In an extremely dark underground space, it was an area with almost no light. Only a sparse few torches hung on walls emitting weak flame light, but this flame couldn't illuminate much space at all—it only made the stone walls look more sinister, making the surrounding darkness more terrifying.
From such shadows, a red-haired woman dressed in imperial noble attire emerged. Her posture was upright, walking elegantly in high heels.
The expression on her face looked calm and indifferent, but upon closer inspection one would find her lips constantly trembling—not at all peaceful.
"Long waiting, ancient vigil."
The red-haired woman spoke. Her cold voice echoed in the vast space.
"After a full thousand years, after this entire millennium of patience."
"We have finally welcomed back that immortal existence."
The red-haired woman came to the bottom of a pitch-black giant wall. Looking carefully, one would discover that in the towering wall, every few dozen meters there was a coffin. These black coffins laced with red lines would probably make many naturally associate them with the so-called blood clan.
Suddenly, the nearest coffin in front of the woman made a sound like grinding stone blocks opening and closing. The coffin on the wall face opened. After a loud crash, the coffin lid fell to the ground, stirring up old dust.
"Yes, after so long, that lord has finally returned."
The voice from within the coffin sounded somewhat weathered and hoarse, but she seemed very excited.
"Quickly! Give me blood! I want to recover to my peak state as fast as possible!"
The being in the coffin began issuing orders to the red-haired girl with that hoarse voice. She extended a withered hand—skin as decayed and rough as tree bark made it hard to believe it belonged to something living.
"Elder Enix, I brought this for you."
"Hm?"
A blood hand formed from fresh blood extended from the coffin, directly snatching the object from the red-haired girl's hand. It seemed to be a bag? A bag filled with red liquid.
"Milona, I've told you many times."
Boom!
The being called elder seemed extremely dissatisfied with the girl before her, actually choosing to throw that blood bag directly, hitting the girl squarely in the face.
The blood bag shattered on the girl, immediately soaking her entire body. That originally noble and beautiful outfit was made terrifyingly horrific by the excess crimson.
The girl wiped her face, trying to remove the liquid from her face as much as possible, slowly lowering her head.
"But elder... you... you only need blood."
"Can't this blood also satisfy your needs?"
"Satisfy? Satisfaction is enough?!"
The being in the coffin seemed to finally be unable to lie still. She grabbed both sides of the coffin with her hands and rushed out, falling before the girl in a mummy-like form. The only thing recognizable was probably the displeased emotion on that face.
The mummy that fell to the ground stood up in an inhuman posture, slowly pointing at the girl named Milona.
"Our True Ancestor! Named by the world as the Demon King of Blood!"
"Lady Azicat never acted merely for satisfaction!"
"What we want isn't just blood! But life!"
"You're already an adult! Milona! But until now, you still haven't completed your coming-of-age ceremony!"
"Grandmother... I..."
"Don't call me grandmother! That's a human term! Call me elder!"
Blood dripped from between the red-haired girl's hair. Her initially gentle expression also became timid due to the elder's scolding.
"Milona, do you understand the situation or not!"
"The Empire's emperor happened to find the weapon that lord left behind, but their weak, lowly bodies simply couldn't possibly obtain that divine artifact's true recognition."
"They could only rely on the aura emanating from that divine artifact to create those mongrels, those mongrels who don't even have one-tenth of our power."
"Even so... aren't we still... only able to lurk? Don't we still not dare... to directly seize back that weapon?"
"What did you say?"
"No, I said nothing."
Milona turned aside, no longer meeting eyes with the elder before her.
"But now! Just now! Everything I said! None of it matters anymore!"
"Because! Our True Ancestor!"
"Lady Azicat has returned!"
"Even if it was only! That mere instant! Less than a single blink of aura! I couldn't possibly miss it!"
"That lord has reclaimed her weapon. Now! It's time for us to end this dormancy!"
"But Elder Enix, where exactly is that lord? We simply can't find her. The Blood Scythe indeed disappeared, the Empire's emperor also died, but where is she?"
"Insolent! Haven't I taught you many times?! Directly calling out that divine artifact's name! What kind of conduct is this!"
The mummy slapped Milona at extremely slow speed. Calling it a slap, it was actually more like a caress.
"Why can't I? Grandmother! Lady Azicat has been dead for a thousand years! You said so yourself!"
"That was my mistaken judgment! She has returned! She will surely lead us back to our peak!"
"How can you be so certain?! You're someone who experienced that war! You told me yourself! Dragon King Catania's breath tore apart the entire continent! Under such an attack! No living thing could exist!"
"You don't understand! Milona! Lady Azicat is the same as that damned Dragon King! They are both existences we mortals cannot glimpse! Cannot speculate about!"
"Now! Capture a young man or woman for me! I want to drain their blood!"
"I won't! Why must we kill people for no reason! We clearly only need a little blood! There's no need to do this at all!"
"Milona! You are defying that lord's will! Do as I say! And complete your own coming-of-age ceremony while you're at it!"
"I refuse! I'm just blood clan! Not a demon!"
"You! You traitorous thing! Have you mixed with humans too long! You've been contaminated by them!"
"What contamination?! How can you say that! Grandmother!"
"Tch! Indeed! You've been completely contaminated! I must perform purification on you."
The mummy's voice changed from anger to calmness, but the expression on Milona's face went from indignant to completely lacking courage to face the other party.
The so-called purification ritual began surging in her mind. She seemed to see something particularly terrifying.
Her legs gave way and she ran without looking back.
"Come back! Milona!"
"Huff— Huff— Huff—"
Tch! Why?! Why can't we just get along well with others!
Must we absolutely follow that demon's words?!
Milona, covered in blood, fled the underground and returned to the surface. Sunlight shone on her body, and she hastily put on a veil and hood to avoid burning.