But I Refuse

The castle of the Tepes Government a rather ancient style, but it exudes a demonic aura that is not human.

After passing through the corridor, the castle gate, and the courtyard, at the end of the last inner corridor, a pair of large double doors leading to the castle hall stand quietly.

A lifelike monster relief is carved above the entrance.

Seemingly aware of Ren's arrival, the door was opened from behind by two men dressed in medieval heavy armor and carrying longswords.

The vampire slowly pushed it away.

Is this an invitation?

A faint smile appeared on Ren' face.

Although he had no idea what these vampires were up to, he was bold and daring, unafraid of any schemes or tricks, and simply walked in along the red carpet.

Chapter 243 But I Refusal

Chapter 243

Although it was slightly warmer inside the castle than outside, it was still cold and damp.

A faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

The room was quite spacious, with candlelight flickering on both sides of the hall. Ren looked up and saw that the vampires had made the light bulbs into a very old and traditional shape.

At the other end of the low-carbon spectrum, several tiers above, stands a throne.

On the throne sat a young blonde beauty, slender and graceful, her blonde hair like ears of wheat growing in the morning sun. Her skin, revealed beneath her luxurious gown, was very pale, and her features were as delicate as a doll's, but she lacked a certain vitality.

Near the throne stood a young man, his face deathly pale.

In addition, on either side of the throne stood several soldiers and five middle-aged and elderly men and women dressed in medieval noble attire.

After Ren entered alone, the nobles stared at Ren with bloodshot eyes, like wild beasts ready to devour him.

After all, the human-like scent emanating from him was a rare delicacy for these vampires, making him a must-eat for them.

Before they could speak, Ren's gaze swept over them, and relevant information appeared above each of their heads.

After taking a few seconds to process this, he said, "So you are the Vampire Queen of the Tepes Faction, and the four Vampire Elders, right?"

Upon hearing this, one of the tall, thin vampire elders sneered, "Human, are your eyesight not quite right? There are clearly five vampire elders."

Bang--!

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bullet engulfed in purple flames pierced the elder's head, instantly engulfing his entire body in flames until he turned to ashes and died.

Upon hearing this, Ren chuckled and said, "Now only the four elders remain."

When Ren suddenly fired his gun, all the vampires in the hall were completely dumbfounded.

They had anticipated Ren's various reactions and had prepared their own countermeasures.

But unexpectedly, this guy doesn't play by the rules; he shoots and kills people without warning! He kills vampires!

You said that only one of the four elders was killed, so if you then say that another one of the three giants has to die!

Moreover, they had already made a special effort to show their sincerity by receiving you, a human, yet they immediately blew an elder's head off!

Are they the villains, or are you the villain?!

Ren clearly didn't care what they thought.

These vampires are even more pretentious than the elders of the Himejima Family. They've already fought, and they're still acting like this. Do they not take him seriously?

The guards stationed near the castle were eager to act, but the young man on the throne gestured for them to stop, smiling as he said, "Perhaps there was some misunderstanding between us before, but now we can cooperate."

"Oh? How do we cooperate?"

Upon hearing this, Ren found these vampires quite interesting; he had already killed so many of them, yet...

Why aren't you doing anything yet?

Given this, he remained restrained for the time being.

We might be able to extract a few tasks from him; we'll see what the tasks entail before deciding whether to take action.

Seeing Ren stop, Marius's pale face broke into a wide smile, "I don't care if you're from the Holy See or a henchman sent by Carmilla Faction. As long as you don't get in our way, we can discuss any conditions. What do you want? Wealth, women, power, or all of them? We can give you everything!"

Upon hearing this, Ren dismissed it.

Although he constantly complains about being short of money and always asks his employer for payment as soon as a mission is over, he is actually not short of money at all.

He robbed several Blood Factory in Romania last time, taking all the cash and valuables inside. The antiques and paintings in the Uji Treasure Trove are still unsold, and there are still outstanding payments to the Himejima Family, so he's really not short of money right now.

It's clearly unnecessary to act like a monster just for the small amount of money a vampire promises.

As for power, he wasn't interested in being the boss. Besides, his actions in Kyoto had earned him clear favor from both Suzaku Himejima and Yasaka. If he wanted to, he might become the head of the Himejima Family and the Kyoto Youkai World.

Although they aren't a major power, they're still better than the vampires who have been holed up in their own little corner of the world for hundreds of years.

As for women...

Ren's gaze swept across the room, finally settling on the blonde female vampire on the throne.

Valerie Tepes.

Gasper Freddy's childhood friend, a half-human, half-vampire.

Having lived this long, he had never actually experienced what it was like to be a vampire.

I especially want to know if canine teeth can cause injury to the penis.

Just as Ren was pondering, Marius clapped his hands lightly, and then several female vampires dressed as maids carried in several heavy boxes. After opening the lids, the gold and Jewel Treasure displayed inside shone brilliantly under the light.

The female vampires were dressed very scantily, revealing most of their round, full breasts. Ren could only find a little fabric between their buttocks. They also deliberately struck seductive poses when Ren looked at them, which could be described as extremely alluring.

Unfortunately, Ren wasn't interested in women who deliberately flaunted their sex appeal, especially vampires who frequently threw parties; these women had probably been used countless times.

Seeing that Ren did not answer, Marius continued to persuade him, "I can also grant you eternal life, making you a noble and great vampire, granting you the same powers as us, and making you one of the five elders... one of the four elders!"

In order to bring Ren under their wing, they shamelessly changed the number of the five elders to four.

However, Ren chuckled and asked, "I just killed one of you, and you're already trying to recruit me?"

"We vampires respect every talented person, especially a human with your strength. Just imagine, with your current power, once you become a vampire, your strength will definitely reach a new level. At that time, not only the Demon King, but even a god will be no match for you!"

