Born in Blood

Chapter 376 Plan

Liam, Usan, the Elders, the Ministers and Alucard continued the discussions.

Everyone took their time discussing the minute details that came with such a plan.

"Since our forces are being split up, we'll have to decide who goes where," Alucard said.

"My people have no special preference. The Empire of Fear and Courage are equally powerful."

"One fights with fear and Abominations, and the other fights with… bare fists and resolve."

"We could either mix our forces, or split in half."

"Choice is yours."

Usan pursed his lips.

Although the Empire of Fear sounded much more powerful, Liam knew this wasn't the case.

The Empire of Fear depended on… well, fear.

They weren't strong physically.

They were like beast tamers, who depended on their companion to weaken their opponent.

Or inscription masters who depended on artifacts and items.

On the other hand, the Empire of Courage fought with just their bare bodies!

One could imagine how powerful they had to be to rival the Empire of Fear in strength.

In fact, one could argue they were even more powerful due to achieving such a level of power with just sheer physicality.

At the end of the day, either one was formidable in their own way.

[What do you think?] Usan relayed to Liam.

Although the choice ultimately depended on Usan, Liam was the next in line.

Giving his decisions more weight could help cement his authority with the Temple.

Liam thought about it carefully.

'Splitting our forces would be much better.'

'The vampires won't listen to my orders obediently.'

'Plus, we could always keep in touch through Jades.'

Regarding the decision of where to go, Liam fancied the Empire of Fear more.

After all, Liam always thought fear was a good tool.

Heading to the Empire to learn it on a deeper, intenser level wasn't a bad idea.

…Plus, Abominations.

Liam could study them!

It was more of a genuine curiosity than anything solid.

Though, Liam's Blood Bonds could use a few improvements.

Truth be told, the Blood Bonds weren't particularly strong.

It used too much blood, and sustaining the Bonds for long wasn't feasible.

Maybe Abominations could prove otherwise.

Two seconds of silence passed.

Liam relayed the decision to Usan, who said it out loud.

Alucard nodded.

A short pause.

"To make it clear, we cannot help in the kidnapping aspect," Alucard said firmly. "Or heading there on our own."

Usan raised a brow. "Why not?" he asked.

"Our method of transportation," Alucard said, referring to the Skeletal Dragons. "Unless stealth is not a priority?"

Ah.

Indeed, that was a problem.

"Worry not," Alucard reassured. "We have a work-around."

Alucard glanced at the Minister of Transportation, prompting her to lay something down on the table.

It was a rectangular, stone tablet. Crude writings were on its surface, which resembled runes.

However, the slab of stone was precisely rectangular, with no soft edges. It looked as though it held something else inside.

"A World Gate," Alucard said proudly. "One of a kind relic of the past that allows teleportations between incredibly long distances."

"That includes Korsa to the Dual Empire."

The words lingered in the air.

Usan's eyes widened.

Liam's brows raised.

Kitsu went back to her krill bucket.

What was so special about long distance teleportation?

Weren't there already teleportation platforms?

There were.

However, they were significantly inferior.

Teleportation platforms were incredibly feeble, and had demanding conditions before it was up and running.

One of those was distance.

At a distance of 500 meters, depending on how complex the platform was, the device would just stop working.

More importantly, over water, it wouldn't function, since the platforms needed to be connected with each other.

Thus, an artifact like this was absolutely priceless.

If Alucard was lying about it being one-of-a-kind, he did a magnificent job at it.

Blinking long distances was more priceless than one could imagine.

"All you have to do once you arrive there is put the slab on a flat, stone surface," Alucard said. "We'll do the rest."

Usan nodded, storing the tablet.

"I can also provide maps," Alucard said. "They're old. More than a few centuries, but they could show you where to go."

The smiling Minister of Transportation snapped her fingers, and two parchments appeared on the table.

One for the Empire of Courage.

And the other for the Empire of Fear.

They were in tatters, with aged, barely understandable ink on their surface.

Tendrils of shadow swallowed the maps from the table.

"I suppose we're done, now?" Alucard asked.

Usan nodded. "We are. We'll begin within this month."

Alucard, Usan and Liam rose to their feet.

Only then did the Ministers and Elders do the same.

The power dynamic was clear.

The group of 24, plus the fox, headed outside.

"We'll be taking our leave, then," Alucard said, snapping his fingers at the largest Skeletal Dragon.

WHOOSH!

The sound of bones clicking together echoed as the dragon flew to his feet and lowered its head for Alucard to hop on.

"It's been a pleasure," Usan said with a small smile.

"All mine," Alucard responded similarly, before his bony beast rose into the air.

A powerful gust of wind was produced as a result.

With that, the remaining Ministers perched atop their dragons and flew off into the distance.

Liam's eyes turned hard.

"You saw the way the Minister of Torture looked at me?" Liam said with a slightly cold tone. "I don't like that."

Usan just laughed.

***

It was happening.

War.

At least, it was going to happen.

Though, Liam's mission was akin to espionage more than it was pure combat.

But the final result was going to be war.

Of course, Liam needed a few weeks to get prepared for something of this caliber.

If it was up to him, Liam would take several months.

But Usan's health was deteriorating.

Liam had several ideas he wanted to test out first. But they weren't long-term things.

First, was something involving his Ashura Form.

Specifically, his gauntlets.

Ever since Liam's Chaos Pearl had advanced to Rank 3, his Ashura Form wasn't feasible anymore.

It ran through Liam's Chaos reserves too fast!

Despite that, it was incredibly powerful.

However, Liam wanted to do something else with it.

Liam wanted to make a sword from the gauntlets themselves.