Chapter 522: Chapter 522: Temple of Eternal Night

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The Temple of Eternal Night was a shrine built by the first vampires to arrive in the Los Angeles region—back in an era when there wasn’t even a town here yet.

They were vampires of ancient lineage.

Unlike most religious architecture, which rose toward the sky, the Temple of Eternal Night had been built underground.

That was why this special structure belonging to the vampires had never been exposed to ordinary people.

Above ground, it appeared only as an abandoned construction site in West Los Angeles.

Far from downtown.

And surrounded by nothing lively or prosperous.

This deliberately cultivated desolation was naturally the work of the vampires.

From this alone, it was clear that vampire influence in Los Angeles was formidable.

Otherwise, how could a valuable piece of urban land remain undeveloped for so many years—never built upon, never converted into a public park?

Still, most people who became vampires were hardly devout believers with unwavering faith.

So the creation of this temple was less about establishing a religious center for vampires of North America’s West Coast—

And more about displaying political power.

Most vampires in North America belonged to the ancient Thirteen Sects, particularly the Mystical Faction.

And the first vampires who came west and established themselves in Los Angeles had come from twelve ancient clans.

The Temple of Eternal Night bore the marks of all twelve ancient vampire clans.

Once, it had represented supreme authority.

But in reality, rebellious vampires were not creatures who obeyed management easily.

Over time, the Temple of Eternal Night became little more than a record of those twelve clans.

It was forgotten.

No longer symbolic.

Until today.

---

When Green Arrow Duck arrived at the location, he realized that without the abilities of the person inside the suit, relying only on the armor’s scanners might have completely missed the underground structure.

The vampire temple was built of granite and extended twenty to thirty meters beneath the earth.

At the east, west, south, and north directions stood giant carved statues symbolizing vampires.

Naturally, since it was designed for vampires, the interior did not rely on natural light.

For creatures with night vision, operating inside was no problem.

But modern vampires possessed many human servants and affiliated followers.

Those people did not have night vision.

So numerous temporary electrical lines had been installed throughout the temple.

These mainly powered lighting equipment, plus limited ventilation and air circulation systems—

To keep the frail humans, as vampires saw them, from suffocating underground.

---

By the time Green Arrow Duck arrived, it was just past midnight.

Below, the ritual of the Blood God’s descent was already underway.

The entire ceremony matched Henry’s memories from the movie before his transmigration.

The Daywalker vampire was imprisoned inside a stone coffin on the temple’s uppermost level.

His blood would serve as the key to activating the ritual.

Thus Blade, bound inside the coffin, had both wrists slit.

Blood continuously flowed downward.

Through channels carved through the temple floor and lower levels, the blood was collected and divided.

A small portion first dripped onto the foreheads of representatives from the twelve ancient vampire clans.

This blood acted like a mark.

It linked the vital presence of those twelve clan members with the temple itself.

At this stage, even if no guards remained to physically restrain them, they could no longer leave.

---

Beneath the spherical central dome stood three vampires who longed to transform into the Blood God.

Two men.

One woman.

Besides Deacon Frost, there was Blade’s old enemy—the impossible-to-kill Quinn.

And Frost’s lieutenant:

The beautiful vampire Raquel.

That last woman was, in fact, the same seductive vampire who had once guided Henry when he first met Giacomo Dragone.

---

Green Arrow Duck had intended to rush in and rescue Blade.

But he noticed a Black woman had beaten him there, arriving first at the sacrificial chamber where Blade was imprisoned.

She freed the half-vampire just as he was on the verge of death.

Unfortunately, Blade had lost too much blood.

Even though Green Arrow Duck carried various serums, none would help someone hanging on by a thread.

The female doctor made a decisive choice.

She offered her neck.

The sweetness of living blood.

The temptation.

The instinctive hunger for survival.

All of it caused the half-vampire who swore never to drink human blood to finally break his vow.

Sharp fangs emerged.

He bit down.

Watching a scene even more passionate than a kiss, Green Arrow Duck immediately understood there was no need to worry about the old black man anymore.

For Marvel-universe vampires, fresh blood healed better than any miracle medicine.

---

Meanwhile, the vampires on the main altar waited nervously for what would happen next.

After all, the ritual process had been forcefully translated from writings in a language nobody alive understood.

Most vampires had little faith in it.

At best, they treated it as an experiment.

Only Deacon Frost, standing at the center, truly believed it would succeed.

Because he was like a gambler who had pushed all his chips into the pot.

There was no retreat left.

At that moment, Quinn received a phone call.

He listened while cursing under his breath.

Even after hanging up, he continued muttering nonsense.

Compared to Frost—who was fanatically staring at the ceiling waiting for destiny—Raquel, the more practical second-in-command, cared far more about the message Quinn had received.

"What happened?"

"Security from Edgewood Tower called."

"They said some Donald Duck dressed as Robin Hood stormed the place with a machine gun and killed a bunch of people."

"Even some of the vampires guarding the place got killed."

Normally expressionless and icy, even Raquel stared blankly.

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Were they high when they called?"

Deacon Frost, however, couldn’t be bothered.

Hearing their conversation, he said dismissively:

"Ignore it."

"Once this ritual ends and we become vampire gods, any enemy will kneel before us."

"Haha! Damn right!"

Quinn laughed crazily.

---

What none of them expected was that Blade had already escaped the upper chamber—

And had just finished a battle of patricide.

Blade had always believed his mother died long ago.

In truth, she had become a vampire and stayed by Deacon Frost’s side.

Her beliefs were no longer human.

She now stood opposite her son, who hated vampires with every fiber of his being.

In the end, Blade sent his mother on her final journey.

He severed the path leading toward vampire acceptance.

He chose to remain human in spirit.

Then he departed—

To confront the man responsible for all of it.

Deacon Frost. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

---

And that very vampire was now watching blood begin to flow from the twelve circular openings in the great spherical dome.

Streams of blood trickled downward.

Converging toward the lowest point of the sphere.

Deacon Frost believed this collected blood would be the true key to the ritual.

Compared with the vampires underground, Green Arrow Duck—still outside the Temple of Eternal Night—could sense the changes in the surrounding climate more clearly.

The sky had been clear moments before.

Now dark clouds drifted in.

They covered the moon hanging high above.

As though heralding that something terrible was about to happen.

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