When a bit of sanity returned to him, even if it was hard, he forced himself to walk sideways, attempting to put a distance between him and Bathory. The latter felt amused as she clearly saw barriers being erected every five meters that he walked. The answer he gave was amusing too. 

"You keep asking why I didn't. But have you ever considered that I actually couldn't?" 

The laughter he gave off was quite unsettling, as it did not have the hopelessness supposed to go along with his words. 

"So what do you want from me?" The politeness he first offered was no longer to be found. His face warped in pain yet the brightness of his eyes did not diminish as he said in a taunting manner, "Is it revenge? Because my allies beat the sh*t out of you and it hurts your pride? Since they are not around, you sought me out as I was the only one left behind?"

Chris threw up almost a whole gla.s.s of blood as Bathory's annoyed harrumph resounded.

"It seems I have just proven myself correct."

Coldly, Bathory remarked, her eyes showed reproach. "You're so tactless and mannerless!" 

After vomiting, he merely laughed and then continued, "I am of common birth, though so what do you expect? As for you? Striking the weakest link as you fear Gio and Sofony. Congratulations, Bathory Erzebeth, for a Level 9, you have just shown how pathetic you are!"

Within his brain, laughter and cries were also oddly resounding. The system AI of the half-host had long gone insane from nervousness as it couldn't believe that Chris still kept spewing nonsense even at his state. In hindsight, he was actually the one who really looked pathetic! 

'Just a bit more….' 

Chris kept laughing like a madman. Bathory kept striding forward with a cold face.

The man was aware that the other must have a hidden agenda or else, he would not be allowed to live until now.

He was not sure about the Blood Countess' goal.

But if one would be able to peer through his mind, they would have realized there were several thousands of scenarios and escape plans brewing inside it. He was actually acting. He also had an agenda of his own! 

It had to be mentioned that mind control was his first ability. Several weeks ago, he had confronted Leo and managed to stall for time for Gio's arrival by bluffing with the army surrounding Felicity's mansion. In actuality, he never relinquished his control over them. 

Before the vampire attacked him, he was actually busy channeling all his thoughts over to the real world, the ordeal greater than before due to this place being cut off from reality. Thankfully, this place was still the Surface World. Still, out of the hundred-plus people he could control, he had to release the others and focus on that one who knew how to hack! 

'So f*ckin painful!' 

He howled internally from feeling like his skull was not only being split, but that his brain itself was being smashed and cut into pieces. All over he was feeling uncomfortable for his blood started to seep out of his body, making him look so hideous. Considering that, how could he be feeling good? The torture was no less than what Leo Jones made him go through four years ago.

Bathory was an even scarier opponent than Leo. To the point that all Chris could hope for was not a slim chance of victory, but survival.

Yet outwardly he still had to behave like a stupid nutcase purposely angering a demiG.o.d. 

'Uggghhhh!' The painful moans he was suppressing were actually what worried the system the most. 

From one side, Alessa could also see all of this happening. 

'Is this the world he warned me about? Not the simple darknet?' She was in full disbelief. Her mind and heart a mess, as she was also feeling like she was being killed as she was paralyzed and could do nothing but watch the miserable, dying appearance of the one she loved.

'No… No… No!' The woman wanted to scream when Chris vomited another large mouthful of blood, looking deathly paler each pa.s.sing second. This was when the woman finally realized why the man had asked her that serious question before for this very reason. 

'Move! Alessa move!' 

In front of the paralyzed actress, while she was feeling useless and helpless, Bathory sported an annoyed expression. A moment later, she froze, looking at Chris. Then her face went back to an annoyed one before turning to the young man with a chuckle. 

Chris, that time, could no longer will his body to continue standing up. The blood loss was just too severe to wish for that. His points drained to zero. 

Outside of the time-frozen world, a military man who was typing furiously just a few seconds ago finally stopped. He was the one controlled by Chris and he finally managed to hack every media outlet and station in the whole country. Chris made him temporarily replace every broadcast and billboards with a single sentence. 

"Bathory of B Empire has intruded!"

