The Vengeful Extra's Ascension-Chapter 201: The Crimson Spire!

The trio stayed in the room, trading their resources for a couple hours before finally climbing back into their respective beds to head to sleep, the runic lights around the room fading to a soft amber glow that provides a quite calming effect.

The soft hum of the outpost’s shielding dome thrummed distantly, a comforting reminder that an entire military fortress now stood between them and the horrors of the Demonic Sea. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Exhaustion settled over all three like a weighted blanket. Elara was the first to pass out, collapsing face-first onto her bed without even bothering to get under the covers.

Lilian disappeared into her room a moment later, clutching her ring like a dragon hovering over its hoard, muttering something about "locking it away before she accidentally drinks the damn thing in her sleep."

Albedo wasn’t that tired, so he simply decided to spend the night training, constantly building himself up, wanting to reach the peak of the Mid Gold Rank soon.

He didn’t keep track of the time, but the chime that filled the room the next morning was gentle enough that he woke up from his training instantly.

Warm light filled the suite as the doors slid open. "Students," a calm female voice echoed from a floating rune-slate near the wall, "please prepare yourselves. Her Majesty Ysvara has called for assembly. You depart in one hour."

Lilian appeared a moment later from her room, already dressed, hair brushed clean, mana neatly circulating around her. If Albedo hadn’t known her, he might’ve thought she never slept.

But her eyes were brighter than usual, as if she was excited about something. Albedo didn’t know what it was exactly, but since they were going to head off to the Sixth Demonic Monument, he reasoned it was related to that.

After they finished getting ready, the three joined the stream of other students being led down the wide metallic corridor of the Outpost.

The air felt crisp, humming with faint static energy. It wasn’t the sea anymore. They were surrounded by mountains of steel, reinforced caverns, patrol squads, and teleportation glyphs lining the floors.

At the central atrium stood Ysvara, looking at all the students still filtering in, "Please get ready, we’ll be heading to the Sixth Monument soon, and be prepared, the territory we’re heading is one that does not tolerate weakness,"

Her eyes slid toward Lilian then, just for a moment and then looked away.

The other students who entered were herded into orderly lines, boots clicking against the polished steel as the atrium’s massive light crystals shifted from gold to a muted crimson, signaling a long-range teleportation cycle warming up somewhere deep below. The air was thick with anticipation and the faint tang of ozone.

Elara tugged lightly at Albedo’s sleeve as they walked, her eyes flicking between the towering Ysvara and Lilian, who had begun chatting with Queen Ysvara and her best friend Celeste.

Albedo was about to ask her what she wanted, when Ysvara’s voice echoed across the hall, "For our Elven & Human friends here, the Sixth Demonic Monument won’t have any trials, or particular combat challenges you’ll need to face, it’s just a location, similar to a tourist spot,"

She said, and a faint ripple of mana coursed through the hall as she raised a hand, projecting a holographic illusion above the atrium, an enormous tower piercing a swirling field of twilight, "Of course, as a Monument, it has its influence even with that in mind, this is The Crimson Spire."

"The Crimson Spire," Ysvara said, her eyes sweeping over the students, "is the ancestral seat of the world’s oldest Vampire lineage, the Clan BloodHaven."

A quiet gasp rippled through the crowd from the various Human and Elven students, all of whom looked towards Lilian, and it made Albedo fully recognize why she was so excited earlier.

Ysvara’s voice continued, smooth and steady, as the illusion sharpened. The tower was impossibly slender even though it rose nearly a mile into the sky. Its surface gleamed like polished ruby, translucent and yet opaque, glowing faintly with an inner pulse like a heartbeat.

The projection zoomed closer, revealing the surface texture., smooth, curved, ridged faintly like bone, "The Crimson Spire is a single vertebra from a Primordial of Blood, the first Vampire, " she explained. "A being that existed long before the first Demon King, long before the first races carved their kingdoms into this world. A creature whose blood birthed the vampiric lineage itself."

Elara stared, slack-jawed. "T-that whole thing... is a bone?"

"A vertebra," Lilian corrected softly, the faintest tremor in her voice, "A Primordial’s vertebra. That’s why it can’t be cracked or eroded. It’s indestructible."

Ysvara nodded, "The Clan BloodHaven has safeguarded the Spire for over a hundred thousand years. It is the center of their Domain, the heart of the Northern Region, and the home of the Sanguine Moors."

