Hearing this, William stared straight at him: "What do you want to say?"
"You motherf... are way too merciful!" Dracula rolled his eyes and said.
"Please hurry up. The process of bleeding out isn't pleasant either."
Seeing his reaction, William fell into thought.
"It seems blood loss has a limited effect on him..."
A brief silence fell over the air.
As the container filled, Dracula's entire body gradually withered.
If he could still maintain the appearance of a mummy before, now he looked more like a piece of weathered paper, as if a single touch would turn him to dust.
Of course, William wouldn't go testing that.
He picked up the container full of blood, walked outside the Source Power passage, dug a small hole, and poured it in.
After all, this area was a heavily guarded Church site. If anything happened, he could just leave the mess to them to clean up.
Just like that, William went back and forth nearly ten times before completely draining all the blood from Dracula's body.
Faced with this operation, the vampire could only weakly twitch a finger in response.
"It's... time... to do it."
It squeezed a hoarse, intermittent voice from its throat.
William actually admired the guy a bit; he could still speak in this condition.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll begin right now."
He said he was starting, but showed absolutely no intention of grabbing the crucifix. Instead, he used the tongs to grip the small knife again and walked down to the vampire's feet.
Dracula struggled to tilt his head, staring dead at William.
Though wordless, William understood what he meant.
"Hey, you vampires are natural-born hunters. Your own bodies are your hunting weapons..."
He said while beginning to file the vampire's toenails with the small knife.
"With things this sharp, it would be bad if I accidentally got scratched later. You don't mind, right?"
William looked at him while filing.
Dracula fell silent for a moment, then slowly extended both of his hands as well.
"It seems his trump card is still there..." William narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself.
A moment later, the nails on Dracula's hands and feet were smooth and even. He looked like someone who truly valued personal hygiene.
He looked at William again, the meaning in his eyes self-evident— You should definitely start now!
William rubbed his chin, immediately taking out his exorcism scriptures and beginning to chant.
Surrounded by Holy Light, Dracula showed absolutely no abnormalities, even a hint of disdain flashing through his eyes.
"Standard exorcism really has no effect..." William wasn't surprised.
Otherwise, the guy wouldn't have said from the beginning that only white oak could kill him.
Subsequently, William quietly took out the Book of the World, but the item was equally uninterested in the vampire's power.
"Do I really have to use the white oak?"
Originally, William just wanted to grab some dirt and leave, but thinking of his future plans, he changed his mind.
What if, after all supernatural power disappeared, vampires could still survive...
According to the laws of the American Horror Story world, this guy would escape sooner or later. Therefore, he had to kill him completely.
Of course, tossing him into the sunlight was also an option, but returning to the surface would take a lot of time, and unexpected variables could occur along the way.
Thinking of this, William decided to pull the guy out first, so he immediately clamped the tongs onto Dracula's arm.
The vampire's body was unexpectedly resilient. Despite William's forceful pulling, it didn't snap.
But the moment he left the dirt pit, an undisguisable panic flashed through Dracula's eyes.
At the same time, William noticed an anomaly beneath him.
There was another magic array within the dirt pit, with numerous energy contact points around it, aligning perfectly with the needles on Dracula's back.
And the moment the needles left the contact points, the entire magic array suddenly activated.
Immediately after, the soil suddenly turned dark red and damp. Not long after, blood began seeping out from below.
William reacted quickly. Before the blood could touch Dracula, he dragged the vampire away from the spot and threw him into a pre-prepared isolation magic array.
"This is..."
Through the spirit particle runes flowing in the air, he quickly figured out what had happened in the farmland.
So this was a magic array specifically set up to extract Dracula's blood, the purpose naturally being to nourish the seeds in the field.
And the extracted blood each time would be split into two parts: the majority flowed toward the roots and stems, while the remainder was stored separately.
The contact points on those magic arrays acted as "life monitors."
Once they detected that Dracula's body was excessively weak, the separately stored blood would be used to nourish him back.
This way, the Church possessed a permanent supply of "fertilizer."
William narrowed his eyes.
At this moment, he also understood the vampire's trump card.
As long as he drove the crucifix into Dracula's heart, it would inevitably cause the vampire to enter a near-death state, thereby triggering the magic array.
In doing so, Dracula could obtain a portion of blood within a short time.
Coupled with having William—a "mobile blood bank"—right next to him, the vampire would have a chance to break free from his restraints.
At the same time, William realized that his earlier act of draining the blood carried the same risk.
Which was why the vampire was able to remain unfazed then.
