The Duke of Orleans was a bold man, but he had to admit that he probably couldn't drive a bunch of inhuman creatures like his brother did, like a courtier— He sat behind the desk, vaguely defensive, because now the room was almost full of vampires, both men and women had outstanding appearances, but their overly pale faces looked a little cold, and what made Fanzhuo's blood clan a little commotion was that Theoderick, the prince of Fanzhuo, really did as he said, rolled up his sleeves, cut his arm with his fingernails, and gave Amon a drop of blood.

The value of the Prince's blood is even higher than that of the monks and wizards, which is naturally not a secret among the Bloods, and the Duke of Orleans can detect some clues in the eyes of those vampires who are no longer calm, but Amon seems to have some reluctance, Theodric glared at him, walked over to Philip and said, "If possible," he lowered his sleeve, "don't owe anything to the dark creatures, especially the Bloods." ”

The Duke of Orleans knew Theoderick, because the king had described the Prince of Van Zhuo to him, and in addition, Theoderick's name he had also learned in history class, and Prince Van Dro's favoritism towards the French royal family was not the first time, and some dark creatures transformed into humans could protect their families for a long time if they wanted to, and even left a curse before they died— The king, too, had mentioned Amun, the Prince of Tsmich was obviously much more likely to do whatever he wanted, and the Prince of Condé was honest that he and the Duke of Longueville were able to leave the castle of Vincennes thanks to the vampire, so even if he claimed to have come for the king, the Duke of Orleans would not believe it.

"Look at you," Amon sat in the chair that his squire had brought for him, "am I a man who always lies? I have come for the king, not that I have come on the king's behalf, but I just don't want my little Louis to be sad," he said, looking at the Duke of Orleans, "but I did not expect that there was a man here who shone like a jewel. "It is a pity that the Duke of Orleans is like a beautiful ruby, beautiful in its beauty, but never as great and perfect as another diamond of greater perfection—to make him an analogy, Amon can only say that he is so pure, but as long as there is light, he can burst forth with any gem, nay, nothing can compare with the brilliant fire.

The best thing to do to Amon is probably to ignore it, "Now you can get out of here, your brother is eagerly awaiting your return in Paris, Your Highness." Theodric said.

The Duke of Orleans ought to be overjoyed, but he clearly hesitated, "Is there any problem?" said Theoderick, "General Saumuberg? "Vampires are far more powerful and move faster than mortals, and humans can't see how they attack them if they weren't for their intention, and they can snatch their targets like wolves or falcons, like a hurricane.

The Duke of Orleans clenched his hands: "Can I know where this plague is coming from?"

"If you want to ask if it is artificial," Amon said preemptively, "Yes, Your Highness, I must answer you like this. ”

"Who?" the Duke of Orleans wanted to be confirmed, though he had almost guessed the answer. "I don't think there's anything to be done about it," said Theoderick in a warning tone, "that's what your brother will have to deal with." ”

"My brother is just a mortal, but now someone is striking him with extraordinary means. "When the shadow of death was no longer so imminent, the Duke of Orleans was filled with a wave of resentment and frustration, and he could imagine that when they returned to Paris, everything that the royal brother and himself, and the rest of the men had done in Lorraine and Alsace, would come to naught— The sinister lords and bishops will surely declare that they have been punished and struck by God, and that they have brought calamity to the place, that a new order will be re-established in this interregnum, and that they will return to this place at a greater price than when they first arrived, because those people are already familiar with and understand their methods.

"Who else is in the castle?"

"Wizards, artisans, and officials and vassals here. "The latter two are the greatest wealth that the Duke of Orleans has amassed over three years of painstaking efforts, they have the domains of Lorraine and Alsace, and are willing to be loyal to King Louis of France rather than to Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, they are the nails planted here by the Duke of Orleans, and have done everything in their power to make them stronger, so that they can drive away the dangerous men who do not submit to the rule— Upon discovering that the seeds of the plague had appeared here, the Duke of Orleans immediately returned to the castle and sent messengers to inform them.

There were also some who, out of fear of the plague, had converted from a neutral or vacillating attitude to staunch Francophiles, neither of which could have been driven out by the Duke of Orleans, so that the number of men in the castle had now reached three thousand, and even if it was only for the descendants, it was more than five hundred, a number that could only be taken away by the descendants of the Van Zo or the Tsmich family in France, but in that case...... The church doesn't just sit idly by.

"Also, such a large-scale operation also violates the Covenant of Escapism, right?" Amon asked with a grin, the drop of blood Theodric had watched him drink, making him regret that he couldn't do anything with it, and it would make him happy to be able to embarrass Theoderick— The demons can do whatever they want, but the secret party has more rules to follow, and they can appear in front of the king or the Duke of Orleans, because there are always people who can exempt from all the laws in the world, but the people here, most of them, do not have this qualification.

They may be able to see the vampires for what they really are, but only if they are food or blood servants.

But they were also the puppets carefully cultivated by the Duke of Orleans, without whom the king's rule would have failed—the heart of the Duke of Orleans was already tense when he thought of the artisans and peasants who had died or fled from the spread of the Black Death...... It is a place where the king will not give up no matter what.

"I have an idea," said Amun, "but our Royal Highness Prince Fanzhuo certainly disagrees. ”

"As long as you don't break the covenant of escapism. Theodric said.

