Chapter 596: Elizabeth’s Blood

It has been a year and a half since the Dragon-Slaying Incident. During this time, the Sapphire Duchy issued one colonization decree and was preparing for a second, apparently unaffected by the events.

Yet unexpectedly, Liszt found himself entangled once more in the aftermath of the Dragon-Slaying Incident.

An active Dragon Knight from the Kingdom of the Eagle, Marquis Alonzo Cyclamen, dispatched his vampire servants to Ironhoof Island to search for the missing great magicians of the Goat Assembly, seeking the real truth behind the original Dragon-Slaying Incident—it seemed he was the shadow behind the Ox Marquis during that event.

Unfortunately.

Elizabeth Black Knight was merely a hybrid vampire, transformed from a human by the Pureblood Vampire Tubote Black Knight. According to her, during the day, she was only at the level of an ordinary magician, as sunlight severely interfered with blood magic.

At night, however, blood magic's power greatly increased, allowing her strength to reach that of a great magician.

Additionally, she could transform into a bat, infiltrating many places unnoticed to complete tasks silently.

"Tubote is a core member of the Black Knight family. His wife is a native Pureblood Vampire, while he was transformed from a human and gradually elevated to Pureblood status—an ascended Pureblood Vampire. At night, his strength is roughly equivalent to that of a peak-level sky knight," Elizabeth explained in detail.

Vampires could be considered a magical profession or an entirely new species.

Most vampires were hybrids, humans converted through rituals to replenish their numbers.

The true core circle of vampires was small, organized by families, all Purebloods. Most were native Purebloods born from vampire reproduction, while a minority were ascended Purebloods—humans transformed and elevated. Purebloods had low fertility but immense strength.

"I'm not familiar with the core members of the Black Knight family. I only obey Tubote, who controls my heart... This time, Tubote came to Ironhoof Island with five hybrids, and I am one of them. If you kill Tubote and take his heart, you can command all five of us hybrids."

After hearing many secrets.

Liszt's expression remained unchanged as he calmly asked, "Since Tubote is a peak-level sky knight, why do you believe I can kill him? Remember, I’ve only recently been promoted to an ordinary sky knight."

This was the truth.

Though he had become a Dragon Knight and his mana was gradually evolving into Dragon Aura, it was still an ordinary advanced fire-attribute mana, not yet perfected—the precise classification of sky knights should mirror that of earth knights, divided only into ordinary and elite. However, due to the vast gap, the sword saint rank was added to account for the gap.

A sword saint, one who masters the sword to saintly levels, was more like an honorary title.

Unperfected advanced mana placed one at the ordinary level of a sky knight; perfected advanced mana elevated one to the peak level. There was no separate classification for sword saints in terms of mana—the title was earned through combat prowess, a transitional stage between ordinary and perfected.

Thus, with his unperfected advanced mana, Liszt could indeed call himself an ordinary sky knight.

Elizabeth licked her lips.

Whether intentional or not, there was always something seductive about her: "Had I not experienced it firsthand, I wouldn’t have believed the Marquis’s strength was so formidable. Yet in your hands, I couldn’t even cast blood magic. I sensed the terrifyingly effective suppression your mana exerts over blood magic."

Her crimson eyes shone brightly: "I once fought a sword saint. Though I couldn’t defeat him, he couldn’t capture me either—even Tubote couldn’t easily catch me... But you, Marquis, captured me effortlessly. Your strength far exceeds the rumors. I’m willing to gamble on you!"

As she spoke.

She then put on a trembling act: "The Black Knight family is terrifying. I was once just an ordinary magic apprentice until Tubote discovered my blood was suited for blood magic and forcibly turned me into a vampire... I hate vampires, I hate the Black Knight family, and I hate Tubote most of all!"

Her acting was vivid, as if she harbored bone-deep fear and hatred.

But Liszt could tell Elizabeth was indeed performing—her expressions slightly overdone. Thus, her words could only be taken with a grain of salt.

However.

Defeating Tubote Black Knight was probably unavoidable. After all, he had already captured Elizabeth, yet the obscure mission remained incomplete, implying that the "bat in the dark" wasn’t just her—it included Tubote and the other four hybrids.

Based on Elizabeth’s information, Tubote’s strength was roughly equivalent to a peak-level sky knight, which was nothing formidable in Liszt’s eyes.

Even with the other four hybrids and Elizabeth, dealing with them would present no real challenge.

However, vampires are ultimately quite unpredictable. It's possible that Elizabeth was sent as bait to lure Liszt into a trap. He wasn't an invincible Dragon Knight yet—at best, he was only halfway there. The dragon he was supposed to ride hadn't even reached adulthood, and his current strength still fell short of the Ox Marquis from back then.

Caution was still necessary.

"Elizabeth, how can I trust you?"

"My lord, what more must I do to earn your trust? I’m even willing to agree to anything you ask."

"Try to act less in front of me. You might not believe it, but I often direct actors in my territory on how to perform... Tubote can control you through your heart, but I have no such means. How can I be sure you’re not deceiving me? Or that you won’t betray me when I go to kill Tubote?"

Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Has my lord already decided to kill Tubote?"

Liszt smiled faintly, as if discussing a trivial matter. "If you can convince me to trust you, I wouldn’t mind dealing with some bats."

She took a deep breath, her full chest rising with the motion.

Elizabeth extended her right hand, using a fingernail to lightly slice her left wrist. A wound immediately appeared, and blood began to well up. Of course, this wasn’t an act of self-harm—she was using blood magic to extract a fist-sized glob of thick, glowing blood from herself.

Her already pale face grew even paler, the blue veins beneath her skin now clearly visible.

Holding the glob of blood, she offered it to Liszt. "My lord, this contains my very essence, infused with years of blood magic. Though I won’t die without it, I’ll lose nearly all my magic and any potential to advance to a Pureblood... I hope this will prove my sincerity."

Through the vision of the Magic Eye, the blood was enveloped in a dense crimson magic aura, while Elizabeth's magic aura had dimmed almost to the point of extinguishing.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he reached out and took the glob of blood.

Squinting slightly, he said, "Tell me. Where is Tubote? How do we find him? What are his weaknesses... I trust you have a plan."