Gao Wu: You have science, and I have magic!

"Dracula will complete his final transformation tonight."

Ye Qingzhou rolled up his sleeves to cover the rune, then said calmly: "We must stop him."

“One more thing.”

Serena pulled out a page made of ice crystals from the codex: "This is a magic scroll I drew myself. If you tear it open at a critical moment, it may change the course of the battle."

Ye Qingzhou took the scroll solemnly. He could feel that the thin dragon skin paper contained a terrifying magical power that shook the world.

Once released, the power will be unparalleled.

The night sky of the Eternal Night Wasteland is a sickly purple-red color.

The blood moon hung in the center of the sky like a huge bloodshot eyeball, dyeing the entire frozen land blood red.

Ye Qingzhou knelt on one knee in the last halo of the teleportation array, feeling the stinging pain from the scar on his left eye. The Force in his body had already begun to boil in advance, because the Shadow Dome was only three miles away.

“Node confirmed.”

Calvin's voice came through the communication crystal, "One team in position."

"Group two, in place."

“Three groups…”

Ye Qingzhou tightly grasped the "Winter Oath", and the power of frost spread along the sword.

Behind him, twenty Frost Guards had already deployed in battle formation.

These elite mages, trained by Serena herself, each possess the power to freeze a small lake.

"Four groups in place."

The last communication came.

Ye Qingzhou raised his left hand, and the black rune glowed strangely under the blood moon: "Action."

Four ice-blue light pillars shot up into the sky from different directions of the wasteland at the same time and hit the barrier of the shadow dome.

The purple barrier trembled violently like a wounded beast, and spider-web-like cracks appeared on its surface.

Ye Qingzhou had already rushed to the main gate of the castle. A small fire swooped down from the clouds, and the dragon flame melted the gate that was being closed in an emergency.

“Follow me!”

He swung his sword to split the two vampire guards who rushed towards him, and the sword energy of ice and fire caused freezing and explosion at the same time when it came into contact with the enemy. This unique fighting method has become the iconic killing move of the "Sword of Ice and Fire".

The interior of the castle is even more eerie than expected.

The walls were covered in pulsating flesh and blood, and countless vines like blood vessels hung from the ceiling.

When Ye Qingzhou led his team to rush into the central hall, the scene before them made even the most experienced soldiers suffocate.

Hundreds of transparent culture chambers were arranged in concentric circles, and humanoid creatures were floating in each chamber. They had pale skin and sharp fangs, but on their chests was a black sun pattern that was very similar to the Morning Star family emblem.

On the platform at the center of the circle, Archbishop Dracula injected a tube of dark red liquid into the last culture chamber.

"Daywalker Legion..."

Ye Qingzhou's sword trembled slightly.

He was very familiar with those black sun patterns; those were the characteristics of the Morning Star bloodline after it was transformed into the Black Sun bloodline. The Eternal Night Council was actually using the Morning Star family's bloodline to create monsters!

Dracula turned around, his silver hair glittering like a waterfall under the blood moon.

His red eyes locked onto Ye Qingzhou directly: "Ah, the most perfect sacrifice has finally fallen into the trap. I will gladly accept this gift from fate."

Dracula's elegant voice was as mellow as aged wine: "Just in time for the graduation ceremony."

Ye Qingzhou's sword energy swept out, and the dual-colored energy of ice and fire attacked the platform in a spiral shape.

Dracula simply raised his hand slightly, and a blood curtain rose from the ground, easily resolving the attack.

"It's not good to be so impatient."

Dracula, the Grand Duke of the Blood Clan, smiled and snapped his fingers: "Look who's here to see you?"

The side door of the hall burst open, and the figure that walked out made Ye Qingzhou's expression change - Prince Edmund St. Clair was holding a chain, and at the other end of the chain was tied a tall knight in full black armor.

When the knight took off his helmet, the Frost Guards gasped collectively.

"Lord Kain?"

But that couldn't be Kain.

The eldest son of the Morning Star Family had been dead for three months—and it was Ye Qingzhou who killed him.

However, the creature in front of him had exactly the same face as Kain, but his skin was pale and his eyes had turned blood red.

“Surprise?”

Prince Edmund smiled triumphantly, and when he looked at Ye Qingzhou, his eyes were full of amusement: "The eldest son of your Morning Star family is now our best Night Knight. Lord Dracula resurrected him, and of course... made some improvements."

“Lian…”

The former Cain spoke, his voice like two pieces of metal rubbing against each other, filled with deep hatred: "I... want... you to die..."

