Chapter 28: Reinforced

Terissa was quick to react, turning her gaze sharply to the left.

There, amidst the chaos of the blocked dirt road, she could already see Dori standing right in the open, her sharp fangs buried deep into the neck of one of the heavily armored bandit men.

As the feral girl violently sucked the hot, crimson life force from the screaming individual, two horrifying things began to happen right in front of the ambush party’s eyes.

First, the victim’s thrashing body slowly began to turn into a fine, powdery dust starting entirely from the legs up.

It was a gruesome, unnatural decay that perfectly mirrored the necrotic dusting curse of the mindless undead, a sight that washed a paralyzing shock over everyone standing in the clearing.

The heavy leather armor fell empty to the dirt, clanking loudly as the flesh beneath it simply ceased to exist.

Following that terrifying display was the second anomaly.

Every single drop of raw mana that had once been circulating through the dying bandit’s body suddenly began to evaporate into the air. The bright, mist-like energy did not just fade away, but instead rapidly seeped directly into Dori’s pale skin, fueling her unnatural S-rank Blood Master physiology.

"Shit! A monster!!!" one of the frontline thugs screamed in absolute terror, his voice cracking as he stumbled backward.

Immediately, the rest of the bandits snapped out of their frozen stupor. They began to draw their heavy blades and crude axes, screaming for their mages to act, completely understanding that the petite girl before them was a lethal threat.

Dori stood there completely unfazed by the encroaching steel.

She casually used the back of her pale hand to wipe the thick smear of crimson blood from her lips, her eyes glowing a vibrant, neon red in the fading afternoon light.

"Human blood really is that good, Master," Dori called out, a blissful, euphoric sigh escaping her lips. "Can I kill the rest of them?" she asked politely, raising a slender finger to point directly at the trembling thug who had just screamed.

Over by the opulent wooden carriage, Lucious reached down with one hand. He effortlessly carried the older merchant by the collar, dropping him beside Guinevere, who was sitting on the wooden floorboards in a state of absolute, pale-faced shock.

Once he was standing tall again, his dark clothes rustling in the wind, he finally gave his answer to her eager question.

"Yes, but try not to make it too messy," Lucious ordered, his deep voice carrying easily over the panicked shouting of the bandits. "It would be incredibly hard turning them into mindless bloods later if you completely ruin their physical vessels. Oh, and also, keep the leader alive."

"Okieeee!" Dori saluted playfully, a rather toxic, predatory smile stretching across her beautiful face.

Before any single human in the clearing could even think to react, Dori had already made her move. She vanished from her spot, blurring into a dark streak of motion just as Lucious began to walk calmly away from the carriage.

She dashed directly toward the screaming thug from the blind spot at his back.

A sickening, wet tearing sound echoed through the trees. She used her blood-soaked hands like jagged claws, digging her fingers effortlessly through the man’s leather armor and deep into his chest.

In an absolute instant, she ripped his beating heart entirely out of his ribcage, discarding the dying man to the dirt before he could even register the fatal pain.

"Shit, shit!!!"

"Draw your weapons, kill the demon!"

They all began to act frantically, understanding that the feral monster standing before them would easily slaughter them all if they did not strike immediately.

The rogue mages amongst the bandit group retreated, standing in a tight formation of three after creating a desperate distance away from the frontline slaughter.

They slowly began to channel their raw magic, their hands glowing brightly as giant, crackling magic circles formed in the humid air.

While Dori was busy slicing the throats of two other swordsmen, the mages locked onto her movements. They began to fire massive, blinding shoots of raw lightning directly at her small frame.

Dori did not even bother to dodge.

Instead, she grabbed the collar of the headless man she had just butchered and hoisted his heavy body up with one arm.

She threw the bleeding corpse directly at the group of mages. The dead meat absorbed the scorching lightning strikes, the force of the heavy impact knocking the three spellcasters violently backward into the mud.

Before they could even scramble to their feet, Dori dashed across the clearing and pounced directly onto them like a starving shadow cat.

She swung her bare hands, her sharp nails reinforced by her crystallized blood magic. She sliced open their guts with fluid, merciless precision, entirely immune to their desperate pleas. She crouched in the dirt, a twisted smile on her face as she watched them scream in agonizing pain before they finally bled out and died.

