The moment the words fell, the entire ground began to shake violently.
The tremor instantly filled everyone present with fear, including the foreign ministers who had just calmed down.
'Weren't we told the envoy wouldn't be attacked?'
'Why the hell go back on it now!?'
But they understood it clearly.
At this moment, August had already thrown everything away.
Amid the chaos, the ground was ignited by countless explosives, and the powerful shockwave shook the entire land.
White light tore through the soil from the ground, surging upward into the sky like a reversed waterfall.
An explosion of this magnitude was absolutely no weaker than a fourth-tier spell.
And because of the instability of gunpowder, the resulting shockwave was likely even stronger.
In the blink of an eye, the vast courtyard was completely swallowed by white light.
Even the towering, castle-like mansion was engulfed within it.
The violent blast overturned the entire ground. Under the raging impact, even sound itself seemed torn apart.
Only the sharp explosion continued to echo.
BOOM!
Like a tidal wave, the white shock surged hundreds of meters into the night sky, expanding across the land, its vast brilliance completely drowning everything.
Only after the white light gradually faded did the lingering smoke remain.
The surrounding ground was completely shattered. Tall rocks were embedded chaotically, and the remains of buildings lay scattered across the ground.
August stood up, his body covered in burns from the explosives.
His manic laughter echoed again and again through the ruins, "Hahahahahahaha!"
"In the end, I'm the only winner."
But suddenly, his laughter stopped.
"That's it?"
In the silent air, a cold voice rang out.
August quickly turned his head to look.
Within the thick smoke, a man in a black coat walked out.
He was completely unharmed, not even a speck of dust on him.
August's eyes widened as he froze in place.
'Could it be that Viktor was also of the blood race?'
'Otherwise, how can this be explained?'
'This many bombs were enough to flatten a royal city, so how could he come out without a scratch?'
Suddenly, August's expression changed sharply, as if he had realized something.
The buried explosives were meant to shatter everyone present.
That way, he could freely absorb the broken flesh and become a true blood race.
And under his influence, those people would all turn into vampires who obeyed only him.
However…
He had detonated all the explosives without holding back, yet he didn't feel a single death.
The blood-red moon in the sky remained as crimson as ever. Not a single life had dissipated here.
He looked around, only to see two tiger-men emerging from the smoke.
But unlike before, their bodies were now wrapped in ghostly green flames.
The flames were hollow like spirits, lighting up the surrounding space.
Even their fur was completely ignited, especially beneath their heads, where it burned the brightest.
In their eyes, cold flames flickered.
Within the surrounding smoke, they looked like evil spirits.
Suddenly, the female tiger-man opened her heavy paw.
In her massive paw, a pile of crushed black stones was revealed.
At that moment, August's heart began to pound wildly.
He recognized them.
Those were anti-magic stones.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust swept through, completely dispersing the smoke.
At that moment, August was utterly stunned.
Ghostly green flames instantly ignited across the ground, spreading rapidly and covering the entire land, sweeping past everyone's feet.
The flames climbed like vines, wrapping around everyone's bodies.
Countless demi-humans and knights, even the noble lords...
their bodies were all ignited with ghostly green flames. Twin flames burned in their eyes, while the lower halves of their bodies were shrouded in deep black mist.
White bones gleamed, ghostfire burned.
The twelve foreign envoys also revealed stark white bones, with blazing flames burning in their deep eye sockets.
They were quite surprised by their own state, looking around curiously at everything.
Gwen, now transformed into an undead knight, rode a skeletal warhorse and followed behind Aurelian, arriving in front of August.
At this moment, ghostfire burned once again across Aurelian's body.
A ghostly green glow covered her entirely, a three-mark crown of green flames above her head, and a layer of black garments draped over her.
Behind her floated several ghostly green flames.
She looked like a witch, and at the same time like the sole ruler of this undead army.
Viktor looked at August and spoke calmly, "Attacking the Empire's envoy. Attacking the Empire's princess."
"August, now the crimes you've committed have increased by two more."
As his words fell, the undead lords wrapped in ghostly green flames all drew the sharp blades at their waists.
Like a flood, they surged forward, instantly surrounding August.
Watching the undead army closing in on him, August's mind went blank.
He… had actually lost at the most crucial point.
For the blood race to turn humans into vampires, corpses were required.
The blood stored in the human body would be drained, then special blood would be reinjected by the blood race.
