The Witcher: Darkness Falls

"Anna Henrietta's grave... turns out to be there." Regis murmured, "What's there? They are actually wandering around there."

"Anna Henrietta...the mausoleum of the nobles, how many vampires are there?" Leon asked.

Anna Henrietta, he knew, was the ruler of Toussaint two hundred years ago, a duchess and a friend of Geralt and Regis.

But what were a bunch of vampires doing there?

"Seventeen, two vampire demons, one phantom, and the remaining fourteen are bat-winged demons." Regis said.

Because he was so close, he could even clearly feel the types and numbers of these low-level vampires.

Geralt asked in confusion: "Where are the high-level vampires? Aren't they over there?"

Regis shook his head and said, "No, if he doesn't release the information, I won't be able to sense it, just like now, they can't sense my existence."

Geralt nodded and said, "Let's go, Regis, do you have a way to suppress them?"

Leon could feel the seriousness in Geralt's tone. It was obvious that he was very afraid of so many vampires.

No vampire is simple, even a low-level one.

The three types that Regis just mentioned are all low-level vampires, just of different types.

They have various abilities, and if we have to rank them in terms of strength, the bat-winged demon is actually the weakest type of vampire.

But it is only the weakest compared to its own kind. Compared with humans and even elves, it is very strong and not easy to deal with.

According to Sicori's records, vampires often appear alone, but each appearance is accompanied by heavy casualties.

If you want to eliminate them, you will have to pay more than ten times the cost in lives.

However, with Regis by their side, it should be much easier for them to deal with these vampires.

After all, although Regis has a good temper, he is a serious high-level vampire!

He is the superior being to these low-level vampires!

Regis hesitated, but nodded and said, "Yes, if there are no high-level vampires interfering, I can suppress them with my blood.

However, it is only to weaken their strength, and it is not possible to make them surrender, after all, they are not loyal to me."

Leon couldn't help but ask curiously: "Regis, I'm curious about how high-level vampires control them.

According to what you said, the vampire hierarchy is strict, and higher-level vampires can completely command lower-level ones, but why can't you command other higher-level vampires when there are other higher-level vampires?

Soldiers swear an oath to their lords, but there are deserters, and no lord dares to say that his soldiers are absolutely loyal. "

Geralt also turned his head to look over. He was also curious about what was happening between vampires.

Although he dealt with quite a few vampires, there were not many high-level vampires. Apart from Regis, there were only Dettlaff and Orianna.

But Dettlaff had died long ago. He and Regis had killed him.

As for Orianna, it was impossible for her to stay in Toussaint forever. She was a noble, not a witch. It was quite scary that she could not live for a hundred years.

In order to hide her identity, she left Toussaint a long time ago, and it is hard to say whether she is still in Nilfgaard.

Moreover, this time when the Shadow Elder summoned high-level vampires, she has not appeared yet.

Either they simply refused to return, or they were too far away to return in time.

All in all, Geralt didn't know much about high-level vampires.

Regis thought about it.

Leon hesitated for a moment and said, “Well…if it’s a secret, you don’t have to tell it.”

Regis shook his head and said, “It’s not really a secret, it’s okay to tell you.

It's because of blood. It's different from the oath you human soldiers swear to your lord. You only make a verbal promise, and your ultimate loyalty depends entirely on your conscience.

Our oath of allegiance depends on blood, which requires a ritual to bind us to the vampire we are loyal to with some mysterious power. This is called a blood oath.

I also heard this from my parents. Since this is not our world, if we want to resist, the farther we are from the vampires we swore allegiance to, the weaker the constraints of the blood oath will be. In theory, if we are far enough away, the blood oath is equivalent to nothing.

But it’s not like this in our original world. As long as you swear, the other party will have complete control over your life and death. Even if you escape to the end of the world, the other party can use blood constraints to order you to come back, or even order you to commit suicide. "

Leon and Geralt were a little surprised that the power of the blood oath was so strong!

Regis continued, "And this blood oath will be passed on to the next generation. In other words, I did not swear an oath to the Shadow Elder, but my parents did, so it is indirectly equivalent to me also swearing an oath.

However, the binding force of the inherited blood oath will be weakened."

Leon sighed: "That's terrible... In this way, your life and death are controlled by others, how can you feel at ease?"

Geralt nodded and couldn't help asking, "Then doesn't this impose any restrictions on the superiors?"

Regis nodded and said, "Of course there is, and that's what I need to explain next.

The blood oath is actually a common agreement between both parties, but the superior has more initiative. Although it seems unfair, it is actually a kind of protection for the inferior.

Remember how I said that vampires are hard to kill by anyone but high-ranking vampires?

But in fact, the superior has a way to resurrect the inferior, because this is also part of the blood oath.

If violated, the superior will lose credibility and dignity, which is fatal to us.

Once a higher-level vampire loses his credibility and authority, he will no longer gain the loyalty of other lower-level vampires.

Because, apart from heredity, the blood oath is a voluntary act. If the lower level person is unwilling to die, the higher level person has no way to force it except to kill it. This situation is especially obvious with high-level vampires. "

Leon nodded: "That is to say, those low-level vampires you sensed have sworn allegiance to other high-level vampires, so you can't command them, right?"

Regis nodded and said, “That’s right, because of the interference of high-level vampires, they can refuse my orders.

But my level is higher than theirs, and even though I can't give them orders, there's no problem suppressing them."

Geralt suddenly asked, "Regis, according to you, Dettlaff still has a chance to be resurrected?"

Regis nodded and said, "Yes, but it will take a long time, at least four hundred years..."

"No wonder the Shadow Elder conceded that you would not be held accountable if you left Toussaint. This is the real reason, right?" Geralt asked.

Regis took a deep breath and said with a heavy heart, "Yes... but not entirely, after all, he did go too far at the beginning.

Well, let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s go, as we agreed before, and try to save their lives…”