finally spoke.
"Perhaps we can cooperate."
"How do we cooperate?"
Darian raised an eyebrow, not moving immediately.
He wasn't in a hurry to kill these Vampires; after all, he still needed to figure out the true purpose of the Eternal Night Organization.
A hint of a smile appeared on Damascinos's pale face: "As long as you don't hinder us, any conditions can be discussed. Whether it's wealth, power, or women, we can satisfy you!"
Darian curled his lips dismissively.
He wasn't short on money to begin with, and wealth, in the late game, was just a string of data, not real gold and silver from the real World.
It wasn't worth becoming inhumane for a bit of virtual currency.
As for power, he was already the King of Sokovia, and even the head of HYDRA's European forces was his lackey.
Looking at the entire World, not many people could be more powerful than Darian, and he didn't believe that these old fellows holed up in an ancient castle could promise any more attractive authority.
As for women.
Darian's gaze swept over the blonde maid.
Upon noticing Darian's gaze, she didn't avoid it. Instead, she met his eyes, suggestively licked her lips, and subtly brought her arms forward, showcasing a very 'driven' ambition.
Her modeling attributes were decent, but it was a shame she was a Vampire.
As everyone knows, fangs that are too long are more prone to injury.
Seeing that Darian didn't answer, Damascinos continued to persuade: "I can also grant you Eternity, make you a noble Vampire, and give you equal authority to us, making you one of the five—ahem, four Elders."
Blade, standing nearby, twitched his mouth slightly.
To get Darian to join them, were these Vampires even abandoning their principles?
They changed their tune to 'four Elders' so quickly.
Darian said with a half-smile: "I just killed one of your Elders."
"The position of Elder has always gone to the most capable. That Elder died precisely because he lacked ability. I believe that even if he knows in the afterlife, he will understand and agree with my decision."
Damascinos spoke righteously, and the other Vampire Elders nodded in agreement. Even the lanky Vampire himself did not voice any objections, passing it with a unanimous vote.
Unless absolutely necessary, the Vampire Elders truly did not want to be enemies with Darian, as his power was simply too great.
Especially that eerie Holy Light, which was practically the bane of their Vampire race; they were simply no match.
These Vampire Elders, who had lived for hundreds of years, had no thoughts of having lived long enough. On the contrary, they cherished their Eternal lives and only wanted to continue to survive.
Darian nodded: "The conditions you offered are indeed somewhat tempting."
Damascinos's eyes immediately lit up: "So, you're willing to cooperate with us?"
"No, I refuse!"
.
Seeing Darian's blunt refusal, Damascinos's expression instantly froze.
Then, his face gradually darkened.
"Are you determined to be our enemy?"
Darian chuckled: "We are fundamentally from different factions. My mission is to utterly exterminate the last trace of you sinful villains!"
As his voice fell, a holy radiance instantly emanated from his body.
The Vampire Elders felt as if their bodies were being pierced by hot needles, suffering immensely. If this holy radiance were to directly cover them, they would probably turn to ash on the spot.
One Vampire Elder, enduring the discomfort, said to Darian: "Aren't you afraid we'll fight to the death?"
Darian scoffed: "Fight to the death? That requires a strong enough fish. Do you few weaklings even qualify to talk about fighting to the death?"
Hearing these words, the Vampire Elders felt a wave of humiliation. As the most powerful among the Vampire race, when had they ever been treated with such contempt?
What an uncle can endure, an aunt cannot!
The Vampire Elders were filled with anger, exchanging glances, indicating that as soon as someone took the lead, they would immediately swarm him and tear this arrogant human to shreds.
Unfortunately, every Vampire Elder thought the same way.
As a result, they waited for a long time, but no one dared to be the first, and their butts didn't even leave their chairs by half a millimeter.
A bunch of cowards!
The Vampire Elders maintained their composure on the surface but cursed each other in their hearts.
Darian stepped forward, his eyes glowing with Holy Light, making it impossible for the Vampire Elders to look directly at him: "As long as you hand over all your money—oh no, as long as you reveal all your plans, I can consider sparing your undead lives!"
"You promise?"
A female Vampire Elder, seated at the end, couldn't help but speak, her voice laced with hesitation.
Darian nodded solemnly: "I swear in the name of the Church that if I break my promise, the Church shall fall into Eternal darkness and find no peace."
Anyway, he wasn't part of the Church at all, so he made the oath without any burden.
The questioning female Vampire Elder was clearly swayed.
She stole a glance at Damascinos, and seeing his gloomy face but no attempt to stop her, she mustered her courage and answered.
"We do have a plan. With human power growing stronger by the day, the Vampire race can only linger in the shadows. To restore the glory of the Vampire race, we have found the complete version of the divine tome."
Darian asked again: "What divine tome?"
"It is an ancient classic that has circulated within the Vampire community for thousands of years."
The female Vampire Elder explained: "It is said to contain the true Power of the Blood God. We believe that by performing the ritual described in the book, we can obtain the Power of the Blood God."
"Frost, back then, accidentally obtained a few fragmented pages of this secret tome, and with only the incomplete ritual described within, he gained a portion of the Power of the Blood God."
Darian immediately became interested: "So, the complete divine tome can grant all of the Blood God's power?"
"Yes."
The female Vampire Elder nodded in confirmation: "According to the secret tome, the complete ritual will awaken all of the Blood God's power. Once successful, our Vampire race will completely control the Earth, and humanity will become our dependents!"
Darian merely smiled at this, saying nothing.
What the female Vampire Elder said was a bit too naive.
One must know that the Earth is not only protected by numerous superheroes on its surface, including Thor, the God of Thunder, but also watched over by a host of mages from Kamar-Taj in secret.
