“Are you from the vampire tribe of Ellord Forest?”
blood art (2)
He narrowed his brows in response to my question.
“How…? How do you know that vampires live in this forest, human?”
I replied in a no-nonsense tone.
“Do you think there is a perfect secret in this world? I’ve heard that your people have lived in this forest for a very long time. To think that no one knows, that’s arrogance.”
“············”.
He just stared at me with eyes full of hostility without saying a word.
Beside her, Sister Rudica was staring at her with a look of restlessness.
I continued to speak.
“There is no other malice. There is only one reason for coming to this forest. The vampires you see here, the tribe and the two who have lost their hometown, have a new place to live.”
“······What?”
“These are vampires who lived in the mountains north of Calderik. The tribes who lived there had a fight, so most of the tribes died and barely survived and escaped.”
His gaze turned to Sister Rudica.
There must already be a few such vampires in the tribe of Ellord Forest, so I would have understood the situation right away with my explanation.
“So, can’t you be merciful and accept them as your clan? That’s all there is to it.”
He looked at my sister and me silently, and said,
“······· I don’t understand. Aside from the circumstances of those young vampires, why did you, a human, bring them here?”
“I only saved what was captured by slave hunters. And I just knew that there was a vampire tribe living in this forest.”
It was then that I felt other signs coming this way.
Newly appeared vampires landed on either side of the branch in the direction he appeared.
And when he found us, he looked startled, then frowned.
“······Humans and vampires? What’s the matter, Floke?”
The name of the vampire I was talking to was Floke.
He explained the situation to his colleagues.
The vampires glanced at us and made a strange expression after hearing all the explanations.
They quietly discussed what to do for a moment. But I heard everything in the super sense.
“First of all, from the report….”
“Yeah, I’ll be there, so let’s watch it together.”
They came to a conclusion and told me.
“Don’t do anything there and wait patiently, human. If you really have no other intentions and you’re only here to help those young vampires, you can do that.”
“okay.”
I answered meekly.
It seems that they are going to bring in a higher-ranking vampire to decide the treatment of the Rudika sisters, so you should wait here.
The fellow vampires left again, and only one remained, watching us as if we were wary.
He stood there silently, waiting for someone else to come.
***
A space with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.
A vampire woman stands still, closes her eyes, and catches her breath.
She was on a huge rock in the center of the room, and in a notch in the middle of the rock was a single red stone the size of a fist wrapped in black chains.
An ominous stone that alone illuminates this underground space without a single light from the outside with a fiery blood.
Below the rock, there were other vampires watching it with anxious eyes.
“············”.
The woman slowly opened her eyes and put her hand on the red stone.
When her hand touched it, the stone blew out even more intense blood.
An ominous energy emanating from the stone filled the space.
The energy that made even vampires just watching and trembling, the woman alone was receiving it.
Then, the blood that began to flow from her body was slowly absorbed into the stone.
The woman’s expression, who had maintained her composure, was then distorted with pain.
But it wasn’t just the blood being absorbed by the stone.
‘Khahahahahahaha…!’
A bizarre and terrifying laugh that gnaws at the soul.
That overwhelming mental wave echoing in my head was something I couldn’t get used to, even though I had experienced it dozens of times.
The woman managed to keep her consciousness about to collapse and waited for the end.
The light from the stone slowly faded away.
And the stone that returned to its original state seemed to have a little less red light than before.
“······ha.”
The woman who had successfully completed the ceremony stumbled down the stairs on the rock.
The vampires waiting below rushed towards her.
“Sister… are you okay?”
A man came forward and supported her.
Throughout the ceremony, he was watching with painful eyes, as if he were doing it himself.
The woman nodded and gently removed his arm.
“It’s okay. Don’t make a fuss about what you’re always doing.”
Seeing her still trembling while saying that, the man’s face became even more troubled.
A ritual to suppress the energy of blood.
It is a duty that the chieftains have inherited from generation to generation, and it is also a responsibility that must be fulfilled for the peace of the tribe.
Therefore, as the ceremony progressed, there was nothing the man could do while watching the flesh and blood lose its lifespan.
The man turned his gaze and looked again at the stone embedded in the rock.
How long does the replacement tribe have to waste the lives of their brethren for that damn thing? Until when…
“Come back and rest, sister. Take care of the chieftain.”
Out of the underground space, the woman returned with the other vampires.
The man looked back at him and sighed.
At that time, a vampire from the other side ran towards this side quickly. It was a warrior tasked with periodically reconnaissance of the forest.
“Warrior Chief.”
The man looked at him with puzzled eyes.
“What’s going on?”
Hearing the report that followed, the man frowned slightly.
“·······Humans brought young vampires? How do you know that our tribe exists?”
“I don’t know about that. I think I’ll have to give it to you in a hurry from the first report…”
“How many heads on the human side?”
“Only two.”
The man glanced in the direction the woman had disappeared and then nodded.