Not long after the brutal massacre that seemed to stretch on for a terrifying eternity, the sounds of combat completely died down. The clearing was painted in fresh crimson, littered with severed limbs and groaning, dying men.

Only two people remained standing on the opposing side.

The leader, Terrisa, who still wore her dark flowing dress and lace veil, and a single, terrified soldier gripping a chipped blade, who was standing right beside her trembling like a leaf.

Dori, now completely covered head to toe in warm human blood, slowly rose from the muddy ground. She turned her glowing red eyes directly toward the final pair, her feral gaze promising absolute violence.

The surviving thief froze in absolute, mind-numbing fear, completely understanding that he was going to be the next one to have his organs ripped out.

"Ahhh! Spare me!!! I have a family back in the city, pleaseeee!!!" he cried out at the top of his lungs. Dropping his heavy blade to the dirt, he turned around and started running away into the dense forest without a single second of hesitation.

Because of his specialized wind magic, he was able to move at a rather fast pace. He used a massive surge of his remaining mana to violently boost his body forward, intending to cover a large distance and disappear into the shadows.

Dori let out a long, highly disappointed sigh.

"You are the last one? Such a bummer, you cannot even put up a decent fight," she said out loud, sounding genuinely bored as she slowly stretched her right hand out to the side.

Tapping into her blood manipulation, a long, razor-sharp vine of crystallized crimson blood shot violently out of her open palm. The magical construct reached across the massive distance in a fraction of a second, chasing down the running man and stabbing him right through the center of his back, the sharp tip bursting out of his chest.

In the blink of an eye, the fleeing man collapsed heavily to the forest floor, dead before his face even hit the dirt.

Once she was completely done with the fleeing coward, Dori turned her attention back and moved slowly toward Terrisa.

For some completely unknown reason, the veiled bandit leader had not moved a single muscle during the entire slaughter. She simply stood by the fallen log, her posture rigid.

But Dori, on the other hand, did not seem like she wanted to fight the woman in the first place, remembering her master’s strict command to keep the leader alive.

Instead, she moved in tight circles around the woman, her glowing red eyes scanning her from head to toe, analyzing her physical build and magical aura.

"If Master is keeping you alive, it must mean he wants to turn you into a servant," Dori muttered, her raspy voice laced with heavy judgment. "Hmm. Master, I do not know about this one. She does not look strong at all. Her muscles are weak, she has no armor, and I do not think she is worthy of standing beside us."

Lucious, who had just finished ensuring the merchants were safely locked inside the carriage, stepped out into the bloody clearing.

He completely ignored the severed body parts and pooling blood, his dark boots stepping over the corpses as he slowly began to walk toward Terrisa.

"She is absolutely perfect when push comes to shove," Lucious corrected smoothly. "All of her loyal comrades have just been brutally murdered right in front of her eyes, and yet, she has not moved a single inch from where she is standing. Neither did she drop to her knees and beg for her life in exchange for the lives of her followers."

He closed the distance, stopping just a few feet away from the veiled woman.

"Even more so, she possesses a very specific power I am in desperate need of right now," Lucious continued, his eyes locking onto Terrisa’s face.

He remembered the strict limits of his Faction Grid and how valuable unique magic could be for his growing syndicate.

"This tool is very important for the future."

Terrisa let out a sudden, dry laugh. The sound was entirely devoid of humor, laced instead with a heavy, morbid acceptance of her grim reality.

"I see exactly how it is," Terrisa spoke, her voice surprisingly steady despite the absolute carnage surrounding her. "Are you some kind of dark mage? Those are incredibly rare in Eldia, but it would certainly explain your feral friend’s dark, bloody abilities and the dusting curse."

"A dark mage?" Lucious repeated the human title, his expression completely flat.

He kept a perfectly straight face, standing only a mere distance away from where she was rooted. The imposing, towering aurasuffocated the air between them.

"I guess you could call me that if it helps your human mind comprehend the situation," Lucious replied smoothly. "But since you have already introduced your demands earlier, it is only fair that I do the same."

He gently brushed a stray lock of dark hair from his pale forehead, his crimson eyes glowing with absolute, divine authority.

"My name is Lucious Moonwalker. I am the True Vampire Lord of this world. And you, Terrisa, I have chosen to hold my absolute blessing."