I Am Louis XIV

The Duke of Orleans is a bold man, but he also has to admit that he probably can't drive a group of inhuman creatures like his brother and his courtiers - he sat behind the desk, vaguely defensive, because now the room is almost full of people. Vampires, both male and female, have outstanding looks, but their pale faces look a bit cold, and what makes the vampires a little agitated is that Prince Theodric of Vatican really rolled up his sleeves as he said. , cut his arm with his nails, and gave Amon a drop of blood.

The value of the blood of the prince is even higher than those of the monks and wizards. This is naturally no secret among the blood clans. The Duke of Orleans can detect some clues from the no longer calm eyes of the vampires, but Amon looks like As if there was still some reluctance, Theodric glared at him, walked over and said to Philip: "If possible," he put down his sleeves, "don't owe anything to dark creatures, especially vampires."

The Duke of Orleans knew Theodric because the king and he had described the appearance of the Prince of Vatican. In addition, he had also learned the name of Theodoric in history class, and Prince Vatican's favoritism towards the French royal family was not the first For example, if some dark creatures transformed by human beings are willing, they can protect their families for a long time, and even leave a curse before they perish—the king also mentioned Amon, and this Prince Zmixi obviously wants to He did as much as he wanted, and Prince Condé also admitted that he and the Duke of Longueville were able to leave the Castle of Vincennes thanks to the blessing of this vampire, so even if he claimed that he came for the king, the Duke of Orleans would not believe it.

"Look at you," Amon said, sitting on the chair his attendant brought for him. "Am I a person who always tells lies? I come for the king, but it doesn't mean that I am ordered I just don’t want to make my little Louis sad,” he looked at the Duke of Orleans, “but I didn’t expect there to be a person who shines like a jewel here.” It’s a pity that the Duke of Orleans is like a piece of A glamorous ruby ​​is beautiful, but it will never compare to another larger and more perfect diamond. If you want him to make a comparison, Amon can only say this. He is so pure, but as long as there is light, He can burst out any gemstone, no, a brilliant fire that is incomparable to anything.

For Amon, the best way is probably to ignore it, "Now you can leave here, your brother is eagerly waiting for your return in Paris, Your Highness." Theodric said.

The Duke of Orleans should indeed be overjoyed, but he obviously hesitated, "Is there a problem?" Theoderic said, "It's General Schaumberg? Don't worry, we will take them away as well." The power of vampires And the speed of action is much faster than that of ordinary people. If they are not intended to be seen by humans, human beings will not be able to see how they attack themselves. They can also plunder their targets like wolves or falcons, just like a hurricane.

The Duke of Orleans clenched his hands: "May I know where this plague came from?"

"If you want to ask whether it is artificial," Amon said first: "Your Highness, yes, I must answer you like this."

"Who is it?" Although he had almost guessed the answer, the Duke of Orleans still wanted confirmation. "I don't think there is any need to delve into this matter," Theodric said in a warning tone: "That is something your brother must face."

"My elder brother is just a mortal, but now someone is hitting him with extraordinary means." After the shadow of death was no longer so imminent, the Duke of Orleans was filled with bursts of resentment and frustration. He could imagine that when they returned When you arrive in Paris, what your brother, yourself, and a group of people have done in Lorraine and Alsace will come to naught—those lords and bishops with ulterior motives will definitely announce that they have been punished and punished by God. The new order will be re-established during this blank period, and if they want to come back here, the price they will pay will probably be greater than when they first arrived, because those people are already familiar with and understand them. s method.

"Who else is in the castle?"

"Wizards, craftsmen, as well as officials here and some vassals." The latter two are the largest wealth accumulated by the Duke of Orleans after three years of painstaking efforts. They own the territories of Lorraine and Alsace, and are willing to be loyal to the King of France Louis, not the emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, they are the nails that the Duke of Orleans planted here, and tried every means to make them stronger, so as to drive away those dangerous people who did not obey the rule-in the discovery here After the seeds of the plague appeared, the Duke of Orleans immediately returned to the castle and sent messengers to inform these people.

There are also some people who, out of fear of the plague, have transformed from neutral or vacillating attitudes to staunch Franchophiles. The Duke of Orleans cannot drive them out of the above two, so now the number of people in the castle has reached 3,000 people, even if it is only counted as the direct descendants, it is more than 500 people. This number can only be taken away by the descendants of the Vatican or the Zmisch family in France, but in that case... the church will not just stand by like this looking at.

"Also, such a large-scale operation also violates the covenant of seclusion, right?" Amon asked with a smile. The drop of blood Tiodric watched him drink just now, making him regret that he couldn't take it What tricks and tricks can make Theodric feel embarrassed and he will be happy-the devil party can do whatever it wants, but the secret party has more regulations to follow. They can appear in front of the king or the Duke of Orleans because the world There are always people who can be exempted from all legal provisions, but the people here, most of them, are not eligible.

They may be able to see the true colors of vampires, but only if they are food or blood servants.

But they are also puppets carefully cultivated by the Duke of Orleans. Without these people, the king’s rule will surely fail. Thinking of the artisans and farmers who died or fled due to the spread of the Black Death, the Duke of Orleans’ heart is already It was a tense moment, did he really want to leave Lorraine with empty hands like this? Like a defeated general? If Lorraine was just the original Lorraine that only produced forests and dairy products, it would be fine, but now there are glass, ceramics, coal, and steel... It is a place that the king is unwilling to give up no matter what.

