Chapter 1295: Loyalty

Roland’s eyes widened.

For a moment, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The bat hovered a few meters away from him before its small body suddenly began to change. Its wings folded inward, its body expanded, and its shape transformed into that of a human.

A pale man appeared where the bat had been standing.

Roland immediately reached for his sword.

"What the..."

Before he could finish speaking, dozens of bats suddenly descended from the sky.

The knights surrounding the courtyard finally realized what was happening, but it was already too late.

"Watch out!"

"Something is attacking us!"

"Kill the bats!"

The knights raised their weapons and began striking at the creatures flying toward them. However, the bats were far more troublesome than they had expected.

They moved incredibly quickly, constantly changing directions as they flew around the knights. Some were struck by swords and immediately turned into clouds of blood, while others slipped past the weapons and landed directly on the exposed skin of the knights.

One of the junior knights screamed when a bat suddenly bit into his neck.

"Get it off me!"

He desperately tried to grab the creature, but the bat refused to let go.

The knight’s body began trembling.

His face quickly became pale, and the veins around his neck turned dark.

Another bat flew toward him and bit into his arm.

Then another.

"Help me!"

His scream quickly turned into a growl.

The knight’s eyes suddenly became blood-red before his struggling stopped.

A few seconds later, he slowly raised his head and looked at the people around him.

His expression had completely changed.

"What happened to him?"

"He... he’s a Vampire!"

The surrounding knights immediately backed away. They knew the legend of their existence! However, none of them expected that they were real things!

"T-they’re just fantasy creatures! What is going on?!"

Unfortunately, before they could find an answer, several more bats descended upon them.

The courtyard quickly descended into chaos.

The bats did not attack randomly. They seemed to know exactly who they wanted.

Several squires were attacked first, followed by junior knights and weaker warriors who had rushed into the courtyard after hearing the alarm.

One after another, they fell victim to the bats.

Some tried to resist while others attempted to flee.

But the moment they were bitten, their fate was almost immediately decided.

Just like that, the newly transformed Vampires then turned toward the other knights.

Their movements became faster as their strength increased.

Even their eyes were filled with an unfamiliar hunger.

"Don’t let them bite you!"

"Fall back!"

"Protect the senior knights!"

The knights desperately tried to reorganize themselves, but their formation had already collapsed.

The darkness left behind by Timothy’s group had not completely disappeared, making the situation even more difficult to control.

Roland swung his sword and cut down one of the newly transformed Vampires before it could reach him.

However, another Vampire immediately attacked from behind.

Still, Roland turned around and blocked its claws.

Clang!

The impact forced him several steps backward as he realized what kind of monsters they were facing. They were strong!

His expression became increasingly grim.

"This isn’t the Dawnblades..."

He could clearly tell that something else was happening.

The masked attackers had already escaped, and these creatures had been waiting for them to leave.

And now, they were attacking the Order.

Roland quickly looked around as more and more knights were being transformed.

However, among the chaos, one figure remained completely calm.

A powerful knight stood at the edge of the courtyard.

He was an experienced warrior who had reached a level far beyond the junior knights surrounding him.

His sword was already drawn when several Vampires rushed toward him.

"These monsters... They’re slow." He muttered.

He simply raised his weapon, and a flash of sword light swept across the courtyard.

Shiing~

The Vampires were instantly cut apart.

The powerful knight then looked toward the sky as if what he had done was just normal.

Still, he soon realized that hundreds of bats were still circling above him.

His expression became solemn.

"They’re targeting us... They’re not just hungry..."

He immediately understood that remaining here would be dangerous.

He turned around and rushed toward the nearest exit.

Several Vampires attempted to stop him, but none could keep up with his speed.

He cut down everything in his path and escaped from the courtyard.

The bats did not chase him.

Instead, they continued attacking the remaining knights.

The powerful knight glanced back once before disappearing into the darkness.

He was the only one who managed to escape!

***

Back inside the underground base beneath Atrium City, Lisa suddenly opened her eyes.

She had been resting inside a specially prepared chamber, allowing her body to gradually recover from the strain caused by crossing into the Valor Realm.

The connection between her blood and the bats suddenly gave her a clear view of what was happening in Valenridge.

Lisa stared at the scene for several seconds.

Then her expression darkened.

"Damn it."

She had not expected the bats to act so quickly. She did not order this at all. She only ordered them to guide the squad...

Of course, because of their position, the problem was not that they had attacked the Order...

That part was fine.

The problem was that Lisa was still recovering.

If she were at her full strength, controlling the newly created Vampires would be effortless and no one would’ve escaped.

But after crossing realms, even her Immortal body needed time to recover.

Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Whatever."

She couldn’t be bothered to worry about it anymore.

She was an Immortal.

Her current weakness was only temporary.

Once her body completely recovered, she would have no trouble controlling her growing network of Vampires.

In fact, the incident in Valenridge had given her something she hadn’t expected.

In any case, Lisa smiled faintly.

"Since they’re targeting the members of the Dawnblades, then I should start getting serious."

She closed her eyes again and returned to her recovery... This time, however, she had already given new orders to her new Vampires.

***

Meanwhile, in Valenridge, the courtyard had already become a completely different place.

The Order of the Sky Sword had lost control of the situation.

Many of the knights who had once guarded the prison were now standing among the shadows with blood-red eyes.

They thought that they had finally sent the bats and vampires away...

However, none of them realized that, from that night onward, some of their members had already been converted...

Their loyalty now belonged to someone else.