Chapter 342

The day after the council meeting, Eleris and I stood side by side in a remote corridor where the sound of the howling wind could be heard outside. Eleris expressed her fear about the unknown ancient artifact called Akasha, and I shared her fear. The uncertainty of what might happen was more frightening than the Gate incident. Eleris reassured me that she believed Antirianus had no intention of destroying the world, but my empty words of reassurance were hollow. Later, during the reconvened council meeting, they asked Antirianus how he first made contact with Kantus Magna, and it turned out that he had used many dark magic and alchemy to find the secret of immortality. Antirianus was a truly evil sorcerer who had achieved his dream of immortality, and it was unclear whether he should be left alone. "That's not entirely true. My possession of the gold jewel was so vast, and the situation was such that if they wanted to take it away from me, they had to be prepared to bleed. That's why they accepted me. Maybe they also thought of punishing me soon." Antirianus did not make any lame excuses for his betrayal, and it seems that he is not someone who cares about rationalization. Antirianus and Kantus Magna cooperated for a while for their mutual needs, and if you think about it, Antirianus only suffered losses because he had to pay the gold and could not read Akasha. Of course, Kantus Magna also suffered losses by not being able to eliminate Antirianus and exposing their secret to the outside world. "Therefore, I am telling you that if you have your own vision and gold, it is surprisingly easy to contact Kantus Magna." The Vampire Council is not much different from the Secret Society. The Black Order knew about the existence of the Lord Vampire, but they may not have known about the five vampire families. In the end, the gold or magic that only they possess may not have been secured by Kantus Magna yet. Therefore, if the existence of the Council is revealed to Kantus Magna or the Lord Vampires reveal their existence, contact itself is easy. In the form of them coming to us. "It seems like a problem that needs to be carefully considered." It was Galarch's words, and I agreed. "I don't like it." Lurien grabbed it as if she didn't want to take that level of risk. Honestly, I agreed with that too. "Exposing ourselves doesn't seem like a wise way." "Then how do you suggest we do it?" Antirianus asked, and I crossed my arms. "I contacted the Black Order last time. I killed one of their members, so it's not a big deal. The important thing is that I told them I could give them information about Kantus Magna." It is highly likely that the Black Order does not know about Akasha. The Black Order may not be unaware of how to contact Kantus Magna. However, since they are hostile to each other, they would want to get to know each other before engaging in a full-scale battle. They just need information because they want to fight in the best possible state after securing a favorable position, whether by surprise or otherwise. The reason why the Black Order did not risk a direct confrontation with Kantus Magna may be because they had a good reason. Can we make the Black Order and Kantus Magna fight each other with this information? And is it the right thing to do? "Let's negotiate with the Black Order for now and see how they react before making a decision. We don't need to take any risks." Everyone nodded at my words. If proper information comes out of the Black Order, Kantus Magna may not be relevant. However, there is no doubt that there is a suspicious item called Akasha. However, they succeeded in preparing information about Kantus Magna with the cooperation of the Vampire Council and obtaining information about Kantus Magna. There is nothing to do in the council until the Black Order issue is resolved. "For now, my business is done." The situation does not require their help yet. I hope it doesn't come to that. * * * I thought it might be quite prolonged, but the Vampire Council only took two days. I'm curious about Antirianus' intentions, but important information and a mood reversal happened there, so it's really ambiguous. Whether it's an enemy or an ally, it helps for now. That's what alliances are all about. Even revolutionary forces will eventually turn their swords against each other, so they will try to ally with us knowing that. The council is over and we will return to the Yellow Road tomorrow. I wandered around Epiax with nothing to do. Although it is under human management, Epiax cannot be visited frequently by people. So the castle was supposed to be empty most of the year. I walked vaguely and went into a room. Pantheon. I knew it was a place where I could see the statue of Eleris and had a relationship with vampires. Looking up at the seven statues, I suddenly felt uncomfortable. If this is the statue of Gaju, there should be statues of Galarch and Lurien, like the statues of elves and orcs. But there were no statues with long ears or statues that looked like orcs. Of course, the statues of Lucinil and Antirianus were properly there. "It changed after it became known to humans." When I turned around at the voice coming from behind, Lurien was there. "We decided not to let humans know what this place is, so if there are suspicious orc or elf statues, it could be a bad place." Actually, the statue in the position of Thursday was not long-eared, but it looked like Lurien. Of course, the statue of Galarch, which should be in the position of Friday, was in the form of an ordinary person. Lurien stood in the center of the Pantheon, looking in a certain direction. "I heard that I am the oldest among all the Lord Vampires." "....I heard?" Why would she talk about herself to others? Lurien smiled as if she felt my question. "I erase my memory every 200 years." "Ah." Is there such a way to endure eternal life? Then Lurien, the oldest existence, would have had the least memory of the past. Did Lurien choose to erase her memory rather than death? "I wanted to forget, so I guess I did it for that reason, but...." Lurien stood with her arms crossed in the center of the Pantheon, looking in a certain direction. "I'm so curious about what I knew before I erased my memory." It was a nostalgic look. "Why did the elves go extinct?" "Sunday and Monday, what happened to them? What kind of existence were they in the first place?"

