Picking up Girls With My System

Chapter 398 Blood Monarch, A Demon

The captains and the soldiers worked together to set up the camping site as quickly as possible — Arthur also helped, although in his time, working less than the others.

His primary goal of making them attack him worked, so there was no reason for him to keep acting like a lazy leader who would not do a thing for his soldiers. That would make them see him badly, which was the opposite of what he looked for.

Vampires did not burn with the sun, but that did not mean they didn't need to sleep, and the perfect time for it was during the day — when their powers diminished, unlike night when vampires were stronger.

Even though Arthur was stronger than them and had special abilities from the Blood Monarch's inheritance, he still followed the same rules, and at that point, he also needed to sleep, like everyone else.

They built up large tents and placed many sleeping bags inside where the soldiers would sleep. As for the captains, they would sleep inside their carriages alone.

Every time one tent was done and the soldiers went in to sleep, the atmosphere became quieter, with the only sound being the birds and the bugs within the forest. Arthur slept like a baby, not hearing anything and waking up in the night like all the others.

"Let's pack up and move!" Arthur said.

Just like that, they kept traveling toward the area where the orcs had attacked, but soon something terrible would happen…

~~~~

The day came like all the other times, and the soldiers had to prepare their tents to sleep. They wouldn't place these tents near the road but not that far from it.

"This is a remote area; barely anyone passes through here," they thought, not believing something terrible would happen.

It was quiet during the day, but Arthur suddenly woke up with screams and battle sounds, believing it was only a dream for a moment, but soon someone broke into his carriage and attacked him!

The man who entered had a robe similar to that of a holy priest, and with a book in his hands, he cast divine magic, trapping Arthur in place!

Arthur had no chance to fight back, especially after scanning the man, seeing it was a rank three mage, one rank above him, which made the priest impossible to beat.

"Come with me, demon," the man said, pulling Arthur from the carriage with a golden rope, which he cast to tie up Arthur.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked as it was uncommon for the human race to act like that in the demon continent.

"I am a Bishop from the Holy Church of Cleansing. I assume you are the leader of these vampires, right? The others are over there," the priest said, pointing to where the other captains were, all tied up, just like Arthur.

As for the ordinary soldiers, well, they were dead by that point, but that did not make much of a difference to Arthur anyway.

"What will you do with us?" Arthur said.

The priest put all the other captains in a carriage, but Arthur had one just for him, and the Bishop was there to ensure he did not escape.

"Lock you up, of course. Well, you can expect that for you; as for the other captains, they will die, eventually."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why? Us humans suffered long enough in the hands of these creatures, especially you, the demons we call vampires. With all this shit going on, it is the perfect time for us to finally act and rule this continent, killing all these demonic races!"

Arthur knew something like that would happen, but in the future, and by that point, there would be no way for the humans to take control of the continent.

Humans wanted to dominate everything, as they were the race with the highest population. That was true in Arthur's old world and this one.

"It seems this body is fated to suffer…."

~~~~

They traveled for a long time, and with the shortage of blood, Arthur's skin had turned pale and he looked as skinny as a mummy. Yet, unlike what he thought, his mind was still clear, and the desire for blood was manageable, different from the other captains, who wanted to break free and rip the priests' throats.

After traveling for who knows how long, the carriages stopped before a gate: the biggest human city and the place where no other races could enter.

"Oh, it's you, Bishop, and… What is this thing you are bringing? A demon?" the guard said as he looked toward the Bishop and then at the mummy beside him.

The church was the most respected place in that town, and they were the biggest power on the human side, the ones behind everything. So, it was not unusual for the guard to recognize the carriage from the church — they had a prominent symbol on it.

"Yes, this one is a powerful demon. We must quickly go to the church's dungeon and lock it in there."

"Of course, Lord Bishop. Go on," the guard said, clearing up the path for the church's carriages to pass.

Arthur was not liking where that was going, and how the hell would he escape from prison?

As they passed through the city's streets, the citizens whispered to each other, "is that Lord Bishop? I wonder what demon he brought this time."

"Why are you saying this? It's like you want to meet with the demon!"

"No, wouldn't it be nice to force the demon to give you what you want?"

"Shh, shut up! Are you like those worshipers of demons?"

With Arthur's capabilities, he could hear what they were saying, which gave him an idea of a way to one day escape from prison.

~~~~

The carriages went to the highest part of the city where the Holy Church of Cleansing was, but they stopped, and the prisoners went into a dungeon.

"Move you, little demon," a priest said to one of the captains, pushing them to their cells.

Each captain had their cell, as it was best if they were separated to avoid any escaping plans. As for Arthur, he had a giant cell, away from everyone else, in the deepest part of the dungeon.

"Why are they treating me like this? I am just a vampire unless…."

Arthur was using everything he could from the Blood Monarch's inheritance, and the more he looked at it, the more he was confident the Blood Monarch was not a vampire at all!

Sure, he drank blood, as the vampires did, but it seemed like he was a superior being, while the vampires came after his existence, like a copy.

A powerful enough holy priest would be able to feel Arthur was not an ordinary vampire and was more akin to a demon, and that is why they locked him up inside that cell.

"It makes sense. The Blood Monarch is way more powerful than any vampire, and his techniques are strange."

Now that Arthur had nothing else to do inside that dark, wet, and shitty cell, he took his time to browse all the Blood Monarch's memories and found something interesting.

Ikarus, the bluebird that saved Arthur, and was one of the strongest beings he knew, believed that the Blood Monarch came from the neighboring universe, the same place where the 'gods' came.

These gods could use something called Celestial Energy and get devotees to increase their power, making them able to reach greater heights, more than what one could achieve using only mana alone, which made them so strong.

Arthur also could use Celestial Energy, which then turned into Draconic Energy. It was as if the energy matched his body now, making it better than regular Celestial — as he was more a dragon than a celestial, although he had the skill 'Celestial Body.'

But if the Blood Monarch came from the same place, then could that mean he also had his own 'system' of devotees? Arthur browsed through his memories, and after two days, he found what he was looking for!

"Demonic Pact? Worshipers of the Blood Demon? What is this?"

It was a spell, and the way the Blood Monarch got his devotees was different. While the others had devotees that would worship using special meditation techniques, granting more power to both sides, the Blood Monarch made pacts, giving what the other person wanted in exchange for their eternal loyalty, their soul.

"This is the perfect thing, even better than the others! No wonder the Blood Monarch became more powerful than almost anyone!"

There was no denial humans were the superior race and the ones in the highest position in the universe. Humans were also greedy, and it was easier to get mages to form a pact than abandon everything to worship something or someone.

"But what's this? Can I truly give what people want?"

The strangest part about the spell was that it allowed Arthur to do things he felt like impossible. Like resurrecting people, not zombies, but the actual people! He could conjure anything the other part wanted.

"How does this?"

Arthur browsed more through the memories and understood how it worked. The soul was the essence of a person, and when someone made a pact, they would give their soul to the Blood Monarch. He would use the power of the soul to make impossible things, like resurrecting their loved ones or giving them other things which they felt it was impossible.

"With this, I can entice some guards, and leave this place! I don't think all the priests here are saints, and surely some want something, and this demon here is ready to give them!"