”I always had low expectations of him. But holy fuck!” The elder vampire sneered as two tall women robed in dark clothes approached him,
”Elder Hacan,” the two women knelt in front of him as Hacan stopped pacing back and forth for a while,
”What is it?”
”Elder Saber has reached Awor. He advised you to leave the castle and join him in Kingdom Qinland,” one of the women informed Hacan indifferently,
”Did he tell you anything about what happened in Idrisal?”
”Elder Saber said it’s a matter for the council,”
Hacan exhaled deeply. To be honest, he expected the council to butt in after the stunt Griswold pulled in Idrisal. All the Elder vampires wanted payback on guardians for exposing them, but none of them dared to wage war on them so openly except Griswold.
Against all the elder vampires’ advice, he attacked the Alchemy competition in Idrisal and, shockingly, self-destructed himself. But, since Griswold was one of Hacan’s adopted sons, Hacan had to answer the council’s questions.
Vampires were no different than the rest in terms of politics. Just a simple mishap and the other vampires would be gunning for Hacan’s seat at the table.
Griswold gave those vampires a weapon to use against him in the council meeting. While the situation tensed Hacan, the vampires in the hall gawked at him, having no idea why they were summoned.
At least fifty vampires were staring at Hacan for some answers.
”Tell Saber, I’ll be on my way after tying up some loose ends in Idrisal,”
”We are here to assist you on that, Elder Hacan,” the women said in unison,
With a long deep sigh, Hacan finally turned around to look at the vampires in the hall before him. They all went dead silent when they saw Hacan’s gaze sweeping over them.
”Look, I’m not big on speeches. I summoned you all because I have an order for all of you. As you may or may not know, Griswold attacked the alchemy competition and died in the process. Although what he did was extremely stupid, he was one of us. So we have to avenge him and make those who killed him pay,” Hacan’s cold voice resonated in the hall,
”Anyone who brings me the heads of Noah, a guardian, and Ghost, a five-star alchemist would receive the blessing to become an Elder,”
As soon as the vampires heard Hacan, the vampires gasped in shock. Immediately their eyes were lit with excitement. Being an Elder meant bigger hunting grounds and more power. No vampire would say no to those two things. Any vampire would literally kill another vampire to get bigger hunting grounds and power.
”Noah Winston is on his way to his home in Pentown. Ghost is in a merchant ship named Merry’s weather. According to our spies, his destination is Sunrise sect in Bradford,”
Hacan had more information about Ghost to share with his minions. However, before sharing everything, his butler entered the stage through the door behind him.
”Lord Hacan,” Hacan looked over his shoulder to see his butler, a gray-robed white hair man who seemed thin as a stick.
”You have to see this,” the butler said gravely,
Sensing the seriousness in his voice, Hacan turned around. Then, the old man took out an orb with a flick of his wrist,
Hacan and the two women saw the castle’s outskirts in the orb. When Hacan looked closer, he saw a black armored figure slaughtering his minions and approaching the castle.
”What the heck?” Hacan was stunned as the black armored figure chopped down his minions’ heads like vegetables.
”We are under attack,” the two women stood up to their feet,
Whereas Hacan began to shiver uncontrollably when he placed his hand on the orb and zoomed into taking a closer look at the figure. It was a woman whose raven black hair danced around her shoulder along with the two dark swords in her hands,
The two black swords brought back memories Hacan desperately wanted to forget. He could feel the sweat running down his back as the two women noticed Hacan’s breathing getting heavier and heavier,
”Elder Hacan,”
Hacan’s mind went totally blank as he didn’t even hear the two women calling for him.
”It can’t be…she’s dead…she’s dead…” he kept mumbling,
Meanwhile, the black armored woman wreaked havoc among the vampires outside. Despite the metal armor she wore from toe to neck, the armor didn’t seem to restrict her movements. The two women and the butler saw her cutting the vampires’ heads off without using any spells.
Suddenly the glass orb cracked as the women looked up. Her eyes met Hacan’s before the glass orb completely shattered into pieces,
”Everyone leave!” Hacan’s sudden shout reverberated through the hall, leaving the vampires stunned.
He didn’t bother to stay any longer and explain what was happening. Instead, he decided to escape the castle. But just as he was about to take a step toward the door, the metal door in the hall exploded. The force of the explosion sent the metal door crashing onto the vampires. The heavy door crushed a few vampires into a pulpy mess.
The vampires jerked around to see a mist of cloud blocking the entrance. A few seconds later, the woman entered the hall through the smoke. The vampires noticed the blood dripping down from her black sword.
For a few moments, the vampires remained still like her dark eyes petrified them. Then, quickly the vampires snapped back to reality as they snarled at her, revealing their razor-sharp fangs.
