Butuo City.
This city is also known as Volcano City. As the name suggests, it is a majestic city built atop a volcano. Why was this city built on a volcano?
Of course, because it is profitable.
Butuo Volcano is one of the world's rare active yet stable volcanoes.
These two words seem very contradictory, but in fact, such a phenomenon exists. This volcano has always been "alive." However, in human historical records, the volcano has never erupted, and at regular intervals, the lava yields stable gems known as "Fire Flame Jade." These gems have a wide range of uses and form a huge profit industry, making Butuo City prosperous over the years through the Fire Flame Jade trade.
After the Demon King was defeated, the importance of this city increased once again.
Because the Demon King's left hand, which symbolizes eternity, is placed in the magma, constantly floating and sinking... Investigations by the church show that if this left hand is not placed in the magma, it will continue to grow itself, eventually developing its own will and becoming a "new Demon King." Only the magma can continuously erode this weak left hand, and supplemented by the church's periodic maintenance of the seal, the eternal left hand remains in a stable state.
A silver-haired, red-eyed woman stands before the volcanic magma, watching the pitch-black left hand bobbing in the magma, never sinking. Her eyes flash with countless intricate patterns, intending to uncover the essence of the left hand.
"Your Majesty!"
A guard arrived at this moment, kneeling before Lisidorwei, the Vampire Queen, who, after submitting to humans, removed the vampire title and adopted "Crimson Queen" instead.
She dislikes it, so people simply address her as "Your Majesty."
Lisidorwei slowly turned around and looked at the guard in front of her. He was not very respectful; even while kneeling, he looked at her with greedy eyes.
She knew that his goal was eternal life.
However, he was still a human, not her kin.
"What's the matter?"
"We've received news that in a nearby town, there's been a phenomenon of rejuvenation!"
Reversal of aging!
In this world, there are many ways to maintain agelessness. Some things are inherently eternal, such as objects blessed with the "Eternal Blessing" by God, or like the unknown method by which the Demon King achieved eternity, or like herself, having reached "pseudo-eternity." And, of course, the Elves' most treasured Elixir of Immortality.
What could possess these qualities in a small town?
Of course, it's the great Demon King!
Lisidorwei knew that the Demon King had been divided into thirteen parts, yet she was certain the Demon King wasn't truly dead. The left hand lacked a real soul, and while a new soul could emerge if the left hand were left unchecked, she was certain the Demon King was alive, in some form...
Something capable of reversing aging... it leads one to think of the Demon King's golden blood.
When the Hero once severed the Demon King's shell, not a drop of blood was left in that body. She didn't know if it was because the Demon King had exhausted all the blood in the battle with the Hero, or if he intended to destroy everything himself and leave nothing for these traitors.
Either way, that was something vampires covet immensely.
What would the Demon King do if reborn?
Undoubtedly, he would recondense his blood, restoring his own strength—could it be that, during the process of the Demon King condensing blood while not yet very powerful, he was beset by some misfortune and then devoured?
She thought it unlikely that the Demon King would do such a thing, but even the Demon King, in moments of weakness, might not control "accidents," which is normal.
Or, perhaps, this is a trap?
Lisidorwei couldn't think any further; if she could find the Demon King's blood, perhaps she could understand the eternity of the left hand.
Even if it were a trap, she could only jump in.
"Prepare the carriage, let's set off."
...
Mohe had already arrived in Butuo City. She looked at the imposing city built of black stone before her and couldn't help expressing her admiration: "I have to admit, human craftsmanship is impressive. When I conquer the world, I will keep some human craftsmen to work for me and pass on their skills."
Doro, trailing behind her, did not want to comment on this.
After Mohe left, about half an hour later, Doro followed: "Even if you're aiming to make money, you should go to a bigger city. In small towns, even if I bring in high-level monsters, no one can afford them, luckily, Butuo City is already wealthy. I'll make some money here and then go to a more remote place to build a manor."
His reasoning was sound, so Mohe decided to travel with Doro.
They seemed completely unaware of the roles of Demon King and Hero and walked openly on the main road, yet no one noticed them. After a day's travel, they finally arrived at the gates of Butuo City.
"At this time, Lisidorwei should have already set out. Mr. Doro, want to guess what the esteemed Crimson Queen will do in that town?"
