"What do you mean, sister, by saying this is bad? You do not really think it is true, do you?" Helen asked, her voice tight and tinged with a desperate, burgeoning concern.
"The mere thought that our lord is dead will surely cause some of the men to lose their motivation to fight," Reina replied. A deep frown creased her brow as her focus instantly shifted to the grim tactical implications. She looked out over the battlefield, knowing that a army without a head was an army destined to crumble.
"Who says that our Lord Leonidas is dead? This could just be a calculated part of that snake's plan," Helen argued fiercely, her disbelief evident in every sharp word. "He knows how our lord is viewed and loved by the people here. Spreading the lie that Leonidas is dead fits perfectly into his scheme, especially since he knows the humans cannot easily kill our men in a fair fight."
She struggled desperately to accept what Decker had announced; it was their worst nightmare come to life, a reality too cold to inhabit. Her mind drifted to her husband, Markus, and how he had spent his entire life admiring his father. He had strived relentlessly to be as strong as Leonidas, a titan among vampires. Even after all these years, Markus had never unlocked his innate abilities like his brothers had, but his father's sheer presence had always been his greatest motivation to push past his limits. Now, she could not even fathom the hollow agony he must be feeling at the thought of losing his father and his idol in one stroke.
As her mind raced, Helen felt a desperate, primal need to shut down and deny Decker's words entirely. The very idea of Leonidas dying would send catastrophic shockwaves through their entire family, creating a ripple effect of despair that could shatter everything they held dear.
Reina looked at Helen, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears that she could no longer suppress. "Sister, I do not think Decker was lying." Her head dropped, a wave of profound and suffocating sadness flooding her chest as the truth took root.
"Why do you believe our lord is dead? Do you have a reason for such a lack of faith?" Helen asked, her voice cracking with the strain of the moment. Her heart ached at the sight of her sister's sudden, crushing grief, but she clung to her denial like a lifeline.
"Because our lord and John traveled with Decker for a business meeting. But Decker returned and attacked the castle while our lord is still missing. You can do the math," Reina replied, her voice trembling as the logic became inescapable. Tiny droplets of tears began to fall to the ground, darkening the stones beneath her feet. "I cannot even imagine what he did to little John. He was training so hard to make our lord proud, to earn his acknowledgment, and now the boy is gone."
Helen glanced at the vampire knight, Paul, and noticed he also wore a defeated and lost expression. The sight of an elite warrior looking so broken at the thought of their lord's demise was a chilling testament to the impact of the news. Her heart ached for her sister; she knew that Reina had been personally training John and must have cared deeply for the boy, making this revelation doubly painful.
Stepping closer, Helen wrapped her arms around Reina in a firm and comforting hug. "Listen to me, this is not the time to be weak. If you give up now, then Decker wins everything. I feel the sadness too, sister, but we must be strong and support the family through this darkness. You knew this kind of thing could happen before marrying Zeno; you signed up for this life many years ago. Now is the time to step up and lead."
"You are right, sister. You are absolutely right," Reina said. Her voice was still heavy with raw emotion, but her resolve was visibly hardening under Helen's embrace. She pulled back and wiped the tears from her face, her eyes narrowing as she looked toward the enemy forces still lingering in the distance. "Let us go and send them to the afterlife."
====
While Elena and Haven raced down the hallway, they suddenly heard Decker's chilling announcement echoing throughout the castle. The words claiming that their lord was dead hit like a physical weight. Elena came to an immediate stop, her body frozen in absolute shock as she leaned against the cold stone wall for support. "No, this cannot be true. Please say it is not true. What happened to the Young Master?" Tears streamed down her cheeks in a torrent of grief that seemed to overtake her entire being.
Haven, seeing her friend's sudden collapse, moved closer and gently placed her right arm on Elena's shoulder. "Elena, are you alright?"
Elena shook her head lightly, struggling to speak as if something raw and jagged were lodged in her throat. "I... I... I loved him, Haven," she managed to say, each word strained by her immense sadness for John.
"I know," Haven replied softly, her own voice thick with emotion. "Young Master John was so young, caring, and innocent. He had a great personality and a full life ahead of him. I feel this loss deeply too. Our lord is gone, and even if we win this battle today, our clan will never be the same again."
