"This place means something to you," Lyanna noticed.

"Kinda," Caius answered, "Something significant did happen to me here." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Hmm hmm," Lyanna said in a musing tone and then beckoned,

"Come on, before we lose the trace."

Before Caius could ask what she meant, they were moving again. Just as they had done many times already, they simply blinked and were somewhere else. Caius could instantly tell this was the inside of Anton’s Manor even though he hadn’t ever been to this particular place.

The entire hall was ransacked, with equipment either destroyed or tossed aside. This, Caius knew, had been done by the Von Helsing Estate’s Hellsingers when they came to rescue him.

There, standing in front of a desk that seemed pulled out of position, was Brogan Kraxia, one side of his body shrouded in the shadow of the windowless room. Even though he wasn’t actually there, Caius felt like he might as well have been from just how oppressive Brogan’s killing intent felt.

Brogan had his stump bandaged and subconsciously moved his one hand trying to touch the arm that was now gone. When he found nothing to touch or hold, the look in his vampire red eyes was one of great detest. His anger was so deep that it seemed close to becoming an entity of its own.

"Was I right to bring you here?" Lyanna asked Caius now. Getting this close had been to allow Caius to confirm the target as she worried he might still be doubtful.

"It’s him," Caius said.

"Good. Now we must leave," Lyanna said, "The Aura is fading. The connection is breaking."

They left Anton’s Manor then but on their way out, Caius caught a glimpse of the side of Brogan that had been in shadow and it was slightly burned. If he were to guess, Caius would say Brogan had found it hard to return to the Manor after losing an arm and suffering such a defeat.

Also, the hand he lost happened to be where he wore his Moonstone Ring and the storage ring that held any potential replacement.

Come to think of it, that was probably why Lyanna and Caius’s journey here had pinged at various locations: Brogan must have needed to make some stops before finding his way over here.

And then Caius was back in his body. He saw that every council member was on their feet, their expressions a mix of intrigue and worry but Caius couldn’t pay too much attention to them at first as he tried to reorient himself after the out-of-body experience.

"Thank you," he said to Lyanna who didn’t seem as ’out of it’ as he did, which made sense considering this wasn’t her first time at it.

"You’re welcome," Lyanna answered with a smile and a bow.

"So it was a success, My Lord?" Kerwin asked.

"I know where Brogan is," Caius said as he stood to his feet, "But I don’t know how long he’ll remain there."

The look on Brogan’s face was very clear in Caius’s head. That was the look of one losing all rationality. One who was ready to be as reckless as they could possibly be. The only thing that could be restraining a potential Brogan rampage would be the sun that he no longer had protection from. But a Vampire Noble like Brogan could surely get a replacement Moonstone Ring. They might not have until Nighttime to stop Brogan before he goes completely nuts.

"We need ’Ophiuchus’ Mercenaries to stake out the Manor," Caius said with a hand on his jaw and his purple eyes contemplative, "Human Mercenaries. Vampires will fall prey to Noble Authority."

"What Manor, My Lord?" Kerwin asked.

Caius paused and then remembered they didn’t yet know what he was talking about.

"Any map showing the Capital as well as the outskirts?" He asked.

Kerwin pulled his magical device close, did a few swipes, and then let it float again so it could project a less detailed but larger map depicting more than just the Capital.

Caius nodded appreciatively and studied the map. Anton’s Manor doesn’t show up on any map ad for centuries since the Vampire Count began to reside there, he had used great cloaking formations to hide and protect it mostly from Athenodora.

"It’ll be in this area," Caius said.

He couldn’t be more precise because he had never consulted a map to find the Manor. He was basing his triangulations on the glimpses he had caught of the terrain while he had been getting carried over there. Still, he was confident of the spot he picked.

"It’s a Manor that used to belong to a Vampire Count known as Anton Orlock. It is his Noble title I now hold," Caius explained.

"So you have history with that Manor," Roxanne said slowly.

"I suppose you could say that, yes," Caius answered.

"So this Brogan just happened to choose a Manor you have a history with to hide out in?" Roxanne asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I doubt it’s a coincidence. The Vampire Nobles, me excluded, of course, all knew one another. Anton especially had... value to them being an accomplished Blood Alchemist among other things.

Still, I can’t rule out the possibility that Brogan is a bit more personally motivated to come after me. That’s what this is all really about: The attack on the Capital, the war against you— It’s all because I, the latest to join the Vampire Noble Ranks, am ’responsible’ for Anton’s death."

As he was talking, Caius realized this was the first time he was admitting to them why Brogan was attacking. As far as the Leopold Coven knew before now, Brogan simply wanted to ’move on their turf’.

Looking about the council hall though, there wasn’t really any judgment in their eyes. They seemed more resigned while letting out sighs of understanding. Like they were at the very least glad they knew the ’why’ of the attacks. Covens had come to the Capital before and caused problems but none had ever been this aggressive and this... sporty about killing.

"I’m passing the message to ’Ophiuchus’ bases close to that region," Kerwin announced with a Loqui-link in hand.

"Include that they are not to attack," Caius said, "They are to simply watch and report their findings."

"But, they are best equipped to face this threat," Lorton Leopold said with a frown.

"Better than vampires?" One Leopold whose name Caius still didn’t know scoffed, "I highly doubt that."

"You overestimate the ability of the average Vampire in the Coven. Talent doesn’t really gain a boost just by getting turned. We have very capable human mercenaries. Those who are more than a match for Vampires.

Plus, humans can’t be controlled by Noble authority which will make any Vampire useless regardless of how strong they may be," Lorton countered expressively.

Caius agreed with Lorton actually. At least, up to a point.

"You forget, humans can be turned. All it takes is a bite and a force feed of Vampire blood and the human mercenary is at the very least down for the count," he said and all eyes turned to him as he continued,

"Yes, Non-noble Vampires can be a risk. However, there is a reason Vampire Nobles still turn Vampires rather than rely on their Noble authority to muster an army; It’s because we can’t exert our authority indefinitely. It’s actually quite tiring to keep it up for an extended time.

With that in mind, the best opponent against the army of a Vampire Noble, is a Vampire army led by another Noble.

That’s why it is vampires who must face Brogan’s force. And it’s why I must be there to lead that army."