...
Before the sun could flee, he resolved himself to arrive at his destination. He was a tall and burly man, full of muscles, so snapping his reins would always mark the sound of a horse cry.
He wasn't cruel by nature, but the circumstances were dire; and he had to make it there- even at the cost of overexerting his mount.
The group of men following his trail also kicked their horses, and they sped forth.
The fifty of them were donned in mismatched sets of armor and weapons, and their open-faced helmets and half-plate armor were the only common pieces. Other than that, most of them held onto spears and swords, while the others wielded maces, axes, and bows. In fact, they appeared more so as a group of bandits.
However, each and every person had an emblem engraved into the breastplate of their leather armor.
Anyone who saw this symbol would recognize them as soldiers working directly for the King. They were the Royal Troop led by the strongest warrior- Gazef Stronoff.
As the Warrior Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, and the King's trusted friend, Gazef's gear was a notch above the others. However, he only brought with him the sword bestowed by the King.
That is- because he was forbidden from bringing his personal armor.
"Damn those nobles…"
He cursed under his breath as he rode in the wind. How many people would have died by now? They could have saved more if he wasn't suppressed so much.
It was his pride to save those who needed help, but being a pawn in all the political games had reduced him to such a state that every move he made was carefully monitored. He had even become a liability that could be used against his liege.
Perhaps if he were born a noble rather than a commoner, he could have made a greater difference. But fate doesn't deal a second hand, and he could only make use of what he had.
So long as he arrived before dark, he was confident he could catch the culprits. However, doing so earlier meant the chances of saving more lives increased.
Gazef's grip tightened on the reins, and he gritted his teeth for hours until the final hill appeared in sight, where the smoke was still rising from beyond.
"Full speed ahead!" He roared and brandished his sword.
His following band of warriors echoed his warcry and prepared for battle as they crossed the final meters.
But to his surprise, the village in sight was empty.
The houses were crushed and the fields were razed. But what caused his eyes to redden was the sea of bodies littering the ground.
Everywhere he looked, people- men, women, old, and young- died in their pools of blood, staining the road red.
Only the still rising smoke remained, yet it wasn't enough to override the stench of death.
"...We're too late…" He desperately muttered.
"-Aaargh! Dammit!"
In the storm of emotions, he slammed his blade into the ground with all his power.
For the past month, he had been chasing the trail of attacks. His men chased the flames with scarce resources and even less rest. And just like all the other villages, they were late once more.
"That was the ninth one…"
A voice entered his ears from behind, and when he turned his head, he saw his Vice-Captain staring back with a grim look.
"We should return to the Capital. At this rate, we won't end these raids and we'll only expend ourselves."
"Do you think we can return like this?"
Gazef knew his Vice-Captain's intentions were good, and his advice was also rational, but he couldn't accept it.
"We failed to catch them, much less save our own people. Returning now would only be openly admitting our failure. None of the Nobles would waste this perfect opportunity to stir up the court, which his Majesty finally managed to stabilize."
"Which is exactly why we have to return. The King needs us by his side for the upcoming turbulence. Delaying it would only give them more time to ponder over their next moves."
"..."
Gazef remained silent, still looking at the aftermath. In a scenario where neither was right, he could only choose which was less wrong.
"Bury their bodies and then we'll leave."
He said with a deep sigh and then sheathed his weapon. The moment his weapon clicked in place, the hardened veteran was replaced with a dejected man. His very image described the bitter taste in his mouth, and his dragging feet took him to be alone.
As he was strolling around the village, he saw his men working to respect the faces of those fallen; people they would never come to know.
However, it was when he reached the center of the village that his heart jumped.
Standing underneath the debris of what remained of the belltower was a small blonde girl. Her back faced him so he couldn't see her appearance, but he knew she must have been a child from her body frame.
But upon seeing her, he didn't have the usual instinct to run out and reach for her. Instead, his instincts that he trained from numerous life and death battles began to restrain him in place.
Something about this girl drove his senses in alarm, telling him she was more than just a child. But no matter how he looked at her, he still saw the same fragile girl.
"Six hours… that's how long they were dead for."
He didn't know when the girl noticed him, but his body only began moving after she spoke.
From her words, he understood he would have never made it to save them regardless of how fast his men traveled. A tinge of disappointment and shame filled his face, and his brows remained crinkled.