"Look for your traces."
Mohe shook her head: "You see, she likes you so much, yet you have no understanding of her thoughts at all... no wonder you say you disappoint others... once Lisidorwei finds out about a girl named Mohe, she absolutely won't investigate further."
"Why?"
"She'll think I'm fishing, and if she continues to investigate, she'll definitely fall into my trap. So she won't look into my matters."
Mohe conspired loudly on the street, as if afraid others couldn't hear her thoughts.
But in fact, the street was noisy, and no one paid attention to their conversation.
"Then what will she do?"
"Those uncles who drank my blood will be cruelly captured by her, and then she will extract the blood from their bodies, refining again to get that drop of my blood. She only needs this blood, whether she catches me... she's always been prudent in her actions, she knows very well the consequences of being unable to control her desires. So she thinks consuming only my blood won't be a problem. It can even help her understand my left hand."
Mohe explained it so clearly, Doro wasn't foolish: "Your blood has issues?"
"How could it? Didn't I tell you, it's just a matter of choice, my drop of blood indeed contains partial eternity, capable of restoring much of my strength. Didn't those uncles who consumed my blood rejuvenate without any issues? Once they adapt a bit longer to my blood, they'll become geniuses, be it as warriors or otherwise..."
"So what do you plan to do? Take your left hand back while she's digesting your blood?"
Mohe stopped walking, turned and looked at Doro, a strange smile on her face: "Do you think I'm such a gentle person, towards my past traitor?"
"You..."
"Blame only herself then, knowing her eternity is false yet insisting on touching part of the true eternity... immortality is a poison that will kill her."
Doro's face changed dramatically: "How is that possible..."
Mohe restrained her smile: "Why not? You ask because you don't understand magic and alchemy, if it were the priest in your former team, she would know what I'm talking about. After all, the eternity of a vampire and my eternity are opposites!"
Opposite?
"This inn looks nice, how about we stay here? It's called the House of Flames. Sounds warm."
This city is next to an active volcano...
Don't you feel hot?
Doro walked over and took out gold coins to pay.
Mohe looked at Doro surprisingly: "You have money!"
"I have some."
"Then why do you let others buy you meals and drinks every day?"
"Otherwise, am I telling stories for free?"
He seemed to make a reasonable point.
Mohe contentedly moved into her room, and Doro unceremoniously walked in.
"Isn't it impolite to enter a girl's room like this? Mr. Doro."
"Didn't you previously carry me into your room voluntarily? Saying this now is probably too late."
This middle-aged man's skin is thicker than expected. Indeed, human beings tend to become greasy at middle age. What a pathetic thing.
"You just said it's the opposite; what do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Literally~"
Mohe sat by the bed, feeling her room had a nice view: "Vampires maintain eternity by continuously extracting others' blood, equivalent to drawing others' life to sustain their own. Theoretically, as long as humans don't go extinct, vampires have eternal life. Of course, if they act recklessly and get killed it's different. You know this, right?"
"Mm... yes."
"Then why do you think I call this false eternity?"
Doro shook his head. If he understood, he wouldn't have asked.
"Sigh... I think if you had studied more years ago, you might not have ended up so tragically. Don't make me feel ashamed of losing to you, okay — different types of blood exist even if vampires have a strong ability to digest blood, in the end, continuous blood sucking makes their own blood increasingly impure... when reaching a certain limit, further blood sucking will cause them to collapse. Lisidorwei is a third-generation vampire, isn't she?"
"But I heard the first two generations of vampires... "
"Angered me, so I killed them. Stripped them of eternal life." Mohe continued, "Of course they angered me, because they were dying, kneeling before me with those ugly appearances, begging me to grant them true eternal life. Since they were going to die anyway, it was more satisfying for me to finish them off myself."
This fact silenced Doro for a long time.
"So your blood is?"
"Pure. A pure product... hmm, to put it in words you understand, it's divine blood. It's divine blood I created using alchemy, for ordinary humans, it's a god-like gift, but for vampires... she'll disintegrate."
Mohe previously said the plan might not succeed... how is this not certain to succeed?
From the moment she intended to act, the destiny of the vampire Lisidorwei was sealed.