The First Vampire

The silver moon hangs low.

Scattered across the Luval Valley Plain are specks of light.

Even in the darkness of the night, the strong scent of blood attracts countless greedy vultures circling in the sky.

Uncountable bodies of orcs and humans nearly cover the entire plain, a massive amount of fresh blood flowing into the tributaries of the Luval River, staining the water a striking red.

On the edge of the river valley, a small group of orc warriors still resist, but what awaits them is inevitable annihilation.

Human warriors run back and forth across the battlefield, gathering spoils of war while finishing off any orcs that hadn’t been fully killed.

The clamor of human voices is largely cheers of victory.

We’ve won!

At last, we’ve won!

That seemingly insurmountable enemy, finally, has become captives.

The Empire is no longer in danger.

Humans will continue to dominate this continent!

The warriors of the Blood Knight Army removed their helmets, receiving looks of admiration and respect from their comrades.

Everyone was clear that their deadly blow against the War Song Legion was the key determining factor in winning this war.

The North Territory’s strongest army, from today onwards, can rightfully claim to be the Empire’s strongest army!

Knight Logh’s face is flushed with excitement, like someone drunk on wine.

He rode his warhorse around the battlefield, taking in the victory he had fought desperately for, enjoying the surrounding cheers and praises.

His brain was still boiling, and he seemed to have not completely digested everything happening now.

Suddenly, a majestic voice drew him back to reality:

“Knight Logh.”

“Duke.” Upon seeing Duke St. Rands, Knight Logh quickly bowed.

However, he didn’t dismount from his horse. After all, Knight Logh is a vassal from the North Territory, not a vassal to the Duke in the South Border, so naturally, he did not need to be overly humble.

Duke St. Rands of course wouldn’t object to these minor concerns. After all, he knew that this commander of the Blood Knight Army, who contributed significantly to this battle, would sooner or later become an important high noble in the Empire; establishing a good relationship was the smart thing to do.

“Knight Logh, do you know where Count Angler is now?”

“The Count has gone to pursue the Orc Emperor.”

Upon hearing this, Duke St. Rands furrowed his brows.

In his view, since Colin was appointed by Emperor Reinhardt as the commander of the Imperial Allied Army, he should not be leading the chase alone at this time, but should stay and take care of post-war matters.

Now that the commander has run off, who is in charge of dealing with the aftermath?

Of course, Duke St. Rands, would surely not voice such views publicly. He excused himself from Knight Logh and went to find Emperor Reinhardt.

However, to his disappointment, Emperor Reinhardt had fallen into unconsciousness due to excessive injuries.

Of course, Duke St. Rands was not surprised by this. After all, Emperor Reinhardt had led the charge in the recent battle and had endured the most pressure. It was a blessing from the Supreme Lord that he was still alive now.

However, with the commander absent and Emperor Reinhardt unconscious, the Human Allied Forces were unexpectedly in a state of leaderless chaos.

Being the highest-ranking and most respected noble present, Duke St. Rands reluctantly took up the burden and began attending to the aftermath.

He first dispatched scout cavalry to stand guard, in case the Orc army returned—a low probability, but a possibility that could not be overlooked.

Then he sent people to connect with Count Angler who was in pursuit, to deal with the spoils of war, count the casualties, and organize aid for the wounded…

Only at this point did Duke St. Rands truly realize the extent of bloodshed and sacrifice hidden behind this miraculous victory.

Without a doubt, the most battered was the Central Army led by Emperor Reinhardt.

This force of approximately eighty thousand, directly descended from the royal lineage, had been the spearhead of the Human Allied Forces from the start. They had charged into the Orc military formation, attracting the most fire and faced off against the best of the Orc Empire’s War Song Legion. It wasn’t until the casualties were counted that it was discovered the Central Army had lost more than half of its soldiers, and those who survived were all injured.

In fact, if it were not for Emperor Reinhardt leading the charge from the front, this army would have collapsed long ago given such a horrific casualty rate.

Stunned, Duke St. Rands couldn’t help but visit the battleground of the Central Army himself.

This was the area where corpses were most densely packed on the entire plain, and the acrid stench of blood almost suffocated him.

While soldiers in other areas were cheering, in this place, it was primarily the sound of suppressed crying.

Even those Central Army soldiers who managed to laugh did so through teary eyes.

A royal knight covered in blood, upon seeing Duke St. Rands, struggled up and greeted him with a smile

“Your Grace, we won!”

While laughing, the knight suddenly began sobbing with his sword in his arms.

Perhaps considering this unsightly, he immediately wiped away his tears and forced out an awkward smile.

“Yes, we won.” Duke St. Rands solemnly returned the greeting.

He watched as the nameless royal knight suddenly slumped to the ground, laughing, “Haha”, but his laughter was particularly unpleasant, twisted and suppressed like a madman’s.

Duke St. Rands felt a lump in his throat, he moved forward a few steps and encountered a familiar figure.

“Governor Fred.” Duke St. Rands looked at the gloomy-faced royal governor and sympathetically consoled, “Please hold back your grief. Despite paying a heavy price, we ultimately achieved the final victory.”

“Duke St. Rands.” Governor Fred’s gaze was icy cold as he gestured to his surroundings, conveying an uncontrollable anger and pain in his voice. “Yes, we won, but the Central Army was wiped out! Tell me, what’s going on in the head of Colin Angler, the commander of the allied army?”

Duke St. Rands sighed again, advising,

“Governor Fred, I can understand your pain. But victory often comes at a price, and the Central Army was indeed the most suitable for attracting the fire of the War Song Legion, luring them deep into our encirclement…”

“Bullshit!” Governor Fred cursed and interrupted him, “This is clearly a plot against the Lorenzo family! The royal family has paid the most painful price, but all the glory has been taken away by his Blood Knight Army!”

Here, Governor Fred suddenly lowered his voice saying

“And His Majesty… Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed anything wrong! Would the real Emperor Reinhardt charge to his death like this?”

Faced with this question, Duke St. Rands’ gaze flickered a few times. While contemplating a response, a burst of cheering suddenly erupted from a distance.

Then an orderly quickly came and reported,

“Your Grace, Count Angler and his men are back! Also, Prince Lexie had decapitated the Orc Emperor!”

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