Fortunately, he had kept enough distance from the vampire. Even if he accidentally triggered the magic array, he would have ample time to react.
Thinking of this, William walked up to Dracula.
At this point, the latter could no longer maintain his composure. Even though he was extremely weak, he forced his eyes open, looking at William with a pleading gaze.
Presumably, his gaze was sincere enough this time.
But William naturally wouldn't give him another chance.
He immediately picked up the exfoliating towel with the tongs and rubbed vigorously against Dracula's chest, causing the latter's body to shake back and forth.
Before long, a pile of "dust" was rubbed off.
William had prepared the container long ago, immediately filling a whole jar.
After safely stowing the item, he grabbed the white oak crucifix and hurled it forward.
With a thwack, the crucifix plunged deep into Dracula's abdomen.
He instantly let out a low, agonizing roar, and at the same time, his entire body erupted into flames.
After merely a moment, the vampire was reduced to a charred corpse.
After confirming this guy was completely dead, William finally put away his holy artifacts.
He didn't stick around.
Since the magic array here was destroyed, the Church might have already noticed the anomaly in the Place of Suffering.
William had to get out of here before the Church's people arrived.
Meanwhile, in the Place of Suffering prison.
Warden Callum stood in the cell corridor, holding a small brass bell in his hand, with numerous black-robed men standing behind him.
Clang... clang—
He struck the brass bell with a piece of iron, and a dense, crisp ringing echoed through the corridor.
Before long, pairs of hands emerged from the darkness, grabbing onto the bars.
After knocking for a while longer, Callum finally stopped.
A black-robed man immediately stepped forward and took the brass bell from him.
"I regret to inform everyone that starting today, recreation time is canceled. From now on, everyone must stay in their cells to atone for their sins to the Lord," Callum announced.
"Those permitted personal hobbies are also revoked starting now!"
"At the same time, Holy Power contributions will change from once a week to once a day. I hope you are all prepared."
As soon as he finished speaking, wails erupted from within the cells.
The so-called Holy Power contribution was also a form of atonement in the Place of Suffering.
Holy Clergy Members would voluntarily extract their power through a special magic array to serve as an energy reserve for the Church's "pouring cultivation."
Because the magic array extracted energy directly from their Brands, the Holy Clergy Members would experience both mental and physical agony during the entire contribution period.
Originally, this occurred once a week, giving everyone at least six days of a "decent" life.
Now that it was changed to every day, it was no different from Hell.
"This is not my original intention," Callum shook his head helplessly.
"I also wish to lessen everyone's pain, allowing you all to wash away your sins with devout faith. But..."
His tone shifted.
"There are always some who fancy themselves clever and take the Church's mercy as capital for their arrogance."
As soon as he spoke, many people immediately shouted out curses.
Most of them were close to Callum, exchanging this for a slightly more comfortable atonement environment.
"What do you think, Your Excellency Jolan," Callum turned his head to look at one of the cells.
This seemed to be a signal, as fierce condemnations instantly erupted in the corridor.
"Heh, truly worthy of a former Candidate Cardinal. Even here, he's nobler than us."
"Lord Jolan, you have a boundless future. You might even get out someday, but we just want the rest of our lives to be less painful."
"What gives you the right to make us suffer for your mistakes!"
"..."
A small fraction remained silent, not paying attention to this.
Others watched coldly, inwardly mocking the Church's shamelessness.
Jolan belonged to the second category.
From beginning to end, he sat on the weeds with his eyes closed, like an outsider.
Seeing this, Callum narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Jolan, the crimes you committed implicated many people. You should feel guilty."
"Now the Church has given you a chance to atone, yet you still show no repentance. If this continues, I won't be able to offer you protection."
"Guilty! Guilty!"
Dense shouts echoed in the corridor at this moment, as many prisoners banged on the iron bars, looking toward the cell where Jolan was held.
In an instant, the latter became the target of public criticism.
"Your Excellency's words are thought-provoking. I imagine you must be a person of extremely high theological literacy and devout faith."
Suddenly, a voice spoke up.
"Who is it!"
Callum jerked his head back, squinting at his surroundings.
The black-robed men hurriedly waved their hands and shook their heads.
Inside his cell, Jolan, eyes still closed, curled his lips into a faint smile.
"Apologies, I sneaked into your esteemed location secretly this time, so I must hide my face and do bad things in the dark. Therefore, I cannot meet you face to face," the voice rang out again.
The prisoners all widened their eyes and pressed against the bars, wanting to see who was so arrogant.
Callum's face had already turned extremely ugly.
