Chapter 29: To be known

"True vampire?"

The question slipped from Terissa’s lips before she could stop it.

Her voice, usually brimming with the confident arrogance of a bandit leader, wavered slightly in the cold mountain air.

Through the thin, dark lace of her veil, her eyes widened as her human mind desperately tried to process the title.

"I have heard that name before," Terissa muttered, taking a slow, cautious step backward on the blood-soaked dirt. "Vampires... those creatures who roamed the outer forests, the monsters spreading their fear to the surrounding villages in the dead of night."

"Oh yes, that would be my children," Lucious replied smoothly.

The exact moment those words left his pale lips, the temperature in the clearing plummeted to a freezing low.

Terissa suddenly felt a strange, suffocating presence looming directly above her and all around the perimeter of the bloodied dirt road. A dark, unnatural mist began to ooze from the dense tree line. It crept over the roots and the slaughtered bodies of her men, carrying the heavy, metallic stench of decay and raw magic.

Slowly, from the shadows of the towering pines, numerous figures began to emerge. They were the mindless bloods. Goblins, towering mutated beasts, and former human mercenaries whose bodies were now fueled entirely by necrotic energy.

They stood perfectly still at the edge of the forest, entirely silent, their vibrant red eyes glowing with a violent intensity from within the thick mist.

They did not take a single step forward, simply watching the clearing with predatory absolute loyalty.

Both Terissa and Guinevere, who was still sitting frozen in shock near the velvet-lined carriage, stared at the horrifying scene in total horror. It was almost as though they were watching their absolute biggest nightmares physically come to pass right before their very eyes.

Terissa was so terrified by the sheer number of undead monsters surrounding them that she instinctively tried to take another step back.

Her heel had barely left the ground when a solid force blocked her path.

She snapped her head over her shoulder to find Dori standing directly behind her. The feral girl was still completely drenched head to toe in the warm human blood of the bandit crew she had just mercilessly slaughtered.

Dori offered a toxic, hollow smile, raising a single blood-stained finger to her lips, silently showing the bandit leader that there was absolutely no avenue for her escape.

Terissa gulped heavily.

She turned her gaze back to look at Lucious.

"What... are those things?" Terissa asked, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Mindless bloods, as I like to call them," Lucious explained casually, folding his pale hands behind his back. "You need not worry about them. They will not attack unless I give them the explicit order to do so."

Terissa had to take one more lingering look at the army of monsters, seeing that they indeed did not move a single muscle from where they stood. They just watched.

For days, she had heard the frantic rumors of these exact monsters lurking in the forest, the beasts the guild clerks and frightened locals had called vampires. To think she would attempt to rob a carriage and run directly into the one who claims to be their supreme master.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her survival instincts kicking into maximum overdrive. "Money? If you give me a chance to head back to my headquarters in Snake Valley, then I can gather all the gold we have stolen and give it to you."

"Do I look like someone who would immediately turn over when offered a few cents?" Lucious scoffed, his eyes narrowing slightly in mild insult.

His blunt question made her freeze for a long while. She had absolutely nothing else of value to offer a monster capable of commanding an undead army.

"As I said, I want you to join my cause," Lucious continued,. "You have such a beautiful talent for leadership. It would be an absolute waste if you were to die here in the mud with the rest of your men. Why not join me? I can make you so much more than a petty thief hiding in the woods."

Terissa was completely speechless. She did not understand what he meant by that. Moreover, why would a dark mage of his caliber want her to join his ranks when he had only just met her moments ago?

These were the frantic questions constantly beating around inside her head.

Unknown to her, Lucious had already seen the answers to his own questions.

The very moment she had proudly introduced herself as Terissa, the leader of Snake Valley, his Supreme System had triggered a unique skill. Utilizing Name Seer, he had effortlessly accessed the most important, guarded memories of her life.

He saw it all flash through his mind like a vivid painting.

He saw how she had been unjustly banished by the corrupt human nobles of the capital.

