The Reinforcements
The newly arrived reinforcements in the form of cavalry roamed around the battlefield but unexpectedly, someone among the main leaders of this force that included over a thousand soldiers suddenly sensed his presence from almost half a mile away.
[This one can sense my heartbeat half a mile away? He must be at least an Elite rank vampire.
Well, I shouldn't make assumptions. This world definitely has different standards of measuring strength and ranks.] thought Dracula inwardly.
He quickly hid among the piled-up bodies and covered himself with the fresh blood still drizzling out of the Vampire corpses. When the soldiers donning gray armors found him, Dracula was pretending to be unconscious among the piles of corpses.
"Hey! Wake up!" spoke a vampire guard as he lifted him.
He shook Vlad's body again and again but received no response.
SLAP!!
A crisp slap resounded in the surroundings as the guard slapped Dracula in the face.
[You damn peasant!
I, the almighty Dracula Von Tepez, the conqueror of an entire world, killer of the Demi-Gods and Dragons, the one who reached the peak strength of the mortal world… am now getting slapped by such a weak insect!
This is the biggest humiliation I have suffered in my entire life!
What has the world come to?] he cursed but didn't show any response while suppressing the urge to kill this guard.
"Vlad!"
Just then, one of the leaders of the cavalry shouted and marched towards Dracula while riding on an armored horse.
[This voice! I know this person.] said Dracula and tried to remember this individual through his memories as Vlad.
Quickly, a devious plan formed in his mind.
[Good. I can use him for temporary asylum. I'll rely on him for now to gather information and understand this world better.] planned Dracula as he slowly started to open his eyes as if coming back from the brink of death.
"Who are you?... Where am I?" he said in a parched and hoarse voice as he looked at the guard who slapped him.
The short white-haired vampire with a scar on his left eye, adorning a dark gray longcoat and a sword on his waist, quickly got down from the horse and ran towards him.
"Uncle Marcel!" Vlad suddenly acted like he recovered his senses as soon as he saw a familiar face.
In front of him… was Marcellus Whittaker, the captain of the village guards.
After the human empire attacked their small kingdom of vampires, they were forced to leave their homes and divided into two groups to gather around the final line of defense to protect themselves.
Marcel was tasked with protecting their clan and safely leading them to a safe environment as the strongest person in the whole village.
But 4 days ago, he received a direct summon from the high command and left for one of the strongholds in a hurry while the large crowd would eventually join them in a couple of days.
Vlad knew of these details because his father in this life called Marvin, managed the development department as a government-appointed official in their village named Delin.
Although their journey had been quiet till this point without coming across any troubles with the help of the forces and security Marcel left behind to protect the people… it was this very morning that a garrison of the human army, the one who served directly under the banner of the church of Elenoia attacked them out of nowhere.
That's all Vlad knew ever since they had to leave their village.
"Humans… they attacked us out of nowhere.
They… they killed everyone." spoke Vlad as tears trickled down like a river in front of Marcellus.
Tap!
Tap!
"Who is this boy? Do you know him?" spoke the other officer in command also approached Vlad's hunched body following Marcel.
Vlad then acted like he was trying to balance his body. Given how everyone was treating this person with the utmost respect, he spoke in a soft tone…
"My name is Vlad Silverfang, your lordship." he said.
The only knowledge he had about this world so far was the language they spoke. And that too was a native one. He had no idea of other tongues and dialects.
But suddenly, this officer's long vampire ears perked…
"Silverfang? As in the Noble House Silverfang? Why is there a descendant of the house Silverfang here among villagers?" asked this black-haired vampire who seemed younger than Marcel but gave a sense of superiority compared to him.
Dracula also had no idea what this higher-ranked vampire was talking about.
In his memories as Vlad, the teen vampire never knew about his heritage. He was born and raised in Delin throughout his life by his parents so he thought of the whole clan as his blood-related family till this point.
"Yes, mister Corbett. He is the eldest son of Marvin Silverfang." said Marcel as he supported Vlad's body.
"Oh… the scholar genius of the House Silverfang, the one who gave up on his title as a noble and the heir of the family because he fell in love with and married a commoner?" asked Corbett.
[What?! I'm from a noble house?]
This was news to Dracula because even Vlad had no knowledge about this matter.
"Where is your father?" asked Marcel in a gloomy voice.
The next moment, beads of tears fell from Vlad's cheeks as he extended his right hand and pointed in a particular direction.
A few minutes later…
Thud!
"I'm sorry Marvin… I'm sorry Anya… I failed you both." spoke Marcel with a crestfallen expression as he dropped to his knees while looking at the detached head of Marvin and Anya's body that was still poked through with spears.
He then looked at Atrian's mutilated corpse.
Marcel was actually Vlad and Atrian's godfather. He knew their father since his time when he was just a recruit.
After Marvin gave up on his title as a noble, it was Marcel who helped him settle in Delin village by pulling a few strings and favors.
And now… his best friend and the villagers he considered as family were lying dead.
Corbett then walked towards him.
"I know of your loss, Captain Whittaker. But we must clean up the battlefield. Also, I have questions for you boy…" said Corbett and looked at Vlad.
"Tell me, child…" he said in a somber voice and asked with a suspicious gaze…
"What exactly happened here?"