”Human scum!” an overly violent vampire leaped at the woman,
Pulch!
The vampire was in mid-air when she swayed her body to the side before swinging her sword. The next moment, the vampire’s head separated from his body hit the ground with a sickening thud while the body sprayed blood all over the place.
Most of the vampires didn’t even realize what just happened. She was too fast. They just saw a blue, and their fellow clansman lost his head.
”Twinkle twinkle little star,” her cold words broke the silence haunting the hall. Hacan’s heart jumped out of his heart when he heard these words. Then, losing control over his body, Hacan stumbled back.
He almost collapsed if it wasn’t for his butler’s quick reflex to grab Hacan by his shoulder,
”How I wonder what you are,” she took a step forward with each word escaping her mouth,
”Kill the intruder!” The two women shouted at the vampires as the vampires flanked the women from all directions.
However, she raised her two swords before they could get closer to her. The swords vibrated, letting out a high-pitched whistling sound penetrated everyone’s head.
”Argh!” Some vampires dropped to their knees, covering their ears.
Boom!
Suddenly, a bright light shot out of her swords as everyone in the hall, without exception, closed their eyes.
”AGHHHHHHH!”
The muffled grants turned into loud screams of agony. Hacan could feel the temperature in the room skyrocketing. When the whistling sound trailed off, he barely opened his eyes, only to see half of the vampires in the hall were reduced to ashes. The others all squirmed on the floor, crying and moaning in pain. The smell of burning flesh nauseated Hacan.
The bright flames dancing around her swords shocked Hacan more than the pile of ashes.
”Primordial Flames,” even from twenty meters away from the woman, Hacan could feel his skin being burnt by the flames. He couldn’t keep his gaze locked on the flame as the fire was too bright. Even the sun seemed dim compared to the flames dancing around her sword. Additionally, the flames let out an ominous howling.
”Up above the world so high” she gracefully walked towards Hacan as the two vampire women poised to attack the black armored woman,
”Ha…Harriet…” Hacan mumbled as he kept walking backward. As she was getting closer to them, the vampires on the ground failed to stop her. That meant saving Elder Hacan has become their responsibility. Hence, the two women closed their eyes as a red mist enveloped them. The next moment, they leaped at Harriet from the stage, showing their razor-sharp fangs. The blood lust in their eyes made their eyes glow like rubies. The two women were extremely fast as they left after images on the stage.
”Like a diamond in the SKY!”
Just as they were in mid-air, Harriet finished her rhyme. The two women were fast, but Harriet was faster. Finally, she just swung her sword, sending a crescent wave of Light Flames; the only Primordial flame that stood beside the Dark Flames in the power hierarchy.
Hacan witnessed Saber’s powerful minions burnt to ashes in a mere moment right before his eyes. The two women didn’t even have time to scream before they turned into nothing but ashes.
Harriet did not stop with killing the two women. Instead, she swirled, sending a stream of Light flames out of her swords.
”ARGH!”
The rest of the vampires’ growls and moans were abruptly cut short as they all turned into piles of ashes. Fifty-two vampires were obliterated in a few moments.
”Who…who…are…you?” the butler who stood beside Hacan stuttered,
”Twenty five years ago, What did I tell you?” Harriet asked Hacan, instead of responding to the butler’s question,
Hacan’s face turned paler than usual as he panted.
Whoosh!
Harriet raised her sword, pointing at the butler, and burnt him to ashes by firing a quick bolt of Light Flame. The fire burnt not only the butler but also Haccan’s silk robes. Fearing for his life, he stood naked before her.
”What…did… I…tell…you?” she uttered each word with frightening killing intent,
”No no no no,” Hacan was one of the most powerful Elder Vampires yet in front of her, he felt so powerless and couldn’t control his body from shivering.
Hacan still had nightmares about what happened twenty five years ago. Harriet Hunt… Hacan wished to wake up whenever he went to bed without recalling the name.
Harriet Hunt was why the vampires called the ninth month of the year ‘The Black month’. Once upon a time, Awor was full of his kind. Until an Elder Vampire tried to satiate his hunger with the blood of one of the Hunt Sisters.
Little did the elder vampire know that his actions would get the attention of the most feared woman in all of Awor; Harriet Hunt. She relentlessly hunted his kind to near extinction in a month of time. Hacan and a few others were the only survivors, not because they escaped but because Skyhall brokered peace between Harriet and the council.
”I told you” She reached the stage with a swift leap. Seeing her up close, he stumbled back and fell to the floor,
”If you or any of your kind even think of hurting my family, I would hunt you down.”