He saw how they made an absolute fool out of her, framing her for a crime she did not commit, which soon led her to spend most of her young years rotting in a damp prison.

He watched her eventually get released, broken and angry, leading a hard life that forced her to this exact moment.

He saw the hidden truth behind her banditry. All she did out here on the roads was steal enough resources to feed a large group of innocent, banished people hiding in a settlement not too far away from the mountain pass.

She was a natural leader, fiercely protective of her own, and possessed the exact administrative qualities his growing syndicate desperately needed.

"I can help you feed them," Lucious uttered quietly, moving slightly closer. "Do not make the wrong choice, Terissa."

His intimate knowledge of her hidden life, combined with his unnatural calmness, made Terissa incredibly nervous and scared. How could he possibly know about her settlement?

After she steeled her nerves, burying her fear beneath a thick layer of desperate ambition, she stood tall and uttered her condition.

"If you truly intend for me to join you, then why not prove you are worthy to lead me?"

Dori was instantly angered by that disrespectful question.

A low, feral growl vibrated deep in her throat. How dare this weak human insect ask her supreme master to prove himself after he had graciously spared her pathetic life.

Dori raised her blood-soaked hands, fully prepared to rip the woman’s throat out.

But Lucious raised a single finger, stopping Dori before she could do anything.

"Go on," Lucious permitted, a cold flicker of amusement sparking behind his eyes.

"If you are able to withstand my damage long enough for me to admit defeat, then I will submit to your offer and serve you," Terissa declared, her voice finding its familiar, confident rhythm. "But if I manage to bring you down, then you will answer to me, and your monster army becomes mine."

Terissa grinned slightly beneath her lace veil as she uttered those heavy words. She had already come up with a desperate, brilliant plan.

If it goes well, not only would she have such a powerful, handsome man answering to her every command, but she would also be able to use his undead forces to expand her territory and protect her hidden people from the kingdom’s knights.

Silence settled over the bloody clearing for a short while.

"Alright. I accept your terms," Lucious replied smoothly, his face a mask of predatory stillness.

Terissa smiled, a genuine spark of thrill rushing through her veins.

"Good. Then let us begin."

Moments later, the clearing was hastily set for combat. Lucious used his boot to kick a few severed limbs out of the way, creating a wide circle of flattened dirt. Both parties stood only a short distance apart from one another.

Dori, grumbling curses under her breath, was ordered to stand far back close to the reinforced wooden carriage, right next to where Guinevere and the older merchant were cowering.

"Ready when you are," Lucious spoke out, letting the bandit leader know he was completely prepared.

All the while, Terissa had a wide grin on her face. It was a deeply confident, victorious grin.

"Go!" she shouted.

She charged forward, her boots kicking up clumps of wet mud. She was surprisingly fast for a human, closing the distance between them within mere seconds.

As she ran, she funneled every single drop of her raw mana into her right arm.

Her clenched fist began carrying a vibrant, blinding blue glow, humming with concentrated magical power.

She leaped into the air, throwing her entire body weight behind the glowing strike, aiming directly for his pale jaw.

Just when she thought the heavy hit was going to land, Lucious raised his arm.

He casually grabbed her glowing fist right out of the air with his bare, pale hand. The impact created a loud shockwave that rippled the dirt around them, but Lucious did not even flinch or take a single step backward. He squeezed her knuckles tightly, locking her in place.

"If this is the absolutely best you can do, then you might as well go on your knees and call me your lord right now," Lucious mocked coldly, entirely unimpressed by her physical strength.

Terissa did not panic. Instead, her confident grin widened into a triumphant sneer.

"Euphria!!!"

Terissa suddenly screamed the incantation at the absolute top of her lungs. The vibrant blue light that was once concentrated entirely on her trapped fist violently surged outward.

Like a liquid current of pure magical energy, the light traveled straight down Lucious’s arm, bypassing his physical defenses entirely, and transferred directly into his undead body.