Of course, by the main system's interference, the name mentioned was censored to normal people and only immoral hosts were able to read the actual message. The others were only annoyed that such a puzzling line froze the TV stations and ads while those the media company were alarmed that a hacker had breached their system. But not many amongst the latter were concerned about the actual message apart from some busybodies who wanted to play detectives. 

Bathory, as the person in question, naturally came to know about what Chris did. And by now, given how large of a commotion the message had made outside, she could feel that the ones she was wary about were heading towards her.

"Boy. You really annoyed me." said the Blood Countess with furrowed brows.

Bathory shook her head and then appeared right before the collapsed young man. The latter fell down with his face turned sideward so he saw it. His eyes dilated upon realizing the level 6 barriers extorted from Sofony could not deter the monstrous woman for even a second. 

"Lèse majesté. Chris Meyer." She said, finally addressing the taunting words the guy threw at her earlier.

On one side of the frozen world, a large sound suddenly boomed and in no time, a handsome middle-aged man wearing a gardener's outfit barged in. 

"Witch of The West! How dare you wreak havoc here!" 

Bathory ignored the angry newcomer and slowly bent down to grab the weakly breathing man in the hair. Chris who was rejoicing inwardly a few seconds ago felt truly hopeless this time as the barriers he was treating as his last form of defense failed just a second before a helper arrived. 

The red-head woman lifted the b.l.o.o.d.y young man, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng with an unknown glint as the red liquid filled her sight. However, she knew she had to restrain herself. This was no time to feast on blood. 

And with that said, the woman finally faced the gardener who suddenly warped in front of her. 

"Stay your hand!" The newcomer who was obviously also a Level 9 to dare go against Bathory raised his long steel handle garden rake.

"Hmm, attacking without confirming the situation? What a barbarian."

When she finished speaking this, the woman was no longer inside the barrier. Her figure reappeared several meters away, with Chris' almost lifeless body still in her grasp. 

Bathory was just a meter away from Alessa, and since from the beginning she knew the woman had consciousness, she gave her a mocking glance, fulling showing her arrogance towards an ant-like being. 

The invisible barrier broke and a device on Chris' person broke. The gardener whose attacks failed to connect to his target frowned and then glared in the direction where Bathory appeared. "Witch!!!"

"The name is Bathory Erzebeth," corrected the red-head woman while curtsying. Then she added with a slight smile, "Although I am probably more known as Erzebeth Tudor." 

"Cut the nonsense! What have you trespa.s.sed this territory for?" As if living to what the woman just called him, a barbarian, he didn't bother with courtesy and just went straight to the point. 

Bathory looked away from the ugly expression Alessa was making and lightly smiled at the gardener. "Well. See this young man?"

"This one greatly insulted me, the Queen of the B Empire so I was enraged and wanted to exact punishment on him for Lèse majesté."

The middle-aged man who arrived furrowed his brows and tightened his grip on his gardening tool. Hearing the explanation of the Blood Countess, he glared at her and said, "Are you kidding me?"

"Why would I? I swear in my name as Bathory Erzebeth that all that I have said is true and can be found scoured in the history of this place."

"Are you truly not joking with me?" The gardener was not one with a good temper so he was barely restraining himself from not attacking again. He said in a low, threatening voice, "I'm telling you, woman. Don't bring up that stupid history scouring as people like us don't spend easily. Say, that stupid crime you mentioned is true, don't forget you also just did something not in accordance with our rules! Even if you successfully escape, you still won't get away from giving compensations for illegally intruding into a G.o.d's territory!"

She glanced down at the young man, then thought for a moment.

It seemed she had truly invited trouble, and this trouble was summoned by this una.s.suming half-host. 

She clicked her tongue. 'What a pain.'

'But at least, this guy here is sent for negotiation. Otherwise, he would have bombarded me with attacks.'

The woman narrowed her eyes. Then, finally, she said. "Fine. I agree. So please tell His Excellency that I would follow his arrangements and compensate the convalescence while also restoring this place."

"But I would still have to take this person away for insulting me." There was a hint of stubbornness in her eyes as she declared this.

The actor still had a bit of consciousness so he heard what the woman said and felt very alarmed by it. Unfortunately, one thing he subconsciously forgot to include in his calculation was whether the person who would come would be willing to help him. Or from the beginning, was he actually prepared for death and just wanted to bite back a bit at the opponent?

