ARRIVAL OF THE INSURANCE POLICY

ARRIVAL OF THE INSURANCE POLICY

"How do you even know the potion contains the Blood curse anyway?" Illiwyn asked.

"After discovering about the blood curse potion, we checked it for its inherent qualities. The potion has a blood curse that would cause the magic of its victim to improve remarkably for a short period of time before the victim would succumb to the curse", I explained to them.

"It doesn't help if the victims are inflicted with a slow acting curse. Not everyone reacts to the curse the same and they wouldn't succumb to the curse at the same time", Illiwyn asked.

"There is a bloody kill switch of course", Sara enlightened them while irritated.

"A kill switch?" Iras asked.

"Sara has analyzed the situation and found the most effective use of the blood curse among the people in the city is if it was accompanied with a magic that could call on the curse's activation. A Kill Switch like what Sara described", I explained to them.

"Even if you suspect there will be a Kill Switch that doesn't give you knowledge about when they will activate the switch. How do you know the timing the demons will activate the Kill Switch?", Epius asked.

"We have studied the potion and found that there is an expiry date on the blood curse which based on the earliest incidence of the potion's appearance in Drachia kingdom, will expire before the inter Family competition in Maher city. If the potion expires, then the victim dies and the ploy will be discovered and will lose its effects, so the demons must activate the Kill Switch within the time frame", I told them.

"But even if the timing is coincidental, the Blood Queen could launch an attack anywhere else. Why must she attack Maher city?" Illiwyn asked me.

"We checked the list of people who obtained the cursed potion and most of them were scheduled to compete in the competition in Maher city or attend it, so this must be the place of the ground Zero", I told them.

"How did you know that the Blood Queen will initiate the kill switch on the blood curse after your fight with the three knights of the three families?" Eless asked me.

"Because on our list of suspected people who took the cursed potion, the three knights, Vlassis, Nasos and Theoni were on it. It is also most likely the Blood Queen will use the fight to frame me again for practicing blood magic after failing to do so several times", I told them.

"How do you know she will frame you?" Iviar asked me.

"Because the curse potion was never offered to anybody in the Mithridocus family. Which means one possible explanation – after this is over, the Mithridocus family will become the scapegoat for initiating the blood magic incident in Maher city and I cannot escape from scrutiny", I told them.

"How did you guess all this?" Iras asked me.

"Because it conforms to the Demon Queen's SOP, and I would probably do the same if I was her", I replied to him.

"We would be more effective at doing this though, with our newspaper fanning fake news for us", Ratatouille added.

"So, that is the reason you called us here, to be your witnesses. That you and your family are not responsible for the blood event?" Iras asked me.

"That is one of the reasons", I replied to him.

"Will our words be enough to cleanse your family of suspicions?" Anitor asked.

"I have another insurance policy", I replied to him.

Suddenly, someone rushed in to tell us something.

"The apostles are here, and they are requesting to land on our premise", Chash rushed in to inform us.

"Our insurance policy is here, finally", I said to them.

------

"Apostle Matthieu, thank you for coming here so soon", I said to the apostle and greeted him.

"Lord Oriese, we came here with our priests and conjurers the moment we received your signal", Apostle Matthieu told me.

"How did your excellencies get here so soon?" Conjurer Iras asked the apostle.

"Lord Oriese already told us about the Demon Queen's suspected Blood magic ritual in Maher city. We were camped outside of the city, not far away, waiting for the signal from him if the demons actually made a move", the apostle told us.

"Bring them in", Elder Argyriss told his men suddenly.

Suddenly, several people were brought into the room, tied and blindfolded.

"Who are these people?" Apostle Matthieu asked us.

"They are traitors who work for the Demon Queen. They would plant incriminating evidence against our family once the demon army ransacked this city and blame the blood magic on us", Elder Argyriss told the apostle.

"That scheming bitch. It is fortunate that you discovered her plot early, Lord Oriese", Apostle Matthieu said to me.

"It is all for the glory of the Church of All-seeing", I replied to him.

"I guess the waiting is over", Conjurer Iras said to me.

"Yes, we attack the Bloodfiends and the demon army immediately", I said to them.

------

The activation of the kill switch, that detonate the victims of the blood curse, wasn't confined to the competition grounds, unleashing chaos across the city.

Everywhere, those who had once benefited from the blood curse who gave them extreme powers found themselves marked for destruction and payback. And there were many such people in the city. From the elders of the families to their young knights and conjurers, many benefited from the blood curse.

Panic echoed through the streets as screams pierced the air, sparing no major family in Maher City save for the Mithridocus clan.

But even they could not escape unscathed.

As the city convulsed with fear, invisible assassins prowled its alleys, leaving trails of blood and death in their wake, fueling the blood lusts of the Bloodfiends.

From the depths emerged hellish imps and demons, spreading further chaos with each step, unopposed in their rampage in the city. With no defenders to stand against them, the demons seized control, their dark banners rising over Maher City.

Yet amidst the turmoil, one bastion remained defiant—the Mithridocus family residence.

However, defiance could only last so long.