Child of Destiny

...

One of the servant vampires entered the throne room and headed straight to Shin handing him a thick book with strange runes and patterns.

Shin took the book and looked at it briefly before nodding his head. This was the martial manual that he asked earlier for his reward.

Comparing the martial manual to the skill books that he had gotten before, he couldn't exactly tell the difference at first glance. They seemed to be the same thing.

Shin also checked its details and learned that this martial manual was really similar to the skill books. They could also be used directly as long as the player met all of the requirements listed on them.

But instead of learning a set of information about a single skill, the contents of this martial manual should be the entire martial practice that needed to be honed by the players constantly so that they could fully master it.

It was like a special memory capsule or martial insight container that was used in the real world.

It was really a wonder for Shin that the developers even recreated these kinds of things inside the game.

"This game is really progressing to become the second world," muttered Shin before turning the martial manual and looking at the title engraved on its cover. "The Way of the Shadows."

From what Dracula had told him, this manual was supposedly the best assassination martial manual that they had. Shin was not asking that much, but the Vampire Primogenitor insisted that he needed to give him the best.

Moreover, it would only be collecting dust in their treasury since no one would be learning it now since most of his people became cursed beings.

At the same time, Dracula seemed to find Shin's choice rather interesting.

After the servant left, Shin was left inside the throne hall alongside Dracula and Duke Bellion.

Dracula ordered everyone to leave after Shin chose his rewards. And aside from Duke Bellion who was the closest aid of the king, everyone else left the throne hall.

"Is it in your liking?" asked Dracula to break out of the silence.

"It is perfect, your majesty," answered Shin within an instant.

Dracula nodded his head and didn't ask further. Instead, he went straight to the main topic that needed to be discussed. "Then let's now talk about the plan that we have prepared."

Shin immediately turned silent when he heard that. He knew that the next stage of their quest was going to be discussed next. It might not be the same as what he expected, but it was at least quite beneficial to them.

At the very least, he was not going to suffer at fighting Dracula alone like he first expected.

"You seem to be a very smart lad, so I am confident that you have already figured out some parts of our plan just by hearing the words that I said earlier," said Dracula before continuing. "As you can see, we are still waiting for my curse to fully bloom before making our move."

"The blooming of my curse is only just the signal for the real battle that you and your friends need to face."

"Once my curse fully blooms, it will immediately start clashing against the curse that the Wicked One had cast upon our kingdom. Normally, it is impossible for me to create a curse that is powerful enough to fight the one that is created by a Divine Being."

"No matter how powerful a Sovereign Being is, it will always be inferior to Divine Beings. And only a Divine Being can fight a Divine Being, even if it was just a hint of their powers."

"But since the curse is already been weakened after you and your friends defeat the cursed armies and Grand Marshal Draco absorbs the rest of the curse, we gain a chance to fully lift it."

Pausing for a moment, Dracula turned his head toward the ceiling with a gaze that seem to be able to penetrate it. "With the curse being weakened in such a state, my curse will be able to fight it until both of them will perish."

"But it will still take a couple of hours before the curse is fully lifted. And it was more than enough for the people from the Higher Plane to sense what is happening here."

"And when it happens, they will be sending their army once again to interfere with us one more time, just like what happened during that time."

He then turned to Shin and continued. "But this time, it will be different."

"I will use the rest of my powers to seal the gate that those hypocrites will create and stop their army from entering the lower plane. And it will be more than enough for all of the curse cast upon our land to be fully lifted."

"They will not be able to do anything after that."

Reaching this point, Dracula's voice suddenly turned solemn as he continued. "But the real problem will only come after that."

"With me using the rest of my powers to prevent the higher plane from interfering, I will enter a weakened state, and that Great Demon King that I am contracted with will take advantage of that situation to seize my body."

"And if I am not mistaken, then I will most likely lose my mind at that time and need to be taken down before I slaughter everyone within the kingdom."

Shin fully understood what Dracula was trying to say. It still ended up with this Vampire Primogenitor being the final boss of this quest, though the situation was a little different than what they had expected.

But at the very least, it would not be as hopeless as they were thinking since they were most likely going to receive a lot more assistance than originally planned.

Dracula slightly nodded his head as he could see that Shin was able to read the entirety of the situation. He then continued after a brief moment. "The rest of my subjects will not be able to help you since they needed to preserve themselves if things went wrong."

"But Duke Bellion here will be helping you with everything. Take him with you when you go back with your friends and will be a great assistance."

Shin would naturally not going to refuse such a powerful helper â€" only an idiot would do. But at the same time, he also understood that the next phase of the quest would most likely be a very difficult one given that they had quite a lot of helpers.

"You guys need to awaken the Guardian Dragon for everything to succeed. And in order to do that, you have to get Draco's help first."

"But given the current state that he has, I am not sure if it is still possible," said Dracula, voicing out his concern. Given that he needed to save as much energy as possible, he couldn't lend a hand to Shin and the others in this matter.

Hearing that, Shin quickly opened his mouth and spoke. "You don't have to worry about that, your majesty. We have already thought of a way to deal with that situation. You can trust us with this."

Dracula couldn't help but raise his head a little when he heard the full confidence in Shin's words. He also felt that he could trust those words for some unknown reason.

"Then I will leave it to you," said Dracula with a meaningful smile. He also told Shin that he could now leave alongside Duke Bellion.

Shin gave Dracula another respectful bow before turning around and was about to leave. But before he could even take a step, he suddenly halted his actions due to the next words that he heard.

"Oh! Before I forget, I give will be giving one of your friends a special gift since he managed to cultivate his bloodline to such a degree."

Shin turned to Dracula with a confused look. Unfortunately, the latter didn't say anything and just reassured him. "Don't worry, it will not harm him. And if he is lucky enough, then the benefits that he is going to get will be very much rewarding."

Shin continued to look confusedly at Dracula, trying to understand the meaning behind those words. But since the latter was not willing to continue, he could only shrug his shoulders and wait.

He then gave one bow at Dracula before finally leaving.

*******

In the meantime, the rest of the group was currently recuperating at the center of the Frozen City while waiting for Arthur.

They didn't know what that guy was planning to do, but given that his name was still blinking brightly at the party, it indicated that he was somehow still alive. They could do nothing but patiently wait.

Swoosh!

A few moments later, a beam of light suddenly fell from the sky before landing at the center of the plaza.

Boom!

Everyone quickly picked up themselves and wield their weapons, getting ready to fight. But after seeing the person who was crawling out from the rubble, they could not help but sigh in relief.

Then they looked at Arthur with questioning gazes. And before Leonard could ask what happened, another beam of light followed not far from their location, giving them an ominous feeling.

And as if responding to what they were currently feeling, they saw Draco walk out of that beam of light with an entirely new form. If not for the glaring red name flashing above his head, the group would think that he was an entirely new opponent.

From what they could see, the grand marshal become much stronger compared to what he was earlier.

When they realized that, they simultaneously turned to Arthur as if they were asking â€" "What the hell did you just do?" â€"

"How are we going to face this guy now?" said Leonard cursedly as he knew that it would be impossible for their current strength to face such a monster.

Cough! Cough!

After coughing out a couple of times, Arthur picked himself up from the ground with great difficulty before replying. "Don't worry. I feel like we can still manage it somehow-..."

He paused for a moment to look at Grand Marshal Draco before adding. "...-Probably."

......