Inside the gloomy castle, silver hand-shaped candelabras lined both sides of the corridor, each holding a crimson candle that cast an eerie, almost bewitching glow under its own dim light. Lucian stood silently outside the basement entrance, dressed in a black hooded robe, carefully studying the defensive magic circles that Count Vlad had set up. During the "daytime," the Vlad Castle remained open — ores needed to be transported, metals smelted, and slave dwarves had to come and go — so it was only partially sealed off, with a handful of surveillance magic circles active. Besides Count Vlad, the only mid-tier figure inside was Lady Tess, a vampire bride, which meant Lucian, a "high-tier Arcanist," had slipped in without much trouble. "The defense really is formidable." Lucian gave a slight nod. Count Vlad, a vampire powerhouse who had lived for several millennia, had indeed acquired some excellent magic circles. Twenty-seven dark-type magic circles linked together formed a powerful defensive system that bordered on a labyrinth lock — it could even withstand an eighth-tier Divine Art like Solar Flare. "The good news is, Count Vlad is a bloodline powerhouse, not an orthodox mage. This castle isn't an alchemical life form, so slipping in was far easier than it would have been otherwise." In the corridor outside the basement, female blood-servants of various races — humans, elves, dwarves — moved about like servants in any aristocratic household. Yet they all paid no attention to the strikingly conspicuous Lucian standing at the edge of the corridor, treating him as if he were air. Since Lucian had not yet learned the sixth-tier spell Mass Suggestion, he had painstakingly hypnotized every living creature inside the castle one by one. Even as a high-tier mage, circling through them all had drained his mental energy, and it took a good while to recover. "To crack this near-labyrinth defensive system would take at least two months of work. The biggest headache is that the moment I start breaking through, I'd almost certainly wake Count Vlad inside. A high-tier vampire plus his own castle — I'd stand almost no chance of winning, and there'd be real danger of falling in battle." Lucian stood at the basement door, his right hand stroking his chin as he analyzed the various difficulties. Count Vlad might be slumbering, but he wasn't like those ancient hereditary mages in the Dark Mountains who rejected Arcane knowledge. He relied on bloodline power, so he had nothing to fear from cognitive disruption — he could easily keep up with the times. That made things particularly vexing for Lucian, an orthodox Archanist of the Magic Council. "What excuse could I use to lure the vampire bride into tricking Vlad out?" "Tess eloped with Galata? Too melodramatic!" "Using their deaths as bait? No — that would put Vlad on guard!" "This really is troublesome…" "Perhaps I should think about it from a different angle…" After a while, Lucian nodded thoughtfully, then turned his focus to analyzing what he could directly observe — the magic circle structure of the defensive core, the flow of energy, and so on.
More than ten days passed, and the castle continued functioning normally. The vampire brides, the butler, the blood-servants, and the slaves all went about their duties, no different from before. Yet inside the castle, there was always a strange figure in a black robe wandering here and there, occasionally stopping to take out precious materials and arrange something, looking busy and completely unconcerned with anyone around. But whether it was a vampire bride, the butler, a blood-servant, or a slave, every single one of them completely ignored this person — even when he was stirring up noise right next to the energy well behind them. "Phew, it's finally set up." Lucian crouched at the basement door, clapped his hands together, and slowly straightened up. Awkward, eerie incantations rang out as his mental energy surged outward. The magic circle at the basement entrance activated in response, with line after line of starlight-like patterns blazing to life. Streams of radiant energy radiated outward in all directions. The Binding Chamber, the Summoning Chamber, the Magic Garden, the Energy Well — apart from the energy chamber and control hub within the basement itself, every important location in the castle lit up with its own arcane, mysterious magic circle as the dazzling light flowed swiftly toward them. Before long, they were all connected, and the entire castle was enveloped in a shimmering, dreamlike mantle of starlight. Enchanting and vast! The translucent dome of magic circle light — like the reflection of a starry night sky — suddenly contracted, pressing tight against the area surrounding the basement, as though it had merged with the original dark defensive array. After that, the magic circles Lucian had laid down showed no further activity. Everything returned to silence. In the midst of such a grand spectacle, the vampires and dwarves simply continued their actions, as though this were a normal fluctuation of the castle. And Count Vlad, inside the basement, remained fast asleep, completely undisturbed! The reason was simple: Lucian had never attempted to crack the dark defensive array in the first place, so naturally there was nothing to wake him. The powerful magic circles Lucian had spent over ten days setting up served a single, very specific function — adding another layer of defense around Count Vlad's basement, putting another "lock" on him so he could sleep even more "soundly" and "peacefully." Of course, this new layer of defense made no distinction between inside and outside — it was essentially a deadlock. Even Lucian himself would need nearly ten months to undo it. Moreover, the energy flowing from the Energy Well and the Magic Garden into the energy chamber now had to pass through this magic circle, which meant that if Count Vlad woke and tried to leave, the energy chamber's output would be restricted by nearly half. As a result, even with the assistance of the control hub, it would take five or six years for him to escape the basement — he wouldn't even