Chapter 7

Zahhak was currently looking at the group of knights from the church. They were wearing white knightley armor as they marched onwards. But what caught his attention was the one who was leading the people. She seemed to be much younger than the knights if he is correct.

She has blonde hair tied in a bun, green eyes and fair skin with a cute face. She was wearing knightley armor over her blue dress. She also had a sword sheathed on the left side of her hip which seemed to exude a little holy aura. She had a serious expression on her face as she rode her horse. (A/N : She basically looks like Artoria Pendragon (Saber))

Zahhak didn't have much interest in the other knights but he was quite interested in the female knight who seems to be their leader. On that note he used his powers and delved into her mind and he was pleasantly surprised when he saw it.

The knights name is Altria Pendragon, the princess of the Kingdom of Albion. From what he understood she is the older of the two princesses. She has been training in the art of knights since her childhood and has managed to reach the rank of general in the knights of her kingdom. Due to the influence of the church, the knights of her kingdom was also under its jurisdiction.

From what he got from her memories she has been responsible for killing one of the vampire lords and carried one of the holy swords. It's name is Excalius, one of the few holy swords in the world which has been in the Pendragon family for some time. He was also to discern that she is a strong willed woman who has faith in the god of this world and as such has no qualms with working with the church.

But of course, that doesn't mean she doesn't have any problems. Despite her believing in the same religion in the religion women were not supposed to be fighters or warriors and this has resulted in her getting much scorn from the people from the church. And due to her gender and age she isn't seen by the other knights as worth her title and position as they believe a man should be the one who should lead them and not a woman.

Of course Zahhak, being someone from the modern world knew that it was bullshit and knew that woman has the potential for the same fighting capabilities and leadership as men. He was able to know that while she is displeased with the way the others looks down on her and treat her she suppresses those thoughts and did what she was told to do by the authorities in the church.

Zahhak smiled when he saw the thoughts that she had suppressed in order to follow her faith.

"I could use this to my advantage." Zahhak thought to himself.

That was when he got another idea and then waved his hand. The next moment a huge thundercloud appeared on top of the castle as it was crackling with lightning as it blotted out the sun and covered the area in shadow. He then used his powers to make the vegetation around the castle to grow and then made it grow on the walls thereby giving it the look of it being abandoned.

He used his magic again and made the things inside the castle to become a bit worn down and shut down the magic artefacts which gave light. To add the finishing touches he gave the castle a dark aura to make it look more evil. He saw how the castle looked after his handiwork and smiled in satisfaction.

He then looked at the knights and noting their path and speed knew that they will reach here in maybe an hour and a half. He smiled as he thought about what he would do with the group. Then he created a ball of energy and looked into it to see the vampires that he had taken and smiled as a plan formed in his mind.

Time skip

Altria along with her knights had now reached the village which was near the vampire lord. After she had managed to kill one of the vampire lords her position had risen and had been given the title of commander of the knights. She of course was glad about it and wore it with pride, though she wasn't a fool to not notice the contempt from the other knights when they saw her success.

She knew that females like her were never told to be warriors by the doctrine of the church but she wanted to be a warrior and help in the fight for her faith. This was the reason she became a knight in the first place. And though her mother and sister were supportive of her her father didn't like it. She also knew that her father wanted to raise their kingdom into the same level of power as the Crutuzia Empire and was planning to marry her off to another country to gain political power.

Her mother Amara Pendragon, was the daughter of a duke and a good fighter as well and also due to her beaty had garnered the attention of the prince. They married and then became the king and queen and had her and her sister not too long after.

Altria has known from a young age that her father was displeased with the fact that he didn't have a son. And after her sister was born he lost faith in her mother and started to neglect her as he changed his attention to raise his power in the kingdom. Altria hated her father for how he had treated her and her sister and mother. Her joining the knights was also a way for her to spite him.

But because she had managed to defeat and kill a vampire lord he had used her rise in popularity to increase his power in the political circles among the various kingdoms and she of course hated him for using her when he had neglected her his whole life. But she suppressed all of those thoughts and looked ahead as she had reached the village.

It was known amongst the church that a Vampire Lord lives near the village but they hadn't attacked because they weren't confident they could defeat it. But after her succes in battle they decided to send her to fight and defeat him which she accepted.

After conversing with the villagers and getting themselves ready they went on their way to the castle and they were able to see it. The castle was dark and had a dark aura around it. It also has a thundercloud over it as it was crackling with lightning. The vegetation had grown on the castle walls and the castle didn't seem to have any light.

Altria was a bit confused at how the castle was looking as she was getting a bit suspicious at the lack of guards around the castle and at the gates in front of them.

"Is there any illusion magic at play here?" Altria asked as she looked at the mage who came with them.

"No it doesn't appear so." The mage said.

"Something is not right." Altria said to herself as she looked at the castle suspiciously.

"There's nothing wrong here commander. It is clear that this is the evil lair of a beast. As knights we must kill it in the name of our lord." A knight said to her.

The other knights also said in agreement to them. Altria wanted to argue but knew that if she did the knights will act out and insult her about how she is a woman and such so she sighed to herself and decided to enter the castle to investigate as it was her mission to defeat the Vampire Lord.

With such thoughts and conviction she marched into the castle, all the while Zahhak who was seated at the now clean throne was watching this with a smirk while Celeste who was now dressed in her noble attire was seated on his lap and had her head on his chest as she felt his warmth as she looked at it as well.

Both of their eyes glowed red as they were ready to execute their plan.