"Surely, we knew everything about them."

"Why did we have to erase those memories?"

"No, was it really me who erased those memories?"

Lurien looks at me.

It was not curiosity, but rather a desire that was felt like a wind.

Although she erased her own memories, Lurien seemed to crave those lost memories.

She knew everything, but was curious about why she had to erase those memories.

Lurien was quietly watching Sunday, Monday, and her own statue.

Unlike Antirianus, the Lord Vampires were all complex beings beyond good and evil.

"Does Thursday's family have something like a wind?"

"Like Lucinil?"

Does Lurien also have a desire like Lucinil, who wanted a soul?

"If I had to say... it would be to recover true memories. All the memories I have forgotten until now."

Lurien said that and lowered her head.

"But if I were to find all of those memories, I would surely go crazy."

She wants to recover her memories, but can't handle them.

"Yes. I don't particularly have a desire like that, but I don't want to face death. So I'm just postponing death like this. I'm living with only the most important memories left, including the fact that I am a Lord Vampire and leading the clan."

She is accumulating time by discarding useless memories such as magic, power, and knowledge.

"To live...hmm."

Like compressing herself. Lurien seemed to be pondering her last words and tilting her head. Does she think that the word "live" does not suit the undead?

"Rather, it seems more appropriate to say that we are slowly dying."

Slowly dying while endlessly postponing death.

When they can no longer endure immortal time, they choose death.

So Lurien says that they are not living, but slowly dying.

It may be the same thing in the end, but the nuances were drastically different.

"After all the planned tasks are completed and we truly rebuild Darkland, what do you plan to do?"

Lurien asks me that way while looking at me.

A deep sense of emptiness is felt from this ancient being. She is living a meaningless life for no reason.

Are you asking me that kind of question?

Unfortunately, I have no intention of becoming a true demon lord. So that question is meaningless.

I haven't thought about it.

"I'll do something."

"......?"

"Well, I'll do something. I won't do nothing."

If it comes to that, there was nothing else to say but that. Lurien laughed at my words and said she would do something, but I couldn't tell what impact my vague answer had on her. Lurien then quietly walked away, pondering the meaning of "living" for the undead. The next day, the other Lord Vampires agreed to help investigate ways to open a dimensional portal to the other world. Lurien mentioned that if the Demon King needed their help, the Council would be reassembled. Everyone had their own reasons for cooperating with me, and they began to teleport out of Epics one by one. Eleris left and would stay with the Council for a while. Lucinil would stay behind to help me with magic if needed. So from now on, it meant that I would have to teleport somewhere or that Lucinil would help me with powerful magic when needed. "Lucinil is much more versatile than me. So he can complement me better than I can." I wonder what debt I owe for the Lord Vampires to help me like this. Even though the other Lord Vampires may not know, Eleris seems to trust Lucinil quite a bit. "Complement, Eleris, then I must be your subordinate." "Oh, sorry Lucinil. Then let me correct it to protection." "Tsk." "Protection, so it's like I'm a kid who needs a nanny." "... Wasn't it?" "Tsk." I have to admit it. It's not like he's actually a nanny, but how comfortable would it be to have a great wizard by your side? Eleris, the great wizard, is busy with other tasks for a while, so he's attached another great wizard by my side. Lucinil looks like a stupid kid on the surface, but he's actually a Homunculus vampire who just cosplays as a child. "Get ready. We're going soon." Lucinil gives me a signal as he finishes casting. "Be careful, Junha." Eleris looks at me with a worried expression. "You be careful too." For some reason, I feel a strange and bizarre feeling like I'm saying goodbye to my parents! Soon, Lucinil activated the mass teleport.