Vampire King's Harem

Almost two weeks ago.

"It all starts with blood..."

"It's finally the time; a great day is ahead, my friends..." A beautiful woman in a black dress confidently exclaims inside a large luxurious room. "Today begins the true rise of necromancers, and soon our Clans will be the most powerful of the entire Creocia!"

Some hooded figures around the woman in black lift wine glasses, and a man speaks in a vibrant tone. "A toast to this day!"

"A toast to our Sect Master!" Another man exclaims and gives the woman in black a friendly glance.

The Sect Master maintains an enthusiastic smile but looks away from the man. Despite having been the leader of the Bronze Skull Sect for some years now, she is still a mysterious figure even among the Elders who make up the Sect's core.

"Don't give me the glory for this because our true heroes are the scholars who have been preparing this ritual for so long." She raises her glass towards a couple of necromancers analyzing miscellaneous items at a table in the corner of the room.

The other people in the room nod in agreement and praise their teammates. "Yes, Elder Abner and Elder Ann really are heroes!"

"Such a devoted couple to our home!"

"And genius too!"

Elder Abner releases the magic items on the table and gives his friends a flattering smile as his wife continues to focus on her life's work. "No need for such praise, my friends."

The old necromancer is clearly enjoying the praise, but his wife rolls her eyes as she reads an old black-covered book and checks out runes and magic crystals.

"Indeed, this is no time for celebrations and praise." The woman speaks in an upset tone. "We haven't even done the ritual yet, and everything could go wrong in the end."

"Don't think so, Ann." The Sect Master speaks in a friendly tone. Out of all the people in that room, Ann is definitely her favorite due to her seriousness and character, and also the fact that the old necromancer doesn't look at her with lusty eyes.

Ann respects the Sect Master very much and does not use their friendship for any benefit within the Bronze Skull Sect. "Please, Sect Master, let's check it all once more; nothing can go wrong during the ritual!"

"What could go wrong??" Abner asks in a sarcastic tone. "We've already checked this over two hundred times; we just need the others to give the signal."

The other Elders nod and agree with Abner; they can't wait to do the ritual that will give them enormous power, or at least that's the plan.

"I have a bad feeling about it..." Ann comments while looking at the drawing of a horned creature on the cover of the book. "We are dealing with powers far beyond our comprehension; I dare say it is much older than this continent... an evil beyond description..."

The old necromancer's words make the mood in the room darker, but well, in a Sect of necromancers, the dark mood is everywhere. Yet, the aura surrounding that ancient book is so sinister that only three people dared to leaf through its pages.

The old necromancer couple does it due to hundreds of years of studying the dark arts of death, and even so, they do it with great caution, respect, and even a certain fear.

But the Sect Master has become obsessed with the extensive ritual described in the book ever since she learned of that project. Some people find it odd that she seems so excited reading that ominous book while she's so young. Well, she doesn't look over thirty despite living for over a century.

"It's natural to feel that way when dealing with such ancient and powerful powers, but we're prepared for this." The Sect Master speaks in her usual confident tone. But due to Ann's insistent worried look, she agrees. "Fine, let's double-check everything while we wait for the others to get ready."

Although Abner doesn't think there's anything wrong, neither he nor anyone else there thinks of opposing the Sect Master's orders, so he takes transcripts from the pages of the ancient book and heads towards the door. "I'll check the runes."

The Sect Master nods, but before Abner leaves the room, she gives another order to him in a firm tone. "Do the fairy no harm; she will be an important piece until this is all over."

"Of course, Sect Master." Abner bows before leaving the room.

As he leaves the room, Ann gives the Sect Master a sorry glance. "Don't blame him, no normal man could not be attracted to that creature, but Abner won't do anything to threaten our peoples' future."

"Yeah, no matter where that fairy goes, all men will be enchanted by her beauty..." The Sect Master comments, unable to hide a bit of jealousy in her eyes; even gorgeous women like her cannot compete with the beauty of that fairy.

"About her..." Ann seems a little hesitant to say anything; she glances at the other Elders in the room before turning her eyes back to the Sect Master.

"Just say it; everyone in this room is trustworthy." The Sect Master states.

