(pls
Any comments or feedback on my novel would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much!)
————————
At the same time, in the fortress above the Solar Order's secret base, the nightmare continued.
The Vampires had completely overrun the fortress. The air was thick with the stench of blood, ash, and burning flesh. Humans were now just bound figures, huddled in the town square, their eyes wide with panic and devoid of life.
The Vampires were sorting prisoners, scavenging through the ruins, searching for survivors to replenish the "blood supply" for their camps. Some collected spoils of war—tattered silver armor, blood-stained weapons, even broken holy relics, as if to prove that the light in this place had been extinguished.
In the center of the square, a prominent figure stood among the blood-soaked crowd.
He wore a staff on his back, twisted like an ancient root, topped with a bizarre, pulsating reddish-purple stone. His face was wrinkled and aged like a dying elder, but his eyes were as cold as stone. A long scar across his face twisted his expression, making him unpredictable.
His silver-black robe, patterned with arcane symbols, reached almost to his heels, swaying gently in the cold wind. This was Biz—a Vampire Leader, whose peculiar abilities remained unclear.
He stood with a few mid-level Vampires, seemingly arguing about something. The atmosphere was unusually tense.
Suddenly, Biz roared, his hoarse voice echoing across the square:
"Impossible! Jack… he can't die in some secluded fortress like this!"
He stepped forward, his face contorted, eyes blazing with anger.
"Find his body! If someone like Jack dies… he must leave a corpse!"
A Vampire soldier stepped forward, his face pale, bowing subserviently:
"My Lord… truly… we've searched everywhere… we couldn't find Sir Jack's body. He… seems to have vanished."
Biz said nothing. He just stepped closer, slowly, then suddenly swung his hand, clamping down on the soldier's neck, lifting him effortlessly like a rag doll.
The air exploded in that instant. The surrounding Vampires all immediately knelt, no one daring to breathe loudly.
He gritted his teeth, his voice low like grinding stone:
"Listen carefully… A Vampire Leader like Jack the Butcher can't die so easily… My scouts confirmed it—this fortress has no A-rank or higher hunters. Only B- and C-ranks… So… who was strong enough to kill him?"
He let go. The soldier dropped to the ground with a thud, gasping for breath.
Another soldier stammered forward, his hands trembling:
"My Lord… although we didn't find Sir Jack… we did find a few bodies… very strange…"
Biz sharply turned his head. His gaze drilled into the one who just spoke.
"Strange… how?"
The soldier swallowed hard. "They… burned to ash… but only white bones remained. No signs of normal magic, no sword wounds… it was like…"
"Like… what?" Biz took another step, his eyes razor-sharp.
The soldier looked up, his face drained of all color, stammering:
"...like they were incinerated… by the sun…"
A ripple of murmurs spread. The mid-level Vampires beside them bowed even lower, mumbling as if fearing the words they just heard:
"...the light…"
"Impossible…"
"The sun…"
Biz was silent for a moment. Then he threw the speaking soldier directly to the ground. He coughed violently, choking.
"Lead me there," Biz said curtly, his voice grim as a death sentence.
A moment later, his footsteps stopped at the shattered entrance to the bunker. The wooden door was just splinters. The smell of blood, ash, and silver smoke still hung in the air.
Inside, the refugees huddled in small groups, eyes downcast, kneeling in absolute silence. No one dared utter a word, as if a single sound would bring death rushing back.
Biz paid no attention to the humans. His eyes scanned the area, then stopped.
Right in the center of the bunker lay the exposed bodies of three Vampires. No flesh, no blood, just bleached white bones, a few joints still smoldering. Clear traces of internal incineration, unmistakable.
Biz's face changed. His usually cold eyes began to twitch slightly. His hand gripped the staff so tightly it trembled.
There was no doubt. These were traces of light. Of the sun.
Damn it… that thing was supposed to have gone extinct seventy years ago.
He immediately turned, not staying another second.
"Quick!" he snapped, his voice icy. "Prepare! I must return to the Blood King immediately."
A soldier flinched, hastily bowing: "Yes, My Lord!"
"Preserve the scene. No one—not a single soul is to touch these bodies. If I find anything disturbed…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but the trembling Vampire soldiers clearly understood what it implied.
