A cold, eerie green aura spread around Aurelian's body, covering her completely, and the atmosphere at the scene instantly turned solemn.
The spectators seemed frozen in place like statues, their eyes filled with shock.
Even August couldn't avoid a trace of astonishment gathering in his eyes.
'A necromancer?'
This thought surfaced in the minds of many nobles.
August frowned tightly, a wave of unease stirring in his heart.
"How is that possible?"
Aurelian had only arrived in the kingdom a few days ago. In just a few days, she had already mastered necromancy?
Could it be… she had learned necromancy before?
Was that even possible?
Grand Duke Barlow had never left the kingdom, and she had no chance to come into contact with him before…
However, despite everyone's endless doubts, the fact before their eyes could not be denied,
Aurelian had indeed used necromancy.
Yet no one cheered or marveled at it.
In the depths of their emotions, there was only sorrow.
To break free from August's control, the only way was to become undead.
Looking at Count Cody, whose flesh had burned away and turned into a skeleton, their hearts were filled with gloom.
And what was even more despairing was still to come.
"Princess, forgive me for speaking frankly."
August looked at Aurelian, his tone somewhat calm as he advised her, "As a princess of the Empire, is it appropriate for you to interfere in our kingdom's affairs?"
That was August's confidence.
You are from the Empire, what right do you have to interfere in the affairs of our Cant Kingdom?
Even if the kingdom carried out sweeping reforms and completely reshuffled the entire upper power structure, as a princess of the Empire, you had no authority to interfere.
The noble lords understood this very clearly.
Because Aurelian was not their savior.
She couldn't save everyone present.
But Aurelian did not want to give up because of this. She stared at August, her voice elegant and firm, as if coming from another space, "But you want to kill everyone here."
"Kill?"
August chuckled lightly, his fingertips tapping gently on his crossed arms, "They won't die. They will only transform, becoming my loyal subordinates, properly obeying my rule."
Aurelian's gaze tightened slightly, while August suddenly wrapped his arms around himself.
As if sighing, he said, "The vampires will accept all of them."
"At that time, once we complete the blood sacrifice, we will cast off our fragile human bodies."
"We! Will become..."
Before he finished speaking, August spread his arms wide, his back to the crimson full moon, a deep black shadow stretching in midair.
As if it were some mysterious rune, carrying his obscure meaning, "Immortal."
At last, August's blood-red pupils were completely filled with madness.
Thousands of blood thralls were reflected in his eyes, dancing their mechanical dance beneath the blood-red moon.
Aurelian looked at August, who had completely fallen into madness, and completely gave up on persuading him.
The August before her had become a demon consumed by insanity.
The surrounding nobles wore expressions of despair.
They wanted to resist, but the people around them were all August's elite loyal soldiers.
These soldiers would absolutely uphold August.
They didn't care whether August would become a vampire, nor did they care whether they themselves would become blood thralls after death.
Even if they ignored these fearless death warriors, those thousands of frenzied blood thralls were still far beyond what they could handle.
Even more despairing was the terrifying monster that this ritual was about to summon.
At this moment, Aurelian had also thrown caution to the wind. The soul fire on her body began to flicker unsteadily, and that ghostly green light grew even brighter.
Dark green smoke coiled up from her feet, spreading outward.
Trying to save every soul that had turned into a blood thrall.
But…
She suddenly felt an abnormal weakness, as if a violent wind passed through her body, stealing her magic power.
The connection between the surrounding magic and the domain of the dead vanished completely in that instant.
The soul fire on Aurelian flickered, unstable, as if it might go out at any moment.
At the same time, the spiritual flame on Count Cody's head, who had already died, also grew weaker.
That flame seemed like it could dissipate at any time.
Aurelian tried to draw in the surrounding magic to keep the soul fire burning.
But the magic faded away like water draining from a lake. It was as if she stood in a dead swamp, with nowhere to go.
In the next moment, the connection between magic and Aurelian completely snapped, and the flickering soul fire on her body fully extinguished.
After that, her link with magic was completely severed, and the ghostly green body formed by the flames gradually returned to its normal state.
There were no longer any burning flames in her blood-colored eyes.
And after losing the support of the soul fire, Count Cody's body was left as nothing but a pile of bones, scattered messily on the ground.
Witnessing all of this, Aurelian felt deep confusion.
Why had her magic been cut off?
When she saw that August showed no surprise, but instead looked as if he had expected this all along, she suddenly realized something.
"Do you know why there are so few mages in this kingdom?"
"Although it's partly because few people study magic, the most fundamental reason is this."
He clapped his hands, and a chaotic sound of footsteps instantly filled the entire courtyard.
Those cold-faced elite soldiers surrounded the courtyard expressionlessly.
And in each of their hands, they held a seemingly unremarkable dark stone.
When she saw those stones, Aurelian's eyes widened.
"This is our kingdom's specialty, anti-magic stone."
August said calmly, "Although they are rare and extremely difficult to mine, as long as we have these, mages will hardly exist in the kingdom."
The soldiers put the anti-magic stones back at their waists. August looked at Aurelian and slowly said, "I've already said, Princess, we do not wish to have any conflict with the Empire."
"So, your safety will absolutely be guaranteed."
He turned his body again, facing that blood-red moon.
"Next, please stand aside and watch..."
"This grand banquet."
As soon as his words fell, countless blood thralls seemed to receive some command and knelt toward the blood moon in worship.
Their heads repeatedly smashed against the ground.
Even as blood splattered and bones cracked, they showed no intention of stopping.