“I will go directly with the warriors. For now, please do not report to the chieftain.”
***
How many minutes did you wait?
I could feel a lot of signs coming closer from far away.
There were so many more than I expected, so I was a little perplexed.
‘········What is it that comes so much?’
Eventually, the vampires that appeared and climbed up on the trees everywhere as if besieging us where we stood.
The number of people was easily tens. In addition, the level was all over 60 elites.
As if they were coming to fight some kind of battle, Ashel’s expression hardened, and the Rudica sisters looked around with a frightened face.
“It really is a human footstep.”
One of the vampires said as if muttering.
I made eye contact with him.
It was immediately recognizable that he was the leader of their group.
As for the clothes, it was from the level above the head.
【Lv. 81]
.
After checking the level, I could immediately recognize his identity.
Of the vampire tribes of Elrod Forest, there was only one strong person who reached this level.
‘Warrior Captain Calderburn.’
The chief’s younger brother and the foremost warrior of the Ellord Forest.
As I recall, 5 years later, his level was 83, which was higher than it is now.
I didn’t expect it to suddenly come out of the battlefield.
“Human, answer the question properly.”
He was exchanging glances with me, and then he opened his mouth.
“How did you know that our tribe existed in this forest?”
I had given a moderate answer earlier, but it seemed like I was trying to get a definitive answer.
In fact, this was a very important issue for them.
For a long time, I had been quietly living in the forest, avoiding the eyes of the public, but out of nowhere, a human who knew their existence came to me.
After thinking for a while, I answered.
“Isn’t it strange that you don’t know?”
“······What?”
“Even though it is not visited by others, this is the realm of Calderic. There are the eyes of the monarchs and there are many intelligence organizations. You know that you have lived in this forest for nearly 100 years. Really. If you truly thought that no one would know of your existence, you would be arrogant.”
Indeed, overlords and some monarchs are aware of their existence. I don’t need to worry about it, so I just leave it alone.
And although they have settled in the Ellord Forest for more than 200 years, this part is partly wrong.
It was to make them think that if I knew too much, my boundaries would become stronger, so I didn’t fully understand everything.
I could feel Rubica looking at me with a puzzled look next to me.
Because when I explained them to her, I told her that I had a relationship with a vampire from this forest tribe.
You might wonder why I didn’t say that, but of course it was a lie, so I couldn’t say it. In the first place, the vampires of Elrod Forest live and die in this forest for the rest of their lives, so how can a kite reach them?
Anyway, the warrior commander, who was staring at me without an answer, seemed to be convinced to some extent. He changed the subject.
“You said you came to rescue the vampires who were captured as slaves and bring them to our tribe. Those children?”
“Yes.”
Rubica, who was watching at that time, stepped forward and said.
“········································································································ We are vampires who lived in the mountains north of Calderik! And they rescued us with genuine good intentions and brought us here.
The atmosphere was harsh, so he seemed to want to defend me.
He glanced at her, then nodded.
“If you have lost a place to return to, even if it’s a small child, you can embrace it in the arms of the tribe.”
“············”.
“But not humans. You can never bring them into the village. So, send those children here first.”
At that, they looked at me with anxious eyes.
I nodded my head.
“It’s okay, let’s go.”
So they hesitated and moved to the side of the vampires.
The warlord blinked at a vampire.
After receiving a wink, she took her sister in her arms and climbed the branches and moved into the forest. And then it went so far away that I couldn’t see it.
I turned my gaze to the warlord.
Now it was time to bring this purpose out.
“I have a story I want to tell you.”
I stopped talking.
Because the atmosphere was not serious.
The hostility felt from the vampires standing around us as if they were surrounding us grew stronger. and······.
Aww!
The sudden attack from the front was blocked by Ashel instead.
A thorn made of blood shattered to pieces by her sword.
She ferociously distorted her expression and stared at the battlefield where she attacked.
I looked at him and asked.
“What are we going to do?”
He answered with a calm tone and withdrew his hand.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t leave the forest alive.”
“Is it because I was aware of your tribe’s existence? I would have said that I wasn’t the only one who knew.”
“No, that’s not it.”
He shook his head.
“Thank you very much for saving our people. But we’ve never saved an outsider who has entered this forest alive. That’s how the tribe has kept their home and peace for many years, and there are no exceptions.”
The vampires around them immediately took a fighting stance.
The blood that flowed from their bodies gathered in the air and formed a shape. Some are huge, some are sharp.
“So die here, human.”
I sighed inwardly.
‘These dog-like vampire cubs….’
Did I think too easy?
No matter how much I saved my people, I didn’t know they were going to kill me like this.
Soon there was blood rushing all over the place where we were standing.
I grabbed Ashhel’s shoulder, preparing for battle, and pulled him closer.
“Uh…”
“Stand close to me.”
And immediately opened the floating curtain.
At the same time, attacks poured in from all sides.
***