Chapter 1274 - The Red Crown
Quinn wasn't quite sure what was about to happen next. The red glow in between Eno's hands started to get brighter and brighter, until it was as bright as a flashlight, blinding them all. They had no choice but to look away, especially the vampires whose eyes were far more sensitive to the change in brightness.
'Is this it? Has Eno finally snapped and revealed his true colours?' Quinn was ready to protect his friends. Activating his shadow, he was ready to summon the Dalki as backup. There was one thing that Quinn worried about, he had yet to see Eno's full strength and given his powerful ability that was free to do so many things he had to be cautious.
However, the only thing that happened was that the light started to fade, revealing Eno. However, he looked completely different compared to just moments ago. His whole body was covered in a dark red armour and on top of his head there was what looked to be a type of crown. It was a thin band that went all the way round through his hair, yet it had three red spikes sticking out. The one in the middle was the largest and resembled a horn with the way it pointed upwards.
'Is that… is that the Blood armour?' Was Quinn's immediate thought.. In the past, Quinn had seen Arthur in Blood armour when he had fought Hilston, although back then the Punisher hadn't used it against his foe.
"...how? Wasn't there only meant to be two sets of Blood armour in existence? One that belongs to the King-"
"And the other to the Punisher Arthur." Eno cut Quinn off. "I'm surprised you're that knowledgeable about our history, but there are still things that you don't know about this world. I was the First King of our vampire society. I was the one that decided that the Punishers should be created and I am the one that is prepared to act! If no one else will put their life on the line to stop this vampire, then I will!" Eno proclaimed strongly, his aura having taken a regal tone thanks to his new outfit.
Quinn had been paying close attention to the other's heart rate ever since he had donned the armour, studying his facial expression to see if there was any hint of hesitation, but there had been no signs that Eno had been lying.
The thing Quinn still couldn't understand was why someone so old was prepared to risk their life more than he himself was. Not only had Eno apparently told them the truth, but he hadn't even shown any hesitation whatsoever than he had claimed to be ready to lay down his own life for the cause.
Nevertheless, Quinn couldn't help but be suspicious. For someone who has lived for as long as Eno had, it wouldn't surprise him if he had either learned or come up with some trick to hide all these signs. Years to become a good enough actor, to control his heart beat so it wouldn't flutter, or perhaps lying on the spot was something that was just second nature to him.
'A third Blood armour set… I never heard of such a thing. How I wish I could have studied it in my time...' Vincent noted. As a former researcher whose passion it had been to look into things, his passion about the vampire's past had blessed him with great knowledge. Yet even he had never heard of such a thing. 'Say what you will about Eno, but I have to admire his ability to have a backup plan for everything.'
Point in case, Quinn had never been part of Eno's equation in the first place. The Vampire Lord was someone completely outside his expectations who had continued to defy common sense and any expectation the Original Vampire had for him.
He could have easily left everything to Quinn and the Cursed faction, something he had done often enough in the past, yet Eno was now ready to risk his own life. Still, Quinn couldn't agree with the words that were said before.
"I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it." Quinn shouted again. "I'm tired of people who think they know better, who are stronger, making decisions for others. We have our own lives, the people we care about our own decisions. Eno, you might think differently because of how long you have lived. You look at not just humans, but even me who is a vampire like a child. A child who is naive and hasn't lived through what you have so they need to listen to what you have to say."
"I won't deny that." Eno shrugged, before shaking his head. "How can I not, when after all this time that has passed, everyone keeps making the same mistakes? It's my job to correct them."
Not having any more words to say to Eno directly, Quinn decided to leave the area to calm down. He could tell that there were no amount of words that would change how the other would think. At the same time, he didn't know why he had gotten so frustrated.
Was it because he was tired? Quinn felt like not just him but the whole Cursed faction had already been pushed to their limit far more times than should be reasonable. Or was it the fact that Eno was right, but he just didn't want him to be?
Eventually walking away, hoping to calm down, no one knew what to say. They had felt Quinn's frustration many times during the war.
"Quinn…" Sam murmured, but decided that now was not the right time to approach him, and wanted to hear if Eno had anything else to say about the enemy or this plan.
However, there was one person that hadn't thought about her actions, instead chasing after Quinn as soon as he had left and that was Layla.
Following him through the castle, down to the top floor, and was now in the throne room, she could see Quinn up ahead mumbling to himself under his breath.
"Quinn, wait!" She shouted, yet the Cursed faction leader seemed to be in his own world. He continued to go down the floors, making his way out of the castle.
'Quinn, you can't be the perfect person all the time. You have to let your frustration out sometime.' Vincent tried to pacify his grandson. 'I was frustrated for many years, living in the vampire society, seeing other people not acting, thinking everything was okay when it wasn't, but you are not that type of person.'
'You never have been, that's why you decided to act. I think your frustration comes from seeing no end in sight, but trust me all of this will be over at one point.'
Eventually, Quinn had left the castle. Without any plan where to go, he just headed straight. Vincent's words helped, but Quinn didn't know why Eno was just able to rub him the wrong way.
'It's that look, that look in his eyes whenever he speaks to us. Like he doesn't care about any of our lives. Does he not care for anyone, but then why….why does he risk so much for humans if he doesn't care. I just don't understand!' Quinn thought.
"Quinn!" Layla called out again, and this time he had heard, turning around, seeing her slightly out of breath from chasing him. Luckily Quinn wasn't really running otherwise Layla would have never been able to catch up to him.
"Finally." Layla stopped next to him, huffing and panting.
"I just wanted to say, thank you." Layla said, once she had caught her breath back. "I know you said those words because you care about us. You don't want any of us to risk our lives and trust me we don't. I'm not sure about the others but I'm sure their thoughts are along the same lines as mine. "
"Even though we are tired, even though we don't want to risk our lives, at the end of the day, we decided to pick up our feet and continue on. Because if we didn't then who would take our place. If we don't protect Blade Island, then who else is there?"
These words were exactly the thoughts that Quinn had time and time again, after making his own faction. It was what kept him going in. If he didn't change the way the system worked then who would. Who could take his place, and who could stop the Dalki race.
"Thanks, Layla." Quinn smiled. "You know, from the very beginning you have always been there for me, even when I was scared after just having turned into a vampire. Sometimes I need help, and not just with things to do with fighting, and you seem to be there at the right time to pick up the pieces."
Layla smiled back as she started to remember those days. Things seemed so complicated even back then, but now they looked like child's play in comparison. She would have done anything to go back to that time and just spend some leisure time with each other at school.
As the two of them looked into each other's eyes, the scabbard that Layla's sword was in started to rattle. It did so much that Quinn could even see it shaking.
"That sword…" Quinn looked at it. He then remembered something. When he had used his inspect skill on the sword it had triggered one of the Quests.
"Ah this thing, I actually want to ask you about it." Layla remembered, taking it off her side and holding it in her hand. She then pointed it in the direction of the tablet and the sword started to shake even more. "It seems to be reacting to the tablet."
'That's right, the tablet and the words both activated the quest to learn more about the Talen family. What will happen if I bring the sword to the tablet?'
"Do you mind, if I borrow the sword for a second?" Quinn asked.
Seeing no problem with that request, Layla handed the sword over to Quinn and the two of them headed towards where the tablet was. Hopefully, Quinn would learn more about his Talen family which he still had no clue about. He knew about his vampire side, but what was so special about the Talen name?
However, when Quinn had reached the area where the Demon beast and tablet lay, he saw something else that shocked him even more.
"What the… is that from the little seed I planted?!"
Seeing the tree, the amulet around Quinn's chest started to react.
*****
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