She waved a hand, and the projection widened, revealing an expansive marshland bathed eternally in twilight. No sun. No full night. Just a perpetual red haze drifting over black water and pale grasses, glowing faintly from the bloodlit sky.

"This is the cradle of all Vampires." Ysvara’s gaze swept the room, lingering briefly on Lilian. "And it is the homeland of one student among you."

Lilian stiffened, her expression a careful mask of neutrality, but she couldn’t hide the flush of pride warming her cheeks. Or the tiny, almost involuntary smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

Elara blinked, glancing between Lilian and the holo projection. "Wait... so the Monument is literally... your home?"

"More like my family’s capital," Lilian said, straightening slightly. "But yes. The Crimson Spire is BloodHaven territory. My father and mother rule from one of the lower chambers. So it’s... familiar."

Her voice wavered with something Albedo couldn’t quite name, nostalgia or nerves.

Albedo crossed his arms. "So that’s why you were excited."

Lilian huffed and looked away, but her ears turned just a shade too red, "I wasn’t excited. I was... preparing."

"Preparing to see your family again?" Elara smirked.

Lilian’s shoulders tensed, "They won’t... they won’t all be there. My parents, maybe. But the Council? No. They don’t bother with students unless something goes catastrophically wrong."

Ysvara stepped forward then, the illusions fading into mist behind her.

"You should all be aware," she said, "that the Northern Region is not a playground. While it is part of the Empire, the Sanguine Moors operate under BloodHaven law."

Someone in the back muttered, "What rules?"

Ysvara didn’t miss a beat. "Do not spill blood on sacred ground. Do not provoke the Noble Clans. And never, under any circumstances, attempt to touch the Chalice of Eternal Night."

"The what?" Elara asked.

With a wave of her hand, Ysvara conjured one final image, a massive chalice carved from obsidian bones, sitting at the very apex of the Crimson Spire. From its rim hung a single droplet of blood, huge, shimmering, suspended in the air.

It never fell, the chalice simply pulsed, growing brighter, dimmer, and then brighter again.

"That," Ysvara said quietly, "is the last remaining drop of the Primordial’s essence. It bleeds endlessly yet never spills. Its light defines the Moors. Its presence shapes every vampire in the region. It is both relic and weapon."

Albedo stared at it for a long moment, feeling a faint, unsettling tug in his own mana—as if the drop itself recognized power, hungered for it, searched for it.

Elara gripped her arm, clearly unnerved. "Are we... getting near that thing?"

"You will not be taken inside the Spire," Ysvara assured them. "Only high-ranking BloodHaven nobles are allowed near the Chalice. You will, however, pass through the outer rings of the domain. And you will encounter Vampiric forces, their rituals, and the unique mana saturation of the Moors."

She turned, her cloak sweeping behind her as she gestured for the students to follow.

"You depart in ten minutes. Gather your belongings and stay close to your assigned group. The Northern Region does not tolerate weakness."

Lilian exhaled slowly as the group began moving toward the teleportation platform. Albedo walked beside her, watching her expression shift in subtle, rapidly changing emotions, pride, nerves, anticipation, maybe even fear.

"You okay?" he asked.

Lilian hesitated, "I haven’t been home in... a long time. Not since I left for the Academy."

Elara frowned. "Why did you leave?"

Lilian’s smile was small, tired, "Because being the Heir isn’t simple. Every moment is training. Politics. Expectations. Blood rituals. Lessons in mana purity. Night ceremonies. Endless responsibilities. Leaving for the capital was... freedom."

Albedo nodded quietly. "Still. You seem happy to go back."

She tightened her grip on her ring, fingers brushing the cool metal, "I am. The Moors are dangerous, suffocating to outsiders, but to us? They’re beautiful. The air is alive. The magic is rich. And the Spire... seeing it again will be..."

She trailed off, searching for the word.

"Comforting," she finally whispered.

Albedo gave a faint smile, "Then let’s make sure this trip doesn’t end with you getting drowned in more training from the Vampire nobles,"

She smirked, rolling her eyes, "Please. They should be worried about you two."

Albedo blinked, "Me? Why me?"

"Cuz I know a-lot of people who won’t be happy with how close I am to you,"