Qi Wu blinked, set his teacup on the table, and swung his crossed leg.
"Slayed a dragon? Sounds pretty intimidating."
He tilted his head in thought, then suddenly smiled.
"Should I prepare a welcoming ceremony for him, then? Say, I just developed a move called Thunder Dragon. Let's see if he can slay another one."
Lilith laughed at his utterly fearless attitude, but she still couldn't help worrying.
"Captain, Grillman really isn't an ordinary vampire. He earned his title of 'Blood Dragon Warrior' through slaughter. The Mordred Family's creed is 'the strong reign supreme.' He became the family head by stepping over his predecessor's corpse."
Qi Wu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? A ruthless bastard who killed his own kin to seize power?"
Lilith nodded. "That's nothing unusual among vampires. But Grillman was different. He didn't just kill the previous family head-he slaughtered the entire opposition, more than a dozen elders of his family, in a single night. From then on, no one in the Mordred Family dared question his authority."
Qi Wu fell silent for a moment. Then he stood, walked over to Lilith, and reached out to ruffle her hair.
"All right, stop looking so worried. What storms hasn't your captain weathered? What's one vampire geezer a few hundred years old going to do, turn the world upside down?"
His ruffling left Lilith's hair a mess, but somehow, she felt much more at ease.
She looked up at Qi Wu's perpetually languid face and suddenly felt as though there really was nothing to fear.
"Captain," she said earnestly, "when the time comes, make sure you beat him to a pulp!"
Qi Wu smiled. "You bet."
At the same time, on the distant ice fields of the Northern Plains.
Bitter winds howled, and heavy snow swirled.
An enormous palace