novelonline Chapter 4192 Derinor and the Secrets of the Vampires
Chapter 4192 Derinor and the Secrets of the Vampires
Chapter 4192 Derinor and the Secrets of the Vampires
"Mr. Bernhardt, are all the vampires who accompanied you this time so devout?"
When Shad found Mr. Bernhardt at the conference table in the center of the second level of the cave, he asked curiously. The blackboard next to the table was now covered with dense photos and old documents, nails were driven into the photos and pieces of paper, and different colored lines connected the related clues.
"No, no, we usually don't do this in Velendale, but the oracle has come that our mission this time is related to our Lord, so we should be more formal on Sundays."
Mr. Bernhardt explained:
"I can't tell you the full contents of the oracle, but the general idea is that we must persevere and continue the investigation, and find all the missing members of our race, dead or alive. Someone wants to use the power of the higher vampires, and if they succeed, it will have an irreversible impact on the entire vampire race."
He gestured for Shad to sit down, then let out a long sigh:
"Although I don't quite understand it either, the general idea is that a tainted bloodline will, in turn, affect the entire race."
"This is indeed a very dangerous situation. So, what were the results of the investigation on Friday night?"
Shad sat down in a chair at the table, and Mr. Bernhardt instructed someone to prepare tea for him.
"I've made some gains, but they certainly can't compare to what you've achieved. Now the entire Arcadia region knows that, with the help of a certain important figure, St. Byron's Comprehensive Academy has successfully contained the Sage-level relic, the [Leatherwork Hall]."
He clicked his tongue in amazement:
"Come on, let's celebrate this first. Leather should never exist. Vampires don't like this kind of monstrosity either."
He picked up the teacup that had just been brought to him and clinked it against Xia De's:
"As for me, after the ball started that night, I went through the garden with the other club guests who were going to the Blood Feast to the manor house."
The scene was pretty much as you imagined: in a banquet hall without the lights on, there was only a candlestick in the center of a long table. Each guest took turns sharing their story of how they came to like blood; only after sharing their story could they drink the beverage mixed with human blood.
Mr. Bernhardt further emphasized to Shad:
“My companion and I didn’t drink that beverage; we used a little trick. The host of that fancy banquet was an ordinary vampire, and we followed him after the banquet and then found the higher vampire behind him.”
"It sounds like things went smoothly, so what kind of intelligence did the other side provide?"
Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:
"That old gentleman is probably the oldest vampire in the area. Even compared to the elders of Velendale, he's not young. His true identity is a local viscount. We thought he had also disappeared, but we never expected that he would abandon his family and hide in the lower city alone."
When he heard that we were visitors from Willendale, he gave us a good scolding.
He said that the previous Velendale expedition team approached them offering assistance, but after gathering enough high-level vampires from Arcadia, they captured most of them, so he doesn't trust us at all.
Shad was not surprised by this result:
"Were there problems with the previous group from the beginning, or were their identities replaced after they were captured?"
"I even suspect that the previous investigation team never made it to the local area. In any case, I finally showed the old man the religious relics of the Order and told him what I had done in Midhill Castle in 1853 before he was willing to trust me."
He warned me that none of the vampires still living in Arcadia could be trusted; he hadn't been in contact with his kind for a long time, and he firmly believed that the group rumored to be there had returned.
"rumor?"
Mr. Bernhardt nodded and finally got to the point:
"As I mentioned before, the vampire population in the Arcadia region predates that of Velendale. Back in the time of the Kingdom of Delineor, this was already the largest gathering place of vampires in the southern part of the Old World."
During the unification of the southern territories by the United Kingdom of Carsenric, the local vampires secretly provided assistance to the royal family of Derinor. During the siege of Arcadia, those local ancient vampires, fearing retribution from the church, faked their deaths and went into hiding.
The old man we found believed that the ancient vampires who had hidden themselves had awakened and were attacking their own kind in the area in order to regain their power and punish the descendants of the traitors of that time.
"This"
Shad took a breath. Vampires possess the ability to prolong their lives through sleep, a feature consistent with popular horror novels. However, in the current Sixth Era, this ability directly depletes their primal power and requires complex rituals and considerably expensive materials to perform in this era.
