No way humans wiped out Vampires! They had to kill all these hella overpowered races to kill immortal vampires? How?!
Vanitas shook his head at my mind-blown face, adding, "Elves and Litches are doing kind of fine."
"Hm??"
"I won't think they betrayed vampires. Their bonds are far stronger than any human treaty." He read my thoughts.
"I do not know much, but…." his face darkened.
"That empire is in one of the bloodiest civil wars ever. The way vampires were killed right under everyone's noses, the leaders of Elves and Litches must have had the same thought process as you." Vanitas said through a sigh.
I leaned forward with a frown, "What do you mean?"
"High Elves claimed, Litches and their Primordial were the ones behind it. Litches naturally felt disrespected, and this began a civil war. All while in a war against Union Alliance, a resistance made of three human Empires just for the purpose of erasing Arcana–Born races..."
"Veilcroft is a small border town touching both Litches' territory and the Velmoria Empire's borders. It's hell come to life." Vanitas finished, letting the silence stretch afterwards.
My face paled. This… This wasn't anything as I'd imagined. It wasn't as simple as one strong bad guy killing all vampires, but a mess of countless betrayals, schemes, and more deaths all over the world.
I am in the center of it now somehow… I was someone so close to the Vampire Queen. Was Sue really just gonna sell me to some lady?
"I still believe the Arcana–born didn't betray each other…" Vanitas said suddenly, piquing my curiosity.
"When Vampires were said to be under attack, they probably couldn't reach them…" He rubbed his temples.
"How can you be so sure? They could just be watching them die or even blocking escape routes." My voice deepened.
"Then tell me, why would they launch a full-scale invasion against the responsible empires and church? They killed millions of humans in horrifying rage all across the three empires…. That's the reason now they themselves are facing the threat of extinction. Humans aren't the type to just take a beating." Vanitas shook his head.
The redness in my pupils dimmed, "So, at least they weren't working with humans."
Vanitas let out a long sigh, "So, you just won't believe me, eh? Let's move on then."
I hummed, "You sure know a lot for someone locked in a cell for almost a decade." It was a bit odd. He was a slave.
"…You should really hurry up with the questions." He said with a wink. Odd.
Rubbing the burning keyhole on the cuffs with gritted teeth, I finally finished checking its inside and the lock's complexity. It will be a bit harder because it just melts my nails when reaching the last lock.
"Who's this Saint William?" I passed him the letter I'd found in Sue's wallet. Alya should've been seeing it too, but I wasn't sure how I was supposed to react. From her memories, Frieda was a bad guy, er… bad girl.
As someone close to her, was I happy she was alive, or sad? I couldn't risk it before, at least drinking more of Alya's blood and learning more about their dynamics.
I nodded, unlocking the first lock while pushing all my blood to my finger to keep regenerating the melting nail as I watched Vanitas's eyes widen wider and wider the further he read.
Vanitas barely glanced before his focus went back on the paper, slowly saying, "He's the leader of the nine holy cardinals of the church. Cardinals are the strongest forces of the church with absolute control over all holy knights across the world."
Saint William was my enemy. He wants the worst for me, most likely. I felt a chill run down my spine.
From my blood dropping in the cuff, I saw thousands of microscopic weird symbols, something like runes in games.
"What do you think of that?" I pointed at the letter with my eyebrows.
He shifted uncomfortably on his chair, "It will be a mess. I won't even go a thousand kilometers from that place if I were you.
Just imagine, armies from massive, strong human empires, all talented arcane users, then Elves and Litches, and then so many holy knights, probably a few cardinals, and Saint William himself. All while that ancient Godly vampire queen is there. Big, irreversible changes will happen that day."
I nodded slowly. I can't go there like I am right now, definitely. But still… I really wanted to go! It was like an epic fantasy war arc come to life.
Just as I was pondering, my nail brushed against the runic pattern of the cuff while opening the last lock. My pupils dilated as I fell face-first, forward towards the table, twisting open the lock as like a marionette whose strings had been cut, I lost all my strength.
Vanitas, with his just freed hands, grabbed me from my shoulders before I could crash into the table.
Half my finger had melted with burning pain, stitching itself back with haste as I poured more blood.
Tham!!!
The cuffs fell on the wooden table.
Crackle!
It shattered like glass before releasing the cuffs towards the stone ground.
Thud!! Thud!
Every inch of the thick stone ground in this big room and half its walls had deep cracks, as rocks and dust fell from the ceiling.
How heavy even was this thing?! I questioned, completely reliant on Vanitas's strong grip on my shoulders to not fall towards the ground.
"It weighs over two thousand kilograms." Vanitas shrugged, pushing me to stand as he noticed my strength had recovered.