"But you know, we're all quite happy to destroy them, I mean, dear Theo, all the restrictions, all the fixations, all the shackles, you follow the rules," Amon shook his head, "but what are we? the Bloods, we shouldn't have been bound by the so-called law in the first place, and the children of darkness are free. He spread his hands and feet out in his chair, and he did it with such a graceful gesture, and the vampires of Tsmich laughed softly and cheered for their Royal Highness.

However, Amon was always staring at the only mortal in the room, the Duke of Orleans, and he seemed to be waiting for the Duke of Orleans to cast him a pleading gaze, of course, he would fulfill all the Duke's expectations like a doting father, and bring him to his knees with great force, before he could get his brother...... There is a saying that is better than nothing.

"I guessed a little bit about what this Mr. Amon meant. The Duke of Orleans said suddenly, his gaze swept over Amun, and then stayed on Theoderic, "Brother Wang has taught me many things, Mr. Theoderic, he said, there are many times, the fog will obscure your eyes, so that you can't see even what is close at hand, but there is a simple way, and that is to find the source, because everything must have a beginning and an end, and when a human being, or a bloodline, or a wizard does something, there must be a reason, so." ......" He pointed to the fires outside, and their heat seemed to come with the evening breeze without the shielding of the glass, and there was a terrible smell of roasted meat, which was burning the dead: "Then why did those people come, because they were told that there were holy things here, so that the people here could not be plagued, so if they wanted to live, they had to take this castle." ”

"That's true. Theoderick guessed too.

"Then just let them know that there's something more terrible than the Black Death. ”

"What?"

"Monsters, things that can take human lives in a matter of moments. ”

"Your defenses are also constantly killing. Theodric said.

"They can understand that boiling oil and boiling water will burn people to death, stones will smash people to death, crossbow arrows will pierce their bodies, and swords will separate their heads and bodies, but monsters are different, they are death, and they are fear, as the priests say, those who are killed by monsters cannot ascend to heaven without a solemn mass, nor can they be forgiven at the Last Judgment," said the Duke of Orleans, "how can a castle full of monsters have holy relics?"

Theoderick pondered for a moment, "And how do you explain the safety of you and these humans?"

"Are we here. No," said the Duke of Orleans, casually, "did we run out of the underground passage a few days ago and went to Thule." "Thule is not far from Nancy, mainly because the people there should also run out, and no one has proven exactly when they appeared there.

"So," said Amon, "will you close your eyes, Monsieur Theoderic, the leader of the Secret Party, His Royal Highness Prince of Van Zhuo?"

"Actually," said Theodryk, "if I want to talk about monsters, I know where they are." He looked at Amun, and though he had only heard that there might be such a deformed group of untouchables in the Lorraine Plateau, he had not been able to get out of it to deal with them, and now might be a good opportunity.

"Well, well," Amon raised his hands, "I surrender."

——————”

The besiegers of the castle were pleasantly surprised to find that the castle's defenses were gradually weakening, the arrows were no longer so dense, the dung was half-tepid, and when they struck the gate with their crude battering rams (the trunks of trees cut from the dense forest, before they had time to remove the branches), they felt that it was shaking weakly, and they obeyed the priest's instructions to build a fire at the hinges of the gates, and burned the thick hinges until they were deformed.

Finally, in the twilight, one of the most vulnerable gates collapsed to the cheers of the people, and they rushed forward in ecstasy, and some of them were knocked down, and they were trampled to death, so that when they suddenly encountered obstacles in the dark corridors, some people waved their flails and pitchforks, and the screams were mixed with curses and insults, forming a chaotic music—the people in the back didn't know what was going on in front of them, and were still trying to squeeze in, and the people in front — Those who were lucky enough to get ahead of the curve, they were not trampled on, they were not killed by their companions, but what did they see!

In the imagination of these people, the breached castle should be full of panicked crowds, they run around, like a herd of sheep chased by wolves, some may be stubborn, but they will not last long, not only will they be able to get the holy relic—it is said to be a ring of the Virgin, which, by touch, can remove high fever, pustules and dark spots, become strong and powerful, and get the women of the castle, money and jewels, clothes, and anything of value— But there was something wandering in the empty, dark square, but they, or rather, they looked like upright dogs, their red eyes shining like jewels in the light of torches, their fur smooth as silk, and their exposed white fangs like silver pearls of their imagination.

They bent their legs and seemed to move slowly, but with a single jump, they jumped onto the humans who were dozens of feet away from them, ripping open their throats in one gulp, and then gulping down the blood gushing from the wounds.

The people who finally reacted finally screamed hysterically, turned and ran frantically, and the people behind were still pushing forward, but those who saw the monster no longer even wasted time threatening and pushing them away, but climbed directly on them, and then crawled all the way through on their knees, chests, shoulders and heads, some succeeded, others were pulled down, killed or trampled to death.

These monsters are the untouchables created by the vampires of Amon and Tsmich, and the vicious vampires sometimes do this as if they were mischievous, and it is very simple to create untouchables, only a small amount of blood is needed - not enough to convert them into blood, this kind of monster is not only strange in appearance, but also stupid in mind, and does not even know what it means to be full, as long as the conditions allow, they will continue to kill, eat until their stomachs burst.