Ascension of the Nephilim

Kyros and Diana sprinted through the mountain region and finally reached could see Grugnyr running towards them.

"My Lord!"

"What did you find?"

"Strange things happened. I reached the village and began to ask around. But everyone said that they have no memory of hearing such events. And this is weird, considering I know that that region was the first to have made that report. But now, they are claiming that whoever sent the report could probably be doing some prank!"

"They have no memory of this place? Woo boy. That's some advanced magic. Vampire Masters and above can train in the magic of illusion, hypnotization, and planting false memories. It could be that they moved here."

"What if everyone in that village has already been turned into vampires!"

"Not possible. Even I can only have eight coven members. Maybe if I get stronger, I can add more. But if I can't, then other vampires shouldn't be capable of creating an army of familiars. If they could, they would have conquered the Lowlands long ago. I doubt this Blood Calamity has the power to turn an entire village into vampires. Unless there are so many of them. But if they did that, Grugnyr could smell them. He is a Vampire Bloodline. His scent now is amplified."

"That is true. I can smell around two or three times stronger than when I was an orc."

"This means that the vampire is trying to reverse the damage of the unwanted attention and went into hiding..."

"Then we can't find out the truth of what the vampires have been doing here in Logat."

"The truth of whatever is going on here will definitely be revealed when we find some actual vampires. And what we need to look for is the members of this vampire's Coven. Grugnyr, move into the outposts and other villages. If they lost their memory, get out and move to another village. It's highly likely that they have vampire masters in that place. If not, then warn them of what has been happening to the other. We need to keep this place on full alert. And let's throw in a bit of chaos. Tell them that you found humans appearing on the eastern part of the mountain."

"Humans?" Diana asked.

"We need chaos. Grandpa already did his part in making the humans prep for war. This site also has to do that. With grandfather's information, we can actually force the kingdom where the traitorous champions belong. So Grugnyr, tell them you found the crests of the Lorem Ipsum Kingdom, the Jericho Kingdom, and the Mage Alliance. That way, the orcs will focus their hatred on those places. Since the Blood Calamity is hiding the truth of what's going on here, it'll be easier for us to spread more lies to force this region to war against each other." Kyros explained.

"As you wish, my lord."

"Oh. And now that we're alone. Grugnyr... You mentioned you belong to the kingdom that the Foreshire took over. But are you a royal member or perhaps one of the loyal knights in one of the kingdoms that the Foreshire Kingdom conquered?" Kyros asked.

"I am true," Grugnyr answered after a bit of pondering.

"Is the king, queen, or any of their descendants alive?"

"...This pertains to a secret that only we know. The Prince is alive. Foreshire usually kills all of the rulers of the kingdoms they conquer, but those like us have scattered and worked to send support back to rebuild our kingdom."

"Nice. Let's help them then. Once we establish ourselves in the Temple, we can gift some of the spoils to help rebuild your kingdom. We should rebuild a kingdom that has gratitude to humans to stand with the future war between these Eldrich and us."

Grugnyr was stunned.

"That... that would be amazing, my lord! Having you as a pillar to support my kingdom will ensure its rise."

"Don't count on it yet. Remember, Grugnyr. The moment I help your kingdom, or if you start sending help to your kingdom, Fate will act for it will sense its ties and bonds with me." Kyros warned.

"If we are to help them, it has to be grand and will be followed with great power. Otherwise, any small support we send will make life worse for them. So resist any urge to help them now."

"I understand, Lord Kyros."

"Go now, and perform your mission. Mother, let's see if we can find the vampires in this mountain region." Kyros turned to his mother.

The group split up once more.

A few hours later, Avary contacted Kyros through his link.

Another hour passed, and Kyros finally reached the location where Avary was.

"Avary...? What's up with your attire?"

Avary had taken off his orc armor and had the appearance of a sick child.

"Lord Kyros, a group of vampires attacked a caravan earlier. The guards were all defeated as a large monster that looked twice the size of an orc fought them. The orcs were all killed, and the vampires drank their blood. I was able to move closer without being detected since I had no scent."

"That was reckless!" Scarlet chastised.

