“This way. We’re close,” Izabella said, holding a crystal ball that pointed the way.

  “Yes, Mistress.” Izabella’s subordinate cultists answered.

  The dimensions of the Magisterium Tower were gigantic, as was the space inside it. Even though they had used elevator shafts to reach the desired floor, navigating the place was a challenge in itself, especially when the defense mechanisms, like barriers and traps, complicated things further.

  Izabella moved with the majority of the Blood Church members that she brought. Their target was the Archive. The value of a major branch of the Magisterium’s knowledge and research was invaluable. No doubt Viers had his own objectives coming here, as was the case for the Bone Ravens. That was why they decided to move separately, all hoping to use the other side as distractions.

  Izabella thought that it was fine. Her side wasn’t so weak that they couldn't achieve their objective without any help.

  Alan had gone ahead after changing into mist. Following his wake, his subordinates and the summoned demons that were bound to their cause tore apart the defenders.

  Despite the failure of the plan outside of the Tower earlier, the progress so far was quite smooth. It could be attributed to two factors, Viers’ information gathering about the Tower, and the swiftness of the raid.

  Izabella wished it would be smooth sailing until the end but even she wasn't that naive. Her experience as a Vice-Vicar, a position of considerable weight in the Blood Church’s hierarchy, taught her as much.

  Besides, the heavyweights of the Magisterium hadn't shown themselves yet.

  “Turn right. The Archive should be just ahead!”

  A barrage of projectiles, magical and physical, welcomed them. The unlucky summoned demons and some cultists were ripped to shreds, ending their lives then and there.

  “Khh...”

  Izabella’s enchanted item automatically activated before she ducked onto cover. She was without a scratch but there was a hole in her favorite witch hat. Her self-repair enchantment would take care of it but it still felt unpleasant.

  “Cultist scum. Your presence in this prestigious tower shall not be tolerated! Be grateful, we’ll send you to Hell to meet your master!”

  At the end of the path, a formation of firearms was pointed in Izabella’s direction. She wasn't surprised because she had been informed. Although, the firearms seemed to be of higher quality and further enhanced from what she knew.

  There were at least three hundred ‘muskets’ and men. While their Level was mostly on the low side, the musket in their hand with special bullets could even threaten Level 3s.

  That was not all, advanced golems were ready to give any who came close a warm welcome with their hardened fists. There were around twenty of them, each as tall as three meters. Her crystal ball read their energy levels were the equivalent of Level 3 peak Pathseeker each.

  Last but not least, two Level 4s were present, two Executives. The male was the one who spoke.

  “Executive Galenn and Bissa...” Izabella recognized them from the shared pre-mission intel. “I suppose we draw the short stick.”

  Their intelligence indicated Galenn was the leader and strongest among the six Executives. Unless he was defeated, the path to the treasure trove of knowledge would remain closed.

  “...How strange.”

  And yet Izabella felt not a speck of nervousness. She was an enchanter by trade, fighting was not her strong suit. After becoming Vice-Vicar, leadership and religious roles fell upon her shoulders as well. She was no skilled warrior like Viers or Alan, people who had been tested and tempered over and over again in the fires of conflict. She knew with one glance that both Executives were higher in the Level 4 strata and had more combat experience.

  Even so... I am no longer the me of the past.

  She walked past a young cultist, shaken by the fierce attack that almost took her life. However, as Iz strode past, her eyes lit up.

  “Look alive, you lot! Our Mistress is taking the stage! Our enemies are as good as dead!” She shouted to her compatriots.

  “Ha! Been a while since I've seen her fighting for real!”

  “Now I pity the other side, hihihi!”

  As soon as she came in sight, the shooters fired their muskets but Izabella’s defensive capabilities as a Level 4 was on another level compared to Level 3s. Her walk was uninterrupted despite the rain of bullets. Her witch hat hid her eyes from her enemies.

  “Arte - Rip Vein.”

  The sound was almost unperceivable because of the gunshots but the effect was unmissable, for the shooters were bursting blood everywhere. Blood-curdling screams came the next instant, blood of hundreds spread on the ground in greater and greater amounts. The weak ones perished from unnatural blood loss, some managed to resist but suffered heavy damage. The bloodless golems and Level 4s were fine, for the time being.