The girl before him spoke in a childish tone, but from her choice of words, he felt she was someone who had the wisdom gifted with time- and certainly not something a child should possess. The only other person he knew who also had it was the King.
His feeling of alert was still present, but it wasn't as strong now that he confirmed the girl wasn't hostile towards him.
"Then are you the only survivor left?"
He couldn't help but ask what seemed obvious. However, his intention was to converse with this girl.
"Did your parents also…"
Gazef's voice trailed off as he didn't know how to finish his words. As someone who had once been in a similar state, he knew the emotions she was feeling.
But the girl didn't seem to care, as she replied with an indifferent tone:
"These villagers have nothing to do with me. I just happened to pass by and saw the flames so I came here to investigate."
"I see."
Gazef didn't know if he should be more shocked about a girl wandering alone, or that she voluntarily came to such a place. However, he didn't think about those matters for much.
Instead, he began to piece the order of events- and smiled.
"You must have been here for a while if you know their time of death, and you must have noticed something about the people we're looking for."
"I don't have the answers you seek. My investigation is still ongoing."
"...Ongoing?"
Gazef couldn't understand what she meant by that, and he doubted she was telling the truth. How could she not have seen a lead? In addition, how was standing in place considered a part of her investigation?
Although he couldn't answer both questions, he didn't think too much about it. If she didn't want to tell him, though he was displeased, he wouldn't force her to speak.
Shortly after, a small black creature began fluttering through the air, flapping its tiny wings as it landed on the girl's shoulder. It let out a small screech before dissolving into nothingness.
The short scene widened his eyes, as he had never witnessed a sight as such.
However, before he could inquire her for more about it, the blonde girl said:
"If you and your group are the new standards, then compared to the past, the humans have gotten weaker. But seeing as you aren't so bad, I'll give you a piece of advice: Leave now before it's too late."
After speaking, the girl turned around to face him.
However, Gazef didn't have any spare time to comprehend her words, because it was at that moment that he realized why he felt his hair stand on edge when he met her.
It was her eyes.
As he stared deep into them, the two crimson eyes of hers were enough to tell him who she was- no, what she was.
The girl who appeared as small as a child was a mythical creature rarely seen in a person's lifetime.
She was a Vampire.
The sunset reflected in her eyes and an innocent glimmer shone in them, but all he saw was a threat.
Gazef instinctively brandished his sword and lowered his body. His gaze had shifted from one of sympathizing with a person who lost everything, to that of conversing with a friend- but right now, his pupils were hostile flames focused on an enemy.
"You-!"
Although he didn't budge an inch, his shout was filled with a killing intent strong enough to shake full-grown men. It was the accumulation of stress and rage that he had suppressed over the past month, and now its target was the girl standing before him.
It was the Kingdom's anger. A feeling that dwelled inside him and birthed from his frustration and failing to find those perpetrators murdering his people.
But with no trace of fear, the little girl continued to innocently smile at him, showing the trademark traits of a Vampire- her fangs. It was a simple change that held no meaning, but that was precisely why it was meaningful.
Her eyes had a sparkle that resembled a person looking at an ant as if no matter what he did, he posed no threat to her.
She didn't move to attack, nor did she release a killing intent of her own. From this, it was hard for him to gauge her strength.
If she had been swayed by emotions, he could then deduce that she wasn't someone thrown into many life and death scenarios. If she had allowed her aura to compete with his, then he could use it as a standard to test the waters.
However- she did nothing.
The two most detrimental scenarios had occurred, and the feeling of danger he received from her shot up a notch.
The only change she made was to her stature when she straightened her back and raised her arms high.
The moment her fingers poked the sky, hundreds of black streaks rushed towards her body at a speed untraceable to the naked eye.
Even with his senses honed through years of fighting, Gazef was unable to depict anything but the blurry black lines it appeared as.
"Battle Aura!"
Gazef focused intently and activated a martial art, increasing his concentration and perceptive abilities, which allowed him to better inspect the lines flowing into the girl.
Upon looking closer, he could see little red points similar to eyes. Each of those streaks had them. In fact, those dark streaks were completely two-dimensional and reminded him of shadows.
However, their shapes varied between each other. Those shadows had the bodies of beasts, but the most common ones he could spot were that of bats and wolves.
And during every passing second, hundreds of them were heading towards the girl.
With how much time had passed, there must have been at least a thousand of them that reached her; and the number would continue to increase.
It was then that he fully understood what was happening.
