329 What we're made of!
There were a total of four Vampire Clans, who were charging toward the Undying Group.
They were still 50 kilometers away from the first defensive line that was located right outside Shiron. Fighting inside the city was rather disadvantageous because it would allow the Vampires to use their racial advantages against the humans.
Vampires were basically superior humans, and their only issues before the Primordial Ascension had been their low numbers, the fact that they had to hide from society to prevent being hunted, their need to drink blood to survive, and the threat posed by sunlight.
After the Primordial Ascension, sunlight was of no concern anymore and they could walk out in broad daylight. The Vampires had been strong enough from the beginning to attack monsters, increase their strength, and start hunting humans for their blood.
Until now, the blood of humans had been the most potent in maintaining a Vampire’s peak state. This was one of the big reasons, they usually turned humans into their mindless slaves and also why they would usually walk around with human slaves by their side.
However, right now, there were a total of 1500 Vampires, without a single human being by their side. Even Victoria was astonished by this.
“They didn’t bring a single human slave or a Blood Servant with them? I guess, they really intended to go all-in. Their speed is much faster and without baggage…” Victoria mumbled while everyone else looked at her with a frown.
“It would be great if you wouldn’t call humans ‘baggage’…” Kathrine grumbled, poking Victoria’s side. The female Vampire let out a squeal before she nodded her head.
“Tell us more about the Vampire clans once you can see and recognize them,” Dilan instructed her before addressing the others.
“They seem to have quite a few beast tamers or one with a High-quality Beastmaster occupation, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been capable of taming 300 mounts.”
Apparently, every single Vampire and mount was said to have a higher combat prowess than the average strength of the Undying Group’s Ascenders. That was, at least, what the Scouts had mentioned.
Dilan had already expected this but the Ascenders that were rowed up behind him showed signs of fright when they heard about this.
However, being afraid was only obvious in the given situation, and those who didn’t feel even the slightest trace of fear before a large-scale battle were truly the crazy ones. Dilan, Victoria, and Yvonne were three such crazy people because they were either looking forward to the fight or they were already embracing death like a long-lost friend.
“I guess that the mounts belong to the Likar Clan. This clan was already able to control animals before the Primordial Ascension. It’s the Vampire power of their nobility,” Victoria answered calmly before she licked her lips.
Dilan had always wondered if Victoria would hesitate in slaughtering her own race but he might have been too worried. She looked excitedly in the direction where the four Vampire groups were supposed to enter her sight at any moment. No trace of hesitation or nervousness could be seen in her eyes.
‘As a daughter of the Old Vampire Lord, she should know most noble families personally…but whatever…’ Dilan thought before he chose to not dwell on this topic for long. It was not important for now.
“If the Vampires and Mounts are stronger than the average of our Ascenders, each of them should be comparable to a Gold Tier-1 monster at the bare minimum, or not?” Oliver asked meekly, glancing over to Dilan and the others warily.
However, instead of shaking their heads in denial, which was what Oliver had hoped to happen, they nodded their heads faintly, much to Oliver’s disappointment.
“Exactly,” Dilan answered straightaway.
At this moment, Victoria stiffened as she circulated mana through her eyes that had turned crimson. They glowed brightly and moved rapidly before a deep sigh escaped her lips.
“Likar family, Melza family, Bryte family, and Agilt family …that’s a fucking weird combination…” Victoria swore under her breath and everyone turned their attention to her.
Dilan was not yet able to see the four groups of Vampires but apparently, Victoria could.
“The Likar family is the one riding on the biggest monster mounts, right in the center. The Melza family is on the left and they’re extremely powerful. They can control the wind around them and use their Vampire power to turn the winds solid.
The Bryte family’s advantage is their terrifying physical strength. I don’t know how much of an effect the Primordial Ascension had on their powers but even the newly created Vampires were physically as strong as Adult Vampires! They’re in the center next to the Likar family.
As for the Agilt family, they’re just unbelievably fast…like really fast…” Victoria continued to explain as her eyes kept darting to Dilan every now and then.
“The Agilt family might even be faster than the Thunderbolt Eagle…and the Bryte family will definitely be physically stronger than the Thunderbolt Eagle…as, for the Melza family, their Wind Control is likely to be on par with the Thunderbolt Eagle’s thunder affinity…Only the Likar family might be somewhat…easier to get killed…but they probably enhanced their tamed monster’s strength by giving them their blood…” She mumbled in his direction, preventing the crowd of 1300 Ascenders to hear him.
“That means the mounts might have regeneration abilities that are similar to ordinary Vampires?” He asked, frowning deeply.
The situation seemed messed up, just like Dilan expected it to be when he had first heard about the Sanctum of the Blood Monarch.
He had expected things to get a bit awry and he could only smile at their predicament.
“In that case, we will have to give our best like always!” Dilan could only say when he noted that Victoria nodded her head in response to his earlier doubt.
An enormous black blade manifested in Dilan’s hand and the ground cracked lightly when the heavy weight of Balzaki fell on it.
A faint smile appeared on Dilan’s lips just smiled when he noticed this but he didn’t say anything.
He placed Balzaki on his shoulder and turned in the direction of his people. They were well-informed about the strength of their opponents. Dilan saw the fear in their eyes and he turned back to take a look at the Vampires for a short moment.
His expression lit up when he thought about something and everyone, who saw him merely looked at each other, thinking that he was going insane.
They had seen this crazed look in his eyes before and knew that things were about to turn ugly. A premonition flashed through their minds which turned into reality just a moment later.
“Should we go all-in, from the beginning?” Dilan asked quietly and threw a questioning gaze in the direction of his people. His voice might have been low but it reached every single Ascender.
Some nodded reflexively, a few raised their fist in the air in an attempt to free their body of the shivers that went down their spine, while others felt brave enough to voice out their doubts to him.
“Can we do it, even if we go all in?”
The minority was unaffected by the news they received, and at the sight of the first Vampires dozens of kilometers away, they felt that their knees were growing wobbly.
Almost no one was truly able to feel the power of their opponents but the news and the sight of 1500 Vampires and 300 powerful monster mounts charging at them was definitely not something they could accept that easily.
“Then how about I go all-in before everyone else, and you guys take a look and follow me once you’re ready? I want everyone to fight but I should create a prime example of what I expect from all of you, don’t you think?” Dilan smiled at his people with indestructible confidence.
It looked like he was certain that all of them were powerful enough to fight against the noble Vampires, irrespective of whether they were Tier-1 or Tier-2 existences.
Dilan’s overflowing confidence affected most Ascenders and they roared out their agreement.
“Let’s show them that we, humans, are not that easy to defeat! We will exterminate them without losing a single life!!” Some roared out and others joined in as well.
“Alright, all the best. See you guys in a moment!” Dilan infused some confidence in his people before he dashed in the direction of the Vampires all alone.
“He will come back…and not lose himself in his crazy battle junkie excitement, right?” Kathrine suddenly asked when she saw the unnerving smile on Dilan’s face as he rushed past her.
“Eh…I think?” Yvonne replied with a helpless expression, not sure of what to answer.
“Maybe?” Old Jeff mumbled.
“I don’t think so,” Victoria stated her opinion without putting much meaning in her words.