  Shining blood-red eyes could be glimpsed under the hat.

  “Red eyes, pale skin, and powerful mastery of the blood affinity. A vampire,” Bissa frowned. “This will be troublesome.”

  “Hahaha! Forward! Open the path for Mistress Witch!”

  With the line of defense broken, the cultists and demons charged. The golems moved to intercept. Artes of various kinds and colors bloomed on the battlefield.

  Galenn raised his hand to respond and turned around in a flash to catch a knife to the neck.

  “A hiding rat. How mundane.”

  Alan attacked again from the shadows, his figure was covered in mists. Magical sense would perceive nothing. This forced Galenn to keep his eye on him. The two Level 4s traded blows on the ground, then used the walls and ceilings and they maneuvered.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Izabella and Bissa hadn't begun, the two women stared at each other.

  “...A Level 4 low. I am certain,” Bissa said. “Unfortunately for you, I am a Level 4 high. Vampire or not, there’s an insurmountable difference between us. If there’s still sanity in you, then run. Galenn will defeat your friend soon enough and then you’ll die if you have to fight the two of us at the same time.”

  “...You’re right,” Izabella smiled a most sincere smile.

  “There’s an insurmountable difference between us”

  A shiver ran down Bissa’s spine, her survival instinct going haywire.

  ***

  Izabella was neither a vampire from the start nor was she dead. Her original affinity was fire. But since all those years ago in the Book World, she had already designed her future. After making contact with Viers and deciding to break out a captured sister-figure of hers, Ursula, from the Silver Legion’s Tower of Remorse, she knew her Fire 3 affinity was never going to cut it, but she didn't use the reward of completing the Book World trial for Fire 5 affinity because she already aimed for the blood affinity her cult was famous for.

  Patiently she waited, honing her enchanting skill and making herself useful in the eyes of the cult’s higher-ups. Then, a chance came, an opportunity to obtain the Blood Seraph Arte—one of the three legendary Blood Artes.

  Employing the mercenary help of Viers, a Latias prince came to her doorstep. Not in pristine condition, but worth every penny she paid. With the legendary Arte in her hand, the time was ripe to enact her plan.

  Through a powerful, delicate, and expensive rite, Izabella transformed herself into a vampire as part of her Ascension to Level 4.

  And not just any vampire, but one with a noble lineage.

  Vampires were powerful but possessed equally great weaknesses, such as the inability to endure sunlight. A sliver of light from the sun could be the end of their existence.

  The catalyst for Izabella’s transformation was a drop of blood from a vampire noble, their breed had all the benefits of being a vampire but without any of the weaknesses of their lesser kind. To obtain it, Izabella delved into a deathly necropolis known only by the Blood Church. After an unspeakable expedition that lasted for five months, she managed to return with a drop of blood, much to the praise of the higher-ups. Her rivals were green with envy.

  Furthermore, she used Blood Seraph Arte and her enchantment skills to further refine the vampire lord’s blood for nine days and nine nights. A rain of blood fell upon the Blood Church’s HQ Biome, causing an uproar, for the auspicious sign had not occurred in a century.

  Her emergence and success brought her many accolades. Izabella is one of the brightest rising stars in the Blood Church currently.

  Not long after that, following a spar, Alan said she was now stronger than Ursula, who held the title Vice-Vicar before her imprisonment.

  However, in truth, there was a great secret that she didn't tell the higher-ups or closest friends. During the blood refinement, a shadow appeared from the refining cauldron. The figure was hazy, but it was a woman and her presence, unmistakable. She felt it in her very blood.

  “Quite the interesting little experiment you make, child.”

  “Y-Y-Your Ladyship... How...” Izabella took off her hat, gripped it with both hands, and trembled like a newborn fawn.

  “I felt something happened to a distant progeny of mine. Like a rattling bone from a closed sarcophagus. I created the first vampires, you see. This drop of blood that you tinker with belongs to a descendant of theirs. Barely though it was, there was still a speck of my essence in her veins so I count her as my own. Even I felt pity for how weak that daughter of mine turned out.”