She was summoning- no, she was unsummoning them.
Gazef's eyes widened with realization and a drop of admiration reached his heart.
How efficient could the Kingdom get if they could use a similar ability in the field? Having the strength to control a multitude of monsters would even make a single person worth an army.
However, the talent required of a person to do so was also extraordinarily high. The most he had heard of was an Old Woman who could summon twenty undead. If that Old Woman's talent could be considered seen once in a hundred years, then what did that make the little girl across from him?
When taking in her true nature, the thought of, How old is she actually, appeared in his mind.
Regardless of how he felt, it remained that the girl in front of him was his enemy.
And when all the shadows fully merged with her body, she took in a deep breath and exhaled.
"You're too hasty to draw your sword. If you were my enemy…"
The girl extended her hand with her palm facing outwards and said a single word:
"[Explosion]"
Her voice was calm and without hesitation, yet in its wake was pure destruction.
In a single instant, the quarter of the village her arm was directed towards had disappeared. All that remained was a giant crater in the ground.
Gazef stood with widened eyes, finally understanding the truths to the disparity between their strengths. It was a joke to think he could contend, much less last a minute, against her.
No wonder she was indifferent. To her, he truly was an ant. Cold sweat dripped down the sides of his head, he was lucky she directed her spell towards an empty section of the village, or without a doubt, she could have killed his whole team.
When the dust began to dissipate, and the chaos of the collision calmed, the girl's voice once again sounded in his ears.
"You should have left."
Her words were spoken softly and with a bit of regret, but when everything became visible, he could no longer see her figure.
She was gone.
Although he didn't know what means she used to leave, he didn't have to know why she was able to.
"...Magic Casters are tricky..."
Gazef muttered to himself and while he began reviewing this encounter, the commotion was noticed by everyone, and his men reached him to inquire what it was about. When their voices reached him, he came to realize it was only then that he was able to move freely again.
It wasn't that he didn't want to attack the Vampire, but rather he couldn't.
The moment their eyes locked, his entire body had frozen as if it knew before he did, that only death awaited him if he acted. Even as she was no longer here, he still felt a lingering fear grip his heart.
It wasn't his pride as the strongest warrior. Instead, it was precisely because he was the strongest warrior that he felt this way; with a new height in his mind, he could still walk the path of a warrior and continue to grow.
Although he didn't know how much farther his talent could take him, or even if his talent was sufficient enough, he knew that if he wielded a power like hers then his liege wouldn't have to worry about those useless political schemes.
Only then could his liege build the Kingdom he dreamt of; the Kingdom they both dreamt of seeing one day.
However, he couldn't stop pondering the vampire's final words to him.
"...What exactly did she mean…?"
Gazef shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on what he had to do now. That is, to return to the Capital.
He knew that what awaited him was a political mess, but nonetheless, he would have to endure it.
"Haaaah."
He sighed once more and was about to mount his horse- when a soldier rushed towards him while panting.
"C-Captain! W-we're surrounded!"
"Surrounded? By who, and what's their numbers?"
"Th-there's about thirty magic casters… and an army of a-angels blocking us in."
As his subordinate was catching his breath, Gazef finally understood what that Vampire's warning meant. If they had left the village earlier, when she told him so, then perhaps this situation could've been avoided.
However, now that it's come to it, he can't abandon his men. He could only face this problem head-on.
At this moment, he felt as if the final puzzle piece had fit, and the picture was fully depicted.
"Those damn bastards!"
He cursed once more, fully knowing who set him up. Everything had become clear; the reason why villagers were being attacked, the reason why he wasn't allowed to bring his best gear, and the reason why he was told to leave.
Perhaps the girl didn't know who was behind it all, but it remained that she noticed them moving before he did.
"The Nobles must've worked a deal with the Slane Theocracy. No other force could muster up that many divine magic casters of that caliber." He firmly stated, "Furthermore, it should be one of their elite units- a Scripture."
Gazef took up his sword and took in a long breath, remembering the scent lingering in the air: the blood buried with the soil, the smoke fading away, and the fresh stench of battle.
He mounted his horse and began their counterattack.
After defeating his opponents, he would return to the Capital and defeat the politics waged against him. He would remain as his King's sword that protected his people, and slay his liege's enemies- inside and outside of his Kingdom.
However, before he could do this, there was only one more obstacle in his path.
One more challenge he had to defeat before returning home.
...