be able to send out a message. As for five or six years from now, Lucian was confident he'd have no reason to worry about the spatial node being exposed, and other ultra-low-probability contingencies weren't worth considering. So — your defense is strong, your vigilance is high, your alertness is at its peak, and it's difficult for me to crack your defenses or assassinate you? Then I'll make your defenses even "stronger," your vigilance even more "thorough," and your security even better "guaranteed!" A different perspective opened up a whole new path, and Lucian grinned with dark amusement, though he'd never admit that his inspiration came from a joke back on Earth: if you can't pick the lock, just add another one! "It does sting a little, though," Lucian said, stroking his chin and shaking his head with a sigh. Although the bulk of his magic circle materials had come from the "generous" Count Vlad's warehouse, Lucian had still burned through a large stockpile of materials he'd been saving for setting up defensive arrays in emergencies. And Count Vlad's true vault was inside the basement, so Lucian hadn't been able to recoup his losses — he could only "console himself" by taking a generous quantity of mithril and specialty metals. After carefully inspecting the "Fortified Defensive Array" and confirming there were no issues, Lucian set up one more discreet magic circle at the basement entrance, storing a recorded simulation of Count Vlad's voice. If anyone came to invite him out or tried to wake him, "he" would apologetically reply that he was in a critical stage of recovering from his injuries, and unless the "Night Plateau" was under assault by a powerful enemy and on the verge of falling, no one should disturb him. With everything done, Lucian leisurely left the castle. Just a few steps past the main gate, he turned around with that dark sense of humor, placed his right hand over his chest, and bowed like a gentleman. "Pleasant dreams, Count Vlad."
Deep within an underground cave, the dwarves — bound by magic contracts — followed their "memories" and found their steam hammers, iron furnaces, food, paper, and other supplies stashed in other parts of the cavern. "There are three things we must do now," said Grand Elder Augustus, his face radiant with renewed vigor. Compared to the other dwarves, he had received three books: Foundation of Electromagnetic Conversion and Its Applications, A Treatise on the Papacy, and On Protracted Resistance. Reading them had filled him with excitement, as if he'd found a sacred manual for conquering his enemies. "First, we must refine our doctrines as quickly as possible and quietly recruit more of our kind. Second, we must search for edible crops suitable for growing underground and in the barren highlands, so we can solve the problem of hunger as soon as possible. Third, we must avoid any direct confrontation with the vampires — and for the short term, avoid any clashes whatsoever. We need ample time to master the knowledge the Lord has bestowed upon us and forge more and better machines. We must rearm ourselves." "Yes, Grand Elder! Steam above all!" Harold led the dwarves in raising their fists and cheering. The knowledge in those books had shaken them deeply, and they devoured it with insatiable hunger. They had always believed they inherited only fragments of steam civilization's legacy; only now did they realize they hadn't even touched its outermost edge, let alone comprehended the miracle that was Atlantis! And the appearance of the Dawn of Hope had filled them with purpose. The Grand Elder watched the dwarves busily set about their tasks with satisfaction, then turned and knelt before the altar. After reciting a holy name, he took out paper and pen and wrote: "The Mechanical Apocalypse." "He descended unto this place, and told the people: what is gained must come at a cost, and what is lost shall yield new gain. The hardships and sufferings of life are trials, granting you wisdom and a resolute soul that surpass others… The law of equivalent exchange must be upheld, lest the whole self fall into hell…"
After leaving Count Vlad's castle, Lucian went back to observe the dwarves' activities for a while before heading north with a sense of relief. Up there lurked several terrifying vampire princes. Legend held that the most powerful among them, while slumbering, could transform his dreams into a "real" city that manifested on the Night Plateau — a city filled with countless humans, dwarves, elves, and werewolves, some solid and some spectral, endlessly enacting tales of joy and sorrow. But their power had nothing to do with Lucian for now. After infiltrating the north, he quickly changed course and headed toward a castle that seemed perpetually shrouded in darkness. This castle was gloomy, hazy, and indistinct — it appeared to be nothing more than the projection of some mighty fortress from the material world onto the Night Plateau, not a true physical existence. It was the "Observer's Citadel," belonging to Count Rhein, the Silver-Eyed. As a vampire prince in all but name, Rhein naturally guarded a spatial node that led to the Dark Mountains. Through the teleportation array located at this node, one could reach the outer perimeter of the "Observer's Citadel" within the Dark Mountains directly. In the black fog, Lucian passed through the shadowy walls, walked along the eerie corridors, and used the incantations Rhein had given him to periodically disarm the terrifying and dangerous traps. Before long, he spotted the node's teleportation circle, stepped onto it, recited the spell, activated the light, and vanished.
On the Night Plateau, inside a castle with a distinctly Sylargos Kingdom style, a strikingly handsome man in a black tailcoat held a wine glass, swirling the crimson liquid within it. He turned to the butler beside him. "Rhein has been missing for quite some time. That old fellow seems to be getting restless." His crystalline red eyes narrowed slightly, making it impossible to read what he truly thought of the matter. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Mobile users, please proceed to read.)