"Haha, even death doesn't bring peace, what a hassle."

Ye Qingzhou shook the weapon in his hand, and the "Winter Oath" burst out with unprecedented light, and suddenly slashed forward with a frost sword energy: "The dead should lie in the grave."

Dracula's laughter echoed in the hall: "Brothers killing each other, this scene is really intoxicating, Ryan, how does it feel to kill your brother for the second time?"

He turned into a bat and suddenly appeared in front of Ye Qingzhou. He stretched out his cold fingers to the scar on Ye Qingzhou's left eye: "A perfect balance of ice and fire. You have even touched the edge of the Force and touched the taboo that belongs only to the gods."

Ye Qingzhou raised his hand and pierced Dracula's chest with a sword.

But the other party just ignored the penetrating wound on his chest and shook his head disapprovingly, as if treating a child throwing a tantrum.

What flowed out of the wound was not blood, but thick dark energy.

"Time is up."

Dracula looked up at the blood moon in the sky and said, "Witness the true ritual of immortality!"

The incubation chambers on the platform were opened at the same time, and hundreds of daywalkers knelt on the ground in an orderly manner.

Prince Edmund cut his wrist and dripped blood into the altar in the center. The moment the blood touched the altar, the entire shadow dome began to vibrate, and the light of the blood moon focused into a beam of light through the crystal of the dome, covering Dracula.

The powerful Force tore through the sky and continuously poured into Dracula's body.

“Stop him!”

Ye Qingzhou ordered the Frost Guards: "At any cost!"

At a command, ice and flames erupted simultaneously.

The Frost Guards create an extremely cold field to slow down the movements of the Day Walkers.

The Fire Dragon Knights rushed in from the broken dome, and a rain of flaming arrows poured down.

Ye Qingzhou went straight for Dracula, and the power of ice and fire on the sword's blade merged into an unprecedented silver-blue energy.

"It's useless. I am already immortal. I will live forever."

Dracula opened his arms in the beam of light, "The Blood Moon Ritual has already begun..."

His words came to an abrupt halt. An ice crystal sword pierced his heart from behind. While Ye Qingzhou launched the Dou Qi attack, he actually secretly hid a magic attack!
At this moment, the weak but tenacious Force entered Dracula's body along the wound, cleverly attacking the energy nodes in his body and destroying the balance of the Force.

Dracula let out a deafening scream, and the beam of light became disordered in an instant.

Ye Qingzhou took the opportunity to wield "Winter Oath" with all his strength and slashed it down - the silver-blue energy on the blade poured out like a flood, splitting the body of the vampire duke in two.

"No!!!"

Prince Edmund screamed and rushed forward, but was slapped away by Xiaohuo's claw.

The light of the blood moon began to distort, black liquid oozed from the walls of the shadow dome, and the entire castle twitched in pain as if a living thing.

"retreat!"

Ye Qingzhou swung his sword and slashed out a frost sword energy, freezing Kane into an ice cube. He gave the order without hesitation: "Everyone evacuate immediately!"

When they rushed out of the castle and were less than a hundred meters away, a loud noise like the collapse of heaven and earth came from behind them.

The shadow dome was like an eggshell crushed by an invisible giant hand, falling apart in the blood moonlight, and the shock wave blew everyone away.

Three days later, in the castle of the Morning Star Family.

"Where's Dracula?"

"I have temporarily eliminated it."

Ye Qingzhou had a blank expression on his face. The great feat of killing a vampire duke was not enough to reverse the current situation of the war.

Aurelian's voice became hoarse. "Unfortunately, the Blood Moon Ritual is only one-third complete."

After that, he took out a memory crystal and handed it to Ye Qingzhou: "Ryan, see what Iris found in the star track."

The crystal projected a picture that made Ye Qingzhou shudder—hundreds of black castles exactly like the Shadow Dome were slowly rising up all over the empire.

"We destroyed only one clone."

Aurelian clenched his fists. "Dracula is well prepared."

Ye Qingzhou looked out the window. The blood moon had not faded, but its color had become darker.

On the distant skyline, another red moon can be vaguely seen forming - the strange phenomenon of two moons in the same sky is the sign of the "coming of eternal night" in the ancient prophecy.

“The war has just begun.”

Ye Qingzhou said softly, the ice-blue light in his left eye and the flame pattern on his right hand lit up at the same time: "The order of the old world will be broken, and what we have to do is to establish a brand new order..."

…………

The sky over the imperial capital, Shenghui City, was a sickly dark red.

