Ah, there he was. Right on time. The cultists at the altar were quick to notice his presence, a few rushed in front of him, yet a familiar voice called out to them. "Let him through~ That's not how you're meant to treat an old friend."
The vampire chimed softly as she stepped away from her higher vantage point that overseen the sacrificial altar. She smiled gently at him, a hand gently resting on her chest as she sighed softly. "My condolences my dear~ I heard the news, of how you were unable to prevent that tragedy from unfolding: How your dear friend was betrayed and murdered by the very people she worked with. Doesn't it fill you with anger and disgust? To know Esperia died simply because she trusted the Rune Knights?"
Her voice was soft and gentle, sickening sweet and melodious as she approached the manslayer. "It is a loss I am intimately familiar with, for in my realm it was such a loss that drove me to the extremes I am today."
She paused as she stopped a few steps away from Manzo. "But it does not need to be a fate for you to share. Should you desire to, you can easily call upon her from the beyond."
She snapped her fingers lightly, causing the cultists to reveal that upon the altar was a figure, her wrists and legs chained to the altar, and her mismatched eyes gazed in a frightened state toward Manzo, pleading for him to save her. "All it requires is a sacrifice: Will you be prepared to sacrifice the young flower, so that Esperia can blossom once more?"
She stepped behind him, whispering tenderly into his ear. "Surely you want to be reunited with her? This is your chance to make right of the things that went wrong. After all, what is but one life in exchange for that of your beloved friend?"
One of the cultists approached Manzo, hesitatingly showing him the sacrificial dagger, likely intimidated due to the man's reputation.