A heavy and suffocating silence enveloped them as Elena tried desperately to collect herself. Haven understood they did not have much time, but she also recognized how deeply Elena had loved John. Their moment of stillness was abruptly shattered when two mercenaries clad in light leather armor appeared at the far end of the hallway.
"Hey, look. Two vampire bitches. Let us kill them!" one of the mercenaries sneered, his voice filled with a misplaced confidence.
"Haven, please let me handle this," Elena said. Her voice was steady despite the immense turmoil swirling inside her.
"Are you sure?" Haven asked, concern etched deeply on her face.
"Yes," Elena affirmed, a cold and lethal determination replacing her initial shock.
Elena walked slowly down the hall with a sword gripped in her right hand. Tears still crawled down her cheeks from her sadness, but a fierce and focused fury was now tightly crammed in her heart. "I hate you. I hate you all."
One of the mercenaries loosed an arrow aimed directly at her skull, but Elena effortlessly swiped it aside with her sword. The blade rang with a sharp and metallic chime as it deflected the projectile into the stone wall. She continued her determined advance, her pace never wavering.
"What? How is this possible?" the man stammered, bewildered by the sheer speed of her reflex. He fired two more arrows in quick succession, but neither found its mark as she moved with the grace of a predator. A visible flicker of raw fear crossed the faces of both men.
"Forget the arrows; let us finish her off with the sword," one of the mercenaries suggested, his voice dripping with a false bravado.
"Look, the other bitch is not even helping her friend."
"She is probably scared," the second one laughed, forcing a cruel glint into his eye as they both drew their blades.
They could not have been further from the truth. Haven was just as consumed by a white-hot anger as her friend Elena, but she understood that at this moment, Elena was in a place of profound and jagged hurt. She needed to channel her raw rage into a bloody vengeance to keep from shattering entirely.
The first mercenary stepped closer, swinging his sword with a reckless and desperate abandon. Elena deftly deflected the heavy attack to the side, the sound of their steel grinding against each other ringing out in the tense and narrow hallway. Seizing the immediate opportunity, she swiftly sliced a deep, horizontal line across his abdomen, the force of the blow causing him to fall to his knees in agony. Without a second of hesitation, she gripped the middle of her own blade with her left hand and drove the steel through the man's face. Thick, dark blood dripped from the tip of her sword as the mercenary crumpled into a heap.
The second mercenary, witnessing the sheer speed and animalistic ferocity with which this vampire girl had dismantled his companion, could hardly believe his eyes. "You bastard! I will kill you!" he screamed, a raw and frantic rage boiling over to replace his dwindling fear.
Meanwhile, the sword Elena wielded remained lodged deep in the first man's face. With a brutal and sudden yank, she pulled the blade free, the force of the exit savagely splitting the man's skull in two. The second man, in a desperate attempt to retaliate, slashed his sword at her head, but she evaded the attack by instantly ducking under the whistling steel. Elena showed him no mercy; she adjusted her grip on the sword into a reverse position, preparing for a final, lethal strike.
In one swift and fluid motion, she slashed the blade across the man's face. Everything happened with such supernatural speed that it was as if the man did not even realize his head had just been cleaved. Moments later, his body collapsed as the upper half of his face was cleanly severed from the lower. Blood gushed everywhere, painting the stone floor a deep and visceral crimson.
She then turned her head to look in Haven's direction, her eyes cold and empty of the warmth they once held. "Let us continue, Haven, for my anger has not subsided. Young Master John is dead, but I will make sure he has more than enough people to keep him company in the afterlife."
"Then I suggest we head upstairs. I think there are still many more vampires who need our help. My gut tells me that most of them are not as angry as you are right now. They may have lost their fighting spirit due to the news of our lord's passing," Haven proposed, indicating their next move with a sharp nod toward the stairwell.
"Then let us go and help our family members," Elena replied, a cold and hard determination burning in her eyes.
====
As the flying boat was soaring through the vast expanse of the sky, Leonidas was busy meditating and trying to gather his remaining spiritual force. He focused every ounce of his will on his battered body, hoping that he could regain his ability to walk before they reached the battlefield.
