"People you care about?" Amelia instantly realized that William was preparing to take action. She began to contemplate.
Thomas was hidden in the woods nearby. As for the other council members, she only thought about them for a few seconds before deciding that if those individuals perished alongside Victor, she would truly become the first and most powerful figure in the vampire world.
But then, an image of someone suddenly flashed through her mind, causing her to exclaim:
"Marcus!"
"Relax," William said with a calm smile. "Marcus won't die. I'll just ensure he's permanently exiled—until the day you decide to declare war against me."
Listening to Sunday's report that Selene had obediently locked herself in her room and was hiding securely, William nodded in satisfaction. "Let's begin," he said to Sunday.
He handed the smart glasses back to Amelia, who was already listening to Victor's roaring voice over the phone, his shouts filled with fury and questions.
"Enjoy the show, Queen Amelia," William said with a grin.
"Queen?"
Amelia, who had been feeling a mix of panic and unease, suddenly smiled. At this point, she had no choice but to pray that William was capable enough to prevent Victor from escaping.
As for whether William's forces could breach the vampire estate, Amelia wasn't worried in the slightest.
Raising her hand, she motioned for her vampire subordinates to calm down before taking the glasses from William and putting them on. Immediately, she saw a 3D map of the vampire estate.
Within seconds, dozens of purple flashes lit up the forest surrounding the estate as vampire sentries disintegrated into ash.
Then, over a hundred combat robots with glowing red eyes and armed with automatic rifles surrounded the estate. To her surprise, they didn't launch an immediate attack.
Instead, hundreds of orb-shaped flying drones emitting purple light smashed through the windows of the estate. Grouping in clusters of five, they suddenly increased their energy output. A wave of ultraviolet light penetrated the entire estate, wiping out 80% of the vampires within moments.
As Amelia's expression shifted between doubt and shock, William merely smiled.
Had it not been for Selene being inside the estate, William wouldn't have shown such restraint.
If the ultraviolet wave had been followed by the drones self-destructing and spreading silver dust, the entire estate would have been annihilated.
After the wave subsided, the combat robots began advancing methodically into the estate, clearing out the remaining vampires.
"Ratatatatata!" The sounds of gunfire rang out as fierce battles erupted.
Despite their speed and strength, the vampire guards stood no chance against the bulletproof robots. Even when they resorted to self-detonation with grenades, it didn't stop the relentless advance of the machines.
Whenever groups of vampires attempted to gather and fight back, clusters of drones would immediately converge on them, releasing ultraviolet light that left them disintegrated.
Within minutes, the estate was devoid of life, except for Victor, the council members hiding in the basement, and Selene, who remained safely in her room.
Watching Victor and the council members retreat from a tunnel, only to be forced back by a group of robots, Amelia sighed deeply and turned to William.
"I am not the queen," she said bitterly. "You are."
Then, bowing deeply, she added, "I offer you the highest respect of our bloodline, Duke Devonshire. From this day forward, the Eastern vampire clan will avoid you entirely. Wherever you tread shall be our forbidden territory. Any vampire who violates the terms of our agreement shall be at your mercy."
"Thank you," William replied, understanding that his demonstration of power had achieved its intended effect. More than that, the results had exceeded his expectations.
"I can promise you, Queen Amelia, that as long as the Eastern vampires stay out of England and do not threaten the Devonshire family, there will be no conflict between us. In fact, we might even find opportunities to cooperate on dealing with the werewolf problem."
Hearing William address her as "Queen Amelia" again, she understood that he was formally acknowledging her future position and extending an olive branch to ease tensions between them.
"Indeed, Your Grace," Amelia said with a steady voice. "When it comes to the werewolves, cooperation is in our best interest."
Excited for a moment, she quickly composed herself and added, "Once we've sorted Victor's assets and determined their value, we will honor our promise and pay you in full."
"Thank you," William said with a smile. "Now, would you like to visit Victor? Perhaps we can witness a little act of vengeance."
"Selene," Amelia muttered thoughtfully. She quickly pieced together what William was implying. Shaking her head with a sigh, she said, "I warned Victor centuries ago to deal with Selene. But his arrogance and that fake display of familial love he put on for us ultimately led to his downfall."
After finishing her words, the ancient vampire queen shot William a flirtatious glance.
"I'll be waiting for you at the estate," William said with a smirk, picking up his Mark V combat armor and leisurely walking down the hill.
As soon as William left, Thomas hurried over to Amelia, his face filled with worry.
"Why would you make the decision to stand by and watch Victor's downfall instead of intervening to save him?"
"He knows David is our son," Amelia said flatly, barely glancing at Thomas before turning her gaze back to William's retreating figure.
"You see that red and gold-edged box he's carrying? I'd wager that if we made a move, we'd be the ones to die today. And just like Victor, he'd wipe us out effortlessly and without mercy."
As her words fell, hundreds of red-dot-emitting flying objects suddenly appeared in the sky and around the vampires hidden in the forest.
Moments later, swarms of triangular drones in perfect formation flew just five or six meters above Thomas's head.
Watching the orderly procession of drones pass overhead in mere seconds, Thomas was left speechless, his mind overwhelmed with images of bombers wreaking havoc in wartime news footage.
The persistent hum of the drones' engines filled his ears as he finally stammered out, "That bastard is treating our conflict like an actual war. If it came to open combat... Blood God above... combat robots, drones, ultraviolet weaponry—this is only what he's shown us. Who knows what other weapons he's hiding? They're bound to be even stronger and deadlier."
Looking at the terrified Thomas, Amelia found herself feeling disgusted by his now-old and feeble appearance.
Clutching her ears to block out the sound of the drones, she barked at her subordinates, "Pack up. We're leaving England and heading back to Eastern Europe."
"This moment marks the loss of the entire Western vampire clan," she lamented before correcting herself with a determined glint in her eyes. "No, there was never an Eastern or Western clan. There's only my clan—Queen Amelia's clan.
"In a month, I will be crowned in Budapest as the one and only ruler of our bloodline."
With renewed fervor, Amelia turned to Thomas and ordered, "Notify all vampires in England to leave immediately. If they don't, their lives are no longer our concern."
"Understood, my queen," Thomas replied hastily. He no longer dared to speak to Amelia as he once did.
With Victor gone, Amelia's hunger for power—already immense—had fully awakened. She was now eager to claim the throne of the vampire world.
Even the possibility that Marcus might now be under William's control wasn't something Thomas dared to mention.
He knew full well that if he could think it, so could Amelia.
The only reason she wasn't saying anything was simple: they couldn't win.
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American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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