Virion approached a screaming and frightened Laila. She did not know what he was going to do, she thought she would be gagged with some gag, but she was cruelly mistaken.

Crackle.

Virion grabbed the base of Laila's tongue with two fingers in one swift movement and pulled it out sharply. Laila's mouth spurted an abundance of blood, but Virion didn't worry about that. He forcibly poured some potion into Laila's mouth, and the bleeding stopped, but the tongue was not restored.

All Laila was capable of now was simply mooing and giving her precious blood to the vampire to heal.

"All right, keep an eye on her and my father. I hope he recovers soon.

" Said Virion, he turned to Evan and said,

"Follow me, I need to talk to you.

"

Evan nodded and followed Virion.

Virion led him to his office and took out two crystal glasses and poured expensive bourbon into them. Virion had no intention of making nice with Evan, it was a common courtesy inherent in all vampires raised in noble houses. Nothing prevented Virion from first treating his guest and then, if necessary, killing him.

"I'll get right to the point.

" Virion said coldly,

"I want to kill you, and it's not that you're human. I just don't know you, and you strike me as a very suspicious type. However, I can admit that thanks to you, my sister and my comrades were not harmed.

"

"What's your point?

" Evan asked calmly, taking a sip of the amber drink.

"I mean that many powerful vampires have a good relationship with unbiased mages.

" Virion said slowly.

Many people treated vampires as monsters, and no one couldn't blame them for that. Nine out of ten vampires would attack a mage without a second thought. They would kill and devour him, but a lot was riding on the man himself. It made no sense for vampires to try to establish a relationship with a useless and weak human, he would be much more valuable as food.

"I must admit that for your stage, you are incredibly strong. I don't know what you did, and Nessa doesn't want to tell me about it, but somehow you destroyed a whole group of mages, all of whom were stronger than you, judging by the stages. Anyway, I don't mind you being an ally of our family. What do you say, are you interested in my offer?

"

"Hmm, being friends with vampires is better than being enemies, but what exactly do I get out of it and what is required of me in return?

"

"As you know, vampires are afraid of light and fire, but that doesn't mean our skin burns in the sunlight, that's fairy tales. We just get a little weaker if we are in the sunlight, but our flesh will start to burn if we are wounded. This means that vampires are not only in Darkfil, but in all the other cities as well.

"

Virion took a sip and continued,

"We have extensive connections throughout The Kingdom of Fallen Hopes. There are places where only those with good relationships with vampires are allowed. They will recognize you by a special sign. Also, you won't be attacked by vampires, which is already an obvious plus. What's more, if you need shelter, you can always take refuge at our base.

"

Evan nodded silently. Virion had talked about the advantages that vampires provide to their friends, now it was Evan's turn to learn what he would be obligated to do to maintain this alliance.

"In turn, you will be obligated in the same way not to attack vampires and help us in resolving military conflicts if necessary. You won't have to come to our aid at first call, but if you happen to be near us, you'll have to take our side. But, there is another significant advantage. Most of our friends from the human world are members of various dark organizations. If you're interested in being part of the dark side of this world, that would be a good decision.

" Virion explained in detail.

. Evan thought to himself as he pondered Virion's suggestion.

Usually, members of dark organizations didn't look at the other creatures' race, titles, blood color, origins, etc. For them, the most important thing was achieving their goals and advancing their organization's ideology, which often coincided with their ambitions and desires.

In contrast, light organizations despised other races. They believed that mages were supreme beings and all others were superfluous in this world. Of course, this was the case because of King Vexacion's great influence over the light organizations. They all received some support from him, but they also had to follow the King's ideology.

"Suppose I'm attracted to such terms, but how can I trust you, and how can you be sure that I won't stab you in the back?

" Are we going to make the same agreement as I did with Nessa?

" Evan asked.

Virion shook his head,

"No, simple terms can be problematic, we need a more flexible option. Neither of us can start trusting the other party completely right away, but the trust can build like an unbreakable bridge over time. If you agree, then on behalf of the Emerton Family, I will declare you our friend and hand over a special amulet.

"

"A simple amulet will immediately make me a friend to all vampires?

" Evan asked, puzzled. He didn't understand how it could work.

"This is no ordinary amulet, it has a Bloody Agreement-like spell on it. It will have your blood and my blood on it. For your information, only evolved vampire nobles have the right to dispense such amulets. We have a responsibility to those we let into our world. Other vampires have no problem recognizing the scent of blood on this amulet.

"

"I see, I agree to your offer, and I also want access to the blood magic spells you have.

"

Virion was supposed to provide Evan with blood magic spells, but the terms specified only the spells Virion had. Evan decided that if he became a friend of the vampires, he was entitled to access more spells.

"Okay, I agree to that condition, but I have my own. Tell me what happened in those mines. How did you destroy a large group of mages while being times weaker than them?

" Virion didn't really care much about the reason. He wanted more to amuse his curiosity.

"I used the power of demons.

" Abruptly Evan said without hiding anything.

Virion's eyes widened in surprise, but he said nothing. Virion brought the glass to his mouth and took a sip. His throat burned the alcoholic drink and he said with a smile on his face,

"So you're a member of the Demon Tree, I see, I didn't make you that offer for nothing.

"

Virion didn't ask any more questions about what happened in the abandoned mines and what kind of spell Evan was using. He knew that such information was one of the Demon Tree's top secrets. If Evan told outsiders about their spell, the Demonic Tree would come to Darkfil and destroy an entire town.

Some members of the Demonic Tree were capable of such a thing, and nothing could stop them.

"Then, let's get on with the ceremony.

" Said Virion, and his spatial ring glowed.

The next moment, a black ring made of incredibly strong, crystal appeared in his hands. There was a red, gemstone encrusted in the ring, but it was not real. It was a mere cover, hiding the true purpose of this ring.

Click.

Virion lifted the lid, and Evan saw a small, crimson, round-shaped amulet. The amulet had many different symbols and signs painted on it and two places for two drops of blood.

He cut his finger with a slight movement of his hand, and a scarlet drop fell on the seal. The magical circles on the seal glowed, but only half of them, Evan had to activate the rest.

It wasn't a spell, it was more like a mechanism, so they didn't need to make any oaths to each other.

Evan nodded and did the same. This amulet changed their blood scent to a more intense and special one, but it also hid it from anyone who wasn't a vampire.

Then Evan put the ring on the ring finger on his left hand.