"I have an idea," Amon said, "but our Royal Highness Prince Fanzhuo definitely disagrees."

"As long as you don't violate the Masquerade Covenant," Theodric said.

"But you also know that we are all quite happy to destroy them, I mean, dear Theo, all the restrictions, all the fixes, all the shackles, you follow the rules and follow the rules," Amon shook his head , "But what are we? We are blood races. We shouldn't be bound by the so-called laws. The people of darkness are born free." He spread his hands and feet on the chair in such a rude gesture When he did it, it turned out to be quite elegant and elegant, and the vampires in Zmixi laughed softly, cheering for their highness the prince.

However, Amon was always staring at the only mortal in the room, that is, the Duke of Orleans. He seemed to be waiting for the Duke of Orleans to give him a pleading look. Of course, he would fulfill all the expectations of the Duke like a doting father. Use a powerful force to make him submit, before he can't get his brother... There is a saying, talk is better than nothing.

"I probably guessed a little bit about what this Mr. Amon means." The Duke of Orleans said suddenly, his eyes flicked from Amon, and then stayed on Theodric, "Brother Wang taught me a lot, Mr. Theoderic, he said, there are many times when the fog will cover your eyes and prevent you from seeing even close at hand, but there is an easy way out, and that is to go to the source, because all things , there must be a beginning and an end, and when a human being, or a vampire, or a wizard does something, there must be a reason, so..." He pointed to the fire outside, without the glass and their heat seemed to come with the evening wind, and there was a horrible smell of roasting meat, and they were burning the dead: "Then why did those people come, because they were told that there were holy things , so the people here can avoid the plague, so if they want to live, they must capture this castle."

"Indeed." Theodric also guessed.

"Then just let them know that there is something more terrible than the Black Death here."

"What?"

"Monsters, things that can take human life in an instant."

"Your defense is also killing people," Theodric said.

"They can understand these. Boiling oil and boiling water will burn people to death, stones will kill people, crossbow arrows will penetrate their bodies, and swords will separate their heads and bodies. But monsters are different. They are death and fear. As the priests say, he who is slain by a monster cannot ascend to heaven, nor can he be forgiven in the Last Judgment, unless he celebrates a solemn mass; How could there be a holy object in a monster's castle?"

Theodric pondered for a while: "Then how do you explain that you and these humans are safe and sound?"

"Are we here? No," said the Duke of Orleans nonchalantly, "Did we run out of the underground passage a few days ago and went to Thule." Thule is not far from Nancy, mainly there The people who were there should have run away too, and no one can prove when they showed up there.

"So," Amon said, "do you want to close your eyes, the leader of the Secret Party, His Royal Highness the Prince of Vanjo, Mr. Theodric?"

"In fact," Theodric said, "if you want to talk about monsters, I know where they are." He looked at Amon, although he only heard that there might be such a group of deformed pariahs in the Lorraine Plateau, but he always Unable to get out to deal with them, now may be a good opportunity.

"Hey, okay," Amon raised his hands: "I surrender.

————”

The people who besieged the castle were pleasantly surprised to find that the defense of the castle was gradually weakening, the arrows were no longer so dense, the dung water was half-warm, and they used crude battering rams (trunks cut from the jungle, They did not have time to remove the branches) knocking on the gate, feeling that it was shaking feebly, and following the priest's arrangement, they built a fire at the hinges of the gate, and burned the thick hinges until they were deformed.

Finally, at dusk, the most vulnerable city gate collapsed amid the cheers of the people. They rushed forward in ecstasy. Some people were trampled to death when they were pushed down. When encountering obstacles suddenly, someone waved a flail and a pitchfork, and screams, curses, and insults were intertwined to form a chaotic movement—the people behind had no idea what happened in front of them. , still trying to squeeze in, and the people in front - those who were lucky enough to grab the front, they were not trampled or killed by their companions, but what did they see!

In the imagination of these people, panicked crowds should be everywhere in the breached castle. They run around like a group of sheep being chased by wolves. Some people may resist, but they won't last long. They not only You can get holy objects - it is said that it is a ring of the Virgin, just by touching it can remove high fever, pustules and black spots, become strong and strong, and you can also get women in the castle, money and jewelry, clothes and anything of value —but in the empty, dark square, there were indeed things roaming, but they, or they, looked like dogs standing upright, and their red eyes shone like jewels in the light of the torches Shiny, their fur smooth as silk, and their snow-white fangs exposed like silver pearls of their imagination.

With their legs bent, they seemed to be moving slowly, but with just one jump, they jumped onto a human who was dozens of feet away from them.

The people who finally reacted finally shouted hysterically, turned around and ran frantically, the people behind were still pushing forward, but those who saw the monster didn't even waste time threatening and pushing them away, but directly Climbing up to them and crawling heavingly over knees, chests, shoulders, and heads, some succeeded, others were pulled off, killed, or trampled to death.

These monsters are the untouchables created by the vampires of Amon and Zmixi. Vampires with bad nature sometimes do this as a prank. It is very simple to create untouchables, only a small amount of blood is needed - not enough at all Transforming them into the weight of a blood race, this kind of monster is not only strange in shape, but also stupid in mind, and doesn't even know what it means to be full. As long as conditions permit, they will continue to kill and eat until their stomachs burst.