Even if these Vampires truly obtained the so-called Power of the Blood God, trying to rule the Earth would be pure wishful thinking.
After all, even if they managed to defeat the elite monsters of superheroes and mages, they would find a bald woman in a hood waiting for them in the final level.
"What are the requirements for the complete ritual?" Darian pressed on.
"It requires a large amount of high-quality blood, which is why we secretly established blood factories to specifically collect the blood of certain humans to prepare for the ritual."
Since the female Vampire Elder had already spoken, she decided to reveal everything she knew.
Darian's scorching divine aura was practically breathing down her face; how could she dare to question his identity now?
This was absolutely genuine Holy Light!
From this, it could be inferred that even if Darian wasn't from above, his connections were certainly not shallow.
The female Vampire Elder secretly planned that if she could leave a good impression on him, perhaps if he was pleased, she could transform from a despised Vampire into an official staff member, thus reaching the pinnacle of her undead life.
Although she was a Vampire, she could still believe in God and serve the Church!
The other Vampire Elders glared fiercely at the traitorous female Vampire Elder.
In truth, they had the same thoughts as the female Vampire Elder, but unfortunately, they were a step slower and couldn't be the traitor in time to cling to Darian's powerful leg.
"Besides that, are you sure there are no other conditions?" Darian's gaze became somewhat subtle.
"No, there aren't."
The female Vampire Elder found his gaze strange.
Darian gently shook his head: "Don't you think, even Frost's incomplete ritual back then required the sacrifice of twelve old relics to activate? How could the conditions for this complete ritual be so simple?"
These words were like a bucket of cold Water poured over the heads of the Vampire Elders.
The female Vampire Elder suddenly turned to Damascinos, sharply questioning: "Damascinos, you said you obtained the complete version of the divine tome, and that the complete ritual only requires a large amount of human blood. Is this true or not?"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Damascinos suddenly burst into laughter, his eyes becoming cold and sharp: "Of course not! The complete ritual indeed requires a large amount of high-quality human blood as sacrifices, but it also requires a large amount of Vampire blood, and several pure-blood Vampires!"
As his voice fell, several Vampire Elders were horrified to find themselves bound by an invisible force, their blood uncontrollably beginning to boil within them.
"Damn it! You've been using us from the very beginning!"
The female Vampire Elder shrieked in anger, trying to break free but to no avail.
Damascinos said coldly: "It is your honor to become the foundation for the Blood God's descent. Once I obtain complete divine power, I will surely lead the Vampire race to new glory. I believe you will be happy for me, even in the afterlife."
We're not dead yet, and we're not happy at all!
The Vampire Elders cursed furiously, but their struggles were meaningless.
Accompanied by a shrill scream, one Elder's body began to dissolve, rapidly turning into a pool of thick blood that gurgled and flowed towards Damascinos.
"This is the Power of the Blood God, it's truly formidable!"
Damascinos spread his arms, feeling the endless energy pouring into his body, a look of intoxication on his face.
Watching the horrifying scene before them, the remaining Elders were terrified.
The female Vampire Elder quickly turned to Darian, pleading desperately: "My Lord, please save me! I am willing to do anything for you!"
Darian's expression was calm: "Don't worry, with my Holy Light, no dark power can corrupt your body."
At these words, the female Vampire Elder immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
With Darian's Holy Light protection, Damascinos surely couldn't harm her in the slightest.
However, the next second, she saw Darian raise his right hand and place it on her shoulder, while a dazzling Holy Light burst from his palm.
Female Vampire Elder: "???"
Under the protection of the Holy Light, the female Vampire had no ability to resist and instantly turned into ashes, dissipating into the air.
Damascinos: "."
Other Vampire Elders: "."
Blade: "."
Darian indeed kept his promise; the female Vampire Elder's body was not corrupted by dark power, because before the darkness could corrupt her, she had already been completely purified by Darian's Holy Light.
Logical and without any loopholes!
Darian scanned the information of the other Vampire Elders.
[Status: Being Sacrificed]
In fact, as early as when he entered the hall, he had seen this status prompt, and it was present on the lanky Vampire who died at the beginning, as well as the female Vampire Elder.
At first, he didn't understand what was going on, but after the female Vampire Elder's explanation, he realized that these Vampire Elders had long been sacrificed.
Darian had no idea how to remove this status, so he simply tried using Holy Light.
The effect was quite significant: the illness disappeared, and the patient disappeared too.
Witnessing the fate of the female Vampire Elder, the remaining Vampire Elders' mental states completely collapsed.
This was clearly a case of being caught between a wolf and a tiger, a dead end no matter what!
"Don't be afraid, I'm here!"
Darian rushed forward, purifying the Vampire Elders with a slap each, sparing them from suffering.
Damascinos: "."
Is this really a clergyman from the Church?
However, being an old Vampire who had lived for hundreds of years, he quickly saw through Darian's intentions.
Damascinos snorted coldly: "It's useless! Even if you kill them first, they will still be sacrificed as offerings!"
As he spoke, clusters of dense, blood-red energy suddenly rose from the ashes of the Vampire Elders. After hovering briefly in the air, they surged into Damascinos's body as if drawn by something.
"Do you see?"
Damascinos felt the continuous influx of power and said triumphantly: "From the moment you stepped into this hall, the sacrifice ritual had already begun. Once this process is initiated, it cannot be stopped. Your actions just now merely saved me the step of dealing with them."
Darian's expression remained unchanged; instead, he said cheerfully: "Since the other Vampire Elders are all sacrifices, where did you get the confidence to believe that you are not on the list of sacrifices?"
Damascinos: "?"