Alucard stood over his Skeletal Dragon and smiled, looking down at Liam and Usan.
With a slow, gliding descent, he arrived in front of them.
His appearance and attire was completely different.
Instead of a suit, he wore a layered black robe.
Which looked more of an overcoat above other pieces of clothing.
It covered him shoulder to shin, while grey underlayers were tightened by a red sash at his waist.
In a sense, it looked ancient, and fit the Pashah quite well.
Instead of looking like an old man with snow-white hair, Alucard looked young again!
As though barely 20 years old!
It was uncanny.
The beard was also trimd and shortened. Its color had also reverted to black.
And it was now a goatee.
On the other Skeletal Dragons, vampires which Liam recognized as Ministers jumped over and landed on the ground.
"Shall we begin?" Alucard said with a gentlemanly smile.
***
In a well decorated eting room, a large, circular table was situated right in the center.
Those sitting around such a table had contrasting appearances.
Half the table had pale, ashen skin, paired with sharp, crimson eyes and various styles of white hair.
The other half consisted of hard-eyed, ornately tattooed individuals wearing black wrappings.
Twelve vampires.
Twelve Elders.
…And one giant, four-tailed fox. Currently digging its giant maw into a tiny bucket filled with krill and fish.
Except Alucard, the eleven vampires around Liam were strange looking people.
There were only 7 Ministers at the eting.
The Minister of Economy.
The Minister of Torture.
The Minister of Defense.
The Minister of Security.
The Minister of Trade.
The Minister of Magic.
And finally, the Minister of Transportation.
There was just a brief introduction to all these Ministers.
The Minister of Economy was the blinged out, elegantly dressed woman.
The Minister of Torture was a tall, slim, shifty man with a scarred face.
His left eye had a twitch, which made it look like he was blinking constantly.
The Minister of Defense was the muscular, sturdy man with a military hair-cut.
The Minister of Security was a severe, bald, stoic-looking man with a goatee and an average build.
The Minister of Trade was a beautiful woman with long, black-dyed hair and long eyelashes.
The Minister of Magic was a short, surprisingly young man with a wooden staff in his hand.
All things considered, he looked like a wizard, minus the hat.
And finally, the Minister of Transportation was an old, smiling woman with slitted eyes.
The rest were not Ministers, but strong individuals under Alucard's hand.
But the two, strongest of them, were Blood Fang, and Blood Claw.
Alucard looked at the fox with a scrutinizing, subtly annoyed gaze.
Crunch. Crunch. Chomp. Crunch. Gulp.
Wet chomping noises resounded inside the eting room.
Alucard ignored it.
And out of respect for their king, the Ministers didn't say anything, either.
Though, they looked pretty annoyed.
"First, I'll begin with a thank you," Alucard said with a light smile, nodding towards Usan and Liam.
"You've exposed a snake in the grass. Granted, it was for the sake of an alliance, but no matter."
Liam and Usan responded back with a nod.
Alucard looked towards a lady glimring with all kinds of eloquent jewelry.
The Minister of Economy.
Liam had no clue why she of all people arrived at this eting.
After all, economies between countries were different.
What was usable in Korsa was not usable in Ilali, and vice versa.
The Economic Minister snapped her fingers.
WHOOM!
With a flash of red light, a wide, crude-looking black cloth appeared on the table.
More precisely, in front of Liam.
"A token of appreciation," Alucard said with a subtle nod. "It's called a Redirection Cloak. Try it on."
Liam raised a brow.
He picked it up and took a closer look at it.
At first glance, it looked like any other cloak.
In fact, it looked a bit dirty and unappealing to the eye.
But with the King's Eye, Liam could tell there was sothing different about it.
There were faint traces of red essence running across its surface, only Liam couldn't tell what it was.
'So sort of blood?' Liam thought. 'Blood isn't like that, though.'
Liam must have been gazing at the thing for too long, since the Ministers were sending him subtle glares.
'I'll study this on my own.'
Liam threw the cloak over his back.
It stuck to his shoulders on its own, like so sort of coat.
However, it draped over his entire figure, and not just his back.
From shoulder to shin, he was covered.
There was even a hood for his head.
However, his arms could freely poke through the front of it.
All things considered, it didn't look too bad on him.
To the outside eye, Liam exuded a sense of unease and silent danger.
Paired with the shadows darkening around him, he looked like a mysterious figure.
...A reaper, almost.
"Is it fine if Lisha attacks you?" Alucard asked. Liam raised his brows. "She's not suited for strength."
Lisha was the Economic Minister.
However, she was basically the equivalent of a Rank 4 cultivator, unlike the rest, which were Rank 5.
That wasn't sothing light, Liam nodded at the request anyway.
Lisha smiled.
A large clot of crystalized blood gathered between her palms, which she clapped together.
SPLOOSH!
Fast!
A compressed, sharp-tipped pole shot towards Liam at an incredible speed.
His body acted on instinct.
Reflexively, Liam grabbed the hem of his cloak and flicked the pole away as soon as it reached him.
CLING!
Liam's eyes widened.
As soon as the arrow-like pole made contact with his cloak, it just… deflected it!
The arrow was sent towards the roof, where it—
BANG!
Liam raised a brow.
Truth be told, he was amazed.
"Is this just with blood?" Liam asked, touching the spot where the arrow made contact with.
There was not a scratch on its fabric.
But the blackish color had turned slightly white where it hit.
"No," Alucard answered with a proud smile. "But fire weakens it. Also, you'd be wise not to deflect the sa attack on the sa place."
"It's not untearable."
Liam nodded appreciateively. "Thank you."
'I'm definitely studying this,' Liam thought to himself.
Usan loudly coughed into his fist, catching the attention of everyone inside the room.
"Where's mine?"
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