Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 39 Dark Sacrifice

"In this dark world, blood is the only light. Loyalty must be proven with blood."

Darkness swallowed everything. The candlelight was distorted, the sound disappeared, and even the air seemed to be sucked out.

Siming's world fell into complete silence. He could not hear, touch, or even confirm his own existence.

This is not ordinary darkness, but conceptual deprivation, the Duke's domain, and the power called "Eternal Night".

In this darkness, only the Duke can still move.

He stood still, looking up at the twin princesses hanging high in the air, his figure as steady as a rock.

His cloak fluttered slightly, and his scarlet pupils reflected their godlike figures.

He slowly lowered his head, placed his right hand across his chest, and saluted.

"The great True Ancestor."

His voice was low and solemn, like a blood-red thread piercing the darkness, pulling everything into a deeper unknown.

"With my blood and the body of a stranger, I will satisfy your eternal hunger."

"Please accept my tribute to please your will."

He raised his hand, and on his palm, the blood clan seal glowed faintly.
It was a ceremony in which a monarch exchanged his status, power, and blood as tribute.

His bargaining chip is himself.

His wish is to exchange for Celian's freedom this year.

So that she wouldn't have to become a blood sacrifice for the Twin Princesses, so that her fate could continue—if only for one more year.

However, the twin princesses in the sky smiled.

That laughter was ethereal, gentle, and filled with fatal temptation.
It was as if countless dead souls were whispering in the darkness, like the murmur in a lover's ear, or like a call from the abyss.

The vampires crawled on the ground, their bodies trembling, not daring to look up and gaze directly at this almighty being.

There was no trace of anger in the twin princesses' smiles, but all the vampires could feel the chill spreading from deep within their bones.

Their voices entwine like threads around everyone's soul, whispering judgment.

"You still don't understand?"

Their voices were gentle, like the soft words a mother whispers to soothe her child to sleep.

However, to the Duke's ears, it was like a sharp blade cutting through flesh and blood, carrying with it an unquestionable pressure.

"Everything you have is my gift."

They stared down at the Duke, blinking slowly, their bright red pupils reflecting his determined figure.

There was no anger in that look, only a hint of mild, even gentle... dissatisfaction.

"How dare you sacrifice the blood of a stranger in place of my own?"

"How dare you exchange my favor for your freedom?"

Their voices seemed to be embedded with curses, causing all the vampires present to tremble deep in their souls.

The Duke's pupils contracted slightly, his fingertips trembled slightly, but his expression remained calm.

He got it.

They... refused.

The Bloody Night Tyrant slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His fists slowly tightened, and his joints made a slight crisp sound.

Shuang Sheng Ji was dissatisfied with his resistance, dissatisfied with his forbearance, and dissatisfied with the fact that he still retained the shadow of "humanity".

Through him, they saw the shadow of another person.

——The Impaler.

The man who once rebelled against the vampires, the human who slaughtered countless vampires, the undead who lost his wife and daughter.

They saw his past struggles, saw the past he had not completely cut off, and saw the trace of... warmth that still remained in him.

But they don’t like it.

Twin Princess slowly raised her hands, her fingertips slicing through the air.
In the darkness, a scarlet chain appeared out of thin air, connecting the Duke's soul and glowing with a faint bloody light.

They looked down at him, their voices still gentle, like the deepest whisper.

"Your loyalty has been tainted."

The darkness deepened, and the blood-red light spread like a spider web.

It was faintly intertwined into an invisible cage, tightly enveloping the Duke.

He couldn't move.

He is being deprived.

However, the Twin Princesses did not stop there.

They smiled slightly, twisted their fingertips slightly, slowly stretched out their hands, and pointed somewhere in the darkness.

Their voices fell, like the verdict of a god. "As a sign of loyalty, slit her throat with your own hands."

"Offer the blood of Celian."

In an instant, the vampires' feeling of suffocation almost reached its peak, and everyone looked up in shock at the silver-haired girl standing in the darkness.

Celia's smile froze.

Her fingertips trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure, slowly raised her eyes, and met the twin princess's gaze.

"I see..." she whispered softly, with a faint curve at the corner of her lips.

She should have been scared.

But she didn't.

She just tilted her head slightly, as if confirming something interesting.

The Duke was silent, a suffocating silence.

His fists slowly loosened and clenched again, his Adam's apple rolling slightly.
Finally, he raised his head, his scarlet pupils like extremely suppressed flames, looking at the twin girls quietly.

A dead silence.

The darkness was like an abyss, swallowing up all the light. The air was filled with a heavy smell of blood, which was so oppressive that it was suffocating.

Time seemed to freeze, and the world fell into silence at this moment, with only the whispers of the vampire ancestor remaining.

Like an invisible chain, it slowly wraps around everyone's soul.

Celian's pupils shrank suddenly as she heard their orders.

Her blood, her life, her very existence—once again, offered as a sacrifice.

Her breathing quickened slightly, her fingertips tightened unconsciously, and cold sweat slid down her back.

But her expression still maintained a faint smile, as if she was not shaken by the verdict.

However, she knew that this time was different.

She is no longer the princess imprisoned on the throne of the vampire clan, nor is she a sacrifice waiting to be harvested by fate.

This time, she didn't want to escape again.

She slowly raised her head, her eyes looking through the darkness and falling on the silent figure in front of her.

The Duke's body stiffened slightly, he did not raise his head, as if he was suppressed by some invisible force.
He stood there silently, as heavy as a statue.

His fingertips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to reach out and touch the slightly trembling figure.

But in the end, he didn't move.

In the darkness, he couldn't see her face clearly, he could only see the slender outline trembling slightly.

He looked at her quietly, his eyes were deep and complex, and a hint of suppressed emotion appeared in his eyes, like some long-standing sorrow that could not be hidden after all.

After a long time, his lips trembled slightly and his voice was so low that it was almost inaudible.

"……daughter."

This call seemed to penetrate the blood clan's thousand-year curse and shatter the silence in the darkness.

His voice was gentle and low, with a distant warmth, like a phantom buried deep in memory, with an unspeakable sigh.

"My daughter... wouldn't it be better to hide for a while?"

His tone was as light as a whisper in the wind, carrying with it an indescribable weariness.

He wanted her to hide a little longer, even if it was just one more year, one more day...

Even if it was just to deceive herself a little longer, to make him believe that she was still free.

But now, she is back.

She stood in front of him. She no longer ran away. She chose to face the shackles of the vampires and stood on the blade of fate.

She's back, and he...can't protect her anymore.

His knuckles tightened slightly, and the hilt of the sword in his hand exuded an imperceptible force. His pupils reflected the figures of the twin girls.

The blood-red light reflected in his eyes was like heavy shackles, dragging his will into the abyss bit by bit.

The twin princesses continued to whisper. They were not urging, nor were they angry. They were just waiting for the Duke's decision.

This is not an order, but... a ruling.

They waited to see if he would obey, if he would slit his daughter's throat himself.

A sacrifice of her true blood to prove her loyalty.

Or... will he defy the vampire master, tear his chains apart, and choose to betray?

At this moment, the chains of fate slowly tightened and wrapped around the neck of the Bloody Night Tyrant.

He has no choice.

(End of this chapter)