Biz turned and walked away, his cloak dragging over the floor littered with ash and bone.
But after only a few steps, he froze. His eyes flashed with contemplation. He subtly glanced at the huddled refugees in a corner. His expression changed—no longer just fear, but suspicion.
"Wait…"
His voice deepened, muttering as he turned back.
"Perhaps… these humans know something."
He nodded as if affirming his own thought.
"Begin interrogation. Extract every piece of information from them. Every single one."
Then, without another word, he turned and left the bunker. His ancient shadow faded into the dark corridor, leaving behind trembling eyes unsure of what greater horror awaited.
The wretched humans huddled together in the cold corner of the bunker. Everyone's face was ashen, no one dared to look directly. They were the ones John had protected, who had witnessed the miracle the light sword created… but now, no one was sure what would happen to them next.
The worst part was that they… had chosen to stay. Not to follow Jack. Not to follow the old man.
And at this moment, they only had one thing left to face—fear and the Vampires.
Click-clack footsteps echoed. The Vampire guards began to flood the bunker. The scent of blood on their claws made the air thick.
One stepped forward, his eyes scanning, then he sneered:
"Well, well, you human trash…"
He stepped directly onto the head of a kneeling figure, then growled:
"Whoever tells us everything that happened here will be spared. No blood camp. In fact… you'll become a citizen serving the Empire."
His voice dragged like a lure, but his eyes were full of contempt.
Just a few seconds later, the atmosphere erupted.
"Me! I know what happened!"
"Me too! I saw him come back to life!"
"I saw the old man with the sword! One slash and Vampires burn like paper!"
The entire bunker seemed to ignite with competing confessions. Each person shouted loudly, hoping to escape the fate of a blood slave. They pushed each other, jostling to the front, wailing, begging… just hoping to be "recognized."
Only a small corner of the bunker remained somewhat quiet. The children John had once held tightly now huddled together, their eyes red-rimmed. A few older individuals could only kneel, mumbling prayers for something that no longer existed in this world.
It was true: when pushed to the brink, humans would readily betray anything… even their benefactors.
It didn't take long for the information about Jack coming back to life, and the old man with the light sword burning Vampires, to reach the Vampires' ears.
A young man pushed through, shouting, his voice trembling with hope:
"I spoke first! I don't have to go to a blood camp, right? I… I'll become a citizen serving you, right?"
The three Vampires standing nearby looked at each other, smirking.
"Thank you for the testimony… very valuable," one snorted, then eyed the man from head to toe.
"It's just that today… we're hungry."
"Hee hee hee hee hee…" The laughter hissed like hyenas.
The young man crumpled to the ground, his face pale, urine soaking the cold stone floor. A Vampire lunged forward, grabbing his hair, dragging him away from the crowd.
"Let's go. You'll be our dinner. Victorious soldiers need to eat, after all… hee hee hee hee!"
Another shouted: "Grab a few more!"
Howls echoed through the bunker. The Vampires roared like wild beasts just released from their cages. They laughed, danced, swung their claws as if preparing a victory feast. A human hunt.
All of it… because they saw humans as food. Sentient, thinking, pleading—but still just food.
Choosing to stay here, in this crumbling and seemingly safe fortress, was the biggest mistake of their lives.
Outside the fortress walls, a few other Vampires whispered with Biz. His face was visibly tense. It seemed they had just reported news concerning… Jack.
He said nothing, simply climbing onto the back of a peculiar creature.
It was a tall horse, its eyes blood-red, black veins prominently running from its neck down its thighs. Every movement was heavy, powerful as a war machine. Along its spine, layers of steel-hard scales covered its muscles.
This was no ordinary horse.
A Blood Horse—a war steed bred with Vampire blood. They were the primary mounts for Vampire Leaders, trained to travel hundreds of kilometers without rest in a single night.
Biz said not a word, gently pulling the reins. The Blood Horse gave a low growl, then bolted into the red mist of Red Sky.
An ill omen was approaching.
But…
There was one more who hadn't shown himself yet.
The Vampire mage from the treasure hunting party, who held an even greater secret, a secret about Jack wielding Last Light against his own kind…
Where was he?
What would happen next?
At the same time…