Thus, the corpse would transform into a vampire.
Even if the body was damaged, as long as it underwent the transformation, the broken parts would reassemble into a complete vampire.
But when the explosive shockwaves tore through the air and echoed across the land, not a single person present had turned into a corpse.
Because at the moment the white light surged upward, they had all already become undead wrapped in ghostfire.
This was the power of a necromancer using soul fire, allowing the living to embrace death.
In this state, they no longer feared death, nor any attacks.
Because they themselves were undead.
August understood this very well, because the Grand Duke of the kingdom was the strongest necromancer.
So when Aurelian revealed her necromancer power, he had immediately used anti-magic stones to guard against her.
But in the end, even after calculating everything, he had still overlooked the destruction of the anti-magic stones.
No, what truly caught him off guard was the appearance of those demi-humans.
Why would they follow Viktor's command?
That question was terrifying.
Even without those demi-humans, August wouldn't have lost this easily.
But now, how could he possibly turn things around?
'Right, where is Count Laurien? Where is Count Laurien!?'
Suddenly remembering something, August raised his head and shouted loudly into the ruined courtyard, "Count Laurien, Count Laurien!!!"
His voice pierced the sky, causing the undead noble lords to look at each other in confusion.
'Right, where did Count Laurien go?'
'This is his territory!'
They had already had doubts in their hearts, because this place belonged to Count Laurien.
Yet even in such a battle, his guards had never appeared.
Clearly, Count Laurien had a problem.
And on top of that, his daughter had revived as a blood race…
At this moment, the nobles already had their suspicions.
Suddenly, crisp footsteps mixed with the dull sound of a cane echoed slowly from afar.
Everyone was drawn to the sound, turning their gazes toward its source.
Count Laurien appeared not far away, leaning on his cane, walking elegantly toward them.
Under the bloodlight of the night sky, the crimson glow illuminated his white hair.
His eyes were like crimson gemstones, filled with depth and mystery.
Everyone looked at Count Laurien in silence.
In the past, they had never thought there was anything strange about his red eyes.
But now, after seeing so many vampires and blood race members, the guess in their hearts finally had an answer.
The moment he saw Count Laurien, August shouted urgently, "Count Laurien, save me!"
However, Count Laurien simply stood there, calmly watching him.
The faint smile at the corner of his eyes was like cold moonlight as he softly said, "Your Majesty, you have already lost."
August was slightly stunned, not yet reacting, when suddenly, the blood moon shone brighter, its deep red light pouring down.
Like the dawn before sunrise, but carrying a biting chill.
Under this bloodlight, August's body began to change.
Like a dying ember, signs of decay and death gradually appeared.
His once proud wings began to wither, like dried leaves breaking apart and drifting away, and the red glow in his eyes began to fade.
In that instant, his once overwhelmingly powerful body became so ordinary.
He widened his eyes, feeling the immortality he had long pursued slipping away from him.
August stared at the blood moon, his eyes filled with despair, "No, why, no…"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After absorbing all the blood energy brought by August, the blood moon in the sky became even more crimson.
Even the halo around it grew larger, like a gluttonous demon finally satisfied.
Count Laurien bowed deeply to August and said sincerely, "Thank you for everything you have done for me."
At that moment, the back of Laurien's bowed body suddenly bulged.
His robes tore apart, and a pair of enormous crimson wings burst out.
Those wings were unbelievably huge. With a slight curve, they could even encircle everyone present.
And even more terrifying...
there were three pairs of such wings.
The crimson wings trembled beneath the sky, releasing an overwhelmingly dreadful aura of blood.
The faint moonlight passed through the three pairs of wings, illuminating the veins across them with startling clarity.
Count Laurien raised his head again. At this moment, his face had clearly changed.
Red blood patterns spread across his face, his eyes turned completely crimson, even his pupils becoming hollow red.
He lifted his head and glanced at Priscilla in midair.
Within his complicated gaze, there seemed to be a trace of gentleness.
Then, he spread his wings and rose into the air.
Like a thick crimson crescent hanging in the night sky behind him.
Count Laurien lowered his raised head, looking down at everyone from above.
But in his gaze, only Viktor was locked onto.
The hollow crimson in his eyes turned completely mad, like a beast whose deepest cruelty had been awakened, "Now, it's time to finish things."
"Councillor Clavenna."