"As for that elder from earlier, I've already asked him, and since he didn't say anything, I'll take that as an admission."

Upon hearing this, Ren's expression turned strange.

In terms of shamelessness, these vampires are even more unscrupulous than him.

They even said things like that.

After Marius finished speaking, the other elders nodded in agreement, and the motion passed unanimously. They truly did not want to be enemies with Ren unless absolutely necessary, and it would be best if they could turn enemies into friends.

After all, Ren's pistol could fire that strange purple flame, which could easily kill even vampires enhanced by the Holy Grail, making it the nemesis of vampires.

These veterans, who have lived for hundreds of years, have no intention of living long enough. In fact, after the Holy Grail appeared in this country, they even developed the idea of continuing to expand and strengthen their power.

However, because the old king of the Tepes Faction only wanted to maintain the status quo and refused the evolution of vampires, they united to stage a coup.

Unfortunately, although the coup was successful, the old king was not captured and escaped.

Fortunately, they have captured the holder of the Holy Grail. All they need to do now is remove the Holy Grail from the girl's body, and then they will be able to complete the evolution of the vampires!

"Vampires have so many weaknesses, do you think I'd agree to your offer?"

Ren didn't know if these people had watched too many brainless TV dramas, or if they just thought everyone envied them as vampires.

Moreover, the vampires in the High School DxD world really have no redeeming qualities other than their immortality.

They fear sunlight, garlic, and crosses. Moreover, ordinary vampires cannot freely enter the homes of uninvited individuals. Coupled with the power of the Holy See, it's fair to say that their lives are quite difficult.

Marius smiled confidently upon hearing these words.

In the past, they might have been frantic, but now, with the power of the Holy Grail, they can completely eliminate all the vampire's weaknesses.

"The weaknesses you mentioned were indeed true in the past, but times have changed. Our nation has given birth to the Longinus 'The Holy Grail of the Otherworld,' and I have been researching it. I have discovered that with the power of the Holy Grail, not only can we erase all the weaknesses of our vampire race, but we can also further enhance our other powers!"

It was as if they were echoing what Marius had said.

The four elders spoke one after another.

"In the past, the vampires, who were eternal inhabitants of the night, were a race with many weaknesses."

"Sunlight, flowing water, crosses, garlic, holy water, and so on! We are clearly a race far superior to humans, yet it is precisely because of these weaknesses that humanity has prospered to this day!"

"Therefore, we will use the Holy Grail to transform vampires into perfect beings without any weaknesses!"

"Then we will overthrow humanity and take over the world. Only under the rule of our superior race will humanity be able to fulfill its original desire to be livestock!"

"While it's understandable that the number of Exile livestock has increased so unnecessarily, the world has been occupied by them for far too long."

"I completely agree, but once we complete our evolution, the world will be able to truly become what it should be! A world ruled by our vampire race!"

Ren found it quite unsettling to watch the group of vampires suddenly get carried away with their conversation.

"So, sir, what is your opinion?"

Marius, seeing the elders nodding repeatedly, smiled and asked Ren.

"You heard it too. Now our camp is united, and what we're going to do is definitely not some small-scale operation. When we rule the world, your status will be second only to the emperor, above all others!"

Ren nodded. "I must say, your terms are indeed very tempting."

Upon hearing this, Marius's face lit up with joy. "So, you agree?"

"But I refuse!"

"..."

Seeing that Ren refused so decisively, Marius's expression instantly froze.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me clearly just now, but our great vampire clan is about to rule the world! And if you join us, you'll enjoy endless riches, glory, and beautiful women!"

Upon hearing this, Ren chuckled, "Go wash up and go to sleep; you can have anything in your dreams."

"If you were replaced by some other powerful force, that would be one thing, but a rat driven to a corner by the Holy See, barely clinging to life, actually wants to rule the world? Have you lost your mind, or has the Holy See become too weak to wield its sword? Aren't you afraid of taking too big a step and tearing your balls?"

Upon hearing Ren's sharp rebuttal, the faces of all the vampires who were still celebrating immediately darkened.

"You human are so short-sighted! Don't you know that the Holy Grail, the Longinus, is in our hands?!"

"That's Longinus! It's a power that can even kill gods!"

"Nonsense! You know far too little about the real world!"

"The Holy Grail can eliminate all the weaknesses of the vampire race. At that time, no race will be able to compare with our perfect form!"

Upon hearing these words, Ren couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You're getting cocky, aren't you? Even if you vampires eliminated all your weaknesses, you'd be about the same as the demons nowadays. But you don't have as many demons, and you don't have any high-end combat power. You think you can rule the world with just one Longinus? The Hero Faction has three Longinus in total. Are you going to fight your way into space?"

"Honestly, I'm suddenly having second thoughts about killing you. When I'm bored or in a bad mood, it's actually quite fun to use you for amusement."

Ren wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"I think we could develop a tourist attraction here, and you guys could work as the staff responsible for making the tourists laugh. We'd split the profits from the amusement park 90/10, with me getting 90% and you getting 10%?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ren felt the murderous gazes emanating from those around him.

If looks could kill, he would probably be dead hundreds of times over by now.

"Hmph! As expected, I can't understand lower-class humans or livestock!"

"Lord Marius, it seems negotiations with this man have broken down. Kill him; we can't let our secret be exposed."

"We cannot allow him to leave here alive, at least until the enhancement and modification are successful."

"I'll ask you one last time, are you willing to join us?"

Marius squinted.

Ren shook his head repeatedly. "Forget it, I'm afraid hanging out with you guys will lower my looks and IQ."

"Are you really planning to fight us to the death?!"

"You old, weak, sick, and disabled lot, do you think you're worthy of fighting me to the death?"

Hearing this, the vampires felt utterly humiliated.