Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 541: Circle of Retribution

The glowing Circles of the Formation began to emit a gurgling sound just as every drop of blood spilled in the room was drawn into the center of the Formation.

Caius watched, mesmerized, as the Emissary’s blood joined the pool, and he was sure it caused a strange ripple. At least, no other blood had caused such a reaction thus far.

Thanks to his sharp sense of smell was already acutely aware of the blood in the room, and while it was all aging for every second it had been shed from whatever body it had been shed from, a part of his vampire nature still saw it as an acceptable snack. Maybe slightly aging but still manageable.

However, as the blood pooled in the center of the formation and became a kind of engine that turned the Circles of the Formation into an eerie red, Caius felt revolted. It was like his very interest in bloodsucking had been turned against him, and now he was being made to be as disgusted at bloodsucking as much as he had ever enjoyed it. A complete reversal of his appetite and one that made him double over.

It wasn’t just that the scent was disgusting, but the very air felt thicker, and he could barely move any part of his body, even the fraction of an inch. It was like chains wrapped tight around him and kept him rooted to the ground, and the bounds were getting tighter for every second he remained here.

Caius looked ahead and saw Meline was suffering the same thing. She couldn’t hold her battle stance, and her complexion had turned paler, sickly, like she was about to barf her lunch— which had, of course, been blood.

But Meline didn’t look nearly as bad as the Emissary. He was on one knee, a hand to his stomach as he doubled over and heaved. Nothing left him. Caius knew why;

The body of a Vampire absorbs every drop of blood they ingest, turning it into energy. Even food, which Vampires don’t need and have no use for, gets completely disintegrated into nothing and doesn’t exit the body as any kind of waste because Vampires don’t produce waste. They don’t expel anything from their bodies unless it’s harmful, at which point they would most likely be forced to spit it out or die.

So, in other words, as much as the Emissary was heaving as though he wished to eject his entire stomach, nothing was ever going to leave him, as there was nothing to leave him. The same was the case for Caius and Meline, though they were still holding back the urge to actually start heaving their empty stomachs.

The Emissary tamed the urge eventually and then looked up; his eyes were bloodshot with the effort it took to even perform that single action. He raised one hand and pointed it at Caius and Meline. But right then, thin whips of water wrapped around them and they were yanked out of the Formation.

Both Caius and Meline took a big gulp of air, and only then did Caius realize he had been unable to breathe while in the Formation. His body, after smelling the revolting scent, had shut down all olfactory functions, even if that would cause him to choke to death.

Caius looked up, and there was Roxanne, whose face looked worried.

“A second longer and I might not have been able to get you out,” she said, and she sounded fearful.

Only now did Caius realize all of that horror he had just experienced had been only for two seconds. Time had stretched so much for him to observe so much and… endure so much.

“What the hell is that Formation?” Meline asked, her eyes wide at the horror of it.

Caius had the same question. He knew Roxanne had been planning to use her strongest Formation and actually etch it onto a surface since the ones she had readymade on multiple scrolls in her storage ring were so easily destructible for the Emissary.

But he hadn’t known what Formation she would actually etch.

“‘Circle of Retributionʼ” Roxanne said in a look that showed she detested it herself, “Or at least an abridged version of it. A version as strong as I can hope to make it on such short notice and in an emergency. The real thing is supposed to be a lot stronger and… more horrible.”

“MORE horrible?!” Meline repeated in disbelief.

Roxanne nodded solemnly.

“It was created specifically to trap and punish vampires. To make us feel disgusted and trapped by the very pleasures we’ve enjoyed,” she said.

“Created by who?” Meline asked, and she sounded like she was wondering if Roxanne was the creator.

“Created by someone who really wanted us to suffer. I learned and practiced it in case of ever meeting an enemy vampire to use it against. Lucky us, I guess.”

“How long will it hold?” Caius asked.

“Until the blood that powers it has been used up. Then the Formation will just remain active but… useless,” Roxanne said.

There was something uncertain about her tone, and Caius knew why. The Emissary had not been held to the same rules as normal. After all, he had proven capable of destroying Formations with relative ease already.

“His blood is in that blood pool,” Caius said. “I cut him with my claws earlier. Does that make a difference?”

“Yes, it does. It makes the Formation stronger,” Roxanne said. “The Formation is powered by blood, and despite not being human, what flows in a vampire’s veins is still blood. It just houses and gives more power than human blood does, so it should buy us even more time.”

“But if the Formation is turning our taste for blood against us, shouldn’t the blood of a vampire disrupt it?” Meline asked.

Roxanne shrugged.

“It doesn’t really work that way. The moment the vampire blood joined that pool, it stopped being ‘vampire blood’ and became just a resource to be used by the Formation.

As idealistic as the creator might have been, the Formation itself isn’t an entity capable of changing its functions depending on what kind of blood it receives. It’s all the same to it at the end of the day.

The symbols that make up the Formation are what’s responsible for its functions. The blood is just a sacrifice necessary to power those functions.”

Caius wondered if that was intended by the Formation’s creator. Maybe as much as whoever they were hated vampires, they had the sense to use Vampire blood against Vampires. Or maybe it was just a happy coincidence.

“Should we question him, My Lord?” Meline asked with a gesture at the Emissary, though the person she was talking about could not have been clearer.

A minute had passed now, and both of the Emissary’s hands were pressed against the ground, and Caius could tell he was trying to amass his strength to attempt a break-out.

In fact, he had a feeling the only reason the Emissary hadn’t yet succeeded was that his sense of revulsion was marring his abilities and making harnessing his powers difficult. Once he overcame that hurdle, he’d likely break this as easily as he broke the water Formation.

They had time, yes. But was it enough for questioning?

“No, let’s get out of here,” Caius said resolutely.

Whatever the Emissary could tell them, Caius had a feeling he’d find out from Athenodora. The longer they were here, the better they were making it for the enemy to track them down or catch up to them. And as much as it was dawning on Caius how much of a danger Athenodora had put him in with this mission, now that he had started it, he might as well see it through. Plus, he worried Athenodora didn’t have much time.

“You think you can get away?!” The Emissary snarled from within the Formation, “I will find you, and I will make you tell me where she is!”

“You know what to do,” Caius said to Meline, and she nodded solemnly and began to form seals.

Purple spell circles appeared beneath Caius, Roxanne, and Meline, and as Darkness began to wrap around their bodies, erasing any traces of their presence, Caius chanced one more glance at the tortured Emissary, hoping their paths never cross again. Alas, he wasn’t very optimistic.

With the vampire trapped, there was no one impeding their escape, thanks to Meline slaughtering the rest of the minions. And it was so fortunate that her killing gave Roxanne’s Formation even more blood to power it. If one didn’t know better, they might say it was all according to plan.

…

Once they left the Inn through the hole in the wall, it didn’t take long for Caius, Meline, and Roxanne to spot their carriage because, as much as it was raggedy so it could look unassuming, that actually let it stand out among otherwise perfect carriages all around.

They entered, and Caius saw Kyre at the driver’s seat. He didn’t say anything and let him continue to drive. Their destination didn’t matter right now as much as getting as far away from here as they could.

Still, it was fortunate that Kyre was heading North. Caius had a feeling that even though he hadn’t told the Leopolds where he was headed, they had been paying attention enough to at least know what general direction to drive in.