"Not really. You guys are vampires, and your scent and the call of your blood are hidden from other Undead. The last thing they would expect is another vampire team stalking them. Anyway, let's move on. What happened?" Kyros asked.

"The caravan carried several human slaves. I noticed that they weren't trying to attack or kill the humans in the middle of the battle. And one of the orc vampires even rejoiced when they found what was inside the caravan. So as they continued to fight and kill, I decided to sneak in to see what was inside. Martha. I believe I found your sister."

"My sister?!"

"Yes. The humans were shocked to see another human in. I had already retracted my fangs to make myself look like a human and talked with everyone and assured them that I would save them and ask them to pretend that I was with them all along. By the time the battle ended and checked on us, I pretended to be sick so that the little life they detected from me was the proof of my humanity."

"Did you talk to my sister?"

"I never had the chance. But she looked a bit like you, and the rest was calling her Myas."

"Red-haired petite girl with a dimpled smile?" Gregory asked.

"She had red hair! I didn't notice the dimple. So it really was her!" 

Kyros, however, gave Gregory a strange look.

"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Kyros asked.

"No-No I don't! YOU have a crush on her, Lord Kyros!" Gregory blushed.

"Lord Kyros...!"

"Relax, Martha. I already promised to save your sister. But we may have to change our plans." Kyros sighed.

"Change our plans?"

"I'll explain after Avary finishes his report."

"Right! We were being brought in a nearby mine. It was relatively small and looked like it hasn't been used for years. There were numerous corpses of orcs inside. I heard that all the humans were being reserved for when their master would come. Unfortunately, there were a few more orcs inside as well. I pretended to be chained up, but I immediately snuck out as soon as I could when the vampires weren't looking. I promised the prisoners that I would save everyone. Sorry, lord Kyros. I have endangered our mission."

"Nonsense! What are we? We are bad guys, but that doesn't mean that we are bad guys. You guys are free to do anything other than that. And besides, saving them will add more realism once we retreat and go back to the fort in Airom Vagat. If more people and kids kidnapped appear, it would give us more proof for our lies to urge the human kingdoms to fight. So how strong were the vampires?"

"The main enemy was that large monstrous being. He was so strong and had this strange ability that some of the orc soldiers and even the wolves that the orc riders had would become confused. They ended up running into each other when they charged while others fell into a blank and dazed state. He looked like an orc but didn't have the same scent and had a body nearly three times the size of an orc. He fought several levels twenty orcs and killed them! He was immune to their attacks."

"That sounds like a Soul Attack. Only Vampire Masters or Lords can do this. But this creature ought to be a Vampire Lords. He is storing all those blood and is slowly consuming them. This proves my hypothesis. The Blood Calamity, who recently awakened, bestowed the power to become a Vampire Royal on this orc. But that creature couldn't contain his gluttony and kept drinking and drinking blood, turning him into that grotesque figure that you saw. He can't control his urges and kept drinking and drinking. Which is normal considering this orc jumped from being a regular orc all the way to becoming a Vampire Royal or Emperor."

"Is it strong?" Diana asked.

"Very. Unlike humans, who can only get access to a new class change when they reach a certain level, vampires can prematurely undergo some form of evolution as long as they manage to purify their bloodline. While their level remains the same, their power increases with the increase in the bloodline. This orc ought to be at level twenty at most when he was alive. And then was forcibly turned into a vampire that normally could only be achieved at level 40."

"So he's as strong as Patriarch?" Hunter asked in curiosity.

"Not really. His power should be somewhere stronger than level 30, though. But this is a rather unstable form. It will take time for him to get used to his new power. His uncontrollable urge is proof of that. What about the rest of the vampires?"

"There were about Seven other orc vampires. They gave off the same power as Zid Blood Blade."

"Interesting. This Blood Calamity is able to make such vampires already? Well, it's good. The power in creating Vampire Masters or Vampire Lords is quite huge. So if we kill them, it would weaken the Blood Calamity. Not to mention, we can destroy one of their secret bases." Kyros smiled.

"But of course... The best thing is that with so many powerful vampires that have drunk a portion of this Blood Calamity if we drink their blood, our Coven Level would definitely increase!"