“Keugh! Kuah…”

Number 3 regurgitated a sip of dark red blood, then wiped his mouth.

His complexion had improved from before. He had been staying in an abandoned farmhouse for the past few days, focusing all of his energy on recovering. He ate the raw meat of small game to sustain himself, and he took care of his body and mind by practicing his secret techniques, as well as drinking a mixture of potion and water from the time to time.

As a result, he was about to recover 50% of his usual strength and stamina.

“Whoo…”

Number 3 recalled the man responsible for putting him in this state while taking a slow breath.

The Knight King of Valvas was much stronger than expected. Although he knew it would be difficult to fight him one-on-one, Number 3 thought it possible to match him with an ambush. However, he had been greatly mistaken.

Just as he told his colleagues, Isla was one of the few superpowers in the world. Even Number 1 would not be guaranteed the victory if he fought against Isla.

“But that person…”

Number 3 muttered while quivering.

The Knight King of Valvas was no longer the problem. Instead, the man responsible for completely shattering the combined force of himself and Number 7, the vampire, was the bigger issue at hand.

“I cannot believe such a person exists…”

Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.

The opponent looked to be an experienced mercenary or a free knight at first glance, but he was definitely stronger than the strongest man he knew, Number 1. No, perhaps he was even stronger than the Knight King, whom he suspected could be stronger than Number 1.

He came across two superpowers within the span of a few days in the Pendragon Kingdom.

“What is it? This Kingdom…”

Number 3 was well aware of the tumultuous events from 7 years ago. It was said that a legendary witch was revived from hundreds of years ago. To confront her, the dragons gathered, and supposedly, even the guardian angel of the Lindegor Duchy was summoned.

It was an incredible story of sacrifice. Alan Pendragon, the founding king of the Pendragon Kingdom, and Soldrake, the Queen of All Dragons, saved the world from destruction at the expense of their own lives.

He figured it was overexaggerated. 

Although Alan Pendragon’s reputation was exceedingly high as a knight, he assumed two or three high-ranking members of the brotherhood were sufficient to eliminate him.

However, he felt an unsurmountable wall from two figures besides the legendary founding king. One was the king’s subordinate knight, and the other was an unknown man. Number 7 and himself had been helpless in front of the two.

However, it was said that there were similarly powerful figures in the Pendragon Kingdom. The knight named Mark Killian was said to be quite powerful, though he was often overshadowed by Elkin Isla. Moreover, rumors had it that an orc warrior toyed with Mark Killian like a child.

If their true skills exceeded expectations, just as it had been with the Knight King…

“Hmm!”

The expression of Number 3 darkened.

The Pendragon Kingdom was crawling with such monsters. They had stayed in the kingdom for three months on a commission without knowing about such facts.

“Then why…”

A sudden thought popped into his head, and he contemplated with a scrunched forehead. All requests to the Shadow Brotherhood were processed by Number 2. And Number 3 knew Number 2 to possess a cool head. Number 2 was more accurate and had a better sense of judgement than anyone else.

But Number 2 had sent them to this place without properly grasping the commission?

“There’s something more…”

There were no other possible explanations. Regardless, he needed to quickly move in order to figure out the whole truth. He needed to head towards Edenfield, where Number 2 was located.

“Dammit…”

Number 3 muttered while raising himself up. His expression was as dark as the night sky.

*** 

“…..”

Berna was in a sticky situation. Thanks to her unusual descent, she could stay active during the day if she covered her skin. She wore a thick robe that covered her face and body, but she had been walking for hours without speaking a word, silently stealing glances.

If it wasn’t for the deep-pressed hood, she would have been found out long ago.

‘What the hell is it? Why isn’t anyone talking? And why is that man looking at the prince like that? And why did this person…’

She was grateful that they were letting her live, but she was on the verge of going crazy from the anxiety. She could not possibly grasp the full extent of the man’s powers.

He was riding on a horse along with Prince Raymond, but his gaze was fixated on the child. It was as if he were seeing something amazing for the first time in his life. He continued to look down at the prince – the child was seated in front of the man, almost in his arms.

In addition, the man had been ice cold when dealing with her. She almost wondered if he possessed any emotions. However, he was extremely careful when controlling the horse, trying his best to prevent the prince from becoming startled.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason why she was nervous. Every time she happened to meet his gaze, she felt a chilling sensation. Simply meeting his eyes made her feel as if she was being drained of blood. It wasn’t just cold, but also possessed a terrifying anger. Moreover, whenever she averted her gaze with fear, another terrifying being stood right next to her. She couldn’t even make eye contact with the being.

‘Ugh…’

As a vampire, she only looked to be about 20 years old, but in fact, Berna was well over fifty years. She trembled with fear.

She killed many people and engaged in numerous life-and-death battles over the course of her life. She faced countless dangers as well.

However, it was definitely her first time experiencing such a fear. It was a fear towards the unknown. There were no other words to express what she felt towards the woman with the silver-white hair. Simply walking next to the woman felt like walking on a sharp blade.

