After a brief discussion, everyone expressed satisfaction with the current situation.
Ed was pleased with the Hall's compliance and obedience, and Hall was also quite pleased that he had preserved some of his abilities.
In a harmonious atmosphere where everyone was happy, Ed's clone, using the network of another world, played the catchy tune of "Catch the Shrimp" and began high-speed movement across the Wilderness of Chaos, pushing his wheelchair.
Given the current strength of the Root Network, directly teleporting a quarter of a Grand Duke is still too difficult.
Fortunately, Ed's clone possessed extraordinary strength, pushing Hall's wheelchair to a speed that was difficult to achieve on foot without any external assistance.
As the two disappeared into the distance of the Wilderness of Chaos, players who had been taking shelter from the impact or had died in the aftershocks returned to the vicinity of the battlefield.
Since the battle had only just ended, they were unaware of what had just transpired, and thus flocked to join the commotion.
On the other hand, the large group of Blood Corpse that Hall had previously gathered still numbered considerably despite the players' week-long pursuit and interception.
These are practically walking gold and silver coins; players skilled at rubbing salt in the wound will definitely not let them go.
Deep underground, in a completely collapsed magma cave, several charred corpses lay scattered on the ground.
As Hall's power was withdrawn from these bodies, their strength returned to its original level.
Low Tier items were clearly outside Amber Dragon's collection; although they were also Ed's creations, they were no different from trash in Aeldra's eyes.
So the place was left in a state of disarray, with no one to claim the bodies.
However, within this already deathly silent cave, a dim red light shone once more.
The red light appeared not from anywhere else, but from the brow of the puppet that Hall had sealed away, which had completely turned into a dried-up corpse.
Hall didn't know why he hadn't completely drained the True Blood from the original body when he possessed it.
Perhaps it was a sense of reluctance to part with a body that had been used for a hundred years, or perhaps it was a fleeting, ominous premonition about the future.
In short, Hall's instantaneous decision gave him a chance to turn the tide, which is one of the reasons why he so easily succumbed to Ed.
Even though those three bodies were dead, he still had a sliver of Vitality.
Aeldra's lightning storm destroyed everything, including the sealed crystal pillars that had only developed some cracks.
So Hall was actually lying to Ed; he didn't have three puppets left, but four. However, the puppet's internal structure was already exhausted, and he needed to find a more suitable body.
The emaciated skeleton crawled out of the ruins; the remaining space was no longer enough for it to stand upright, so it could only crawl slowly like an insect.
Fortunately, unlike Rosalind, Hall's power doesn't require him to transform into an insect to move; he only needs to...
They made eye contact.
He soon saw the body that satisfied him.
It was the body of a half-dragon, covered in burn marks.
Although the body was physiologically dead, he was, after all, Dragonborn of Red Dragon, and his tolerance to high temperatures was naturally stronger than that of other individuals.
The half-dragon's corpse had its eyelids burned away by lightning, leaving only two dim eyeballs remaining in their sockets.
In the instant their eyes met, a line of blood pierced through the layers of ruins and once again shot into the brow of the body of [ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ].
The half-dragon's body, which had already died, suddenly twitched, and then his lifeless eyes became focused again.
Dark red blood gushed from deep within the wounds all over his body, like drops of water from a well, temporarily taking over the function of muscles and skin.
[ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ], no, now he should be called Grand Duke Hall the vampire, who lay among the ruins for a long time.
Once their strength had recovered somewhat, the organs and tissues made from their blood plasma began to function properly.
The half-dragon clenched his fist, feeling the power rising within him, and nodded involuntarily.
A single drop of True Blood can only create a body that barely reaches the High Tier.
But it's okay, as long as we can leave here and gather our strength, everything will be alright.
And so, the half-dragon began to crawl upwards while constantly moving through the ruins.
He could sense multiple active heat sources outside, so he couldn't just break through the ground. That would alert those people, and might even make the cardinal Ed realize that he had been deceiving him.
Therefore, he could only crawl slowly and covertly underground.
The feeling of having strength but being unable to use it is always unpleasant. Several hours passed like this, until the outside world had fallen into the dead of night. After confirming that no one was around, Hall finally crawled out from an inconspicuous corner of the ruins.
He gazed at the starry sky and felt the long-lost breeze caressing his face.
Before he could even express his thoughts, Hall immediately pinpointed the exact direction.
After glancing westward—the direction Cardinal Ed and his clone had left in— Hall turned and ran eastward without hesitation.
The high-speed movement created a strong wind that ruffled Hall's puppet hair. In a corner unnoticed by anyone, a slender sprout swayed in the wind on the back of the half-dragon's head.
Valhalla, the ancient castle.
A few flashes of light appeared on the knight's sword, which was suspended in mid-air by vines. Within the Root Network, the Blue Dragon Noya posed her question to Ed:
"Since you know he's lying to you, why don't you expose him?"
"Letting go of such a dangerous race as vampires might make future battles even more difficult."
Hearing the Blue Dragon's somewhat childish question, Ed answered it seriously:
"There's no need to go to such extremes. I don't need Hall to die right now, but I need to know the exact location of every one of the Hall's clones."
He said with a smile:
" Hall's Authority is Cultivation and Harvest, which aligns quite well with my personality."
"But he's lived for thousands of years, yet he can't see that I'm Cultivation him... Isn't it more satisfying to Harvest when the time is right than to just kill him outright?"
"... Do you do all these things just for your own pleasure?"
Noya voiced her doubt. She felt that, judging from Ed's behavior when he tricked her into signing the agreement, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would do something like this just for fun.
"Of course not."
Ed continued to explain,
"I think it's actually a good thing to restore Mr. Hall's strength!"