Ann nods before speaking her thoughts. "Are you sure about using fairy's blood? Isn't unbalancing the ritual dangerous??"

"We'll only use enough for the strongest specimen to come into our Sect." The Sect Master responds. "That's totally fair since you were the one who started all of this."

The other Elders again agree with the Sect Master's words, including Ann. But the old necromancer still seems concerned. "Yet... as all the other ingredients are old and only the fairy's blood will be fresh, I fear something unpredictable may happen."

"Something like what?" The Sect Master asks.

Ann makes a thoughtful expression while her tired old eyes no longer have any glow. "I'm not sure, but due to the fairy's blood being fresh, I believe a connection can be formed between her and the specimen."

"A connection??" The Sect Master asks in a curious and also somewhat excited tone; even her eyes seem to sparkle with some kind of idea, but she quickly calms down. "Hmm, well, if something like that happens, we'll have full control over the situation, and we can always kill the fairy if she poses a risk to us."

"Sure..." Ann agrees, but she still feels like they're making a mistake; it's like she's missing something important.

"Alright, let's check the ingredients." The Sect Master speaks as she approaches a small ornate chest on top of a table in the room. She opens the chest, and a light comes from inside it before she reaches inside the box and pulls out a large tube filled with red liquid.

When the group sees that red liquid inside the tube, all eyes become awed. They can feel the powerful aura emanating from that blood, and one of them can barely contain his thoughts. "So much power..."

"The blood of a dragon." Ann comments in a proud tone; after all, she was the one who got that blood.

Everyone agrees that the tube's blood is very powerful, but some doubt that it's really from a dragon. "Dragon's blood? Such mythical creatures have never been seen on our continent, so you have certainly been deceived, my friend."

"Maybe," Ann responds. "But one of the disciples who were with me when I bought it also doubted the merchant and drank a single drop... I saw that poor boy go mad as the power of a single drop of that blood boiled within his veins and melted his body from inside out; neither were his bones remained intact."

The Elders are silent as they imagine the suffering of that poor boy. They don't have any desire to doubt the authenticity of that 'dragon's blood any longer.'

"It doesn't matter where that blood comes from; only its power is important." The Sect Master comments as she looks at the blood inside the tube. The excited gleam in her eyes seems to grow stronger.

"Yes, Sect Master." Ann comments as she checks other tubes that also contain powerful and ancient blood, preserved for that moment.

Both women check blood tubes, bizarre skulls, rare flowers, and other items until one of the other Elders notices a feather come to life and starts writing words on a sheet of paper on top of a table.

"Sect Master, they are sending a message!" He warns.

"About time." The Sect Master smiles as she approaches the table to read the words from that paper; that is a common and costly means of sending messages over long distances.

As soon as the feather finishes writing the message, the Sect Master's smile gets even brighter. "The Golden Skull group is ready; we can start the ritual."

The Elders are also excited, but Ann still seems hesitant about that. Yet she says nothing as the Sect Master orders the group to take the magical ingredients to the secret chamber.

However, the Sect Master herself returns to her table before exiting the room, holding the tube of said dragon's blood, leaving Ann confused. "Do you need more time, Sect Master?"

"Yeah, I'll just confirm to the Silver Skull group that we're all ready." She responds while starting to write on a blank page with that magic pen.

Ann is sure that the Golden Skull Sect has already sent a message to other groups since they like to be the only ones in charge. But she won't argue something so trivial with the Sect master. "Do you want me to take that tube of blood?"

"Okay, I'll take it." The Sect Master smiles at her friend, who sees nothing strange in that and leaves the room before she heads to the secret chamber with the others.

As Ann leaves the room, the Sect Master drops the feather and looks at the tube of blood with a thoughtful expression. She doesn't hesitate long before picking up a small dagger and making a slight cut on her wrist.

With her other hand, she opens the tube and gets a few drops of her own blood along with the supposed dragon's blood.

[Let's see what kind of connection we'll have...] She thinks as her eyes sparkle with excitement.

Then she closes the tube and runs her finger over the wound on her wrist. Her hand begins to glow with gray and black energies that enter her wound, and it quickly closes the cut; then she leaves the room, now carrying a tube with the blood of a mysterious creature and her own.