Chapter 908 A recipe for disaster
The imperial edict issued by Max sent shockwaves throughout the vampire society.
Both changes proposed in the imperial edict were aimed towards solidifying power for himself and although it was not explicitly stated to be so, to anyone with even the slightest political knowledge it was blatantly obvious.
By linking ' Loyalty ' with ' Merit Points ' and clan ranking system Max had effectively placed checks and balances for those that were loyal to him and those who were not through an official system.
The king always favoured those loyal to him, it wasn't something new as the clans that had good relations with the king were always offered advantages under the table, however, that system was covert and shady and not as transparent as this.
It was almost like Max had found a 'Legal' way to garner support for himself and in doing so he was encouraging all clans to perform meritorious deeds for the crown and society.
It was a genius system and even a blind man could see the potential advantage of this reform, however, it was a huge problem for those who planned on defying the king as any acts of rebellion now gave Max the authority to mobilise the army and penalise offenders.
To make matters worse, the external alliance shift that Max made was even more threatening to those who seeked to overthrow him as with three major powers now involved in vampire politics, it had become near impossible to oust Max without significant backlash.
The vampires had always stayed out of alliances and blocks, acting as an individual entity throughout history.
However, neither was Regus Aurelius well received in the universe nor was he particularly popular within the council of monarchs.
If Regus were king, the vampire entry into the tri-state alliance would be near impossible, however, Max could get things like these done within days.
Not only was he a Rajput, but he also had a personal bond with the True Elites and the Won Knights which made this process much smoother.
The alliance was fully aware that the vampires were undergoing tumultuous times with Dracula threatening their internal stability, however, despite knowing the downside of including such a member to their block, the tri-state alliance decided to include the vampires into their block and offer protection to Max against future attacks by Dracula for the sole reason of investing into the future.
Max's own potential was immense, where he could likely become the next Supreme Lord and having such a member within their block was not a bad thing.
However, the potential of the resurgent primordial vampires could not be ignored either as while most primordial vampires that Dracula had bred were still young, they were the most ferocious fighters that the universe had seen with the average ten year old primordial vampire easily able to defeat five ten year old barbarians in a fist-fight.
With Max assuring the alliance that after eradicating Dracula he did not intend to wipe out the primordial vampires like the modern vampires did, the alliance were convinced of approving his membership as they wished to invest in the future potential of primordial vampires.
Everyone wished to nurture beings that could control blood as a [ Bloodline ability ] and had the edge to carry out siege attacks or frontal assaults in a bloody battlefield without having to worry about HP depreciation or stamina depletion.
While the domestic lord's did not know about the plan involving the primordial vampires, they did understand that by gaining the support of the alliance Max had made Dracula's job of pressurising the vampire society that much more difficult.
He had effectively restored public confidence, prepared an effective deterrence against escalation and ensured that no soldier would be unnecessarily killed in battle.
It was a move that was sure to get his popularity soaring and a move that made it impossible to dethrone him going forward.
Although the vampire lords hated it and did not wish to acknowledge it, but deep down in their hearts they understood that Max had managed to consolidate power against all odds and was now a vampire king that was not going to be pressurised easily.
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( Meanwhile Beniogre )
Beniogre was not happy with Max's ascension to the throne.
While she did not have any explicit problems with Max, she also did not have the same level of understanding with him that she previously shared with Regus.
Not only was Max non-commitant to much of the Kingdom of life's defence needs, but he had also gone ahead and signed a new alliance deal with other states which meant that the vampires no longer needed to rely on the kingdom of life to fight their common enemy Dracula.
This was problematic for Beniogre since her defensive forces were high quality paladins however they weren't numerous at all.
With her philosophy of not shedding a single drop of unnecessary blood, Beniogre had not developed a full fledged army system with a chain of command and several legions, which meant that she did not have the ability to fight difficult battles that the vampires did.
With the casualties rising on her side, her image as the giver of life and protector of all living beings was crumpling fast as her subordinates that had never looked at her with anything less than absolute reverence, now started to question her abilities for the first time ever.
Without the seed of life it was harder for her to hide her true nature and to perform the miracles she was previously known for as the situation was turning more and more dangerous for her with every passing minute.
In the end, as she grew desperate, Beniogre decided to host one of the grandest banquets ever, inviting all the monarch's and influential figures to attend as she planned to either charm Max to fall in love with her or some other young upcomer who was not fully aware of her true nature.
However, the mistake that she had made was inviting Max alongside Asiva and Anna when Hazriel and Mira were also invited.