When the news of the death of the second prince Edmund St. Clair spread like wildfire, the elderly emperor did something that shocked the entire empire - he personally twisted the neck of the chancellor of the finance ministry in the center of the Council of Nobles, and then bit through the other's carotid artery in front of dozens of nobles.

“This is what happens when you support the rebels.”

The emperor wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and announced, his cloudy eyes had turned into the unique scarlet color of the vampires: "From today on, the Saint Clair Empire will become the people of the eternal night."

Inside the parliament hall, those nobles who had long been transformed bared their fangs in fierce grins.

The few nobles who still retained their human identities were about to protest when the Royal Guards closed all exits.

That night, the fountains in the noble district of Shenghui City were flowing with blood.

When the news reached the northern border, Ye Qingzhou was instructing new recruits at the training ground outside Frost Iron City.

When the messenger stumbled over to report, the flaming sword in his hand almost went out of control and burned the scarecrow next to him to ashes.

“The Emperor publicly converted?”

Ye Qingzhou's left eye flashed with an icy blue light: "It's two weeks earlier than expected..."

"More than that, my Lord."

The messenger's face turned pale. "A curfew has begun in the civilian areas of the imperial capital. Anyone who goes out at night will be... eaten as blood."

Ye Qingzhou's sword tip pierced into the ground, and frost spread ten meters along the crack.

Intelligence brought back from the Shadow Dome three weeks ago showed that the Emperor had accepted Dracula's "First Embrace" half a year ago.

But they had not expected that the old man who had ruled the empire for forty years would tear off his disguise so easily.

"Call all captains."

Ye Qingzhou drew his sword, his expression serious, but not panicked at all: "Send someone to invite the envoy of the Holy Sun Church - it's time to raise the 'Flag of Dawn'."

The central square of Frost Iron City was crowded with people.

Civilians from various territories in the north, representatives of the remaining nobles, priests of the Holy Sun Church, and even magicians who had fled from the south, all looked up at the main balcony of the castle. Aurelian Morningstar walked out in a full set of meteorite steel armor, with the dark blue cape on his shoulders embroidered with the Morningstar family emblem, rustling in the cold wind.

"Citizens of the Empire!"

Aurelian's voice spread throughout the audience through the magic loudspeaker: "Today we witness the end of an era. The royal family of St. Clair has abandoned human dignity and chosen to become the pawns of bloodthirsty monsters!"

Angry roars rang out in the square.

Some people raised the spears with the vampire heads nailed on them and waved them, while more people tightly grasped the silver weapons that had just been distributed to them - those were urgently made in the mine of the Morning Star Family.

"But the North will never surrender!"

Aurelian pointed his sword to the sky and spoke passionately: "From this moment on, Frostiron City will become a fortress for all those who yearn for freedom. We will fight under the guidance of the light of dawn until the last drop of blood!"

His words were interrupted by a sudden burst of golden light.

The Archbishop of the Holy Sun Church stepped onto the balcony, and the holy staff in his hand burst into a dazzling light like the sun.

When the light swept across the crowd, several figures hiding in the shadows screamed - they were transformed vampire spies, now curled up on the ground with smoke coming out of them.

"In the name of the Holy Sun!"

The archbishop's old voice was full of power: "Those who swear here today can all receive the blessing of light! Take up arms, children, this is the final holy war!"

Ye Qingzhou stood beside his father, looking at the arms raised like a forest in the square.

Farmers held pitchforks, blacksmiths carried hammers, and even children held sharpened sticks.

In this boiling sea of ​​people, a large flag with a blue background and a silver star slowly rose up - in addition to the Morning Star family emblem, there was also a silver sword piercing through the Black Moon on the flag.

"The Banner of Dawn..."

Iris's face changed slightly, and she murmured softly, the star track compass in her hand spinning wildly: "Lian, the stars show that we only have seven days."

Ye Qingzhou gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, and the ice and fire runes on his left arm glowed faintly. The surging Force flowed through his body, growing stronger every moment.

"That's enough for me to finish that."

The winter of the 374th year of the Imperial Calendar was later called the "Winter of Awakening".

When the royal army marched out of Shenghui City, the flames of resistance had already been ignited throughout the empire.

Blacksmith apprentice Roy will always remember the night that changed his destiny.

He hid in the coal pile behind the furnace and watched as three vampire guards nailed the master to the anvil and pried open his throat like a barrel.

The dying look of his master made him tremble all over, but he had no courage to resist until the guards began to discuss who would be the next family to "visit"... (End of this chapter)