The Galician royal palace was in chaos, while the dukes and marquises he had appointed were much more composed. Duke Sald led his 30,000-strong army slowly towards the border, his reconnaissance focused on his neighbor, Marquis Oliver Guerrero. The two hadn't had much communication, so he was more worried about this taciturn old man being a royalist than about the capital.
A letter was delivered to Duke Salder, the contents of which made him smile wryly.
"It seems that little girl Serena has her own ideas now."
"What's wrong, Father? Isn't she planning to send troops?" A middle-aged man of medium build with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face impatiently approached the Duke and asked in a serious tone.
Sald glanced at his troublemaking son. "I've figured it out too. It's better if she doesn't come. If it fails, you'll have somewhere to go." He then held up a finger to stop his son from speaking further. "Where's Anelsald?"
"He went to the cavalry unit, with Tedler accompanying him, so there won't be any problems."
The Duke nodded and hummed in agreement. "Remember what I told you, and return to your ranks."
The middle-aged man wanted to say something more, but he said nothing and silently retreated.
The old duke gave a soft hum, then sighed, his eyes filled with desolation and worry.
When Yun Zhe and his cavalry arrived at Herak Village, they startled a pack of wild dogs and a flock of crows. But they couldn't see a single person.
Under the setting sun, the village stood quietly, its indistinct shadows creating a bizarre and unsettling scene.
Yun Zhe frowned, jumped off his horse, and cautiously walked towards the village entrance.
At the village entrance, there was a dilapidated wooden barrel lying upside down on the ground, with a wooden sign next to it bearing two large, dark characters written in charcoal: "Knife Shop."
Yun Zhe drew his elven longsword, and Blaze, seeing this, immediately signaled his soldiers to prepare for battle.
"Are there enemies in the village?" Blaze leaned close to Yun Zhe and asked in a low voice.
Yun Zhe shook his head. "Not human, but wild beast."
Blazer frowned. Wild beasts? Then why are those wild dogs still here?
“Not your average beast,” Yun Zhe suddenly stopped and asked somewhat awkwardly, “Have you ever heard of vampires?”
Blazer paused for a moment. He had naturally heard of vampires; vampire legends and stories practically accompanied children throughout their lives. From a young age, family members would use the existence of vampires to scare children who didn't come home at night. As they grew older, it became the perfect excuse to prevent children from going to dangerous places.
"The soldiers shouldn't go into the village. Let them line up in an open area. You don't need to come with them either. I'll go into the village myself."
Blaze clearly did not agree with the suggestion, but considering the terrifying nature of vampires, he still followed Yun Zhe's advice.
Yun Zhe walked around the sign and strode into the village. The village was very quiet. Yun Zhe walked lightly on the muddy ground of the village and carefully looked around at the houses.
He was quite certain that the village had been attacked by vampires, but he couldn't tell Blazer because he could smell the faint, yet unmistakable, scent of human blood.
Yun Zhe mentally touched the name of Avery, which he had repeated more than a dozen times. Then he looked back at the brand-new flag. Only then did he completely suppress the shock brought on by the smell of blood.
Soon, Yun Zhe saw a mangled corpse. The body was badly damaged, clearly having been gnawed on by wild dogs. But what attracted Yun Zhe most was the leather armor on the corpse. This leather armor was novel and painted black, obviously not their kind of armor.
Thinking back to the military unit that had visited recently, Yun Zhe was quite certain that this unlucky fellow must be a member of Shadowthorn.
Yun Zhe looked around and then suddenly saw a woman dressed in white appear in front of him.
Yun Zhe stared intently. The woman stood in the setting sun, her clothes stained with blood, the smell of which was overwhelming. Barefoot and with long, flowing hair, if one didn't know that this woman was a vampire, this appearance would indeed evoke a sense of pity.
"Yun Zhe?" The female vampire spoke first.
Yun Zhe was taken aback. The voice sounded very familiar. He quickly realized who it was and tentatively asked, "Akdina?"
"I……"
Yun Zhe adjusted his angle and finally saw the woman in front of him clearly; she was indeed the elven vampire Akdina.
"What are you doing here?" Yun Zhe asked in surprise.
“I want to go back to my country, but…” Akdina didn’t speak.
Yun Zhe sheathed his longsword and beckoned to Akdina. "What I said earlier wasn't to blame you. You can go wherever you want. I was just curious. After all, there's a war going on here right now."
“I didn’t think that much about it, I just…” Akdina stammered as she sat down to the side.
Yun Zhe looked at Akdina with curiosity.
“I want to be by your side…” Akdina finally spoke her mind.
Yun Zhe was taken aback, then frowned slightly. He thought of the conflict between Ellie and Akdina, a conflict that couldn't be resolved with just a few words.
“You can stay by my side, but if you run into Ellie, I doubt you two will be able to make peace…” Seeing Akdina’s frightened eyes, Yun Zhe quickly voiced his concerns.
Akdina was taken aback at first, then lowered her head in worry.
“We’ll talk about it when we meet. After all, you’re my savior, and I’ll definitely take care of you. But there’s one thing,” Yun Zhe pointed to the corpses behind him, then looked around, “How did you kill so many people?”
Anger and humiliation flashed across Akdina's eyes. "They were all bad people. They're dead, so be it. I even regret not killing them all."
Upon hearing Akdina's resentful voice, Yun Zhe immediately thought of something unpleasant. Clearly, these soldiers harbored some wicked intentions towards Akdina.
Perhaps sensing the change in Yun Zhe's gaze, Akdina shook her head. "They didn't intend to do anything to me. They just robbed all the villagers and committed massacres. I couldn't stand by and watch, so I took action."
Yun Zhe's eyes lit up. While admiring Akdina's chivalrous spirit, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for his own despicable actions.
"You live with these villagers?"
Akdina nodded. "There are no adults or children left in the village, only elderly people. They are very kind, and very good to the elves."
Yun Zhe ignored Akdina's strange pause and suddenly his eyes lit up.
"Akdina, I have an idea. Would you be willing to help me?"
Akdina nodded repeatedly without the slightest hesitation.
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