Vicente closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's hard to say. I don't know much about the organization within the vampire world. I don't know how their clans are divided, nor how many of them there are. I also don't know how many races and how many beings they have under their control.
But let's say that there is one vampire of the same level for every ten 4th-stage magicians on the continent.
I wouldn't be surprised if most of the continent's magicians and mortals were killed in five years."
The Purification would be an attempt by vampires to end the Magicians Age and begin the Vampires Age. To do this, the vampires would not have to fight beasts and other races of magical beings. The humans and their magicians dominated the continent, so the fight would essentially be against the human race.
Those who weren't targeted and had no reason to fight would most likely try to preserve themselves, even considering the problems they might have if the vampires won the war.
So if it were a battle of humans against vampires, it wouldn't take many of those pale-skinned beings to bring the human race to a terrible state like the one Vicente mentioned.
"There aren't that many pureblood vampires on the continent," Lina commented to him.
"That's the problem. There's no way to know for sure," Vicente commented to her. "Besides, The Purification will increase the power of the strongest vampires. So they won't even need many 4th-stage vampires. If only one of them manages to reach the 6th stage, it would be enough for them to achieve what I said.
It would be enough for an Archmage vampire to kill all the Archmages on the continent and then hunt down the Paragons. Such a 6th stage vampire could then return to their headquarters and let their subordinates deal with the rest of humanity."
Vicente estimated that they could do all this in less than three years since The Purification, considering the power he had seen in a pureblood, a superior vampire.
Lina couldn't help but feel pessimistic. "You don't seem to believe in our victory."
"It's not that I don't believe. I just don't know what might happen. But realistically, it's quite possible that in five years, 70% of the human population on the continent today will no longer exist."
"That's worrying."
"Hmm, in a situation like that, Metal City could become a place where a small part of humanity could preserve itself. I hope that doesn't have to happen, but if it does, we will preserve ourselves there." Vicente commented to her.
When she considered the worst, she couldn't help but think about how strong Vicente was. "Is there a chance for you to become a Low-level Paragon before the worst happens?"
"It depends on the result of our search for the pentagram..." He didn't want to raise Lina's hopes but didn't completely rule out the possibility either. "But Onyx might be able to reach the 5th stage. I'll do everything I can to get him 5th-grade resources during our trip in a little over a year."
Lina knew that Onyx was the most powerful mount of the Fuller family. If this creature could reach the 5th stage, it could be of great help in the defense of the Seidel Kingdom.
A Paragon beast was not to be underestimated!
"I hope we succeed with this." She muttered as she looked out the window of the train they were on, seeing the mountains surrounding Saltstar City as they left it behind.
The train ride between Saltstar City and Metal City would take seven days. That was a long distance, but it was about a third of the time it took to travel in ordinary carriages.
Nobles and wealthy men could travel between these two places in less than 15 days. Still, they were individuals with special resources and opportunities. Most people would need about three weeks or more to make such a journey.
But even though it was a trip of a few days, it was a trip that could be very comfortable for people with resources.
Vicente's passenger trains had a total of seven railcars for transporting people. Of those spaces, four were for people with few resources, where there were basically chairs and toilets to serve those groups traveling there.
But in three of the train's cars, there were special areas for the more affluent people, where you could have your own cabin with a bed and your own private space, with even your own toilets.
In each of these cars, there were two special cabins for couples and people traveling alone, as well as a bar and restaurant area where there were nice chairs and tables for people to socialize in the middle of the trip.
Vicente and his group were in one of these areas when they traveled to Metal City.
...
The week's journey between Saltstar City and Metal City would pass in the blink of an eye.
Vicente and Lina would talk a lot about the kingdom's future and how to prepare for the worst of the approaching disaster.
Those who didn't think about it so much, like Nina and Killian, hadn't talked about such things because they had managed to enjoy the journey between their city and their destination.
At the beginning of a new day, the group would wake up as the train slowed down, slowly taking in the scenery around Metal City, some of them seeing the place for the first time.
When they disembarked at Metal City, those who were there for the first time couldn't help but look at the place with smiles on their faces, seeing the most organized, clean, and different place they had ever been to in their lives.
Metal City had an atmosphere unlike any other place. The people there seemed to have unusual auras, while the polar lights that were constantly present in the local sky couldn't help but mesmerize the women in the group.
Soon, Vicente and those who already knew the place best began to guide the group through this place, where they planned to stay for the next three days before returning to Saltstar City.
Metal City was still small. Though it had everything to satisfy the needs of people as sophisticated as these newcomers, it was still small and three days would be enough to see everything there was to see.
Those three days would fly by, and soon, Nina and Lina would understand what Vicente had built and the potential of this place for his departure from the kingdom in just over a year.
When they returned to Saltstar City, it was time to prepare for the changes that would take place after a year, when Nina would experience her awakening and then have to say goodbye to her brother!