2127 The Power of Monster Cores (Part1)
"The Black Night recruited me to turn the Dead King into a thrall first and then to help him master his bloodline abilities once he evolved into a Vurdalak upon reaching the blue core." Sider replied.
"Her Ladyship hoped that his powers would work akin to those of a Vampire, but she was wrong. By the time we understood I couldn't help the Dead King, I knew too much so he turned me into one of his Chosen and bound my destiny to his own.
"What are your thoughts about the Mad Queen?"
"She's going down." Xenagrosh replied. "We are helping Lord Dusk to rebuild his power base to remind the Undead Courts who their true ruler is. Once they submit to the Hushed King, he's going to make a deal with the Royals.
"If they accepted to pardon the Organization in exchange for help, they will do the same for the Courts. At that point, Thrud will be isolated, defeated, and everyone will go back to their old life."
"I see." Sider inwardly smiled as the situation became more and more favorable.
'If Dusk succeeds in his endeavor, I can offer him the knowledge about the Golden Griffon in exchange for his help to free the Dead King. With the combined strength of the Kingdom, the Council, the Organization, and the Courts, defeating Thrud is feasible.
'If he refuses to help me, instead, I can offer the information about his return and the Courts' betrayal to the Mad Queen in exchange for Night's freedom. Either way, I'll get the Undead Courts off my back and rescue the Dead King.'
"This is it?" Dusk asked in annoyance after taking a full tour of the keep and even of the soldiers' barracks without finding the real goal of his research. "Where's the rest of my people?"
"Yes, milord, this is everyone. Aside from the private quarters of the Dead King, there's nothing left for you to see." Sider said with a small bow.
"Good, then take me there." The Red Sun had bid his time, taking note of the number and kinds of enemies in order to prepare a suitable strategy to get rid of them quickly.
"As you wish." The butler clenched his teeth, giving the guards silent commands hidden amid his gestures. They had to keep ready in case things went badly.
Sider led the group to the innermost part of the keep, isolated from the rest by two solid wood double doors studded with Adamant and covered by so many runes that their entire surface was blue.
"As you see, the entrance is locked and only the Dead King's energy signature can-" Before Sider could finish the phrase, Dusk started conjuring one Forgemastering spell after another.
He alternated between Disarray and Clean Slate spells, focusing them respectively on the single runes of a magical formation and a specific enchantment. When the Horseman grabbed the doorknob a couple of seconds later, the butler hid behind the hybrids, expecting all hell to break loose.
Yet nothing happened.
The door turned open without a creak, the calm scarier than any storm the Vampire had pictured.
"How?" He managed to mutter in disbelief.
"It's just as you said earlier. In her incompetence, my sister left a few flaws in her spells that I exploited. After all, we both learned Forgemastering from Mom and Night always had problems keeping her focus.
"She always ended up copying my notes and spells. What really baffles me is that she has never fixed the mistakes I made as a child when she derived her enchantments from my own." Dusk replied, his voice monotone despite his excitement.
The room was luxurious to the point of being tacky. Every gemstone etched in the drawers' handle was bigger than a nut and the decorations on every piece of furniture were made of platinum.
On the walls, were hung paintings depicting Orpal's past, future, and made up triumphs.
They had been lined up so that when walking inside his bedchamber he could see his ideal life unfolding from left to right.
The first painting of the series portrayed the day when he had fused with Night. Then, the story proceeded until he had unified the Undead Courts under his banner. At some point, he was supposed to make up with his family, but that painting had been torn apart.
The last painting on the right depicted Orpal sitting on Valeron's throne, with Night by his side as the Queen and the Tiamat's corpse turned into a rug laying under their feet.
'Good luck with that.' Kelia inwardly sneered. 'The last time they fought, Verhen kicked Narchat to the curb and now he's even stronger. By the way, can they really do that?'
She pointed at the painting where both Orpal and Night had a body.
'More importantly, can we do that?'
'Dawn can. Now shut up, child.' Dusk needed focus to pretend to be disgusted by the room's opulence and indifferent to its occupants.
The bedroom was bigger than an apartment and had several doors leading to smaller rooms. After hearing the entrance opening after a long time, their inhabitants had come out in the hope of being finally released.
They were all dressed like butlers and maids, but Dusk recognized them as some of the most ancient members of the three Courts or their greatest masters.
A petite redhead was actually the best spearman alive while a man who looked like a middle-aged academy professor was one of the few undead who had never given up on Forgemastering.
Yet who really interested Dusk was a seemingly young man in his early twenties. His name was Termian, born in an age when last names didn't exist and predated even the Horsemen.
He was a Blood Warlock and he had been an important figure in the undead society before Dusk and his siblings had taken the lead and split it into the Courts. Termian had refused to bend the knee to creatures he considered infants and had remained unaffiliated throughout history.
He had kept an amicable relationship with the Courts by scouting potential members for them and acting as a middleman with the high society of the Kingdom. If there was anyone who had participated or at least knew about Arthan's dealings it was him.
"By the Red Mother, Cyntra, have you been here all along? Do you need food?" The Horseman rushed to the spear master, pretending that Termian was of secondary importance.
"Respectively yes and no, my lord. Being locked I had no way to consume my strength and I have plenty of humans in my pods. Gods, it's so good to see you again." She was a member of the Dusk Court and broke into bloody tears while kneeling to kiss his feet.
"What are you doing and what happened here?" Dusk asked in genuine outrage while forcing her to stand up. "Did that fucker touch you?"
Cyntra was a proud woman and he had never demanded more than honorifics from his subjects. Crying and submitting were as out of character for her as a Dragon turning spendthrift.
"No, my lord, don't worry. It's just a common misconception born from the name Pleasure Palace." She said.
