Chapter 1

The deep, resonant chimes of the clock tower echoed through Nosferatu Castle at midnight.

The air here was perpetually filled with bone-chilling cold and a lingering, rust-like scent of blood that never seemed to fade.

"Daddy... so cold... and it hurts..."

Hearing that weak whisper, my heart felt like it was being repeatedly sliced by a rusty, dull blade.

In a drafty room of a crumbling tower, my three-year-old daughter Mia was curled up under a musty-smelling wool blanket.

Her body burned like a red-hot coal, and crimson source-blood patterns flickered faintly across her small back.

It was the deadly sign of half-blood genetic collapse.

I gripped her cold, constantly trembling little hand tightly, continuously wiping her forehead with a cold, wet cloth.

As an ordinary human with no magic power and not even fangs, I was like an ant at the bottom of the food chain in this castle ruled by high-ranking vampires.

But I knew clearly that Mia's genetic collapse had reached a critical point. She had to receive an injection of "Pure Source Sacred Blood Serum" within thirty minutes, or she absolutely wouldn't survive the night.

Just then, a soft "ding" sounded as the crude communication crystal on the table lit up.

The sticky, greedy voice of Claude, the black market medicine dealer, came through: "Hey, Lucas, I risked my neck to get the medicine. It's under the gargoyle statue at the south gate."

"By the way, it's getting hot out there tonight—full city lockdown. The original five hundred crystal coins aren't enough anymore. I want five thousand. Short one coin, and you can prepare to collect that little bastard's corpse!"

The communication was forcibly cut off.

A flash of bone-chilling coldness flickered in the depths of my eyes.

Five thousand crystal coins—that was my blood, sweat, and tears from working as a janitor in this castle for an entire year. But I had no time to argue with such bottom-feeding scum.

"Mia, sweetheart, wait for Daddy just a few minutes. The pain will stop soon." I kissed her burning cheek.

Then I grabbed an old money pouch containing all our family savings, kicked open the tower's broken wooden door, and rushed into the bitter wind, sprinting toward the south gate as fast as I could.

The cold wind cut across my face like knives, and in the darkness, countless pairs of crimson eyes seemed to be watching me—this walking "blood bag"—from the shadows.

But I couldn't care about any of that. My mind was filled only with Mia's face, twisted in pain.

However, when I arrived at the south gate, gasping for breath, my heart plummeted into an abyss.

The massive mithril gate before me, dozens of yards tall, was now tightly sealed.

A layer of ghostly blue magic barrier—an anti-magic ward as solid as reality—completely separated the inside and outside of the castle.

Through that transparent blue curtain, I could even clearly see the gargoyle statue ten meters away, and the small wooden box containing the life-saving medicine carelessly stuffed under its base.

Just ten meters away.

Just one step outside this door.

"My daughter urgently needs Pure Source Sacred Blood Serum for a medical emergency. Please open the gate." I strode to the guard booth and spoke through the viewing window, my voice low and controlled.

Inside the booth, tonight's patrol officer Marcus had his copper-studded leather boots propped up, leisurely swirling warm blood in a crystal goblet.

He possessed the paper-white skin of pure-blood vampires, and that species-ingrained arrogance in the way he looked at us humans.

Marcus glanced at me sideways, a mocking sneer curling his lips: "Well, well, a lowly human? The city's under full lockdown tonight. You want to go out? Fine. Ten thousand crystal coins for passage."

My chest heaved violently once.

Ten times the original price—this was blatant extortion.

As an ordinary human, I knew that in this place crawling with supernatural beings, direct confrontation would only lead to death.

I took a deep breath, my palm unconsciously moving through my rough shirt to touch a dark red, cold pendant hanging close to my chest.

It was the only token left by my wife—Isabella, who had disappeared three years ago and was now crowned as the absolute ruler of the vampire underworld, the "Crimson Empress."

If I crushed it and released the royal blood essence within, my wife would sense it.

Her million-strong Tempest Army would instantly tear through space and raze this arrogant castle and these scum to the ground.

But I couldn't.

Beneath that crimson throne standing at the pinnacle of the underworld lay countless corpses.

Isabella's side was filled with the schemes and daggers of vampire princes, crazed assassins, and brutal political purges.

I had hidden with Mia in this godforsaken corner of a third-rate family, living under false names, precisely to keep her from being dragged into the deadly conflicts surrounding the Vampire Queen, to let her live like an ordinary girl.

I absolutely couldn't break three years of patient endurance over a single door and expose my daughter to the gaze of those terrifying enemies.

Suppressing my surging killing intent and the urge to use my trump card, I moved my hand away from my chest.

I untied the heavy money pouch from my waist and threw it directly through the viewing window, where it landed on Marcus's table with a thud.

"Here are ten thousand and two hundred crystal coins, all my money." I stared intently into Marcus's narrow eyes. "Open the barrier and let me get the medicine. I'll come straight back to the tower after I get it and won't cause you any trouble."

Marcus raised his sparse eyebrows, seeming somewhat surprised that a human could produce so much money.

He leisurely put down his goblet, reached for the money pouch, and weighed it in his hand.

Listening to the pleasant sound of crystal coins clinking inside, a greedy smile spread across his pale face.

He casually tossed the money pouch into his drawer.

Then he sat back down in his velvet-cushioned chair, crossed his hands under his chin, and didn't move.

"You should open the barrier now!" The more anxious I became, the closer my voice approached freezing point.

"Are you giving me orders? An inferior livestock without even fangs?" Marcus burst into exaggerated laughter.

He stood up and slowly walked to the edge of the barrier, playfully tossing the "key rune"—the only thing that could open this gate—between his fingertips.

"I've changed my mind." Marcus looked down at me with undisguised pure malice in his eyes. "You and that little bastard's blood both smell like disgusting sewage. Having trash like you living in the castle is simply blasphemy against our ancestors."

My fists suddenly clenched tight, my knuckles turning white from extreme tension, while my right hand in my pocket had already quietly grasped that cold object.

"However, I'm in a good mood today, so I can give you a chance." Marcus extended his right foot from the booth, pointing to his leather boots stained with mud and suspicious dark red stains.

"I'll keep the money. Now, what you need to do is kneel down and lick my boots clean with your tongue like a dog, until they're so clean they can reflect my face."

Marcus cruelly bared his mouth, revealing two sharp, bone-white fangs. "Otherwise... get lost and go watch that little bastard burn to ash!"