"You are a good person. You could''ve left alone, but you didn''t. Instead, you helped the kids leave as well. Not bad. But next time, focus on yourself first before thinking about others." Watching the Carriage leave in the back, Lilithmented.


    " I couldn''t leave them behind," As exined. "My sister and I couldn''t get the freedom we craved. I couldn''t help her, but I couldn''t let the other kids suffer the same fate. It''s not their fault."


    "Mise might not be alive, but her hopes and dreams are still alive in the eyes of these kids, craving freedom. Leaving them behind would''ve been like leaving her behind. You can call it me being selfish, trying to atone for my failure," he further added, shing a weak smile.


    Lilith could see the sadness behind that fake smile, but she didn''tment. Even though As was inside the body of her master, he was still a sixteen-year-old kid on the inside who wasn''t that strong mentally.


    She swiftly changed the topic to something more amusing. "This is certainly going to be fun, won''t it?"


    "It will be." As gazed at the castle with a calm smile. "Should be anytime now."


    ....


    Back inside the castle, a small meeting between the Severis n had started after As left. In the meeting, Lord Severis talked about the importance of the return of their ancestor and how important it was for them to locate him.


    He had decided that all the n members were going to leave the castle to go look for Ramiel. They were going to go to other ns as well to get more information. The meeting onlysted a few minutes since there was nothing much to cover.


    As for who was going to go where it was already decided, Lord Severis told his men where they were supposed to go. Meanwhile, he himself was going to move south since that was thest ce Ramiel was seen, ording to As. If only they knew that it was all a lie, the look on their faces would''ve been worth seeing.


    As the meeting was over, everyone stood to leave. Jovan was the first to reach the door, but the door didn''t open even as he pulled.


    "That''s odd?!" he eximed in surprise.


    "What?" Lord Severis asked, hearing his surprise-filled word.


    "The door is locked from the outside.  I don''t know why anyone would do it," Jovan responded, stunned.


    Severis appeared before the door, pushing Jovan to the side. Without thinking twice, he kicked the door open. He wasn''t the one to worry about the damaged property. If he was worried about something, it was about the door being locked. He was sure none of their servants locked the door. That left only one person who could do it— As!


    Generally, he would''ve sent someone to escort As out, but he was so immersed in the shocking news about the return of Ramiel that he forgot to do that. If As indeed did that, it meant he nned something!


    Bang~


    As the kick of Severisnded on the door, the door broke apart.


    Severis stepped into the hallway. The others followed him.


    "Do you all smell something?" One of the Vampires asked, smelling something strange. The sleeping gas had no effect on them, but they could still smell it, unlike humans now that they were out.


    However, they were toote by now. Moreover, it wasn''t just the smell of sleeping gas. Another scent was mixed within.


    Boom~


    Multiple explosions rocked the pce asrge explosions took ce in different parts of the Pce, shattering the pirs that kept the pce standing.


    Standing outside the pce, As watched the fireworks.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Beautiful fireworks," As muttered as more and more rooms exploded in the Pce. Before long, the entire Pce came crashing down, falling on itself.


    The Vampires had just left the room when they watched the roofe crashing down on them. They all raised their hands to protect their heads as they got buried under the rubble.


    The explosions still continued. However, the pce was already destroyed.


    The ce which had given them so much suffering for thest four years was destroyed. The room where his sister had died was buried under all the rubble, never to recover. It was as if As had wiped all the remnants of the sad history, never to look back.


    Finally, his n wasplete. He knew he couldn''t fight the Vampires, but he didn''t want to leave empty-handed. Just as the Vampires took everything he held precious to him, he took their beloved castle from them, along with all their self-respect and arrogance, which was more dear to them than their lives.


    Now the news was going to spread far and wide about someone destroying their castle, which was worse than death for the Severis n, which held their reputation above their life.


    As turned his back on the castle... Or what remained of it as he started walking away. mes could be seen behind him as the explosions continued, only worsening with time.


    Another advantage of destroying the castle was that all the blood that the Vampires had stored was gone, and no one was going to know that the kids were missing since everyone could only think that the kids had died in the destruction.


    This not only gave the children their freedom but also provided them with some safety cover as the Severis n wasn''t going to search for them.


    Leaving the Pce, As gazed at the beautiful moon in the sky, which looked like a reflection of his heart: deste yet still bringing light to the lives of others.


    ....


    "Arghh!" A mighty roar came from the distance as a figure climbed out of the rubble.


    Severis'' clothes were covered in dirt. Not only were his clothes dirty, but they were also torn in ces. He had never felt this insted in his entire life as he did now!


    "zar, the day I find you, I will kill you!" Severis roared at the top of his lungs. His heart was filled with mes of revenge. He didn''t need to think twice to know that it was all the work of As!


    He was the only one who could do it. Even though he didn''t understand how As achieved this feat in a few minutes, he swore in his heart that he was going to rip As to shreds without thinking about his lineage.


    Initially, he thought that As did it because he said no, but he knew that it couldn''t be the case. It had only been a few minutes. As couldn''t have done all this in a few minutes. This meant he had prepared for this in advance. Everything that happened in the hall was probably a distraction.


    Now he was also starting to doubt the story of As about the reappearance of Ramiel. If that was true, there was no way As would''ve dared to antagonize someone from the lineage of Progenitor Ramiel.


    More and more Vampires kept crawling out of the rubble, in worse condition than Severis. Some of them were even bleeding. Their clothes were covered in blood.  Fortunately, their wounds were slowly healing.


    Severis was sure that As was gone by now. He couldn''t find him even if he tried, so he didn''t bother. However, he had promised himself that he was going to find As!


    Just as As nced at the moon while walking away, Severis also looked at the same moon. "zar, run! Run as far as you can. By doing this, you''ve just shortened your lifespan. Now you''ll see what happens when someone crosses me. You saw the nice me. Now you''ll see the devil me!"


    "This is just the start, Severis. I''ll show you true hell on this earth for as long as you live for what you did. So please don''t die too soon. There''s a lot toe...." As muttered, gazing at the moon as if he was talking to Severis.


    This was just the start... The start of a brutal war that no one could have seening... A war that was going to change the world... A war that wasn''t like a conventional war.


    The moon acted as the witness of the two oaths that each of the men took about destroying each other. However, even it didn''t know what the end was going to be like. Only time was to tell.