Berna reigned as an existence of fear for humans until now. But the roles had been reversed in the current situation. She felt so fearful and anxious that she could not even think properly.

‘Why did I tell them my True Name…’

She wanted to cry. A vampire’s True Name was equivalent to their existence. If anyone came to possess a vampire’s True Name, the vampire would have to loyally serve them for the rest of their life. Therefore, no one in the Shadow Brotherhood knew her True Name. No, rather, she had never told anyone her True Name since the moment she was bestowed it. However, she had blurted it out to a stranger without even thinking about it.

‘Ha…!’

Berna bowed her head in resignation. She held back a sigh. She could not afford regret. It was because she knew she would make the same mistake even if she could revert time. What else could she do after instinctively sensing her complete eradication? She had no choice but to accept her fate.

“You.”

“Uaayeap!”

Berna jumped with shock and garbled up nonsense in response to the low voice. Even though the voice called her, she did not dare to raise her head. She trembled while responding with a bow.

“D, did you call me?”

“You said your family name is Yunka, right? What is your relationship with Arvan Junka?”

“Kuagh!?”

Berna chocked on her cough and became wide-eyed with shock.

‘How does this person know Arvan…?’

Although she was shocked, she replied quickly.

“H, he was my Guardian.”

“I see. So you carry the blood of both Arvan Junka and Pascal Bortan? And your mother must be a human being, seeing as you can walk around during the day.”

“Y, yes…”

Berna replied sedately. She no longer had the energy left to be surprised. The two figures mentioned by the fearsome existence were heads of the Junka and the Bortan clans, two of the five vampire clans.

Berna’s mother was a child of a human slave owned by Pascal Bortan. She was half-human and half-horse. Arvan Junka kidnapped Berna’s mother and took her forcefully, which resulted in Berna’s birth.

‘W, what’s going on? Ah…’

Berna felt an even greater sense of awe and fear towards the beauty. Even amongst the vampires, only a few knew the truths that the beauty knew. In addition, the remaining faintest hope was completely extinguished.

The beauty mentioned the heads of the Junka and the Bortan clan casually, as if she were calling the names of neighborhood mutts. It meant she regarded the vampire clans as nothing, and that she knew everything about the clans.

Even if Berna escaped, it would be a matter of time before she was recaptured. She would have no choice but to live out the rest of her life as a servant of the two people. Assuming, of course, that they did not extinguish her.

‘It’s all over…’

Berna gave up completely. However...

‘That’s right! Since things turned out this way anyways, I need to appeal to them. Whatever happens, I cannot be obliterated.’

There were less than a thousand vampires in existence. The reason they were able to persist and survive without facing extinction was simple – they were particularly clever. Berna inherited the blood of two clans, and she was exceptionally bright. She entered the Shadow Brotherhood because it made it easier and more convenient for her to drink blood on a regular basis. But now, even her life wasn’t guaranteed. She could only come to a single conclusion.

‘It’s better to be a mummy and suck on the blood of mutts rather than to be obliterated…’

She recalled an old proverb of the vampires and made a determination to serve the two figures like a dog.

“Excuse me…”

Raymond spoke in a quiet, cautious voice. As if they had rehearsed beforehand, the man and the woman turned their heads at the same time.

“Ah, that’s…”

Raymond was taken aback. He had noticed ever since his identity as a prince of the Pendragon Kingdom had been revealed, the two figures were completely focused on him, but it was to the point where it felt a little burdensome.

That was why he had been cautious about speaking. He felt a little nervous when they turned their attention towards him.

“What is wrong?”

The man had been holding Raymond tightly in his arms to keep him warm. Raymond felt an instinctive comfort and pressure at the same time. He replied.

“I apologize, but… I’m hungry and, uh, I need to p, pee…”

Raymond’s voice shrunk with shame. He was born as a prince, and he never needed to say such embarrassing things to others.

“Well, come to think of it, I’m a little hungry, too. What about you, Sol?”

“Yeah. If Ray is hungry, I’m hungry, too.”

Soldrake nodded, and Raven pulled on the reins of the horse.

“Now, you can get off.”

After helping Raymond down, he started taking various pieces of equipment out of his pack with skilled movements.

“I just need to use the toilet…”

Raymond became flustered. The tall, strong mister, who possessed black hair just like him, was now preparing to cook something in earnest.

Raymond was fine with eating dried raisins and bread…

“You have to eat well even if you only eat one meal. Especially for children of your age. Go and take care of your business.”

The man spoke bluntly without even looking at Raymond. However, Raymond didn’t hate the man’s attitude. To be exact, he felt rather comfortable and relieved.

“Okay. I will be right back.”

Raymond bowed his head, then went behind a large tree before loosening his belt.

‘What an amazing man. He somehow resembles Mister Isla and Sir Killian…’

Raymond felt most comfortable with the two men in the castle. Although he was young and had never seen his father, he felt a fatherly affection from Killian and Isla. And now, he was receiving a similar sensation from the man, even though they had only known each other for a few days.

‘It’s okay, since he is a good person!’

Raymond could smile for a moment, feeling rather curious towards the feeling of filial piety he felt towards the man.