Pledge Allegiance

"You said Game Masters?!" Just after Anubis finished recounting his past experiences, Soran raised his head in curiosity.

"It's possible they were just using avatars of those two players for a screening process. And the reason they did it... maybe it's your very presence, Anubis?" Lumine added.

"I heard news about the vampire massacre in the first day, and thanks to that incident, I was able to tell that it seems like I was sent to a time when this game was first released... but not on my original server, and... in this NPC body... and this is where I'm living now."

Vampires were the keyword Soran had been searching for, and he believed that Dravenic was the perpetrator behind all the commotion, and he really hoped it was so. Then, one by one, strange pieces of knowledge were revealed. If summarized into one sentence—"Actually, you were never part of the story in the first place, Anubis," Soran confirmed.

"During the years I played this game and followed all the existing lore... The Crown of the Vampire Lord was never mentioned in any story," he continued. "Okay, maybe I skipped a few side quests, but it feels very strange that you... should never have been here in these early days."

As a player, Soran also participated in the first day of release like everyone else, and in those days, the world was moving at a speed that had never happened before. Humans were transitioning from the real world to this virtual game world, controlling the wheels of economy and politics. After all that, Soran never heard a single piece of information about Anubis or the Crown of the Vampire Lord.

Even his name was quite odd - Anubis - which didn't seem to quite match the vampire race, despite his appearance, which looked dignified and wise, yet stern at that. "I heard about the generals of the demons, ministers of the vampires who would colonize this world in the future patch, but I never heard of your existence there," Soran continued.

"And the proof that the GMs don't have a Privilege Level equivalent to yours..." Even the system, Lumine, couldn't perform an analysis like an encyclopedia of knowledge and information. "Who are you, really?"

Again, it should have been Anubis asking such questions, not the other way around.

"Don't mind about me," he said calmly. "Now, it's about how I can gain Authority Experience other than by slaughtering NPCs, and before that, this human needs to sever his ties with the celestials."

"Hm, right. With all the evidence we've got, I can assess that you, Anubis, have access to the abilities of the divinities, and not only that, you even have a Privilege Level higher than a GM, which means... you have a Holder, correct?" Lumine tried to guess.

GM-Hugo had once said that the only way to fight a Holder was by using a Holder. Although Anubis couldn't quite grasp the context of that conversation at the time, now everything was becoming clearer, and combined with the unusual notifications that had occurred—"Seems like it, and it appears that data is also encrypted," Anubis replied.

"Whoa, that's both surprising and not surprising at the same time," Lumine said. "But because you are descended from Dravenic… then what can we do? He himself was actually the most feared threat to the celestials, and that's because of the knowledge and power he possessed. Maybe if you could sever Kev—Soran's connection with the celestials, it would solve this problem."

A connection. Like the one Valeria had with Anubis? It seemed so. Performing the coronation process might have been one thought, but that was also a gamble with a death rate almost certain to occur. "Blood contract," Anubis muttered to himself while holding his chin. "But I can't do it."

"Blood contract? Right, that's an ability of you vampires, isn't it? Make me one of you like that woman, isn't that easy?" Soran was excited to hear it.

"It's almost impossible, human," Anubis immediately stopped him. "I possess the power of Pure Vampire Blood, very different from the vampires you might know, and the fact that Valeria could adapt to my blood alone is a miracle. There's another method, the Blood Contract, but I can't do it, and it's because of this world."

"Can't? Why? What's wrong with this world?"

This limitation was one of the main obstacles preventing Anubis from becoming stronger than he currently was. Despite having the upper hand with the early players for now, Anubis could see the potential and power that adventurers possessed, and it was only a matter of time before they became a serious threat.

Moreover, there were also NPCs who possessed levels and powers far beyond Anubis's own.

"If you want to know," Anubis said softly, extending his hand. "Give me that sword."

Soran didn't quite understand the connection between his question and the katana he was carrying, but he handed it over without a second thought.

Anubis unsheathed the blade without any special flair and made a simple upward swing. It seemed utterly ordinary, as if an ordinary person was swinging an ordinary sword.

*Ping!*

[!] System Alert: Class Restricted!

Cannot use equipment other than what is destined according to Class [?]

---

Immediately after completing just half a swing, the katana shattered into pixels.

"W-what?! What did you do to my only weapon? There's no Samurai class in the early days of this server... Oh ho ho... What have you done? I've been taking care of it so carefully all this time."

The others ignored Soran's complaints, which sounded like those of a spoiled child. Besides, when Anubis said, "Give me that sword!" instead of "Let me borrow that sword!", it meant that when Soran handed it over, he willingly gave it, not loaned it.

"I can't use anything other than what is destined according to my Class. I can somewhat understand the reason behind it, and it's the same reason that prevents me from using the Blood Contract," Anubis explained.

"That's how it is. There are still many mysteries in this world that have yet to be revealed," Lumine agreed in a casual tone. "To establish a relationship for its own sake... and you are the Crown of the Vampire Lord after all, just pledge allegiance to Anubis, Kev!"