  Izabella closed her lips before her words came out. The Vampire Noble was the strongest one in the section she explored by far, with a tomb so grand and her written great deeds covered every inch of the mausoleum’s walls. Izabella thought she couldn't possibly get a better prize. To think a person of that caliber was someone her ‘mother’ looked at with pity.

  To this woman, the regular vampires seemed to be too far detached. It might be similar to how humans regarded apes, some similarities, but not one they took as one of their own.

  “Enough of the past. Let’s speak about you.”

  Izabella’s blood turned to ice.

  “Hmm... Curious. Your Fate is interesting indeed. You are a leaf that is carried by a current, created by a man that is hidden from my view. How delightful. Very few can pique my interest. These centuries are so droll...”

  Izabella knew whose current she was on about. But for Viers to be shielded from the Great One’s eyes... Was it the doing of his mysterious master? She didn't know if she could be even more wary, awed, or afraid of Viers. Perhaps it was a bit of all of them.

  “Should you not drown in the way, then to distant, distant shores you’ll go. I suppose you sought my daughter’s blood to make yourself a raft so you do not drown, yes?”

  “You are correct, Your... Grace?” Izabella struggled to find the right address. “If you’re angered by my trespass, I pray for your forgiveness and offer you any service that I can give, meager though my capabilities.”

  “Hohoho, child, I’m not angered. I peek to the Middle Plane out of a whim. And lo. In satiating my curiosity, I found another behind it.”

  The hazy woman behind a curtain of red smoke seemed to smile, a smile that Izabella felt as soul-crushing as it was beautiful.

  “A significant event of global proportion is approaching, are you aware of it, child?”

  Izabella shook her head.

  “No? I suppose your position is not high enough in my mortal house yet, but no matter. Just know it is predated by an era of great turmoil. Perhaps, what is the term...? Ah, yes. Perhaps I should plant a seed.”

  The woman appeared to be placing a finger on her lips and when she released it, a red blood that radiated holiness merged with the vampire noble’s blood. The former seemed to overwrite the latter completely.

  “You possess one of my three Blood techniques derived from my Authority. Is it another coincidence, or a guidance? Either way, consider me piqued. I give you my blood, take it and you’ll become my daughter.”

  Izabella’s brain struggled to catch up. She had heard of this.

  According to the Blood Church, there were three vampire categories. The first and greatest were the Vampire Progenitors. The original vampires. Their numbers were very few. The Progenitors’ descendants were called Vampire Nobles. The Nobles were far weaker than Progenitors but still superior to most living beings that walked, swam, or flew the world. The Vampires breed or turn others into other Vampires, but the Noble’s descendants, as they went further down the line, lost more of their racial traits until they became known as the regular vampires.

  While there were other ways to create vampires like the undead variety, the Blood Church did not consider them canon in their scripture and categorized them as monsters with similarities.

  The significance of the divine blood in front of her was clear to Izabella. She would become ‘Her’ daughter. She could create as many Vampire Nobles as she could, increasing her forces very quickly. If the news spread, there would be no shortage of people offering their necks and begging to be her kin just for the lifespan increase alone. Records said that Vampire Nobles, at least the first generation, were able to live for a thousand years.

  Izabella used every ounce of self-control to stop her hand from reaching out and taking the blood.

  “Immeasurable honor, My Most Sanguine Lady... but why me? There are others in your church that are more talented, more qualified, more... pious.”

  Izabella wondered if it was brilliance or idiocy to admit her lack of religious worship and faith to that very deity directly.

  “Are you familiar with children, child? There are good children, bad children, naughty children, all kinds. You see, I just love children and I wish them well. Fufufu.”

  Izabella realized her questions remained unanswered so she changed the question with her head low.

  “What price would you extract from me for this boon, Your Holiness?”

  “One in three.”

  Izabella remained silent, waiting.

  “One in every three descendants. On the seventh night of their birth, give them to me.”

  Izabella raised her head, eyes unwavering.

  “I accept.”

  Yasterah smiled. Her hazy form coalesced until Izabella witnessed one of the seven greatest Devil Gods in her demonic glory. A beautiful bat-winged woman in pale skin wearing a blood-red dress. The material of the dress was undoubtedly real blood.

  “I knew I would like you. Bear lots of children, my daughter.”

  -

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  Chapter 445 - Progenitor