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Chapter 25: The Vampiric Codex
🕑 Added 2025-01-09 20:25:53 +0000 UTCAuthor: Charlot Mecklenburg
Charlot casually picked up the diary, intending to spend some time contemplating The Labyrinth of Agamilas. Suddenly, an odd sensation struck him, prompting him to flip the diary over.
The other side of the cover was blood-red, as if steeped in crimson. As his fingers lightly brushed against it, a line of text appeared on the surface: The Vampiric Codex 〢〨 by Charlot Mecklenburg.
Upon opening the cover, a surge of consciousness poured forth:
“Charlot Mecklenburg invoked the foreign god of chaos Agamilas, repelling a trace of malice from the vampire evil god Karnstein. This fragment was sealed into Charlot’s diary, transforming it into a tome—The Vampiric Codex 〢〨—comprising seventeen pages of the Adonis Clan’s vampiric secrets. If the author fails to master the Adonis Codex within the designated time, they will forfeit their identity as the author and have their soul claimed by the returning evil god Karnstein. Countdown: 6 days, 20 hours, 23 minutes, and 57 seconds.”
“How could it be so urgent?” Charlot muttered.
Unlike The Labyrinth of Agamilas, which offered a buffer of nearly eight and a half months, The Vampiric Codex allowed barely seven days. A pressing sense of danger surged in Charlot's heart.
Back in university, he had chosen to study Blood Glory, gaining some basic knowledge about vampires along the way.
The Old Continent comprised thirty-three nations, among which the five most powerful empires were the Ingrima Empire, the Fars Empire, the Bayrone Empire, the Black Phoenix Dynasty, and the Lionheart Empire—collectively known as the Five Great Empires.
The Bayrone Empire was unequivocally a vampire empire, established by thirty-one vampire clans. Its formation had significant ties to the renowned human philosopher Protagoras, who created the technique known as Blood Glory.
This great philosopher had single-handedly slaughtered thousands of vampires, even annihilating six of their thirty-seven clans. By the time he was done, only thirty-one clans remained. The vengeful souls of vampire dukes haunted his hands, and his fame reached such heights that his name alone could silence crying vampire infants at night. In response, the vampires were compelled to hold a grand council that accomplished two monumental feats.
First, the clan leaders and elders formed a vast editorial committee to compile all the secret techniques of the thirty-seven clans into a unified set of tomes.
Second, they planned the formation of a nation, which, decades later, resulted in the establishment of Bayrone. Despite facing nearly a hundred wars against the allied forces of human nations on the Old Continent, Bayrone solidified its foundation as a new empire.
The Vampiric Codex 〢〨—the twenty-eighth volume of the Vampiric Codices—was also known as the Adonis Codex. It contained the secret techniques of the Adonis Clan, one of the six royal vampire clans.
The vampire evil god Karnstein was none other than the progenitor of the Adonis Clan.
The compilation of the Vampiric Codices began several decades after Protagoras invented Blood Glory.
By then, the great philosopher was in his twilight years. On several occasions, he attempted to seize the ongoing compilation but ultimately refrained for various reasons. He passed away without ever laying eyes on the Vampiric Codices.
He left behind only one lamentation: “It is a pity I could not unravel the full mysteries of Blood Glory. I hope future scholars will complete this art.”
Students across all four imperial universities often debated whether Protagoras, had he obtained the Vampiric Codices, might have ascended to godhood.
Of course, this question had no definitive answer.
After the codices’ completion, only the highest-ranking vampires and their most outstanding young talents were ever allowed to read them. No human had ever been recorded as having done so.
Charlot sighed, silently musing to himself: “I really should find time to return to university and consult the professors about some of these matters.”
“Perhaps I should request leave tomorrow.”
Having recently moved into a new residence far superior to his previous one, Charlot found himself inconvenienced by small tasks—like the inability to casually summon a servant from the Savings Union apartments to deliver messages for him.
It was late at night, and the world outside was pitch black. Only the dim glow of a kerosene lamp illuminated his small study.
Charlot opened the first page of The Vampiric Codex 〢〨 and carefully examined its contents. To his relief, unlike The Labyrinth of Agamilas, which he couldn’t understand at all, his prior exposure to vampiric knowledge and his foundation in Blood Glory allowed him to comprehend the text with relative ease.
The foundation of the Adonis Clan’s vampiric secret techniques was something called Bloodflame Qi.
The first page of The Vampiric Codex 〢〨 documented this very technique.
Bloodflame Qi was also one of the thirteen legendary techniques of Blood Glory.
Protagoras’ version of Bloodflame Qi was vastly different from the Adonis Clan’s secret method—more aggressive and domineering, but lacking the polished viciousness refined through centuries of practice.
As Charlot read, he began experimenting with the technique described in the codex, trying to channel Blood Glory to his chest. To master the basics of Bloodflame Qi, one needed to awaken a Blood Vortex in the heart. Charlot had expected this step to be extremely difficult. To his surprise, within just half an hour, he had formed a second Blood Vortex in his chest.
The formation of a second Blood Vortex signified that Charlot Mecklenburg had officially ascended to the second tier of transcendence!
Under normal circumstances, forming even a single Blood Vortex would require at least a year of rigorous training, even for someone with excellent aptitude. Those of average talent often needed three or more years to achieve the same.
As someone with only below-average aptitude, Charlot had been unable to complete this during his four years at university and had to rely on the power of an evil god to attain transcendence.
Reflecting on his predecessor’s missteps and the mess left behind, Charlot could only sigh.
Blood Glory now flowed from the mark on his forehead to his heart, then back again, circulating between the two Blood Vortices in a subtle loop.
Charlot had only intended to practice Blood Glory briefly.
He never imagined he would end up attracting the attention of not one but two evil gods.
Now that things had calmed down and he had even achieved an advancement, the marvels of the world seemed to mock his expectations.
Several hours later, Charlot opened his eyes. He felt the Blood Vortices in his chest stabilize, while the rune-formed eye on his forehead became clearer, slightly expanding his field of perception.
Just as he collected himself, another surge of consciousness poured out from the diary:
“Countdown to the arrival of the vampire evil god Karnstein: 26 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 7 seconds!”
Charlot was both shocked and delighted, silently calculating: “Forming a second Blood Vortex delayed Karnstein’s arrival by eighteen days! Could continuing to practice prevent him from ever appearing?”
Though he knew such a thing was unlikely, he couldn’t help but hope.
Directly facing two evil gods without dying had elevated his spiritual sensitivity, causing his progress to accelerate in the short term. Yet, he was aware that at some point, he would inevitably hit a bottleneck, halting his rapid growth.
Still, this development was undeniably good news.
As dawn approached, Charlot suppressed his racing thoughts and prepared to leave, planning to visit Kilmainham Prison.
He had only recently started his new post and had already taken leave once. Requesting a second leave so soon would be inappropriate. Instead of sending a servant, he decided it was better to handle the matter personally.
Charlot believed that Miss Menielman would be understanding and easy to communicate with.
However, to his surprise, when he arrived at Kilmainham Prison in the morning, he found that Miss Menielman had not come to work that day.
After waiting for two hours, Charlot decisively left early from his shift...
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