[PRESENT]
Deep within the northern continent.
Within a cave in a mountain that seemed to pierce the now crimson sky.
The cave was dimly lit, but with his resplendent golden hair, Arlo lay comfortably on the comfy bed.
Suddenly tears streamed down his face before his face scrunched up in pain.
.....
The massive mountain was surrounded by highrise buildings that looked like those from medieval times.
At the very front of the mountain was a huge castle, that fell just short in its grandiose compared to the mountain.
At the top of the castle, inside a room.
A meeting was presently ongoing.
There were eleven people present sitting around a long table.
At one end of the table, was placed a single seat, while on the other end were placed two seats side by side.
There were several seats positioned around the sides of the table, and there were currently nine people occupying the seats.
The other two people were sitting on the two seats placed side by side at one end of the table.
"My Queen!"
"My King!"
The nine stood before bowing their heads towards the two head seats.
The queen was an older version of Arianne. With her snow-white hair and ruby-like eyes, she was the very representation of charming. She was quite petite in size but was still busty in proportion.
The white dress that hugged her body was simply a feast for the eyes, yet none of the nine dared to have any thoughts toward her.
In fact, they were too old for them to care about such things.
The man on the other hand had cut curly snow-white hair with several black streaks, however, there was a long scar running down his face from just below his left eye, along his nose, and to his right chin.
Far from making him ugly, the scar gave him some sort of manly charm, which when added to his tall frame made him nothing short of a die-hard for the ladies.
"Please elders, you don't have to do these."
One of the still bowing elders, an old man spoke:
"Custom and tradition must be kept and as the royal protectors, we must show due respect to our liege's family."
The Queen sighed when she saw her words fell on deaf ears.
The King interjected at this moment, "Please sit down elders. The matter at hand is dire so we mustn't tarry."
The elders didn't respond and simply sat.
Their respect for the king was league away from that which they had for the queen.
But that was to be expected, as the king was actually not of royal blood neither was he a noble.
And if there was a bad side that vampires had, it was their discrimination against those who weren't of noble blood.
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But they still displayed the respect they should give to a king, at least outwardly.
Ariel, the queen spoke once again:
"What is the status at this moment?"
One of the only three women among the protectors spoke: "Majority of the attacks on the small-sized cities has been curbed."
"Majority?" Ariel frowned.
As if sensing her thoughts, the elderly woman continued, "My Liege handled the rest personally."
A glint of surprise flashed in Ariel's eyes.
'Isn't Mother still supposed to be with Aunty? After all, it is this time of the year.'
She was pulled out of all thoughts when a voice resounded from her side.
"What about my son?" Nathan the king questioned.
One of the elderly men, with a hunched back, spoke this time, "The prince was able to handle a city on his own, and the casualties on his side were minimal."
A smile lit Ariel's face, while a glint of pride flashed in Nathan's eyes.
"Of course, he had the support of his team." Another old man added.
A trace of anger appeared briefly on Nathan's face but he controlled himself when he felt Ariel's hand on top of his own that was on the armrest.
"Humph!"
A snort resounded in the room.
Everyone's expression suddenly changed.
All the elderly rose before falling to their knees while Nathan quickly stood up.
Only Ariel remained seated.
"If you have time to discriminate against my grandson, why didn't you use it to protect my people?"
Scarlett appeared in the room as she glared at the kneeling elders.
"Let me remind you that while I do not interfere in vampire matters, what I will not allow is disunity among my people. Against a common enemy, we all must band together, be it a noble or a common vampire."
The elders shivered before they voiced out, "Yes, my liege!"
"Master!" Nathan bowed his head.
Scarlett frowned before her eyes glowed slightly,
"Nathan, where were you when your daughter, my granddaughter almost died?"
Nathan trembled slightly, and he subconsciously lowered his head more. It has been a while since his master ever chastised him, and that too in front of others.
"Mother..."
"Silence!"
Ariel wanted to defend her husband but Scarlett shut her down.
She didn't care about the reason, but when she thought about how Arianne would have died if she hadn't arrived in time, she felt really angry.
Looking at the kneeling elders, she felt like she was looking at fools.
They were called her family's protector yet they weren't even aware of the dangerous situation her granddaughter was in.
Even Nathan failed in his responsibilities as a father.
Shifting her eyes on her daughter, she was just about to give her a mouthful when her expression changed.
Her senses picked a cry, and she recognized that voice.
In fact, all the people in the room were able to hear the cry even though it wasn't that loud not to say it came from far.
But with their high cultivations and abilities as vampires, they could hear the cry easily.
"I will take care of it." Scarlett suddenly said before she disappeared.
Everyone in the room let out deep breaths.
In fact, the foreheads of the protector were already matted with sweat.
'So scary!' They all thought in common.
In truth, none of them was at fault.
As a few days ago, Scarlett herself had told them not to worry about Arianne when she noticed she sneaked out a lot to meet Arlo.
Besides she didn't want these elders to be too close to Arlo.
But they didn't dare to refute her or defend themselves. After all, she was their primogenitor.
A thought from her, and they would all be dead.
As for Nathan, he subconsciously didn't worry about Arianne as Ariel had told him a couple of hours back, that Scarlett said not to worry about her.
Not to say that he had used a long-distance formation to teleport to the eastern continent, as they were also attacked. It hadn't even been thirty minutes since he arrived before he called for the meeting.
Ariel flashed an apologetic smile at Nathan, but he just grinned in return.
Of course, he didn't forget to wipe the sweat that had appeared on his face.
.....
Scarlett flashed within the cave she left Arlo in.
Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Arlo kneeling on the bed and crying while he clutched his chest.
Flashing beside him, she touched his back and asked in a gentle voice, "What is it!?" However, she didn't expect Arlo's reaction.
Seeing that it was Scarlett, Arlo jumped into her embrace, "Aunty!"
Scarlett was stunned as she felt the familiarity with which Arlo called her.
"She...died...why?..."
"Because of me..."
Hearing Arlo's choked sobs, a myriad of expressions flashed on Scarlett's face.
Then her face turned green before her eyes glowed deep red.
Her body trembled from anger before a vast amount of spiritual energy exploded from her body, causing the cave to tremble, followed by the entire mountain, the surrounding buildings and castle, and then the entire city.
In less than a minute, the whole northern continent quaked in her anger.
Everyone on the continent was in a state of shock.
They all looked in the direction of the massive mountain.
"Our liege..."
"Mother..."
"Grandmother..."
"Master...'
Back in the cave, Scarlett screamed telepathically:
'Old bastard! What have you done?!'
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