"Hmph, despicable heathen, no matter who you are, since you dare to trespass into the Place of Suffering, then stay here forever."
He glanced around, and several black-robed men immediately spread out to search.
Then, the voice spoke again: "I just heard you mention that guy named Jolan, saying he implicated many people, and the fellow inmates reacted strongly. Surely that man must have committed grave sins."
"Are you his accomplice?" Callum raised an eyebrow.
If Jolan had a co-conspirator, the higher-ups could use that to do many things. This way, he would also be credited with a merit.
Thinking of this, Callum's tone softened a bit.
"If you surrender quietly, I can make the call to hold off on taking action against you for now, and I can even lock you up with Jolan."
Unexpectedly, the voice replied: "I was hoping Your Excellency would release him."
Callum narrowed his eyes slightly: "The crimes Jolan committed won't be let go so easily. If you plan to hijack a prisoner, you'd better think carefully."
Saying this, Holy Power surged around him, and he subsequently pulled a segment of bone from his forearm.
"Hehe..." A soft chuckle echoed in the corridor.
Then the voice continued: "Don't be so hasty, Your Excellency. Since we are leaving, we naturally have to do it openly and aboveboard; otherwise, wouldn't it be a prison break?"
Callum frowned slightly, not understanding what the other party was plotting.
Just as he was about to call his subordinates back, he suddenly heard a whistling sound piercing the air.
He looked deep into the corridor, and the next moment, two black shadows appeared there.
Not knowing the enemy's strength, Callum didn't dare be overconfident. He immediately thrust his arm bone at the black shadows.
With a crack, he finally saw clearly that he had pierced a wooden box.
The next moment, the wooden box suddenly shattered.
A massive amount of iron plates spilled out from inside, and a clatter of clashing metal instantly echoed through the corridor.
"What is this!" Because he was close, many also fell onto Callum.
"Indulgences," the voice spoke again.
Callum brushed the iron plates off his face and looked at the masked, black-robed man before him.
"Just now... that was you." He looked highly vigilant.
William waved his hand: "A pleasure to meet you."
"Hmph, weren't you only brave enough to hide in the shadows?" Callum sneered, secretly tightening his grip on the arm bone. "Why did you suddenly show yourself?"
"After all, I'm a despicable heathen," William spread his hands, using the exact term Callum had used to describe him earlier. "So telling a lie is perfectly normal."
"Arrogant!" Callum immediately stepped forward.
"Hey, wait!" William raised a hand to stop him. "I've already given you the Indulgences. Why do you still want to fight?"
Callum looked William up and down: "Are you kidding me?"
"What? Are you not going to acknowledge them? These things all came from the Church."
"Hmph, you think you can rescue someone from the Place of Suffering using a pile of outdated junk? Jolan, this is the accomplice you found?" Callum glanced at the cell aside.
Mocking laughter echoed down the corridor.
"The Lord created the world, and the Church upholds His mercy to save all living beings. The faith and righteousness He imparted are unchanging truths. Am I wrong?" William said.
"Heh... I didn't expect a heathen to understand this as well."
"If that's the case, how could Indulgences ever be considered outdated?" William looked at him. "Could it be that, in Your Excellency's heart, the Lord's teachings can become outdated?"
"You!" Callum was instantly left speechless, his gaze turning dark.
"If you're only good with words, you won't be able to escape from this place."
At this time, the other black-robed men also surrounded him.
"You're absolutely right, which is why I brought so many Indulgences," William nodded.
"A portion of them is naturally to wash away Jolan's sins. As for the leftovers..."
He smiled faintly.
"They are, of course, prepared for right now. I'm not the type of person to do bad things and not take responsibility."
Callum looked bewildered, trying to guess the other party's goal.
But the next moment, several blinding white lights suddenly flared from the pile of iron plates, and immediately after, a magic array surrounded him.
At this same time, Callum also realized he was losing his connection to the surrounding Holy Power.
"Isolation magic array." He immediately recognized it.
"If you think this level of magic array can stop me..."
Callum was about to make a move when he felt his body suddenly tighten the next second.
He looked down, only to see a deep purple chain wrapped around his body.
"Chains of Emotion!" Callum widened his eyes and exclaimed. "Soul Body Stage Fourth-Level Holy Art!"
This meant the man before him possessed at least Cardinal-level strength.
Then, the corridor suddenly fell quiet.
Callum looked up, only to see his subordinates all standing frozen in place, their eyes filled with panic.
"To actually restrict the flow of spirit particles in the vicinity in an instant..."
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.