The newcomer spoke again, "But, what you have just ruined is a large-scale event of Alina City. And I must tell you, for this nonsensical battle, the kid you're grabbing onto created quite a mess outside just to alert us."

A sweet peal of laughter came from Bathory. "Are you perhaps wanting me to take responsibility for something I didn't cause? No way!"

The two exchanged words, ignoring the two lesser beings in the same s.p.a.ce.

How one of them wished he could pull off the same threats, nuclear weapon, but he doubted whether any of these two would even let him have the opportunity. Chris' consciousness was barely holding on anyway. 

In the end, the two argued, thankfully not without exchanging blows as the gardener was only sent to intimidate and get something from it, not to wage war. This scene was nothing short of a miracle given their true ident.i.ties and powers. 

After glancing one last time at Chris, the gardener let Bathory go. Even though the gardener was aware the young man was acquainted with Fred's daughter, he merely waved his hand and coldly said, "Witch of the West, we have reached an agreement and I as the representative of my side am willing to give you a whole week to fulfill it. Don't you dare to forget your promise."

"You don't need to worry." The woman laughed, her beautiful red-hair flowing behind like before she vanished with her spoil of war.

When their figures materialized outside of Country F, it was in a city to the west of Country J which was not in the jurisdiction of any King. 

As there was a difference in the time zones, the sun had yet to rise. The sky above was still as black as a diamond with no whatsoever celestial body illuminating the world underneath it.

The red-head lady tilted her head upon finding themselves in the middle of the runway of a busy airport. There was an airplane that was about to land, yet due to the dimness of the place, plus the headlight had missed their figures, the pilot did not see them. It continued to descend, slowly and carefully.

Thankfully, there was no hole in Bathory's head yet. She did not let a flimsy thing hit her.

Before anyone could react to it, she had already warped away, this time in a hotel room nearby. 

Her extra baggage had long been thrown to the bed, but unlike before where he looked bloodied all over, there was not even a trace of scratch on him now. 

One of Bathory's queen vampire servant walked out of her shadow and then walked over the unconscious person. Her red eyes full of curiosity, she sniffed around his neck and asked, "Queen, may I?"

A shake of the head was what this beautiful evil creature got. "Stop messing around. Your job is to look after him. Erase his memories."

At her Lady's words, the queen vampire asked, "Is he the person?"

Bathory's lips curled into a seductive grin. She also walked over and traced the contours of the young man before she nodded, "He is."

As if the other woman could not believe it, she gasped. 

Chuckling, Bathory said, "I thought it is Fred's daughter who will be my best shot to getting a wish. After all, Fred is stupidly chaining himself to the Director's side, leaving that girl who no one thought highly at the moment easy to take. I just didn't expect a strong guy to linger around her."

"And every other scion with great potentials is tightly guarded by those clans, while our own clan can't even produce one," continued the blood servant in a sad tone. 

"But we don't have to worry anymore."

The red-head lady's gaze toward the unconscious guy turned mellower. In the queen vampire's eyes too, he no longer appeared like a food source, but a beautiful gem. 

"How do we deal with his system AI then?" As a summoned being, the queen vampire was considered part of the Blood Countess' power so she was not barred from knowing some stuff about the immoral system. When she realized one of the potential problems in the Countess' plan, she worriedly voiced this out.

However, Bathory simply replied, "You don't need to worry about that. I'll deal with it after we get back. The priority is to not allow this boy to wake up and for me to recover my peak strength."

Although puzzled, the beautiful vampire bowed and respectfully said, "I will nurse him back to health then and service him to the best of my ability."

"That's very rea.s.suring, Martha." A smile graced Bathory b.l.o.o.d.y red lips. 

Then the woman turned around, planning to take the presidential suite next door.

Before completely phasing through the wall, she turned to the queen vampire and smiled. "By the way, before I forgot, the goal is to make him my son."

The chimes by the window rang a beautiful natural melody.

"I understand, Your Highness." The beautiful queen vampire bowed, only raising her head upon feeling that her liege was no longer in the room. Then she turned around, giggling sweetly, before creeping to Chris' neck, her fangs showing as she sunk it into the soft unblemished skin.