The First Vampire

A group of vultures circled in mid-air, being the ever-present revelers of death. Occasionally, they’d swoop down to snatch a piece of decaying meat, only to be immediately driven away by the Eastern soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield.

Count Nicoll sat dazed upon his war horse. The thick smell of blood that wafted by made him feel nauseous from time to time. The piles of corpses that were stacked up mountain-high on the battlefield nearly made the old count pass out.

This battle did not injure Count Nicoll, except for a frantic moment of running and losing his helmet in the process.

However, even if he was untouched, the old count seemed to have lost his backbone, his stooped waist and graying hair made him appear to have aged by a decade.

The battle was sudden and ended very quickly.

The Blood Knight Army gave a deadly blow to the Allied Lords of the East before departing.

Actually, at that time, the Allied Lords were completely stunned. If the Blood Knight Army had turned around and charged a few more times, this gigantic and cumbersome alliance would immediately collapse.

If the Blood Knight Army had pressed on in their pursuit, few here would have escaped with their lives.

Although White Dew City was close by, if the Lords’ alliance collapsed and the fleeing soldiers made it to White Dew City, the people inside wouldn’t dare open the gates to receive them.

Fortunately, the Blood Knight Army did not intend to completely annihilate them.

Count Nicoll didn’t think that this was due to kindness, or lack of strength, but more like… it wasn’t necessary.

As if a giant casually killed a few flies, and the remaining flies, terrified, flew around in chaos. But the giant wouldn’t chase the flies to kill them one by one.

Of course, if the flies came seeking death again, the giant certainly wouldn’t spare them.

Having realized this, a strong sense of shame and humiliation surged up, making Count Nicoll’s old face flush crimson.

Everyone knew that the Eastern Army was incredibly weak, but no one imagined that the gap between them and the North was this huge!

Count Nicoll once rejoiced that the East had the natural boundary of the Angry River, but now, he suddenly felt that the Angry River was not a shield for the East, but more like a cage.

It locked the Easterners in this greenhouse, and when the real storm came, the flowers in the greenhouse would only be ruthlessly destroyed.

On the other hand, the threat of trolls might make the North suffer, but it also helped the North refine a terrifyingly invincible cavalry!

Just over twenty thousand strong, the Blood Knight Army managed to stir up the vast East and turned it upside down.

Count Nicoll suddenly felt lost – where exactly was the future of the East?

“My lord.”

In the midst of his musings, his deputy officer came over, carrying the helmet Count Nicoll lost.

Count Nicoll let out a sigh, took his own helmet, but didn’t put it on. He asked in a deep voice, “What are the casualties?”

“The count hasn’t been completed yet, but based on initial estimates, I’m afraid nearly thirty thousand people died in this assault by the Blood Knight Army…”

Count Nicoll’s mouth twitched, his heart bleeding.

He was well aware that the casualties caused by the initial charge of the Blood Knight Army could not be this high. More people were likely trampled to death when fleeing, and many others became deserters out of fear, thus were counted in the “death toll”.

Seeing Count Nicoll remain silent for a long time, the deputy officer gently reminded him:

“Your Lordship, we should still enter the city as soon as possible. In case the Blood Knight Army comes back…”

It was only then that Count Nicoll came to his senses and hastily said, “Yes, yes, yes, immediately order the troops to regroup and head towards White Dew City!”

“Yes!”

Following this command, the reaction of the Allied Lords was extremely swift. Even though the battlefield had not yet been completely cleaned up, they couldn’t be bothered with that now.

Everyone’s thought was to enter the city at once, hoping to never meet the Blood Knight Army on the open battlefield again in this lifetime.

…

“Count, this way please.”

Following the butler, Count Nicoll was headed towards the inner court of the White Dew Fortress. His mind was racing, rehearsing how he would explain himself to Duke St. Prowse.

In deep thought, Count Nicoll didn’t notice the oppressive atmosphere that filled the castle.

Arriving at the Duke’s study, Count Nicoll tidied his collar and lightly knocked on the wooden door.

“Come in.”

Hearing the voice of the Duchess, Count Nicoll didn’t think twice and entered the room swiftly.

Two people were in the study, but besides the Duchess, the other one wasn’t Duke St. Prowse as Count Nicoll had expected. Instead, it was Ivan St. Prowse.

Count Nicoll was somewhat puzzled, but he still stepped forward to pay his respects.

Even though Ivan had no nobility title and was just a knight from a collateral line of St. Prowse Family, Count Nicoll treated him with the same respect.

Since the elder brother of Knight Ivan — Emoson St. Prowse — was the serving governor in the Senate for the East Territory.

So, even though Knight Ivan was average in ability and not very reputable, he still held a considerable weight in the St. Prowse family.

The Duchess signaled Count Nicoll to sit down, then asked: “Count Nicoll, how is the situation outside the city?”

Count Nicoll looked embarrassed but had no choice but to give a brief report on the war situation outside the city.

Of course, during this process, he inevitably downplayed the gravity of the situation to absolve himself, but no matter how he tried to gloss things over, he could not change the fact that the Blood Knight Army had broken through the alliance of lords’ military formation and successfully escaped.

The Duchess listened quietly to Count Nicoll’s account. Instead of blaming him, she defended him saying:

“Count Nicoll, you can’t really be blamed for this. Nobody had expected the Blood Knight Army would be so decisive to retreat. In the situation then, nobody could have stopped the Blood Knight Army that was determined to break out.”

“Thank you for your understanding!” Count Nicoll sighed but quickly asked, “Where is the Duke now? Regardless of my reasons, I ended up losing this battle, so I would like to personally apologize to the Duke.”

As he finished his sentence, it suddenly became eerily quiet.

The Duchess’s face was filled with grief, as Knight Ivan lowered his head in seemingly silent mourning.

Count Nicoll blinked in confusion, wondering if he had said something wrong.

But soon, he heard shocking news from the Duchess:

“Count Nicoll, Duke St. Prowse was assassinated at the Howell Manor, and his prospects are rather grim …”

“Wh…what?” Count Nicoll’s jaw dropped, and he sat in shock for quite a while.

But then he immediately questioned, “By your words, it seems the Duke’s death is not confirmed yet?”

“According to Knight Muffat, who was at the scene at the time, the Duke had a long spear plunged through his right chest and was stabbed in the heart with a dagger … but since the Duke was taken away by the Northerners, his status is still uncertain.”

However…”

The Duchess covered her mouth, apparently unable to hide her grief.

Count Nicoll’s mind was in a whirl, and it felt like his world was collapsing.

At this moment, it was Knight Ivan who spoke up, “Duchess, Count, it’s not truly time to mourn. The Blood Knight Army may have retreated for now, but who knows if they will return? The most urgent thing is to determine a successor for the Duke to take overall charge and stabilize the people.”

“You’re right.” The Duchess took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, then turned to Count Nicoll, asking,

“Count, who do you think is the most suitable to succeed the Duke of the East Territory?”