Pulling his hand back, Kerwin formed a fist and struck it against the door with a split-second appearance of a spell circle.

*BANG!*

The thick ornate doors were sealed with magic but the magic was nothing to Kerwin's Tenth Circle strength that not only threw the doors open but ripped them off their hinges so they hit the ground with simultaneous, heavy thuds.

The room behind the doors was a massive hall a bit like a throne room. Caius made that comparison because it looked nearly identical to the hall he had been brought to months ago at the Manor that used to stand above ground. The hall where he had met Anton Orlock who, at the time, had been flanked by his winged, mutated, vampire consorts.

Brogan was sitting in a makeshift throne similar to Anton's and flanked, not by consorts, but by his lieutenants, who stood tensed and barely held themselves back from attacking.

Caius swept his eyes all over the hall and estimated at least 60 Vampires. An impressive number considering how many had already spilled to the surface and how many had been killed by Caius's small group on the way here.

"You really committed to this," Caius said in a tone that revealed that he was at least, the slightest bit astonished.

Caius was sure Brogan's territory was far from here. And yet, for the expedition, he rallied what appeared to be the entirety of his force to make the journey.

"You're not the Hunter," Brogan said with a sneer.

It wasn't a question. Long before Kerwin broke down the door, Brogan had caught their scents and auras. And if that had not been enough to tell him that these were the same creatures as him, their bright red eyes that could be seen through the eye-holes of their masks, had to be.

The Vampires closest to the doorway twitched like they had received telepathic orders and then they threw themselves at the intruders in Caius's group.

Caius was ready and a release of his authority stuck them in place. Kerwin took one step forward, swinging his arm in an arc to cut them down but froze when another Noble authority spread out, stopping him mid-strike.

For a moment, Caius and Brogan stared at one another as the clashing of their Noble authorities created an impasse.

"So, it's you," Brogan said in a tone that made it seem like a laugh was bubbling in his throat,

"The one who dared worm his way into Noble ranks."

Both Brogan and Caius's Noble authorities waned and Kerwin and Brogan's minions were released from their bounds, stepping back to return to their sides and eyeing one another with animosity.

Caius smiled lightly behind his mask.

"And you're the moron who started a war to meet me when you could have just asked for a meeting."

"Well, you're a hard one to find. As I'm sure is by design," Brogan said, unbothered by the insult,

"Even now, you stand before me with a mask on. Your identity is so precious that you can't even observe the proper Noble Etiquette."

"There's no such thing," Caius said.

"What?"

"There's no such thing as 'Noble Etiquette'. Not among vampires anyway. You stay your attacks from one another not because you respect each other, but because you fear the consequences of action. All tangled up in alliances, promises, vows, and whatnot.

You came after me because I seemed an easy target. One with no ties to your 'exclusive' club. You had no care for how your actions in the Capital would reflect on me and sought only to draw me out.

You'll permit me to not give a fuck about something as stupid and made up as 'Noble etiquette'."

Brogan's smile slipped and his lips contorted into a frown.

"You killed Anton."

"I did not," Caius answered and then cocked his head to the side,

"But I'm sure you knew that. You're just too much of a coward to turn your anger to where it should be."

Brogan paled for a split second but quickly rallied himself.

"You stole Anton's title!"

"Stealing suggests there was some dubiousness to it. But yes, I did take it from him. Not like he's going to be needing it anymore. He's dead after all," Caius said with a chuckle.

"Yes, yes," Brogan nodded solemnly, "And I will be taking it from you."

"You'll try, yes," Caius said and in a softer voice, he called,

"Kerwin?"

And Kerwin was gone. Faster than any eyes in the hall could follow, the Leopold Coven Leader crossed the Hall, striking a fist toward Brogan's face.

Brogan used his Noble Authority to freeze Kerwin in place and Caius's authority promptly countered it, leaving Kerwin free to carry on with his attack.

*Bang!*

The split second he had managed to hold Kerwin back had allowed Brogan to sidestep the punch by mere inches. The Vampire Baron conjured spell circles with his one hand, unleashing tentacles that lashed out at Kerwin.

To the average onlooker—i.e a non-vampire—the clash that followed would seem a lot like a straightforward contest of strength as Kerwin destroyed Brogan's tentacles one after the other but it was a lot more than that.

Every move by Brogan was accompanied by a Noble order and every move by Kerwin was supported by Caius's Noble orders meant to nullify Brogan's. If a non-vampire paid very close attention, they might see the look of struggle on Kerwin's face as two powerful authoritative forces fought for control over his body.

And that was the insidious manner of a battle between Vampire Nobles. As long as there are subjects around, those subjects are going to be used as pawns in the Vampire Nobles' games.

Brogan struggled to counter Caius's orders mostly because Caius outranked him. The title of Count was right above that of Baron in hierarchy and yet, even with the titles so close, had Brogan not been so much higher than Caius in Magic Circles, this might not even be a contest.

He was only countering Caius's orders this well because of his magical and physical strength and even then, he was on the back foot.

And that begs the question; What made Brogan so confident to start all this in the first place? He had no idea who the new Count was, so as far as he knew, it could have been someone far stronger than he was magically/physically.

Why start all this when you might be facing an opponent too strong to defeat?

'Unless he knew already,' Caius thought.

The more he thought about it, the more Caius felt Brogan had far too much confidence in starting all of this to not have at least known what he might be up against.

But that had to wait.

Once Brogan had been attacked, his minions in the Hall were quick to arms, more than half of them trudging towards Caius and the others.

Caius ordered them to stop, the wave of his authority spread all about the hall but began to wear thin before it could impact them all. So while a few stopped in their tracks, the others remained free to charge.

"Roxanne?" Caius called.

"On it!" Roxanne answered and waved her hand, unfurling a long scroll from her storage ring. She slammed the scroll with her palm and it burned to ashes leaving behind an Arcane Formation that spread and stamped itself against the ground, unleashing a wall of fire that swept at the Vampires, frozen and free.

Arcane Formations are tropically etched with painstaking focus but they can be portable. One just has to have etched them with the same focus and on material specialized to hold the complex magic.

Roxanne had been a vampire for centuries and had had more than enough time to study the intricacies of the arcane. The books in her chambers, which Caius could testify to seeing, were particular proof of her diligence to the craft enabling her to become a Formation Master.