"Wow, mister, I still cannot believe you are the same person I tried to rescue back in that alley," John said. A wide and genuine smile spread across his face as he looked at the man who was now their pilot.
The bald-headed man stood at the helm, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he enjoyed the cool wind brushing against his skin. "Please, Young Master, call me Tony. My name is Tony Bricksman, and I am deeply ashamed that a young boy like you had to take pity on someone like me."
John chuckled, leaning against the railing of the boat and taking in the breathtaking, cloud strewn landscape that stretched out forever around them. "I might still be just a kid, but I am glad you are safe, Mr. Bricksman. And please do not feel ashamed; I have no regrets about helping you that day. Besides, if I had not tried to help you, my grandfather and I would still be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way home."
"Wow, I simply cannot believe I am in the presence of the great Lord Leonidas." Tony then looked back at the seated lord with profound and visible respect. "Please, my lord, if you need anything at all, just let this one know."
Leonidas slowly opened his eyes, the urgency of the siege and the distant scent of smoke overriding his usual manners. "Then drive this boat faster. It is urgent that we reach my castle as soon as possible."
"As you wish, my lord." With a firm and calloused grip, Tony yanked the flying boat's throttle lever upwards. The action unleashed a sudden surge of raw energy that roared through the engine with a mechanical growl. The vessel instantly propelled forward at a breakneck pace, cutting through the clouds as it streaked across the boundless sky.
"Woah!" John exclaimed, gripping the railing tightly as he was nearly thrown back by the sudden and extreme acceleration.
Once he found his footing, John walked over to where his grandfather was sitting. "Yo, old man, we are so lucky, right? I am so glad that things went our way for once. We were going through so many unfortunate events lately, but now things are looking up for us," John said, his face beaming with a huge and undeniable smile.
Leonidas looked at John, his expression stern yet visibly softened by the genuine happiness he felt at seeing the boy smile. Given the intense suffering John had endured in recent days, the sight was a rare comfort. "Stop calling me old man... and you are right; things are looking up. We are fortunate that someone arrived to help us."
A cheeky smile spread across John's face as he moved closer to Leonidas, his tone light yet pointed. "Even if he is a human?"
Leonidas narrowed his eyes, locking his piercing gaze onto John. But the boy met his stare unflinchingly, knowing he had pushed a sensitive nerve. After a long moment of silence, Leonidas let out a light sigh of grudging acceptance. "Yes, even though he is human."
John clasped his hands together, emphasizing his point with the energy only a teenager could muster. "Old man, you like to look down on humans, but can you not see how life is showing you that even the great vampire lord sometimes needs help? Even from someone weaker than you?"
"Nonsense. I do not need help from anyone," Leonidas replied, crossing his arms defiantly across his chest.
"I knew my grandfather was an asshole, but now I see he is ungrateful as well. It is cool," John said. He turned away with a shrug, walking back over to the railing of the flying boat to take in the sprawling scenery below.
Leonidas watched John for a moment before a faint, rare smile crept onto his lips, though it was quickly hidden before the boy could look back. "Have you figured out how your lightning ability works?" he asked, attempting to shift the topic back to the familiar ground of power and away from uncomfortable emotions.
"I do not know how it works just yet, but I remember the reason I was able to tap into that kind of power was that I was trying to protect you, old man," John replied. The memory was clear and resonant, grounding him even as they flew through the clouds.
The eyes of Leonidas widened, struck by the genuine affection and the weight of sacrifice in the words of the boy. Not knowing how to respond to such raw vulnerability, he decided to stay quiet, his mind racing through centuries of harder, colder beliefs.
"But why do you care? You are probably disappointed in me again because it is lightning and not a fire ability, right?" John challenged, anticipating the old judgment he had lived with for so long.
Leonidas opened his mouth to say it was not true, but before he could find the words, Tony cried out. His voice was filled with a cheerful and urgent energy. "My lord, benefactor, we are almost there! Just behind that mountain we will be near Carmine town, which is very close to the Crimson castle!"
John looked ahead, the anticipation of the coming battle instantly replacing his smile. "Old man, are you ready?"
The eyes of Leonidas slowly turned a deep and incandescent crimson red. He stood in the stillness, his gaze fixed on the distance as he felt a strange and heavy tension beginning to pull at the air.
"Indeed."