Chapter 278 A Succubus Problem (1)
Chapter 278 A Succubus Problem (1)
A week later...
The journey back to Livan was uneventful, but it was fine that way. After all, Ashton had too many questions running inside his head, he needed some time to sort it all out. In the end, even Deja had to be completely evacuated, just like Contingent.
Only 20% of the population residing in Deja could survive. Sadly, Jonathan wasn't one of them and although no one had seen him die, it was safe to assume he was no more. They didn't even have the time to mourn his loss. Not that Ashton wanted to.
Still, Jonathan was a good man, who had his fair share of flaws. Ashton decided to let his ill feelings be gone. Just like Jonathan was.
Other than that, the cities of Contingent and Deja were marked as 'Blight Zones'.
Blight ones were the places that had been overrun by Zombies and the Abyssal Smoke. No one was allowed to venture into these zones no matter who they were. With the help of Ashton, the lich and Sheera, containment protocols were placed, hoping to stop the spread of the undead virus.
The situation in Deja was much worse than in Contingent as Contingent had been more or less wiped clean by Ashton and his flames.
On top of that, The Lich had decided to make the city his new home, for the time being, the Eastern Palace now belonged to Ashton. Thus, Ashton was more or less sure the city was safe.
The time the Lich would spend there would be dedicated to finding a cure for the abyssal smoke. Since the Lich was already dead, the smoke would only make him stronger. Thus making him the perfect candidate to help in figuring a cure.
However, there were a plethora of other problems that Ashton had to solve. One of which was to decide who was going to succeed the throne. But Ashton wasn't interested in all that, at least for now.
Everyone's morale was already down. The absence of a ruling figure just made things worse. A lot of criminals popped up out of nowhere, killing and looting others became a norm in Lycania. Thus Ashton was more focused on keeping those things away from his territories.
There wasn't a single person who hadn't lost something in the terror attack. Some had lost their loved ones while all of them had lost their homes. This huge population needed to be settled down somewhere.
As much as Ashton wanted to welcome them all to Livan, that wasn't going to be possible. The city was still being built, also, even if the construction had been completed, there was no way they could house over two million people there.
The royal knight already asked the other Barons for aid. But in the king's absence, it seemed they had grown a backbone of steel. All of them were ambitious and wanted the throne for themselves. In the time of crisis, all they could see was an opportunity only a fool would pass up.
Thankfully, Livan wasn't the only territory owned by Ashton. People soon were sent to Maddencreek as well as the territories previously owned by the Morgans. Since even that wasn't enough, Ashton reluctantly decided to open the doors of Livan and hopefully work something out later on.
Following the attack, Ashton decided it was for the best to Warn Alucard. After all, who knows when these fuckers would attack them.
Following his warning, every single city owned by the vampires was placed under indefinite lockdown. No one was allowed to leave their homes. Even if they had an emergency, the soldiers were the ones to solve them.
The rules were a bit strict, but since the Abyssal Smoke posed more danger to them. These measures were essential.
Ashton didn't want to be a part of either of these things. However, by the time he realised, he was already fulfilling the role of a ruler for everyone. Even the royal guards were working under him now.
"Our food supplies are critically low. The farms running across the might not be enough to provide food to everyone here." Renee reported to Ashton.
"Form small hunting parties and send them to procure whatever they can find in the forest. We have more than five hundred thousand mouths to feed in the city. It's about time some of them started fending for themselves." Ashton quickly gave her a solution, "Virgil, what about the defences?"
"Those who can fight are being trained to use Baiter's weapons. Guard towers have been erected across the city's boundary and more mines have been spread around the city." Virgil religiously replied, "If anything appears out of the woods, we'll instantly shoot them down."
Ashton nodded before stopping and pulling Fae and Virgil together, "I'm sorry about your wedding-"
"Oh come on, it's nothing more than a formality." Fae laughed it off, "We can have our wedding once things settle down a bit. Also, we all are safe and that's what matters the most."
Ashton smiled before facing Verina and Irina. The sisters were shaken after listening about what happened to the vampires attending the academy. They tried their best not to show it, but Ashton's perception caught them.
Under normal circumstances, Ashton would have been scared as well. Just the thought of dying because of unintentionally inhaling a gas was nerve-wracking.
Their mood was the reason Ashton was giving them more attention than he ever did before. As a friend of course.
Michelle, Jonathan's daughter wasn't living in Lycania, but in Transylvania with Alucard's nephew. She was there because Jonathan wanted them to be close. Thankfully, both she and Alucard's nephew were safe.
Had they been attending the academy as usual. Both of them would probably be having their funerals now. Ashton wanted Verina and Irina to go back to Transylvania as well. Probably because they would be safer there. But once again, they declined, saying they wanted to help there.
Other than that, everything was a mess, but slowly getting under control. Well... most of the things.
[It's time.]
"Alright people, keep up the good work. I'll go have some rest, then we'll get right back at it."
Ashton hurriedly made an excuse and rushed into his room. Once inside, he summoned a portal to the Eastern Palace and jumped right through it.
As soon as he appeared on the other side of the portal, he was tackled to the ground. His hands were pinned on the floor just like his body and a familiar person was sitting on top of him.
"I want you!" Anna licked her lips while her gaze stripped Ashton down, "I can't wait anymore!"