Blood dripped onto the ground covered with ancient runes. Those patterns seemed alive, rapidly absorbing it, their glow becoming even brighter.
The blood thralls withered like dried trees, as if their life force was being drained by an invisible hand.
And the blood moon hanging in the sky seemed to sense the strengthening magic, its red light growing even more brilliant.
It almost illuminated every corner of the courtyard.
The eyes of the many nobles were filled with fear and despair, as if an even more terrifying beast was devouring them.
Hilda held Joanna in the courtyard. Their thin figures looked especially fragile under the blood moon.
Joanna raised her head expressionlessly, looked at Hilda's extremely serious face, and asked, "Sister, are we all going to die here?"
Hilda lowered her head, gently stroked Joanna's forehead, and softly comforted her, "No, we won't die."
After saying that, she looked back at August.
He had once been the person she was most familiar with.
Now, she only felt deep unfamiliarity.
In the silence, a huge disturbance suddenly came from the distant mansion.
From within the large mansion, a thunderous noise erupted.
The roof was blasted open by red light, and a massive figure shot into the sky, rushing toward the blood moon.
Everyone raised their heads, their eyes widening in shock.
It was a woman with bat wings.
But her beast-like fangs, along with her pale skin under the blood moon, made her look especially terrifying.
She slowly descended from the sky, her massive bat wings almost covering half of the crimson moon.
At this moment, August's gaze burned with heat, as if he had seen the object of his desire, "It's you, my queen."
"My destined..."
Suddenly, his voice stopped abruptly.
The air seemed to freeze in an instant, and the sound of footsteps, clear like tapping on stairs, echoed, bringing a heavy silence.
At this moment, everyone's gaze turned toward the source of the sound.
Even Aurelian couldn't help widening her eyes, as if a glimmer of hope lit up within them.
It was a man wearing a black coat.
His hands were in his pockets, and everyone instinctively made way for him.
Until he walked into the crowd and came before August.
Viktor's gaze first swept over the blood-colored figure floating in the sky, then took in the horrifying crimson scene on the ground.
Only then did he place his eyes on August.
August also looked at Viktor, his brows slightly raised, revealing a confident smile, "Councilor Clavenna…"
"Your Majesty August."
Viktor's voice sounded calmly, interrupting August's words.
"You were about to say that we people from the Empire shouldn't interfere in your kingdom's affairs, right?"
This was exactly what August had said to Aurelian just now.
And now, Viktor repeated it.
Although August didn't know what Viktor meant, he still nodded.
"That's right, Councilor."
"Even you have no right to interfere in our kingdom."
Viktor stood in the courtyard, slightly closing his eyes, as if thinking about something.
"I understand."
Suddenly, a lively-feathered blue bird slowly flew down from the sky.
It entered everyone's view, carrying a steady flow of magic power.
August's pupils shrank slightly, filled with shock.
"…Magic power? That shouldn't be possible."
The anti-magic stones had already sealed all magic at the scene. This was also August's confidence when facing Viktor.
But now, why had a bird formed from magic appeared?
"This is a Natural Sparrow, a special spell created by Councilor Rachel Azure of our Mage Council."
After briefly answering August's question, Viktor raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
In the sky, that blue bird suddenly projected a phantom screen.
"Hello, hello? Can you hear me over there?"
On the screen, a neatly dressed black-haired woman occupied the center.
At this moment, she stood in the imperial palace, with numerous imperial ministers lined up around her.
This sudden development left everyone present completely confused.
What exactly was happening?
"Looks about right."
The woman adjusted the camera angle slightly, then stepped out of view.
After she left, the figure sitting on the throne appeared on the screen.
It was an elderly man dressed in luxurious clothing, his temples white, wearing a kind smile.
But the nobles present, upon seeing that kindly old man, froze as if struck by lightning.
Because everyone present knew exactly who he was.
The Empire's strongest emperor, Aubrey Sol VIII.
Even Aurelian almost blurted out, "Father!?"
The kindly old man seemed to hear Aurelian's voice and smiled while sitting on his throne.
Even August was stunned. He had no idea what Viktor was trying to do.
But suddenly, his eyes locked onto the screen, and his pupils shrank sharply.
In the palace, a warrior was bound tightly.
The other nobles also noticed this.
That warrior was wearing the standard armor of the kingdom.
However, in the screen, it seemed that the woman from before was the main figure.
She reappeared at the side of the screen and smiled as she introduced to everyone present, "This person is called Ribel. After identity verification, he has been confirmed to be a soldier from your Cant Kingdom."
"He previously infiltrated our territory and attempted to assassinate me, but failed. He was captured and has been under harsh interrogation."
Hearing this, everyone present exchanged looks.
In matters like this, the Empire would hardly lie, and there was no need to lie.
As long as someone investigated, the identity of that soldier on the screen could definitely be confirmed.
And with even the Emperor of the Empire appearing on the screen, it was clear that with the Emperor's endorsement, this matter could not be fake.
But what made them even more curious was this woman who claimed she had been targeted for assassination.
Who exactly was she?
"Ah, sorry, I almost forgot to introduce myself.", Suddenly, the woman's voice rang out.
A beautiful smile appeared on her face. But it made everyone present fall silent.
"I am Liya Clavenna, Viktor Clavenna's…"
"Family."
Beep!
The screen instantly shrank, and the sound cut off.
Everything around seemed to freeze under those cold words, a chilling sensation climbing up the spines of every noble lord.
Even August turned his head stiffly to look at the expressionless man.
Viktor's voice sounded, like a death knell slowly being struck, "Now."
"It's time to settle old accounts."