Chapter 34 - Deception

"As the master suggested to deal with Baron later, I already inquired about them and found out who ordered them to capture the innocent young girl," Eclipse explained.

Eclipse proceeded to share the information he had gathered from the recently turned soldiers. Valerian Thornfield, the lord of Crestwood territory. He had been instructing his men to regularly raid the nearby village and abduct innocent young girls for the purpose of selling them to slave traders.

Valerian was involved in numerous illicit activities, including running a black market, managing a slave market, and overseeing an underground casino.

Valerian Thornfield had successfully evaded the attention of the Empire by bribing higher-ranking officials. However, the soldiers under him were unaware of the specific names of those higher-ups. They possessed limited knowledge about his illicit activities and were ignorant of the full extent of his connections within the system.

To divert Baron Thornfield's attention, Eclipse came up with a straightforward plan. Seraphina would shapeshift into an adventurer passing by the scene. Pretending to stumble upon the soldiers kidnapping innocent girls, she would swiftly eliminate the soldiers, rescue the girls, and apprehend the remaining soldiers to be handed over to the higher authorities. This way, the incident could be framed as a heroic act of justice rather than an attack by vampires or monsters from forest.

"I will call the rest of my men to pose as a survivor. You can capture him and pretend to present him to the higher authorities as evidence," Eclipse suggested, adding another layer to their plan to divert suspicion from their involvement.

"Your plan is good, but it has one flaw. What if the Baron investigates which authority we was turned into and doesn't find out where his men are?" Seraphina added, acknowledging the concern and pondering over the potential issue in their strategy.

"I don't think he will do that. It would raise suspicion against him, and he will want to avoid any direct connection to his captured soldiers," Eclipse explained.

"But of course, he could inquire about it discreetly through those corrupted officials. However, it will take time for them to respond, as they will likely avoid direct confirmation. This delay will give us more time to plan our next move," He concluded.

"True, he wouldn't want to draw attention to himself by inquiring too much. And you're right, the corrupted officials will be hesitant to reveal anything that could incriminate them. This delay will definitely buy us more time to plan our next move," Seraphina concurred, recognizing the strategic advantage of their approach.

Then they began to execute the plan according to their strategy. Seraphina transformed herself into a passing adventurer.

"Hello, girls! I am here to help you," Seraphina tried to mimic the role of an adventurer coming to the rescue.

She then broke the lock of the tumbrel and freed the girls. The girls inside the tumbrel were initially fearful and trembling in a corner. At first, they were frightened by the appearance of the adventurer, but as she broke the lock and set them free, they began to slowly relax and believe that she had come to save them.

"Thank you so much for your help, " Girls said to adventurer

"No need to worry. I happened to come by and saw those treacherous soldiers causing trouble. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing," Seraphina continued her charade as the adventurer, engaging in humorous antics that brought a smile to the girls' faces.

"What is your name?" A girl inquired.

"My name is... Sera, " Seraphina after a brief moment of contemplation.

Then, as per their plan, they proceeded to enact the capture of the remaining soldiers, making it appear as if they were apprehending them.

"Allow me to escort you back to your village safely," She said with a reassuring smile.

She began leading the way towards the village, where a tension filled the air. Closed windows and tightly shut doors indicated the fear that gripped the villagers, who were sheltering indoors due to the soldiers' threat. They felt a mix of fear and shame for not being able to protect their own girls from the danger that had befallen them.

The girls approached the doors of their homes, knocking anxiously and calling for their families. The sound of their voices sparked a flurry of movement within the houses. Doors swung open, and families rushed to embrace their children, relieved to see them returned safely.

However, when the girls turned to point out the adventure who had saved them, they found that she had mysteriously disappeared. They recounted the entire tale to their families, detailing the unexpected arrival of a passing adventurer who had rescued them from the clutches of the soldiers.

"Seraphina, you really played your part well in front of those girls," Eclipse remarked, trying to tease him.

"But why did you suddenly run away? You could have become their unexpected heroine," He continued, his tone tinged with playful curiosity.

"Hey, hey, let's not talk about that, and I'm definitely not doing that again," Seraphina retorted, a mixture of embarrassment and reluctance evident in his response.

"Now we need to proceed with finding more humans like them and expanding our intelligence unit. There are likely more individuals like that Baron who engage in such activities, and we must be ready to face him," Eclipse said with a determined expression, fully committed to their mission.

As they ventured into the nearby outskirts of the Baron's territory, they were in for a shock. It wasn't just one village; they discovered multiple villages where the same vile activity of kidnapping innocent young girls was taking place.

They proceeded with their same usual plan, turning a few remaining soldiers into Vampires and orchestrating the act of saving the girls while disguising themselves as adventurers.

"We now have ten Vampires under your command. It's time to return and inform the Master, seeking his guidance on how to proceed with dealing with Baron," Seraphina suggested.

With their newly formed unit of Vampires, Eclipse and Seraphina hurried back towards Twilight Sanctum to inform Bong of their success and plan out the next move.

Meanwhile, within Twilight Sanctum, Bong had honed his skills to their limits, mastering all that he could within the sanctuary's confines. With his newfound proficiency, he ventured outside to confront powerful monsters, seeking to further advance his remaining abilities.

[ALERT]

[LEVEL UP]

... x4

"Woah, what's going on? Are they having a monster party or something? And they didn't even invite me," Bong mused, his tone a mix of amusement and mock offense, as he tried to make sense of the sudden surge of level ups.

"Show my status, "

[ALERT]

[Name: Bong Jum]

[Species: Immortal Bat]

[Class: Shape Shadow Bat]

[Level: 45]

[Health: 15800/15800]

[Mana: 12000/12000]

[Innate Skill: Immortality, Gluttony]

[Skills: Shadow Stealth (Proficiency: Masterful), Sonic Sense (Proficiency: Masterful), Shadow Manipulation (Proficiency: Masterful), Dark Flight (Proficiency: Masterful), Nightmare Illusion (Proficiency: Beginner), Spectral Form (Proficiency: Beginner), Mimicry Mastery (Proficiency: Masterful), Hemokinesis (Proficiency: Beginner)]

[Passive Skill: Nyxian Blood Eclipse (Proficiency: Masterful)]

"Hmm... time to get fancy with the Hemokinesis skill and level it up, Bong! You're about to become the ultimate shadow and blood bender," Bong declared with a playful smirk, ready to embrace his transformation into a master of eerie powers.