However, Xia De had never heard of this group of people in the area before:
"The disappearance of vampires, isn't it related to the Blood Spirit School? How does it involve vampires from hundreds of years ago?"
Mr. Bernhardt looked at the blackboard covered with clues:
"Yes, I also thought that old man was senile at the time, but he showed me some clues that proved that some old guys had indeed appeared. I now suspect that during the siege of Arcadia, a group of local vampires really did survive by feigning death and have now survived to this day, and they are now cooperating with the Blood Spirit School."
Xia De also looked at the blackboard:
"But what is their purpose? At least in this day and age, the church is unaware of their existence. If they have truly awakened, shouldn't they leave this place immediately and start a new life somewhere no one knows them?"
Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:
"Their purpose is still unclear, but intelligence has been reported to Velendale. The next batch of helpers will bring the clan's next instructions. We have also had internal discussions and currently believe that either they have a more mysterious purpose that we do not know about, or those old guys want to revive the Kingdom of Delinor."
Shad thought he had misheard, and he laughed:
"Reviving Delinor? They're so loyal to their original country? It's 1855 now; Delinor is long gone from history books."
"During the era of Delineor, vampires even extended their influence into the royal palace. This was also the era of the war to unify the southern territory. One of the reasons why vampires were willing to help the Delineor royal family."
Mr. Bernhardt lowered his voice slightly and delivered the most alarming piece of information:
"At that time, the clans that now live in Velendale still lived on the west coast of the Old World and knew little about what had happened there. According to the old man we found, it is incredible that the royal family of Derinor actually has vampire blood."
"what?"
Xia De noticed his serious expression; he didn't seem to be joking.
"Would the church have allowed this to happen back then? And if I remember correctly, there is no such thing as hybrids among vampires. Once you have vampire blood, you are a pure-blooded vampire, at most you retain some of the physical characteristics of your original race."
If the royal family back then were all vampires, the Church of the Five Gods couldn't have failed to discover it.
Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:
"I can't really explain what's going on. According to the ancient documents that the old gentleman here gave me, the vampires of the Delinor era possessed some secret techniques that even modern vampires have never heard of."
They must have used their bloodline to grant the royal family some kind of power. Now that those old guys have truly awakened from their slumber, the continuous disappearances of their local kin would make sense. The Blood Spirit School isn't a native Arcadia organization, after all. It wouldn't be so simple for the Blood Spirit School alone to so secretly kidnap so many local vampires.
Although Shad had considered that Mr. Bernhardt might obtain intelligence, he did not expect the intelligence to be so unexpected.
He pondered the potential impact of this sudden influx of ancient vampires on the local situation. If these ancient vampires truly intended to support the revival of the Kingdom of Delinor and align themselves with the restorationists, then the impact would be even greater.
"The Astley family is most likely a direct descendant of the Delineor royal family. Perhaps we can determine what the vampires did back then by testing their bloodline."
But Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:
"The Kingdom of Delinor has been destroyed for so many years. Even if something was done back then, it should be undetectable now. However, there's no harm in trying to test it."
Shad added:
"During the [Leather Goods Guild] incident, a royal princess who lived six hundred years ago was rescued and is now with the followers of the God of Dawn. Perhaps we can test her bloodline, but I'm worried that she has been affected by the [Leather Goods Guild] and her bloodline has undergone other mutations."
Mr. Bernhardt then offered the following reminder:
"No matter how bold the vampires were back then, they couldn't possibly influence everyone in the royal family. If the princess you mentioned was just an insignificant figure in the royal family, perhaps she was just an ordinary person back then."
However, there's no harm in testing. If there are results, the astonishing information provided by the local old man will be verified.
He paused for a moment, then asked Shad:
"Do you think the Five Gods Church really didn't notice anything back then? The Church of Creation was here even before Arcadia City. Even during the North-South unification war, the Five Gods Church didn't have as much control over the world order as it does now, but that's only in comparison to now. Back then, it's impossible for the church not to pay attention to the local royal family."
Xia De picked up his teacup:
"That's a good question. I'll have someone ask around at the church."